[MAXRPM]

I finally did the upgrade to a 288MM in my Golf MK4, I also went ahead and changed the caliper to a 1.8T, everything went smooth, up until I tried to hook up the front brake line to the 1.8T calipers, they are kinda of short and very tight, I am afraid to connect them, I really think that if I drive my car and when is time for me to turn the wheels,,I would brake both of my brake lines .

Do I have to get the front brake lines from a VR6 or 1.8T?, so they could be long enough, mate at the right angle and have the play that they need? defnitly the banjo bolt and the plate connector where you screw it to the caliper, it sure does not sit the same way like the stock TDI caliper. any sugesstions?

 

[Wir3D]

can you bend the lines at all? how much did you spend on the upgrade? impressions?

 

[chittychittybangbang]

Is the car sitting on the wheels or are they in the air? That makes a difference in brake line length. Are they routed correctly? You can bend the metal brake line a little bit but I wouldn't bend it far or else it will crease it.

Not sure it the brake lines have to come from a vr6/1.8T but if it's different you can try it. If worse comes to worse you can always have custom brake lines made.

 

[MAXRPM]

Is the car sitting on the wheels or are they in the air? That makes a difference in brake line length. Are they routed correctly? You can bend the metal brake line a little bit but I wouldn't bend it far or else it will crease it.

Not sure it the brake lines have to come from a vr6/1.8T but if it's different you can try it. If worse comes to worse you can always have custom brake lines made.

You know what Chitty, you are right what a dumb, I had the car suspended on jacks, and it makes sense , I am going to attach the front lines and put the car to the ground, and check them, I worked all weekend and changed all the hubs with new ones, and wheel bearings as well, I was tired by the end of the day, could not think.

Wir3d, I spent $300 for all 4,,new rotors slotted vented and cross drilled, $120.00 for all akebonos brake pads, $275.00 for all 4 new hubs, $75.00 for 2-front bearings. and $100.00 for used spindles, carriers and caliper. Like $870.00 total, and if I were to do it all over again I would just buy a new kit with everything included, it is about the same amount.

My impression are, it's a simple job but it takes times to do it, the car looks good with new shoes, but I have not been able to drive the car yet because I have not attached the front brake lines yet, I will report back once I connect the lines and test drive it.

A hint for those Diyers when doing the brake upgrade or when simply replacing your rear brake pads, you need to grease the rear brake carriers studs and make sure they travel about 3/4 ", I have seen several car with stuck studs and thier reear brake simply do not work, so it is a must to check make sure they have their play and to grease them.

 

[MAXRPM]

I hooked up the brake lines and they are ok when car is on the ground, thanks.

but the saga continues, my brake pedal is going all the way down, even after bleeding it off with the power bleeder twice, no brake fluid coming out of anywhere, so no leaks as far as I can see, I also went ahead and I did the bleeding the old fashion way with someone pressing the brake pedal, and I still do not have any brakes, if I prees the pedal twice or 3 times, I get a little pressure then the pedal goes down all the way.

 

[Bropot]

Either the master cylinder is bad or there's a leak somewhere, or air is in the lines.

 

[chittychittybangbang]

It sounds like air in the lines or ABS pump. The fact that pumping the brakes helps suggests this and that the brake calipers were off suggests a big air bubble entering the system.

Possible leak in the master cylinder but if it wasn't there before this is less likely. Sometimes when bleeding brakes the act of pushing the pedal down further than where it normally goes rubs the seal the wrong way but this is normally minor and not severe like your case. This normally only happens if the seals were near the end anyways.

 

[MAXRPM]

Resetting ABS pump.

What I found out is that when all brake fluid comes out, and your ABS pump has gone completly dry,, no matter how many times you'd bleed your car, your brake pedal would still go down to the floor, then what you would need to do is to reset your ABS brake pump bleeding through Vag.com.

1) Vehicle needs to be on the lift or safe stands, no wheels touching ground
2) Ignition should be in the (ON) position
3) Select-Vag.com
4) (03-ABS Brakes)
5) (basic settings-04)
6) (group 001)
7) (GO)

This will trigger the ABS pump to turn for about 10 sec. you should hear a fairly loud pump clicking during time.

Click the (Done, Go Back) button and you are all set.


Remember if you are only doing brake fluid change this is not needed. only if your ABS pump has gone dry. This may be the case for my car, I am going to try to resart the pump tonight and will report back.

 

[MAXRPM]

Hopefully someone else here has done the ABS pump bleeding, so I can get some advice, last nite I messed with it, but I got stuck along the way, I managed to trigger the pump with with vag.com, but then after that Ross tech does not detail specifically what to do next, so I got stuck, maybe someone else can chime in on this.

 

[chittychittybangbang]

The bentley only says to follow the instructions on the scan tool. I would think that as the pump is triggered, you should apply pressure to the brake fluid system and bleed it out. I would think that pressing down the brake pedal and holding it as the pump cycles would also do it. Then lift the pedal after the pump stops to avoid drawing back in the air bubble. Then repeat.

 

[rocketeer928]

With all the mods that you have done to your car, have you also upgraded your axles?

I was recently asked this question by someone concerning my Jetta and its mods, and I was stumped. So, do we need to consider upgraded axles, brakes, etc as the mods raise the hp and torque? And if so, what are the recommended upgrades?

 

[MAXRPM]

With all the mods that you have done to your car, have you also upgraded your axles?

I was recently asked this question by someone concerning my Jetta and its mods, and I was stumped. So, do we need to consider upgraded axles, brakes, etc as the mods raise the hp and torque? And if so, what are the recommended upgrades?

VR6 axles are recommended, I did the axle upgrade on my Golf, and I was going to do it in my Jetta as well, but decided not to, the Golf is enough, so I have a spare vr6 axles laying around in my used parts arsenal, now that you remind me.

 

[MAXRPM]

The bentley only says to follow the instructions on the scan tool. I would think that as the pump is triggered, you should apply pressure to the brake fluid system and bleed it out. I would think that pressing down the brake pedal and holding it as the pump cycles would also do it. Then lift the pedal after the pump stops to avoid drawing back in the air bubble. Then repeat.

I have spent like 3 nites in a row underneath the car trying to get the air out of the ABS pump, and no luck., I followed the procedure to the T from Vag.com to get the air out and I still have no pressure on my brake pedal,,, before I did the 288mm upgrade on my car, I did not have this problem,,, my brakes were working great, so I am ruling out the master cylinder.

I did change the calipers and installed the used one that came with the spindle hub combination, although the calipers that i got on the car now are not leaking any fluid the only thing left for me to do is to go back and mount my old calipers maybe that will solve the poroblem, ,

Murphys law, I am planning to take this car to the TDI west fest IN PDX on the 22nd of this month, and we have a TDI race going on the same day, hopefully I can get my car going so I could go and drive for 10 hrs. to Portland for the race. crossing my fingers that I am able to fix this issue by the 21st...

 

[chittychittybangbang]

If you followed the instructions then I'm not sure what's wrong...saw your other post and I concur with the other posters. Something is not normal and you have to figure out what. The ABS pump procedure is just follow the prompts. For those who didn't see the post,

In VAG-COM:
[Select]
[03 - ABS Brakes]
[Basic Settings - 04]
Group 001
[Go!]

Once you hit GO! the screen says to depress pedal and hold
You have to press the pedal HARD. Seriously, pound the pedal like you're about to drive over a cliff. Remember to hold the pedal down!

The pedal will drop, the pump runs briefly, then the pedal comes back up.

Take your foot off the pedal.

I think it wants you to click on OK at this point.

The screen says something like FR/FL bleed screw OPEN.

Open both front bleed screws. Obviously, on each bleed screw you'll have some tubing going from the bleeder into a catch jar.

Click on OK (or DONE or something like that).

Pump runs for 10 seconds, pushing fluid out of the bleeders into your catch jars.

Screen says something like: Depr. pedal 10X; bleed screw CLOSED

Depress pedal firmly 10 times, then close both bleed screws.

Click OK.

You'll get sent back to the depress pedal and hold screen and repeat the cycle. It goes on for like 10 or 15 cycles. I never got a finished message, I just did it until the screen said N/A.

It is easier with two people. One in the car pressing the pedal and working Vag-Com, the other outside opening and closing bleeders and making sure the master cylinder doesn't run dry (very important!).
If you're doing this solo, put the laptop on the driver's side roof so you can access it easier. It's also a great workout as you run in and out and around the car.
After the ABS pump is bled, you can then bleed the rest of the system as normal.

 

[MAXRPM]

It was the right rear caliper, it was blocked somehow from the inside so i was getting only a few drops of fluid when I was bleeding it off, replaced it now I got some pressure on the brake pedal but ran out of brake fluid, so while I await for my order with OEM fluid to arrive on Next tuesday, do you think I could get aaway if I buy some aftermarket brake fluid so I could bleed my car off then I can test drive it? just for the time being, will it hurt my car?

 

[rocketeer928]

VR6 axles are recommended, I did the axle upgrade on my Golf, and I was going to do it in my Jetta as well, but decided not to, the Golf is enough, so I have a spare vr6 axles laying around in my used parts arsenal, now that you remind me.

Will they fit a 2003 Jetta TDI, and are you looking to sell them? If so, are they new or used, and how much?

More questions, just in case: If you're interested in selling them then do you also have the flange seals, 108 mm flanges, etc.?

 

[MAXRPM]

Will they fit a 2003 Jetta TDI, and are you looking to sell them? If so, are they new or used, and how much?

More questions, just in case: If you're interested in selling them then do you also have the flange seals, 108 mm flanges, etc.?

I bought the VR6 axles new for my Golf, used them for about 8 month, then I got a great deal on 2 used raxles VR6 from a friend, since my Golf has a lot of mods, I went ahead and installed them in my golf, pulled the 2 Vr6 axles that I had installed and I was thinking of putting them on my Jetta, but since I have mild mods in my Jetta I decide not to do it, they are in great shape, they are the solid VR6 Axles, and if you are interested I would sell them to you.

Yes, they will fit your 03 Jetta, as long as you get the 108 flanges and bolts, once you get the flanges is a plug and play, I had the flanges and I sold them about 5 month ago,, check your junk yard maybe you can get the them from there.


I am looking at your sig and you have Enkei rims, which one do you have? i recently bought Enkei RPF1 17" and I only put them on for about 400 miles, waiting for the center caps and 20mm spacers, how do you like them?


I forgot to answer your question about upgrading the TDI brakes, well for me it was a tough decision, I wanted to stay with the stock brakes, because the whole TDI brake set up is lighter than any other set up, and our car are already heavy from the day they were born, and I did not like the idea of adding more weight on my car, but I went ahead and did it, even with the 288mm upgrade which is the next size up, you can easlily add like 10-15lbs to your TDI, if you go bigger you'd add even more weight. the pro is that your car will stop faster and will look better, just flip the coin on this one, my personal opinion is only people that race in our cars should do the upgrade, other than that our stock TDI brakes are enough, as long as you have good pads and rotors.

 

[rocketeer928]

Thanks for the answer about the brakes. I do have good pads and slotted/drilled rotors, so i think I will stick with them.

If you click on the link for my Jetta in my signature then you'll see the wheels that I got. I bought the wheels and Yokohama tires from Discount Tire on-line, as they had the best price for what I was looking for last year. I love them; they really make the Jetta look good. Hard to clean and keep clean, though. But, so what! They look good to me. I use my stock 15-inch wheels for my snow tires.

I'll send a PM about the 8-month old VR6 axles, since I'm interested and I'll be installing an upgraded clutch soon (good timing).

I've been following the progress of your Golf TDI. You've done a lot of good work.

 

[MAXRPM]

Thanks for the answer about the brakes. I do have good pads and slotted/drilled rotors, so i think I will stick with them.

If you click on the link for my Jetta in my signature then you'll see the wheels that I got. I bought the wheels and Yokohama tires from Discount Tire on-line, as they had the best price for what I was looking for last year. I love them; they really make the Jetta look good. Hard to clean and keep clean, though. But, so what! They look good to me. I use my stock 15-inch wheels for my snow tires.

I'll send a PM about the 8-month old VR6 axles, since I'm interested and I'll be installing an upgraded clutch soon (good timing).

I've been following the progress of your Golf TDI. You've done a lot of good work.

Those rims are nice, I believe I installed the same rotors that you have, mine are Eurospec, I also see that you have DG bypass, FSD's, I like them. good looking car.