Bought a Cheap 2005 Golf GLS TDI

[Fastbird]

Ugh.....I drove it around the neighborhood and left a thick trail of oil out the exhaust. By the time I got around the block it started smoking......badly. Turns out there was a metric ton of oil in the exhaust that needs to be burned off. So now I wait for the evening to progress so I can take it out and burn some off. It was bad enough to completely cloud out the street behind me, so totally not safe at this point. Kind of expected, but not to the degree it was. Fortunately it seems to be only oil in the exhaust burning off and not more being added, as the oil level in the motor hasn't been dropping. Other than the smoke, everything seems copacetic with the car.

[popo8]

Ugh.....I drove it around the neighborhood and left a thick trail of oil out the exhaust. By the time I got around the block it started smoking......badly. Turns out there was a metric ton of oil in the exhaust that needs to be burned off. So now I wait for the evening to progress so I can take it out and burn some off. It was bad enough to completely cloud out the street behind me, so totally not safe at this point. Kind of expected, but not to the degree it was. Fortunately it seems to be only oil in the exhaust burning off and not more being added, as the oil level in the motor hasn't been dropping. Other than the smoke, everything seems copacetic with the car.

Were u able to blow it all out?

Im not only an LTXtech member... Im also the Owner.

[Fastbird]

Yeah, took a few miles. After about 10 miles of running/driving it quit the majority of the smoking, and two days later it was fine. Ran into some other.....needs......along the way too.

Drove it to work once I was comfortable with the car as it sat. Got to work and first thing I hear is a clunking in idle. DMF (Dual Mass Flywheel) was failing. Ok, no biggie, figured it was going to need a clutch soon anyway. Also gave me opportunity to replace the rear main seal that was leaking.

Drove it some more after ordering the clutch and found out the hard way the fuel gauge wasn't working. From the previous owner he said the dealership had the pump out for something and it never read full after that. It was stuck on like 1/8 tank. Ran it out of gas as I got into my development. Parked it at this point until the clutch job was to happen (after putting a gallon of fuel in to get it around the block and home). Removed the fuel lift pump assembly in about 10 minutes (gotta love factory installed hatches for accessibility) and found that One, the level sender was just caked in old gunk, so cleaned that, and two, that the pump when put back in wasn't oriented correctly, causing the no full condition. Works perfectly now. Seriously like a half hour job to remove, clean, and reinstall.

So, got a Sachs G60/VR6 Single Mass Flywheel conversion clutch and new rear main. Had to CUT the DMF out of the car. It had shifted on itself so far I couldn't force it back into alignment. Had to cut the center section out in order to get to the flywheel bolts. Got the original clutch out, and it looked FANTASTIC for having 225K miles.



Got the new clutch in and everything went back together fine. While in the air, noticed the major portion of the oil leak was coming from a cracked pan (these are thin aluminum pans and any type of impact will crack them apparently). There was a knuckle sized indentation with a crack right at the edge. So had to do a new pan ($45) and VSS which I broke dropping the trans.

All seems copacetic now. I've been driving it, my wife has been driving it, and no problems have shown up. Runs great and is reasonably quick (with the stage 4 tune it's making somewhere around 150-160 WHP and around 270-290 WTQ). Getting pretty solid fuel economy so far. Took 120 miles of driving just to tick off of full. Hoping to see around 600 a tank once I mod the neck so you can fill it with 15ish gallons.

Cleaned up nice too.






I've since removed the remnants of the "Golf" logo on the left side. Will be getting a new one eventually.


My biggest complaint is the big dent in the rocker on this side.



Plan to get a new front bumper since the bottom of this one is cracked, and have it, the hood, and front fenders all painted along with a pair of side skirts (to hide the big dent). Need to get wheel caps for the wheels, and next spring after winter is gone (these are NEW snow tires on it, still have the nubs on them) will be getting some 18" wheels and stiffening up the suspension.

All told, we're in the car for $4000, but we sold the Pacifica in a day for $2200 so net in on the car is only $1800 at this point. Now that the market is coming back for the 09-15 stuff with the approved fixes for the Gen II motors, we shouldn't have this one for more than a couple of years TOPS before upgrading to a larger and newer Sportwagen TDI. But this works for the time being (especially considering the skyrocketing price of gas from Harvey) as a stop gap.

[popo8]

First of all that is impressive for a clutch... 225k!!!!

Im also impressed with the tq numbers. Does it feel powerful?

As for the rocker dent... i had one similar on the ta when i got it. Was hidden by the ground effects... maybe there is a side skirt u can put over it... hide it and give the car a lower look???

Im not only an LTXtech member... Im also the Owner.

[Fastbird]

It really doesn't feel powerful until you want it to. The turbo doesn't get spooled until around 2000-2200 RPM, and just driving around in it I'm shifting at 2K anyways. But if you lay into the throttle and let the turbo eat, it'll take off on you real quick. That's the nice thing about these little turbo diesels. They make a crap ton of tq all over the power band. You can see the incline my main driveway has. I can let the clutch out and the car will happily pull itself up the driveway with no throttle input at all.

Plan is for a set of side skirts to hide the dent after massaging the upper crease down a little bit as it's bowed up into the door jamb. Probably do those at the same time I have the front end repainted.

[popo8]

Thats great about the tq from the lil diesel.

And good call on the side skirts...

Im not only an LTXtech member... Im also the Owner.

[Fastbird]

Well, this changed quickly. After a few weeks in the car, we found that it's simply not big enough for what we need it to do. So.........

Selling it to a co-worker tomorrow or Thursday for $4K (just a LITTLE more than what I've got into it, but definitely NOT taking a loss), and I dropped a deposit on this tonight, and will drive with a friend on Friday up to Minneapolis to pick it up and bring it home:







A fully loaded 2015 VW Golf Sportwagen TDI SEL. Every available option, was a dieselgate buyback currently on the Stage 1 Fix (software). 31K miles, one owner, got it for $18K flat. It popped up in my search this morning and I pounced on it. Turns out the dealer IT guy mispriced it, was supposed to be at 20K, but they're honoring the $18K. Deal!

We test drove one locally and found it to offer exactly what we need in terms of size without being too big.

It's a shame about the 05 Golf. It's actually a fun little car and a hoot to drive, and got EXCELLENT mileage for the motor it has (BEW). My wife just went to Delaware and back over the weekend, and averaged 48.6 MPG at 70 with the cruise control and air conditioning both on the whole way. Fortunately, the 15 has a significantly more efficient motor (Call911 bought a 15 Golf and has been averaging 56-58 MPG with it) so that should improve some even with it being a larger heavier car.

[popo8]

Well congrats on the new wagon! I know it wasnt the plan, but it looks great, and well.... everything happens for a reason.

Those mpg numbers u posted are insane man!!!

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[Fastbird]

Well congrats on the new wagon! I know it wasnt the plan, but it looks great, and well.... everything happens for a reason.

Those mpg numbers u posted are insane man!!!

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Yep, the TDI's are insanely good for MPG's which I'm ALL about.