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New MK 7.5 2021 GTI Owner (Cornflower Blue)

Ridebjj

Autocross Champion
Location
lasVegas
Congratulations - love that color!
As others have said, scheduled maintenance but sooner.
I'd also go for a carbon cleaning at around 40k if I had to do things again.
I recently broke a valve spring due to carbon build up at 50k and it was very costly.

??? Really? I've never heard of that before, and definitely nothing happening from carbon at just 50k. Maybe on the mk6...

There was someone not long ago with pics of his valves at 100k and they were looking pretty good, iirc.
 

bobloblawGTI

Autocross Champion
Location
DC
Car(s)
19 GTI SE 6MT
Congratulations - love that color!
As others have said, scheduled maintenance but sooner.
I'd also go for a carbon cleaning at around 40k if I had to do things again.
I recently broke a valve spring due to carbon build up at 50k and it was very costly.
What's the justification for doing maintenance sooner than VW recommends? (Not being snarky, actually curious - I'm at about 6k miles so the 10k is still theoretically a ways off.)
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
What's the justification for doing maintenance sooner than VW recommends? (Not being snarky, actually curious - I'm at about 6k miles so the 10k is still theoretically a ways off.)
If you want to know for the future whether or not your engine oil for an example is okay to leave in longer get a Blackstone oil analysis kit and when you change your oil send them a sample and they will tell you the condition of the oil and the metals wearing from your engine.
 

Dog Dad Wagon

Autocross Champion
Location
Go Birds
Car(s)
16 Touareg TDI
??? Really? I've never heard of that before, and definitely nothing happening from carbon at just 50k. Maybe on the mk6...

There was someone not long ago with pics of his valves at 100k and they were looking pretty good, iirc.

Also never heard of carbon buildup causing actual engine damage on a Gen 3. especially not at 40, 50K miles. I had my 2015 GTI cleaned at 75K bone stock miles, they told me it could've gone to 100K+ based on how little buildup there was.
 

ElectricEye

Autocross Newbie
Location
Central NJ
??? Really? I've never heard of that before, and definitely nothing happening from carbon at just 50k. Maybe on the mk6...

There was someone not long ago with pics of his valves at 100k and they were looking pretty good, iirc.
I never heard of it either.
 

KevinC

Autocross Champion
Location
The land of Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday
Car(s)
'19 Golf R, '21 M2c
Since you drive a manual I would read this forum

How to: Make a mk7 6MT Suck Less
https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37719

I did the Euro short shifter, 42DD bushings, BFI shift knob, Clutch stop, clutch spring delete, and recalibrated the shifter. Still got a few mods in mind from that list to keep improving the 6MT experience
I find the complaints about Mk7 shifting kinda funny. I don't find it to be a bad experience at all, right out of the box. The one thing I've done and it does seem well worthwhile is added a cheap Ebay clutch stop. My Z4M has the clutch delay valve removed, as did a previous BMW, and I notice zero difference between being there and not being there. But I digress.

To make the stock shifting experience better without spending any money, go drive a Corrado (the first VW that used a cable shifter) and compare it to the Mk7. Over the years VW has continually improved the linkage/shifting experience. It was TRULY awful in the Corrado days (I think I remember one of the reviews describing the shifting experience as being like "rowing a stick through a box of Kleenex"), improving on the GTI VR6, and gradually ever since. The Mk7 really is not that bad. IMHO.
 

miikez.

Autocross Newbie
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Car(s)
'18 GSW 4mo 6MT
Also never heard of carbon buildup causing actual engine damage on a Gen 3. especially not at 40, 50K miles. I had my 2015 GTI cleaned at 75K bone stock miles, they told me it could've gone to 100K+ based on how little buildup there was.
My 2015 gti had major carbon build up at 40k. It was so bad that carbon also built up inside my intake manifold causing flaps to get stuck. The car starting driving like shit and was jerking and misfiring. Ended up having to replace the intake manifold. Once the valves were cleaned and the new intake manifold put in, everything went back to normal.

Here's some good info from Paul at Deutsche Auto about the issue: https://www.shopdap.com/blog/post/carbon-build-up-and-cold-start-misfires-on-2-0t-tsi.html
 
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Dog Dad Wagon

Autocross Champion
Location
Go Birds
Car(s)
16 Touareg TDI
My 2015 gti had major carbon build up at 40k. It was so bad that carbon also built up inside my intake manifold causing flaps to get stuck. The car starting driving like shit and was jerking and misfiring. Ended up having to replace the intake manifold. Once the valves were cleaned and the new intake manifold put in, everything went back to normal.

Here's some good info from Paul at Deutsche Auto about the issue: https://www.shopdap.com/blog/post/carbon-build-up-and-cold-start-misfires-on-2-0t-tsi.html

interesting. Sounds like your engine had a faulty PCV that never threw a CEL for the problem. Because normally-functioning EA888 Gen 3’s simply do not have carbon buildup issues like this. There are so many more people who’s experience has more closely aligned with mine than yours. Whereas, if we were talking about the MK6’s Gen2 TSI, your experience would be normal.
 

kevinkar

Drag Racing Champion
Location
United States
What's the justification for doing maintenance sooner than VW recommends? (Not being snarky, actually curious - I'm at about 6k miles so the 10k is still theoretically a ways off.)
None. The recommended intervals are not set to the last possible mile/day to do the maintenance or the car will die the day after. There's a pad built in to the schedule because it has to be conservative enough to let the car live. Unless you are really hard on the car and driving in such a was as to cause fluids to break down early (tracking every weekend, slamming on the brakes every single stop, etc.), driving normally and changing fluids at the manufacturer's recommended intervals is completely fine. Changing fluids early does nothing but cost you money.

If you drive normally, the one fluid that could always stand being changed early is brake fluid as that absorbs moisture even if you don't drive at all and can affect your braking performance when too much water is absorbed.

Yes, fresh, clean, new fluids are good. But changing them early won't buy you another 200,000 miles.
 

juskimdh

New member
Location
Lewisville, TX
Car(s)
2021 Volkswagen GTI
Shopping around for front clear bra and ceramic coat for the rest of the car - does $3k sound reasonable? Never got it done before so not sure what a reasonable price is. Clear bra they’ll be using is the STEK Dyno shield and Ceramic Pro for the coating. They’re an authorized installer and have great reviews.
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
Shopping around for front clear bra and ceramic coat for the rest of the car - does $3k sound reasonable? Never got it done before so not sure what a reasonable price is. Clear bra they’ll be using is the STEK Dyno shield and Ceramic Pro for the coating. They’re an authorized installer and have great reviews.
Should be around 2K for quality.
 
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