LightningRhod's quest to 200k.....and beyond

tturbocar said:

no codes with the hpfp? i cleared my codes and tried to start it up and keep doing the same issue yours had. but this time all the codes pointed to the hp pump failing and sure enough it was. replaced it and shes back to normal

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Nah, no codes for the HPFP. I suspect that the root of the error is air related given the codes I'm getting. PCV was updated and I didn't find any leaks in my air intake, so maybe the leak is coming from the turbo side or the intake manifold (which was replaced a several months ago). We'll see what the shop's analysis is on Wed.

LightningRhod said:

Nah, no codes for the HPFP. I suspect that the root of the error is air related given the codes I'm getting. PCV was updated and I didn't find any leaks in my air intake, so maybe the leak is coming from the turbo side or the intake manifold (which was replaced a several months ago). We'll see what the shop's analysis is on Wed.

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odd. Well i hope the best of luck to this for you!

LightningRhod said:

Cleaned the MAF just now and started the car again to test. Didn't fix the issue. However, I am now getting misfires on cylinders 2 and 4.

P300 - Multiple misfires
P302 - Misfire on cylinder 2
P304 - Misfire on cylinder 4

A few years ago, I noticed the car would struggle to start until I stabbed the gas to give it some motivation. Now the car struggles unless keep my foot on the gas. So the trouble with the car probably started a few years, but didn't start throwing codes until now.

Hopefully the car can make the drive to the shop on Wednesday. I miss driving the car .

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hopefully nothing major!

tturbocar said:

odd. Well i hope the best of luck to this for you!

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Thanks! :thumbsup:

APRMK6GTi said:

hopefully nothing major!

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Hopefully it's something minor. I'm only a year away from hitting 200k! Haha.

I'll give another update on Wednesday after I find out what the diagnosis is.

So the shop just contacted me with their analysis.

2 things related to the intake leak:
- Rear main gasket was blown. Needs to be replaced.
- New PCV valve part was faulty. Luckily their warranting the new part and just installing a new one.

And of course the misfires. It's about time for me to have another carbon cleaning, so I'm having them do that too.

They'll need the car until tomorrow to do the work and test drive it, and since they've run out of loaner cars, I'll be stranded again (it's been almost 2 weeks).

It's more than I want to spend on repairing the car right now (especially with the holidays coming up), but I just want the car back healthy again

LightningRhod said:

So the shop just contacted me with their analysis.

2 things related to the intake leak:
- Rear main gasket was blown. Needs to be replaced.
- New PCV valve part was faulty. Luckily their warranting the new part and just installing a new one.

And of course the misfires. It's about time for me to have another carbon cleaning, so I'm having them do that too.

They'll need the car until tomorrow to do the work and test drive it, and since they've run out of loaner cars, I'll be stranded again (it's been almost 2 weeks).

It's more than I want to spend on repairing the car right now (especially with the holidays coming up), but I just want the car back healthy again

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Yeah just bad timing, but the issues aren't too bad.

APRMK6GTi said:

Yeah just bad timing, but the issues aren't too bad.

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Yeah, not catastrophic failures or anything. But all the work together is $$$$$$ unfortunately.

LightningRhod said:

Yeah, not catastrophic failures or anything. But all the work together is $$$$$$ unfortunately.

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yeah scary, i think i remember reading that bad PCV will mess up the RMS. my n80 valve took a dump too, but gonan get that replaced with carbon cleaning this weekend

Great diary. What shop do you go to for service?

CaliforniaBear said:

Great diary. What shop do you go to for service?

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I usually take my car to Trackspec Autosport in Fremont. Good honest shop, and the lead technician/owner owns (and tracks) a MKVI Golf R. They were booked 2 weeks out this time, so I had to take my car to the stealership unfortunately to get the car repaired (Winn VW in Newark).

LightningRhod said:

I usually take my car to Trackspec Autosport in Fremont. Good honest shop, and the lead technician/owner owns (and tracks) a MKVI Golf R. They were booked 2 weeks out this time, so I had to take my car to the stealership unfortunately to get the car repaired (Winn VW in Newark).

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Jon and his team at Trackspec is awesome!

APRMK6GTi said:

Jon and his team at Trackspec is awesome!

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Yes they are :thumbsup:. They also have some awesome track-spec'd vehicles there too. Love walking through that garage lol.

I’ll check em out. Been looking for a shop in fremont area. Thx!:w00t:

Really quick update. Sorry that I've been neglecting this thread.

So my quest to 200k has slowed significantly. I was on track to hit 200k next year, but I got a new job in the city (San Francisco). This means that I take public transit now instead of driving everyday. With 185k on the odometer, it'll probably take me another few years to get to 200k :/.

Given that the car is seldom driven and my wife's car is on the verge of being replaced with a new one, I'm thinking of turning the GTI into the project car for track use. So I'll most likely be putting more track-oriented mods into the car starting sometime next year (depending on what my wallet looks like lol).

In other news, nothing really new to report with the vehicle since my most recent RMS and PCV failure. Car still feels solid .

Haven't been around much on this forum lately (having two kids takes up all of your time ), but last year in May I finally hit 200k miles



I'm now at 206k miles, and there's been a few things that needed to be repaired since I've last posted on here:

Repairs:
- Stock water pump finally started to leak 2 years ago, so that was replaced
- Rear sway bar (Hotchkis) snapped in half. Replaced with an H&R bar
- Side view mirrors were literally falling off (adhesive deteriorated). Gorilla glued those things back on

Upgrades/Repairs:
- Replaced shocks and springs (Bilstein and VW DriverGear) with new units (Koni Yellow and Eibach Pro kits). Previous shocks were blown, so it rides much better now.
- Replaced stock intercooler with the Integrated Engineering unit. Power delivery is much more consistent now in high heat.
- New intercooler charge pipes and turbo muffler delete

Exterior Mods:
- Neuspeed Catback exhaust
- ECS black hatch spoiler and rear valance installed
- Maxton Design front lip and side skirts

Current issues:
- Car currently leaks oil. 034 Motorsports found the leak coming from the timing valve cover and replaced it. However, the leak has come back and still persists.
- Coolant expansion tank "boils" after long drives and/or when it's hot outside. Coolant has also disappeared/evaporated somewhere, leaving me almost stranded one time with my son in the car. Will have a shop do a compression test and replace the stock radiator with the CTS Turbo one I just bought
- Car suspension sounds like it has arthritis

Other:
- Removed Ultimate Racing downpipe and de-tuned to APR Stage 1 for CARB reasons