Wish this video was out 10 years ago, just about everything you pointed out I had to fix😂 my experience with my VR6 was a nightmare, but I learned so much about working on cars by doing it all myself. It was even hard to let that car go even after all the problems I had to fix to make it right.
Well, you just can't argue with that. Complete coverage with everything you'd ever need to know - it even has its own contents page in the description. Gotta love The Humble Mechanic.
Haha, you said it. I still have my MKIV VR6 from 16 years ago. Only 155,000 miles on it (it's not a daily driver), and the front suspension has been rebuilt three different times already. People don't realize whether you drive these cars daily, or whether you let them sit, the rubber bushings and plastic coolant hardware will all still perish at the same rate. UV, age, weathering.
When I bought mine (out of state), we took it to the local stealership for a prebuy inspection and it was a joke. The seller was honest about all the issues he knew of and the dealership didn't even catch basic stuff for example the hatch wouldn't open. But yeah, its a shame! Basically, if you have a buddy/shop you *trust* keyword, take it there for the prebuy. Overall I have no regrets, I love my R32!
Same with me.. taken pathfinder to nissan before buying & they said all ok...I asked to jackup the suv, oil leak from diff..even the propeller shaft was rusted🤣 Immediately rejected it & took Atlas.
My mk4 12v vr6 Jetta's low speed cooling fans would never come one, and I eventually diagnosed it to be a broken/burned low speed resistor on both fans. I took the fans out, soldered my own 1ish ohm resistor in place of the ones that melted, and added an aluminum plate on it to act as a heat sink. It has worked great ever since!
wow. You can't imagine how much this video will help me find my R32. Very impressed by the amount of work and detail you put into these videos for a type of car that has only been produced in limited numbers. Thank you!!!
I think you covered it all, Charles. This video would have been perfect in January when I bought my Mk4 r32. I was able to negotiate 2k off the asking price because chain guides, coolant pipe, and clutch have never been done with 115k. Car runs excellent though and will I be repairing those items soon. Keep up the great content!
We need a mechanic like you in the EU. We have so many different engines that you don't need in the US due to emissions. All these engines are so complex and everything breaks!
charles, first off thank you for the quality and in depth-ness to your videos and really breaking down and simplifying with explanations. not all of us are master techs and rather just backyard enthusiasts and just taking that little bit to explain really makes the video better and helps me understand your thoughts and points that much more. your suspension video install helped me tons when i did h&r coils on my 04. i made sure to thank you when we met at waterfest 19 (mikey, silver 04) i still have that autographed hot wheels!! my thoughts that you actually touched on in the video are about the door latch modules & microswitches as i’m about to dive into that repair myself. i just converted all my interior lighting to all LED and in doing so discovered my non working driver side. along with the door not locking with the fob, fuel pump not priming upon opening etc. it is a super common issue as i’ve read and heard you talk about. a specific video on this would be a great addition IMO! Keep it up! the videos are fantastic and my go to when on youtube searching for vw something specific or just generally bored. sincerely, all of your faithful viewers.
Same here... with two, MK4 2005 VW Golf TDIs both with manual transmissions and 200,000 miles on them. One as a daily driver and the other as a project car. Love the mechanical design and working on the MK4.
MK4 GTI 1.8T owner here. I am from south Texas, so the heat will play into these issues a lot. 1- Secondary Air Injection failure is super common. 2- Squeaky doors. 3- Soft touch plastics melting. 4- Make sure the timing belt has been changed recently or negotiate it off the price. 5- Latch on the hatch breaking. 6- Strange electrical issues ie. turning on recurc while driving makes the parking brake light turn on 7- Shifter bushing in the shifter box. They like to disintegrate and linkage will come undone. You have to drop the downpipe and heat shield to get to it, and expect your turbo manifold studs to break. 8- CV joints destroying themselves. At the end of the day, they have their issues, but when you drive the car to the store and look at it while you're walking in, it makes it all worth it.
One thing I've had on both of my Jettas is a failed seal on the HVAC intake or whatever it's called -- the box that holds the cabin air filter down in the cowl. I suppose the bottom of the air cowl is mostly used as a water drain trough, but they just sort of cut a square hole in it for the HVAC intake, and placed that box over top of it. Said box just uses a molded rubber seal at its base to seal it off from water leaking into the HVAC duct, and two plastic nuts that hold the box in place and the seal under pressure. As the car ages, that seal gets hard and stops sealing... main evidence of this is a wet carpet in the passenger footwell towards the firewall after the car has been exposed to water. One of the Jettas I bought was advertised as having bad door seals (and the car smelled pretty moldy inside), but there was no issue with the doors -- I took it to a carwash, and pretty quickly noticed that the HVAC intake seal had gotten SO bad, I had a waterfall pouring into the passenger footwell. (NB: this was four years ago, and I only just realized the PO took the drain plugs out of the floorpan as an attempt to help it keep dry -- sigh). Anyway, it's not hard to fix, just get some black Permatex (or your sealant of choice), pull the box, and just run a bead of sealant around the seal. More HVAC fun: if you notice the HVAC directional knob doesn't seem to do anything (i.e. air comes out everywhere), the temperature knob doesn't work very well to change the air temp, and/or you're getting blasted with dry-rotted bits of yellowish green foam out the air vents, that is also fixable, but a lot bigger PITA. The directional and temperature flaps are metal, and filled with holes. From the factory, VW covered these flaps with a thin sheet of foam with adhesive backing, which seems to disintegrate after about 15 years. I suppose it ensured there was always *some* airflow through all the ducts, but most air flows the way you have the knobs set. But when it dry rots, foam bits come out the vents, and obviously air goes through those holes much more easily. You have to take a big portion of the dash apart and get access behind the radio and HVAC controls. There's a *very small* access panel right there where you can get to I think two, maybe three, of the doors, but unfortunately it's barely big enough for an adult to get a hand in there sideways. Clean off the rest of the foam stuff as best you can, and get yourself some legit duct tape (the stuff HVAC guys *actually* use on ducts, it's kind of a really thin sheet of aluminum with SUPER sticky adhesive backing, not your traditional rubbery duct tape) and do your best to cover up the majority of the holes in the flaps. Electromechanical stuff: just don't buy aftermarket replacements. As the door latches were mentioned, I highly suggest buying genuine VW latches -- for one of my cars I went with an aftermarket unit, and now have to deal with issues like the keyhole position switch not working consistently, or the mechanism jamming up if you try to open the door when it is locked. Another example would be the fan control module... a long time ago, I replaced that on my 1.8T with an aftermarket unit (it looked all rusty which caused me to stupidly condemn it without testing, but the problem actually ended up being a bad fan, of course), and it only lasted about a week before it completely died, and I put the factory unit back in. No problems since. But you don't have to avoid the aftermarket completely. There are a few novel replacement or repair kits to deal with these cars' shortcomings, and some are cheap, yet work well. AA Rodriguez has a kit to repair the armrest hinge when it inevitably breaks (if it hasn't already), which involves two kinda crappy looking plastic bits and four self tapping screws. It's pretty crude, but it *works,* and doesn't look all that bad once installed. Oh, and one other thing on door latches... if you have a four door, hopefully you won't have a back door latch failure. If you do, best of luck... the most important advice I can give is to be VERY VERY CAREFUL when removing the two piece plastic split pin dowel thing that holds the rear window to the regulator. Some guides say you can hammer it out, but DON'T do that, you WILL break part of the plastic regulator track. After a failed attempt at hammering it out, I just drilled it (I don't think they're reusable, but even if they are, replacements are cheap and a lot of dealers have them in stock), but just be very careful of the regulator cables (there are two that you have to pull out of the way to get a drill in there). Raxles are excellent for half-shaft replacements. If you don't want to give up your firstborn for an OEM set, and don't want to go through the hassle of swapping axles only to find out your sub-$100 Chinese aftermarkets are bad, talk to Marty at Raxles. They use all OEM axle tubes, high quality CV joints, and pretty fantastic CV boots (I think they're a type of silicone... something that won't dryrot like the standard rubber). Probably the nicest parts buying experience I've had in recent memory, and the axles were shipped quickly, came packaged beautifully, with instructions, boots pre-packed with grease, and all the replacement hardware you need. Granted I've only been running mine for a few months, so I can't report on longevity, but from what I've read, they're at least as good as OEM. The only kinda annoying part is you have to call them to order. And hopefully your car hasn't had your axles swapped out for aftermarkets, otherwise you won't get your core deposit. The worst part of that whole ordeal was actually doing the replacement (getting all those bolts out after they've been in the inner axle flanges for 300k miles is a massive pain, and getting them around the new boots and back in is worse, since you absolutely cannot do that job without getting your hands covered in the diabolical axle grease). Anyway, I guess I just want to say that yeah, these cars have their problems, but there is a silver lining here: the problems are *almost always common*. I don't think I've had an issue that there weren't several lengthy forum threads and a DIY walkthrough fix just one google search away. The other thing is this platform was super popular, sold globally, and produced for *sixteen years* (finally ending production in Mexico in 2015), so the parts availability is absolutely fantastic (save for special edition stuff like R32-specific body panels). I've got a friend with a 2001 4runner I think, who has to work a lot harder to find certain things for that vehicle, since there's a ton of stuff that is NLA. You can also find loads of MkIVs in junkyards these days, which is an excellent source for cheap OEM parts (no, you won't find an unbroken arm rest, or glove box, or cup holder, but you *can* find other stuff that doesn't break on *every* car). But it won't be that way for long... at least in the US, these cars are getting a bit thin on the ground, so now is a great time to buy one and fix it up if you are so inclined.
Hmm, you covered so much but I'll take a stab at adding to the list. Check all the lock cylinders, ALL of them. The cams inside the lock cylinder break then won't unlock/lock a car. Check the fenders to see if the lips have been rolled inwards by a past stancy-pants. Check the chassis rails above front axles to make sure that same stancey-pant has not notched the chassis to slam the car into the ground (yes, I have seen this done, badly). If you see engine mount spacers, deff check chassis rails. Low speed (specifically) radiator fan operation, the low speed resistors can burn out, just need a bit of wire and 2 male spade terminals to test that. Cruise control inoperable because of clutch pedal switches. Rear demister dead strips. Check behind the cover panels in the rear for water intrusion (just behind and below the tail light connectors). You never know for sure how many times the car has had it's engine out and had the single-use mount bolts re-used. Nice work Charles, looking forward to seeing more of this one :-)
Wow thats very detailed....I love it! I was looking at buying an A3 a few years ago from out of town and not knowing the place i had them send it to the local audi dealership and it was the best money i spent. They noticed the wheel gap was not identical on one corner and that showed what they believed to be $3,000 to properly repair it. While you may have some knowledge about cars unless your as detailed as you are in this video a pre purchase inspection is always a great buy. If it comes back clear its worth it for piece of mind and if it comes back with a bunch of red flags you can negotiate or avoid a massive headache
Charles, I have to say....holy crap, wow!!! I dont even own a VW but I love watching this!! That is very detailed and deep inspection video you have done!! i absolutely love this video!! I felt so engaged and entertaining to watch this! by far! you deserve the "Inspection award" you da man!!! many, many thumbs up!!! AWESOME video!!!
Just bought a mk4 golf 2.0 in July and yes. All of this 🤣🤷♀️ This is my 4th mk4, the other 3 were jettas. Statement still stands. First things I got to fix were literally the back driver's side window and front passenger door lock. Her glovebox door was broke off, so thats on the list. The sun roof motor is shot. I'm tackling her front suspension next because reasons. But I love the mk4s. So here we are.
The biggest thing wrong with my car was a bad input shaft bearing in the trans. Decided to swap to an 02M DRP. Car had bent tie rod, blown coilovers, vacuum leaks, stuck parking brake, leaking rear main, a Subaru brz muffler, etc. Still love the car lol.
I had 2 mk4 GLI Jettas. 24 valve VR6, and 20 valve 1.8t. To put it simply. You need to have a lot of disposable income to maintain one of those cars. I did all my own maintenance and got sick of breaking down. Bought a geo prism and drove it for years neglecting all basic maintenance. Never left me stranded
Hey Charles great video. I picked up my first R32 around the same time you picked up your blue one. Wish I had the money to throw at it but I got too many projects (65 impala, mk2 gti, and mk4 R32). My R32 currently just hit 90k miles on it and luckily was very stock/unmolested when I picked it up. One issue I found is the line to the brake booster has a hole in it from rubbing against the threads sticking out of the firewall. Not sure what this line is called. Another issue (I think) I am encountering is what I believe to be the fuel tank pressure valve ticking on startup. Possibly related but when I fill her up at the gas station the pump will auto-stop prior to a full tank of gas. If you have some insight I would appreciate it, if not I will turn to google. Great vid, keep up the great work!
GREAT mk4 comprehensive review. Well done. When you got the black one I stated I’ll take the broken bumper cover when/if you replace it. You pick the price, I’ll take it.
I had an 04 R32 and then I sold it to get into my 996tt but I am missing that wookie sound and want to get into another one in the near future. Thank you so much for making this video! I am familiar with alot of what you said but its hard to remember it all! This will make for a great checklist!
My biggest concern is finding a competent VW in my area and trusting that they can do the work properly, even it's as basic as an oil change or doing routine maintenance. I may just have to drive my car to your shop Charles!
Community-built? Excellent. Community-owned? OK, great. I'll swing by after dinner for my 30-minute drive slot. I no longer regret having settled for a GTI Autobahn back in '02, not knowing there was an awd super-version coming out the next year. Thank you so much!
I’m surprised you missed the biggest thing to look for on ANY used car...signs of aftermarket stereos and other electronics. Even if they have a stock radio installed, look for signs of past wiring under the dash and in the trunk/hatch area especially. Look near the fuse box (under dash and under hood) and look on a MK IV above the pedals. There should be plastic trim above the pedals. If it is missing, someone was in there. I can deal with bushing and leaks and missing parts, but wiring gremlins will take your money and your sanity. Been burned a few times on this. The worst is when something was removed and the power wire was cut back and left abandoned in some hidden location causing an intermittent short. At least when the stuff is still installed you can trace back the wires.
Just to add to the part where you check for VW glass, it is possible that someone replaced a window with one from a junkyard, so it would still have a VW logo on it. What you really want to look for is the very last line. At 17:14 you can see it says ....4 B at the very bottom. I've seen many different combinations of dots and numbers on OEM VW glass that will vary from car to car, but all glass on the car should have that same code at the bottom.
- avoid any model doesn't have a manual - cooling system has to be replaced immediately for a metal impeller - test drive at high speeds for at least an hour to see if it overheats with AC on - radiator needs to be replaced after purchase for an all metal one
My Jetta was that color blue. It’s been rare for me to find. There is a color that is similar that I see all the time but not really ever that exact color. The one in the background in the beginning.
Great video! One thing you didn’t touch on was the clutch. I have an 04 MKIV Gli with the 1.8t and 6-speed, should the R32 clutch have the same feel as that 6-speed when I push in the clutch pedal? Not sure if they have the same clutch and transmission but I had assumed they do. I test drove an R32 that had almost no clutch feel to it (could push it right to the floor MUCH easier than in my Gli) but I wasn’t sure if that is normal. From someone who is actively looking for an R32 this is an awesome video, much appreciated 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Josue Reyes that’s my guess too, I just don’t have a good baseline for what it SHOULD feel like. But if R’s have the same stock clutch as my Gli then I would expect their pedal engagement should feel the same as well. Unless there’s something else that could be affecting it that I’m not thinking of.
Great Video really helpful for purchasing a R32. I bought one about 3 years ago and check most of the things you mentioned but not all of them. Now I am Goin back under the hood just to double check some things. 👍👋 One other Question what scanner do you use for your R32. Thanks Charles.
Great videos Charles! I’ve a Mk4 with the AQN V5 engine - so is love to see the cam chain replacement from start to finish. I know it’s a big job but I’d really like to tackle it myself but it’s hard to find decent guidance.
I hear you man. There are a few guides out there, not all super quality. I just had my timing chain kit for my AQN arrive earlier this week, now waiting on all the other bits it needs at the same time. workshop-manuals.com covers the procedure wellish and Charles' video on the timing the White Wookie's engine (I think 12v 2.8, not certain which engine it was offhand) has a lot of good general advice.
Olly D zero time for that site. Little or no information on the AQN. I think I’ll resort to a Haynes manual for the main dismantling and gearbox removal; and the rest I can cobble together from elsewhere.
@@jamestravels9554 AQN is on these pages - workshop-manuals.com/volkswagen/golf-mk4/engine/5-cyl._injection_engine_(4-valve)/technical_data/technical_data/
@@jamestravels9554 And timing is in these pages (a few back and next and you should have all the info you need). I've never found a Haynes that covered the AQN. workshop-manuals.com/volkswagen/golf-mk4/engine/5-cyl._injection_engine_(4-valve)/engine_cylinder_head_valve_gear/removing_and_installing_cylinder_head/adjusting_valve_timing/
Just wanted to say I am very grateful for all the videos you've done on the MKIV R32. You've created a wealth of video knowledge that has been very helpful!! Especially being a MKIV R owner myself. Excited to follow this series and get some ideas for my 8P A3 3.2 (basically a MKV R32) as well.
@@user-xi9hz1fu9s It's been nothing but a great experience for me. I've mainly just kept up with maintenance since I got it a little over a year or two ago. Planning to do some preventative maintenance soon, but otherwise the only weird issue I ran into was the cover for the electronics on my MAF falling off and jamming into my throttle body (Cost me a new throttle body). Really could have been avoided too if not for my intake design. What type of trouble have you ran into? and what year 3.2?
@@EntiboyGraal got a 2004 one, ended up having the engine out in the first six weeks of ownership for a new clutch, flywheel, timing chain kit and radiator among other smaller bits, then turned out it needed a new vvt pulley (£540 for one part 😱) all costing near £2000 in parts, had it back on the road for another couple of thousand miles and it now has another transfer box leak, I think I just got unlucky but it hasn't been an easy ride, still got bodywork and a few other bits to sort too, Idk about you but driving it is fantastic though!
Interesting you mention about the throttle body though, when I have my foot flat to the ground it only measures 87% throttle input on vag com, do you have any ideas why this might be?
@@user-xi9hz1fu9s Oh my, that sounds like quite a bit. Hopefully now that you've gotten it back up to speed, it'll last for awhile (though sorry about the transfer box). You're right though, the driving experience is fantastic. I have yet to find something that rivals the experience of the 3.2.
I feel like I'm studying the night before a big test right now haha. I'm going to look at a silver one tomorrow with 150k miles on it. I see no stickers on core support in the pictures and seller says heat is luke warm but no other issues or dashlights. Also says the lowest he'll go is $13k... wish me luck!
Great detailed explanation, as usual. From your experience, do you know if you need the have factory glass for the front windshield for the rain sensors to work?
5:42 - I just had to replace the fan controller and the fuse holder on top of the battery a few days ago, because that green fuse melted and took part of the fuse holder with it. ('02 Jetta TDI)
I dont know with R32, but my 1,9 TDI 4Motion had lost its clots underneath behind the rockerpanel (in the floor). Didnt have the chance to check it until I got home, when I saw half of floor in the car had rotted away because of sand and mud etc.
Hi from the uk, I have 2 mk4 R32’s one as a daily and the other my weekend polish queen 😆 on the daily I have a motorised licking on and off coming from the haldex that put a warning light on when it’s doing this. Is the haldex dead or I’m told it could be corroded wiring plug. Any experience on this please ?
Hi humble mechanic - would you agree the mk4 golf is the best looking golf ever? I remember seeing an r32 in the vw dealer when i was a school kid never forgot the car and spec blew me away
Mk4s are literally my only love. It started with the '99 jettas. I still hunt down the mk4s. Best looking of the bunch. 💜 I'm never giving up the golf I just bought as a pandemic project in July.
Charles I'm at a small cross road. I'm boosting my vr5 agz (same as the vr6 aaa but 5 cylinder) I've done the chains around 20-30k km ago before taking the whole engine apart. The engine is super healthy and the replaced timing chain is without slack. The car will be running hopefully 600-720hp somewhere( longevity and high numbers). Should I still replace the chain when doing this rebuild or I can reuse the one I changed not so long ago? I would like to know what you would do in my place not looking for promises. Thanks for the great video!
Here's a mistake that I made not on a mk4 but it applies to any older car: if the wiring looks bad or messed with odds are you're gonna have some issues later on
Is it worth it, after watching your video, to buy a high milage R32? Especially what they are asking for some. I love the VR6 engine, I owned a 2001 GTI VR6 and a Deep Blue Pearl Superchatged R32. Plus what do you thing of the 2018 Passat GT VR6? It's not a R32 but in my opion more bank for your buck plus some MK5 R32 parts fit from ECS Tuning and other aftermarket parts that can make it a proper GT. What do you think 🤔 Like your video's.
Came all headlight of the MK4 with plastic out in the US? In Europe you can get they from glass. My MK4 came out with glass from the factory as well. By the way nice episode again!!!! ;)
Me thinks they ran over something and in addition to the belly pan an bumper damage, popped the oil pan (why a new pan was installed). Hope nothing under the pan got nailed at the same time. I'm sure you'll find out soon :O
Niiiiice check by I must say you should of press the Hazzard switch n make sure the dash ddnt light up like a Xmas tree like the black R32 no start post.🤣😂😭💯🤦
Awesome vid, thanks! Do you know of a common cause of under load rattles (sounds like heat shield rattle)? I've tried damping up the rear heat shield a bunch, but the rattle is still there and drives me crazy! Have gone over all tapping as I go but can't seem to hear anything weird...
@@HumbleMechanic mine wasn't driven much after having a motor swap. (I found out after I bought it) so now that I've doubled the cost in parts we are almost good🤣
Can you please do a complete step by step video or series on rebuilding and overhauling an Audi B7 4.2 L - V8 engine and also what to upgrade with what parts to fix the most common problem points with this series engine? If you need a car to do the video I have a 2006 Audi S4 that needs the timing chain & tensioners replaced.
HumbleMechanic I’m being completely serious though. You can use my Audi for your video and I am willing to help do the work with you if you let me. Its just sitting in my garage I will send you pics just let me know where to email or text them too.
At 3:35... that bolt should have the engine ground and a nut on it shouldn't it? I also check all battery cable ends for corrosion. I guess you covered it at 10:22.
I got 2 questions Charles. First, what do I need to upgrade my seats from manual to power n my mk4? Second, if I wanna replace my instrument bezel wit a new one, do I need to reprogram my gauge cluster if I'm using da original? Cause I know I have to unplug it from da car. Is my info saved on it?
Amazing video! When I first bought mine I’ve had this constant ticking sound and which feels from under the car near the gas tank only when I start it up and goes away after the car has warmed up. Any idea on what it could be?
Hi humble mechanic, just want to check how to force the cooling fan via VCDS? i am new with the software and new with the r32, I had the small fans work but the big fans doesn't even when AC is on.
