RM European Auto Parts
Results 1 to 12 of 12

Thread: Possible new to me car, vw

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Fallon, NV
    Posts
    357
    My Cars
    1995 525i 5 speed

    Possible new to me car, vw

    I post this here because there's at least a few whose opinion I value highly. I'm trying to make a good deal, no rush, on an 03 VW golf vr6. I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with them. I think I can get a good deal because it's a 6MT that lost lost 1/2. The thing is, that trans is known for the 1/2 shift fork failing. My problem is that if anything else inside the trans got chewed up, I'm not sure if I can find parts or the skill to fix it. So Chris, d, anyone else, let t me know what you think.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    NW suburban Chicago
    Posts
    16,302
    My Cars
    hiss by my window
    Always assume the worst when bargaining for broken machinery. My $.02

    If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Aberdeen, NC (yes, again)
    Posts
    23,672
    My Cars
    E39M5, E500 4WD
    Sorry, Chris, I don't like VeeDubs, and have nothing positive to offer.

    Chris Powell
    Racer and Instructor since, well. decades, ok?
    Master Auto Tech, owner of German Motors of Aberdeen
    BMWCCA 274412
    German Motors is hiring ! https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...1#post30831471

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Houston, TX
    Posts
    12,462
    My Cars
    36 Cylinders
    Volkswagens make good mechanics out of their owners.

    No experience with the 6 speed.. but the 5speed was quite easy to take apart and replace worn items. Mine had worn shift segments (the ends of the fork that move the gear hub up and down). Likely because of the previous owner resting their hand on the shifter, or shifter cable misalignment. I replaced them myself for $50, including the slightly chipped reverse gear with a new one.
    Car has almost 300,000 miles now and it's fine.
    But a lot of my own work went into it.
    -Abel

    - E36 328is ~210-220whp: Lots of Mods.
    - 2000 Z3: Many Mods.
    - 2003 VW Jetta TDI Manual 47-50mpg
    - 1999 S52 Estoril M Coupe
    - 2014 328d Wagon, self-tuned, 270hp/430ft-lbs
    - 2019 M2 Competition, self-tuned, 504whp
    - 2016 Mini Cooper S

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    KC North, MO, USA
    Posts
    11,153
    My Cars
    1996 740iL
    I'm a retired phone tech now working in parts for the owner of many new car dealerships, including VW. Based on the price of VW parts alone, I would never own one. Most small shops just flat out refuse to work on them. "I'm only working on this because it's my wife's (fill in relative here) car", is the type of thing I hear from lifelong mechanics when I take them a VW part.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    NW suburban Chicago
    Posts
    16,302
    My Cars
    hiss by my window
    Quote Originally Posted by Mayorchuck View Post
    Based on the price of VW parts alone, I would never own one.
    Boy, howdy! Especially given those cars' appetite for same

    If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Aberdeen, NC (yes, again)
    Posts
    23,672
    My Cars
    E39M5, E500 4WD
    Aw, c'mon.....you gotta love the shaft that runs through the inside of the engine, driven at the front but coming out the back, on the newer 2.0s. It runs a tiny pulley at the back, driving a toothed 4" belt, that drives the water pump....well, LA DI DA. But that's not the truly ridiculous part: That plastic water pump/ octopus has a 1" long little connector hourglass thing with two o-rings, to connect it to the heat exchanger......oh, but THAT'S not the ridiculous part either:

    You see, the plastic water pump has a rubber, complex, "o-ring" type seal, kind of like an M54's oil filter housing gasket. Except that o-ring has a little tab on it....and that tab actually sticks completely out of an intentionally designed 1/8" cut in the plastic water pump. And the water pump lives below the valve cover / cam girdle. NOTE: cam girdle. The cam girdle/valve cover has a chemical seal, and leaks. It leaks oil onto the cut in the water pump....which ruins the plastic, softens the o-ring, and blows a chunk out of the water pump. DUH!!!!

    They continue to use the same water pump, with no redesign, after YEARS knowing of this absurd design. By the way, the water pump is expensive, it takes ~6 hours to change, and another ~6 hours for the cam girdle, if you're really damned good at VeeDubs.

    And don't make me tell you about how many days it takes to do a brakepad slap on the back of a 2013 Touareg! (Yes, I hate VWs)

    Chris Powell
    Racer and Instructor since, well. decades, ok?
    Master Auto Tech, owner of German Motors of Aberdeen
    BMWCCA 274412
    German Motors is hiring ! https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...1#post30831471

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Arlington, VA
    Posts
    9,933
    My Cars
    2018 BMW M240i
    Holy crap! What were those vw “engineers” thinking?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    KC North, MO, USA
    Posts
    11,153
    My Cars
    1996 740iL
    I started to mention the water pumps. They go out the door like hot cakes. One local shop owner has owns two VW's, both given to him by customers. One could not afford to replace the pump and the other could not pay their bill after the repair.

    Can't remember the model, but there is a type of grommet that fits on the end of a cable that breaks. Believe it has something to do with the gear box. VW discontinued that $1 part and the customer has to buy the $100 cable to do the repair. This is just one example of this type of thing I hear from shop owners.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Aberdeen, NC (yes, again)
    Posts
    23,672
    My Cars
    E39M5, E500 4WD
    They were thinking about how they were going to make their dirty diesels pass emissions.....

    Chris Powell
    Racer and Instructor since, well. decades, ok?
    Master Auto Tech, owner of German Motors of Aberdeen
    BMWCCA 274412
    German Motors is hiring ! https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...1#post30831471

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Houston, TX
    Posts
    12,462
    My Cars
    36 Cylinders
    Well that was technically Bosch programmers that lured in VW with their magic. VW just said, "GOOD IDEA! Do it!"
    -Abel

    - E36 328is ~210-220whp: Lots of Mods.
    - 2000 Z3: Many Mods.
    - 2003 VW Jetta TDI Manual 47-50mpg
    - 1999 S52 Estoril M Coupe
    - 2014 328d Wagon, self-tuned, 270hp/430ft-lbs
    - 2019 M2 Competition, self-tuned, 504whp
    - 2016 Mini Cooper S

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Aberdeen, NC (yes, again)
    Posts
    23,672
    My Cars
    E39M5, E500 4WD
    Yeah, that's what they said about that water pump, too......

    - - - Updated - - -

    Now, of course, VW's not on their own, in the bad idea area.

    How many years did it take BMW to put threads in the damned starter motors?

    Chris Powell
    Racer and Instructor since, well. decades, ok?
    Master Auto Tech, owner of German Motors of Aberdeen
    BMWCCA 274412
    German Motors is hiring ! https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...1#post30831471

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •