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2015 GTI problem child

Zer0DazE

Ready to race!
Location
Winchester, VA
As it turns out the replacement OEM clutch the dealer installed hates the Cobb stage 2 tune. Guess it’s time for a new clutch. It's a good thing I picked up some overtime shifts this pay period.
 

Zer0DazE

Ready to race!
Location
Winchester, VA
DKM stage 3 arrived today from Modded Euro's (they have them in stock)


Clutch is going in tomorrow, and the MST intake goes in when I get it back. I should have it back Friday, and have a road trip coming up so I can break it in.

Edit: My trans shop says they haven't run into any snags yet, and should have the car ready around noon tomorrow.
 
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Zer0DazE

Ready to race!
Location
Winchester, VA
Install done. The clutch is quiet, taking off from a stop obviously isn't as smooth as it was with the stock unit, and holy crap it's heavy. This is not something your wife/gf is going to want to drive. Hopefully it will lighten up a little and slip a little when starting from a stop as it breaks in a bit. It does grab nicely though, and is very drivable other than that.

If anyone tells you it is similar to stock, they are full of it. It is significantly heavier, very grabby, and doesn't slip, so starting from a stop smoothly takes focus. I haven't beat on it yet (needs to be broken in), but did get after it a bit, and it will be a lot of fun on the back roads.
 

Zer0DazE

Ready to race!
Location
Winchester, VA
After 200 miles on this clutch it wasn't any better than day 1. The next 100 miles were a different story. Part of my daily commute is a stretch of highway, so I started to clutch in, let the revs come up a couple hundred rpm, and then clutch out. Over the last few days the clutch engagement has become much more smooth. I was skeptical for a bit, but I am thinking that by 500 or so miles the engagement will smooth out nicely.

I have been working a bunch of over time this pay period (37 hours) to cover the clutch cost, install, and the IS38 I just ordered last night. I was up in the air over the IS38 and the EQT, 2 very different animals, and I decided on smaller unit. Finding a new one for $900 shipped didn't hurt either. That show leave me with enough left over to pick up the Invidia cat back to match the down pipe.

I also got up early this morning, made some coffee, and installed the MST intake that has been sitting on my counter for a week now. With all the overtime I haven't had time to get it put in.

Not sure when the turbo will go in. I have to go out of town for a family reunion on my next set of days off, and the car still needs to get back to the body shop so they can re-repaint the hood that they sprayed purple after burning the paint with a buffer.
 

Zer0DazE

Ready to race!
Location
Winchester, VA
I was finally able to pick up my car this morning. It took almost a week, and apparently 5+ attempts to mix the paint properly. Once they had it correct they ended up painting the hood, fenders, and doors to get everything to blend properly. It is nice that there was no charge, but I am not overly excited that 1/3 of my car is now wearing an aftermarket paint. At least my chips, dings, and scuffs are fixed except for those at the back end of the car. I do wish they would have called me before getting after it, I could have been convinced to have them spray the rear of the car and help them recoup some of their costs.

Anyways, the car is one color, and looks good. I also had some boxes show up.

A new IS38, install kit, spark plugs, and coolant.


I also ordered mats from Findway. They came out to 99 USD shipped and showed up to MI in 2 days. These are way nicer than the OEM mats and those crappy Monster Mats.

I am still waiting on a set of mud flaps to show up. Hopefully they will show up this week. I am going to try to get the turbo installed in the next week or two, but it's dependent on my free time and ability to get a second set of hands over here with a beer and pizza payment.
 

Zer0DazE

Ready to race!
Location
Winchester, VA
I started the IS38 install today. I spent as much time removing everything as I did dealing with the coolant and oil lines. I am having an issue removing the coolant line off the back of the turbo. The retaining bolt is removed, but I can not get it to come off the turbo. I switched to plan B and decided to leave it and just disconnect the lines from the block. I am still stuck with the line that runs to the heater core. I can't get anything on the clamps or any leverage on what I can get at.

So I am hanging up my hat for the evening, and will get after it again tomorrow when I am fresh and not irritated.

On the bright side the install of my cabin pre-filter went well. Unfortunately I found 2 of the 3 cowl/rain tray clips missing, and a random 13mm nut sitting on the rain tray. I ordered 4 clips since I figure the next shop will loose them as well (the dealership lost 2 the last time). While I had things apart I was looking, but couldn't find where that nut belonged.

Edit:
Damn it! I was just rereading this thead
https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29396
There is a second retaining bolt on the coolant block. Ugh.
 
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Zer0DazE

Ready to race!
Location
Winchester, VA
After my morning pot of coffee I put my game face on and went out to the shop. Looking at AllData again it reinforced that I am an idiot for having missed that second bolt. I wasted hours fighting with that mess. :rolleyes:

Bolt out and with a little persuasion I was able to get the coolant feed off the back of the turbo. I moved the oil drain over along with the coolant feed... bad idea. Even with the dog bone disconnected and the engine pulled forward I couldn't get the new turbo to rotate in. Removing the coolant feed resolved that. Connecting the mess of lines I removed (unnecessarily) from the back of the block took as long as putting everything else back. Removing the axle would give better access and visibility, but the extra work wouldn't have been worth it.

Other than those lines, everything went back together easily. The coils came off and went on without any fight which was an unexpected surprise, first mark in the win column. I installed RS7 plugs while it was apart. The stock plugs looked great for being on an OTS tune.

When things were mostly done I fired up VCDS and checked the wategate. I didn't adjust it before hand. When I opened the packaging I noticed all the bolts and wastegate arm had paint on them. It looks like it had been adjusted at the factory.



It tested out fine. That's two in the win column. Google didn't turn up any pics of turbos with paint/preadjusted wastegates.

The last thing I did before buttoning things up was fed the turbo oil and let it run through... fed it more, and then replaced the feed line. I didn't bother pulling the fuel pump fuse (I only do that on new engine builds that haven't had oil through them), fired up and let it idle for 1 hour while I drank a beer and bled the air from the coolant.

On the ground, running, not making any funny noises, and not leaking fluids. Third mark in the win column.



After a shower I took it for a ride to the pet store to pick up some meds for the dog. The clutch still isn't broken in so I didn't get on it. I did notice the power is not coming on at 2500 RPM, and I like it. With that later power I noticed the exhaust doesn't get loud until later (wastegate opening I assume). That is nice for puttering around town.


The pre-filter. I forget who, but someone here posted these, and I owe that person a pint. Excellent find!


I also ordered some mud flaps from flea bay. They are actually nicer than I expected. I mocked them up, and fit was really nice, but I didn't wash the car before putting it in the air, so I will have to wait to install them.


And the mystery I have not solved. The shop lost 2 clips for the rain tray, and 1 screw for the engine splash guard, but left this nut on the rain tray (and a razor blade on the top of the splash guard).


I could not figure out where it was supposed to go. I'm sure if I toss it in the intake it will find it's way home. :p
Funny thing... when I put it all back together I didn't end up with any pocket parts, unlike the last few "mechanics" that worked on the car.

All in all it wasn't a bad install. I think if/when I have to do it again I will be closer to the AllData quoted time. So after an LSD, bigger brakes, and some fuel upgrades I will be able to swap in a big boy turbo in an afternoon.
 

Zer0DazE

Ready to race!
Location
Winchester, VA

Zer0DazE

Ready to race!
Location
Winchester, VA
With my OTS map I am having some issues with boost coming up and then dipping before coming back to the set point. I have a friend working on the issue with me, and with a little time I am sure we will get it worked out.
 
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Zer0DazE

Ready to race!
Location
Winchester, VA
So I pulled everything apart, snugged up the nuts for the turbo, checked plug gaps, and everything looks good. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a mechanical/installer issue. I did see that there is a coolant line that is weeping a little. It looks like it has been going on for a while. It is the line on the head that is near the #3 cylinder that runs up to the upper coolant pipe. The spot when it connects to the head is damp. I will have to keep an eye on that. I also adjusted the wastegate so that it is reading 3.584v which puts it back in spec.
 
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Navi

Autocross Champion
Location
BK/NYC/Hamptons
hm that's interesting. I installed my is38 on Sunday and the wastegate voltage read 3.46. I did not make any adjustments to it out of the box. This is what the current logs look like:

https://datazap.me/u/navindralr/log-1535137833?log=0&data=6-10

Even at 3.46 it seems fine... Unless I'm missing something that the log shows?
 

Zer0DazE

Ready to race!
Location
Winchester, VA
hm that's interesting. I installed my is38 on Sunday and the wastegate voltage read 3.46. I did not make any adjustments to it out of the box. This is what the current logs look like:

https://datazap.me/u/navindralr/log-1535137833?log=0&data=6-10

Even at 3.46 it seems fine... Unless I'm missing something that the log shows?

Your max tq at clutch is higher than mine. It looks like my actual tq number goes over the max and things go south from there.

Edit:
I have a friend that is sending over a new map to try out later. If I continue to have issues I may swap the diverter valve from my is20 to see if that is causing the issue.

This morning I washed the car and put it back in the garage (I should have moved it in back to the shop), and will put the mud flaps on, maybe flush the brakes, and then see if I can't track down a rattle I have from the front driver's side.

While driving over crappy Michigan roads where the wheel is moving up and down quickly I get a rattle from the front left. I have had the suspension apart a couple, and I am having a hell of a time tracking it down. The mounts and bearings are new, but I need to look a little deeper at the lower control arm bushings, and maybe pull the caliper apart and check to make sure the pads aren't rattling. If it's none of those things I will probably replace the dampers all the way around. I am at 46000 miles, so the OEMs have 20000+ miles on them with the ED springs.
 
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