Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT Nick's Two-Car Detached Vdub Garage

[TX4runner]

Spark plugs are generally straight forward DIY as long as it's not a boxer engine with limited clearance. VW with cylinder holes pointing up should be easy (ish).

 

[fouckhest]

Glad to hear that T & team got you sorted!

I will certainly hit you up next time I will be in the area

 

[nicholam77]

Hopefully it will be your last water pump.

I mean if this one lasts another 60k I'll be happy.

Glad to hear she is back and mended up. A few more things to finish and I am sure she will provide you with many more miles of enjoyment as already has happened. Still a fantastic looking car.

Thanks!

Good to have the Golf up and running again. It’s similar to my wife’s 2018 Mk7.5 GTD, which she has had from new and now has roughly 55k miles. I don’t know if you have mentioned in your thread, but have you removed the silica bag from the coolant header yet? If not, that’s something you should do asap before your heater packs up in the middle of a MN winter.

Wow, ok, somehow I did not know about that. Thanks. It seems like the easiest / safest option might be to replace the reservoir with a new one that doesn't use the silica pouch? My car came with G13 coolant, and looking at the service record I got it seems they replaced with G12evo for the water pump job. So I think that should be good without the silica?

Spark plugs are generally straight forward DIY as long as it's not a boxer engine with limited clearance. VW with cylinder holes pointing up should be easy (ish).

Yeah, they are easily accessible straight on the top. They haven't been replaced yet since new. I have the tools, but my main concern is breaking anything (clips on the ignition harness, ground wire studs, accidentally tearing the coil pack rubber boots).

Glad to hear that T & team got you sorted!

I will certainly hit you up next time I will be in the area

Thanks! Sounds good!

 

[TomGW]

Wow, ok, somehow I did not know about that. Thanks. It seems like the easiest / safest option might be to replace the reservoir with a new one that doesn't use the silica pouch? My car came with G13 coolant, and looking at the service record I got it seems they replaced with G12evo for the water pump job. So I think that should be good without the silica?

We are a VW/Audi household and learned the hard way. It's a question of when, not if, it will burst and clog the heater matrix. Then it's a dash out, replace the matrix, flush the system job. Unfortunately, you will still be plagued with the new matrix repeatedly blocking. Simple to avoid by eliminating the silica in the first instance.
If you can get a new reservoir without the silica pouch go for it. If not, the least risky method is to remove the pouch from a new reservoir before you fit it. However, I removed the pouch from our GTD and daughter's Touran without too much trouble.
Use something smooth and rounded, for example the handle of a spoon, to gently lever the pouch out of its clip and then you should be able to pull it out by your fingers. You may need the spoon to assist as it's slightly too wide for the opening.

 

[nicholam77]

We are a VW/Audi household and learned the hard way. It's a question of when, not if, it will burst and clog the heater matrix. Then it's a dash out, replace the matrix, flush the system job. Unfortunately, you will still be plagued with the new matrix repeatedly blocking. Simple to avoid by eliminating the silica in the first instance.
If you can get a new reservoir without the silica pouch go for it. If not, the least risky method is to remove the pouch from a new reservoir before you fit it. However, I removed the pouch from our GTD and daughter's Touran without too much trouble.
Use something smooth and rounded, for example the handle of a spoon, to gently lever the pouch out of its clip and then you should be able to pull it out by your fingers. You may need the spoon to assist as it's slightly too wide for the opening.

Ok, this is all great to know! Now you have me stressing!

After some quick Google searches, it looks like there is a newer part number expansion tank for the Mk7 that does not include the silica packet.

5Q0121407AA

I think because mine is 10 yrs old and a new tank is only ~ $50-60 for a genuine one, I'd probably do that as I'd be too scared of breaking the packet while removing it. Even with a spoon haha.

Do I need to worry about the residual G13 in the system? My understanding is the coolant was probably only 40-50% replaced during the water pump job, so would now be a mix of the original G13 and the G12evo top off. As in, would I need to worry about aluminum engine internals corroding (I think that's what the silica is supposed to prevent with G13)?

 

[TomGW]

I suppose that a complete drain down and refill with G12evo would be the recommended action but I don’t know how critical it is.
Our younger daughter’s Mk7 Golf now needs its third flush of the new heater matrix fitted about 18 months ago, so this is how I know that it’s virtually impossible to get rid of the residual crystals out of the system once the pouch ruptures.

 

[nicholam77]

I suppose that a complete drain down and refill with G12evo would be the recommended action but I don’t know how critical it is.
Our younger daughter’s Mk7 Golf now needs its third flush of the new heater matrix fitted about 18 months ago, so this is how I know that it’s virtually impossible to get rid of the residual crystals out of the system once the pouch ruptures.

Yikes!!

I actually had the car back at the shop this morning for an unrelated small repair (MAP sensor harness clip was broken), so I asked them about it, too.

They agreed it's a potential big problem and should be removed.

They also said during the water pump job that *most* of the coolant was replaced with G12evo. Probably not all, but enough that they advised it should be ok to just take the bag out / replace the expansion tank with new one, and do a manual flush in the future. They recommended a full flush every 4 years or so regardless of coolant type, even though VW doesn't have a maintenance interval.

I assumed a full coolant flush would be a huge chore, but I came across this video where they basically just open the closed loop and continually top off the reservoir while the old stuff pumps out the return hose into a bucket! With the car at temp and the heater on.

I think for now I'm going to drain and remove the expansion tank, remove the silica bag while it's off the car in case it breaks, and then put the same tank back on and fill up with some G12evo premix I have on hand.

Then maybe a couple years from now I can worry about a full flush again.

Hopefully I can get to it this weekend.

And thank you for bringing this to my attention! The last thing I want after putting all this money into the car is another expensive disaster!

 

[TomGW]

Glad to be able to help. Apart from the expense involved, the on-going aggravation of the heater blowing cold air and the windscreen misting is sufficient reason to get it removed asap. Enjoy your GTI - it looks great. Wife's is Atlantic Blue which is another great colour.

 

[nicholam77]

Enjoy your GTI - it looks great. Wife's is Atlantic Blue which is another great colour.

Thank you! Had to Google Atlantic Blue, we didn't get that in the states on the Mk7... yeah that is a nice color!

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Small Smart Home Updates

Front Door

I mentioned this all the way back in May, but never actually installed the sensor...

I added a contact sensor to our front door to help cut down on Doorbell Notifications.



I had to 3d print a 'riser' for it to line up properly.




Basically I have a TTS (Text-To-Speech) announcement whenever a person is detected at the front door video doorbell that plays through the Sonos speakers in our house, and also my phone receives a push notification with a visual snapshot.

This is great when there is a visitor. But it's annoying when I'm just reaching outside the door to retrieve the mail. Or when we're unloading or loading the car and making multiple trips in and out and get a bunch of notifications. And slightly awkward if my kids open the door if they see someone they know coming, and then the guest hears my Sonos say "someone has been detected at the front door!!!". It always confuses people.

So... I added a simple condition to my front door automation that will only announce / send notification if the door has been closed for more than 1 min. To put it another way, if the door has opened within the last minute, it won't announce.

This is so if I open the door to leave the house or get the mail, the contact sensor will open first, and cancel the announcement. But if the door has been closed for awhile and a visitor approaches (mail man, guest, solicitor), it will alert us.



I used to install recessed sensors and care about aesthetics, but I don't mind so much anymore. I think it looks fairly clean on the white door, and not getting useless notifications is a huge win.



Kids Rooms

I've held off doing much automation or having smart devices in the kids rooms, but awhile back I added smart relays for the overhead light fixtures. And their night lights are on smart plugs so they can be scheduled.

They also listen to Yoto Players every night as they fall asleep, either music or podcasts. I recently discovered Yoto Player has a Home Assistant integration. Because of course it does...

So, I decided to add a 'Kids Rooms' page on my mobile app dashboard, that gives me quick control of their overhead light, night light, and Yoto.



My son also got this cool planet / space projector for his birthday that he likes to fall asleep to, but I don't want it on all night long:



So I added a smart plug to that, too.



Since I've come this far, I plan to add some relays to their lamps (they each have a floor lamp and a table lamp) that have inline switches. That will require some cutting and wiring and 3d printing.

But the full plan is to have scheduled scenes for bedtime and wakeup that automate all their lights and Yoto's. And make sure their lights turn off when we leave the house.

They have to wake up at 6am for school days which is completely dark in the winter, so I'm hoping a gentle 'light alarm' will help the wake up process.