New to the scene..just got an 03 gti 1.8t!

[firsttimevdub]

So, as the title states, im new to this...and im sure a good handful of you are going to pull out some hairs with the questions i have...but regardless.

Its an 03 1.8t , darker than silver but lighter than grey..?,with 55k miles..got it for a REALLLY good price...love the car so much...first car ive ever had with a turbo..

theres only a couple issues thats ive encountered..


ive driven it for about 150miles and about three times ive enoucntered what seems like a lag in first gear and once a different time in second..

ill take off like normal, and as the rpms increase to about 1500, power increases, and then for like 500-800rpms, it seems to almost flatline and then pick back up...its done it like 3 random times in first, and only once in second.

i thought that maybe it had something to do with the wet weather and maybe a belt slipping? maybe thats more hopeful thinking..

another minor issue that i noticed today was that the climate control lights didnt turn on when the instrument and music lights come on...i smacked the side of the center console by the temperature adjustments and it came back on...loose wiring?

also, its missing some plastic covers in the interior..interior of the inside door handle on the driver side, driver side of the arm rest post, seat slider cover..also the driver side roof "rain gutter" weather stripping..

Ive always been one to maintain my cars and it just amazes me that people dont care about their investments..keep your cars clean and maintained!

But i know little to nothing about my car..looking forward to learning as much as possible..

any suggestions on some simple mods?

i plan on using my tax return to lower it like 1.5-2", put some black 17's on it, tint the windows...it needs a new shift knob and boot badly..

any good sites to buy things from?


sorry for the newb-ness..

i WILL search things and learn from that as well..but i DO appreciate your input and advice and suggestions..

thanks in advance

[volcano]

the lost of power can be traction control turning on

Chip it, get coil overs, exhaust

search most of the question you ask have already been answered many times

[steinosaur]

yea welcome man and congrats, i bought my 03 1.8t in october. They are real fun cars to own. Just wanted to say that sometimes my climate lights dont come on, i usually just sit there switching the headlights on and off till they come back on, sometimes it takes like ten clicks but they always end up coming back on. Good look with the car and basically everything else volcano said.

[GTIGUY03]

Originally Posted by steinosaur

yea welcome man and congrats, i bought my 03 1.8t in october. They are real fun cars to own. Just wanted to say that sometimes my climate lights dont come on, i usually just sit there switching the headlights on and off till they come back on, sometimes it takes like ten clicks but they always end up coming back on. Good look with the car and basically everything else volcano said.

my climate lights do the same thing... i just tap them and they pop on! ha. plus ive broken 2 dipsticks since ive had it. (3 months) other than that i love mine.

[D.Light]

The power flatline is probably your anti-slip regulation kicking in, turn that off and you should be fine

[firsttimevdub]

Originally Posted by D.Light

The power flatline is probably your anti-slip regulation kicking in, turn that off and you should be fine

How do i turn that off?

[D.Light]

ASR/ESP button on your upper dash, it's next to the hazard light button, you'll see an amber signal come on on your speedo cluster, that means it's disengaged

[firsttimevdub]

Originally Posted by D.Light

ASR/ESP button on your upper dash, it's next to the hazard light button, you'll see an amber signal come on on your speedo cluster, that means it's disengaged

Awesome man..thanks alot for the help..

ill try it out later..

also, i threw a p2181 code, the dude at jiffy lube coded it for me for free..said sometimes they come on at random..so he turned it off and said if it comes back on, then its an issue..is this true?

Im also looking into getting a splitter dv/bov and an n75 valve from ecstuning.. is the installation pretty straight forward on this?

Im new to the vw scene..decided to drop the hondas and get into something better ..so i apologize in advance for what may seem like trivial questions

[firsttimevdub]

and for the record, i have been looking on here about the coolant code..and if it comes back, ill be getting the green top

[D.Light]

just get the green top, its like 12 bucks and the stocker will fail eventually

[steinosaur]

if the green top dont work next thing to try is the thermostat you can test that with a VAG-COM, im about to put a new thermostat in as i threw the same code and i have a recently replaced green top.

[firsttimevdub]

ok cool cool...im thinking about doing the forge splitter and the n75 valve and lowering it a little and either getting some clean black 17's or spending that money on an apr chipped ecu..


im kinda torn between the two right now though..i dont know which i should lean towards first and put which to the back burner..

what would you do if you had a stock gti and about 1200$ to spend..

[volcano]

ebay dp, Uni chip, FK coils

[rev. oscar]

yeah, its probably the asr or esp kicking in (which ever your car has). for the hvac controls, there is a bulb under the center control knob. remove the knob and check or replace the bulb.

[firsttimevdub]

Originally Posted by volcano

ebay dp, Uni chip, FK coils

what are the advantages of that one over the apr?

i googled the unichip and i couldnt mind a whole lot about it..

[D.Light]

google unitronic, and it allows for you to upgrade the tuning if you later decide you want a bigger turbo

[volcano]

i just like UNI better, its my preference. but UNI is the leader in the market for BT software, and i hope to be BT one day

http://www.unitronic.ca/

[Red_MK4]

let's see....

APR: - it has the 93/100/stock/valet mode, which you change it just with the cruise control buttons, YOU DO NOT LOSE THE ABILITY TO USE CRUISE CONTROL WITH THIS.
- less aggressive tune when using 93 mode but it is more reliable. Even some dealers offer it at the time of buying a car from them.
- You can use it with the ECS Race valve and you will be boosting same thing as UNI CHIPPED Stage 2, which is average of 20PSI till redline. (APR does 17PSI till redline without the ECS VALVE)
- It also has the Fault Code/Erase Code function, the Security Lockout Function, Anti-Theft Function, and V-tune Function.


UNI: - Does NOT have 93/100/stock/valet mode, it is just a more aggressive tune overall.
- Most people at vwvortex say that UNI + Race Valve don't go together since UNI is already an "aggressive" tune.
- Does not have all those extra functions like APR.

*****

APR: will give you all of those extra things for $500 whenever they have their sale season. They have it like 3 or 4 times a year.

Uni: it may be a little bit more expensive but if sometime you go BT this one will be better for you since you can build your kit and then put their software on your kit. (On APR CHIPPED you won't be able to do this, they have their specific kit for its stage 3 BT kit)

Apr Stage 3 runs for $4.5k with EVERYTHING YOU NEED but internals off course, building your kit brand new will be about the same thing with UNI software, it may be even a little bit higher of price, but like i said only if you go all new when building your BT kit....

Regardless of which one you choose both of them are GREAT companies....


I'm APR Stage 2, I used to wish i was UNI CHIPPED but since I have my ECS RACE VALVE, Uni has nothing on APR regarding boost timing...

[fullonGTI]

from everything i have come to know, APR is probly the safest and most reliable, especially since they will factory apr tune your car. that has to say something... but i don't believe they show the biggest gains. but ya its all about what you want.
Red_MK4 said it better lol

[volcano]

my friend boosted 25psi n hold 22psi b4 his fmic on uni stg 2

chris has similar #'s on his car too.


for those that have APR and all those different options

how often do you use them? do you change programs? valet? theft lock? back to stock?

all that stuff is useless to me.



only thing i say is good about APR is the "reliability" but a well taken care car will always be reliable.

you can always use V-tune to tune your APR chip some more tho

[firsttimevdub]

its nice talking with people that are actually knowledgeable about these products..

not bagging on hondas, but their forums werent NEARLY as helpful..haha

im leaning more towards the apr with the ecs valve..

also, i pressed the ESP button and the light lit on my dash..i drove it around for a while with it in disengage mode, but i still encountered the 500-800rpm flatline around 1500rpms..again, it doesnt happen every time i take off...i would say 1 out of 8 times..

any suggestions?

because id rather NOT blow my money on modding it up, if there is a larger issue..

[D.Light]

Maybe a coil pack going out if they're stock coil packs and you have over 50k you should change em anyway (10 minutes and they could be free from the dealer), a vac leak should be more consistent but would have similar symptoms

[firsttimevdub]

Originally Posted by D.Light

Maybe a coil pack going out if they're stock coil packs and you have over 50k you should change em anyway (10 minutes and they could be free from the dealer), a vac leak should be more consistent but would have similar symptoms

anyway to test my coil pack to see if its still good?

ecstuning has a nice red pack for like 75$ that i was looking at

[boostedJTi]

Originally Posted by firsttimevdub

anyway to test my coil pack to see if its still good?

ecstuning has a nice red pack for like 75$ that i was looking at

You can do that or just go to your dealer for the TSB and have them replaced

[firsttimevdub]

Originally Posted by boostedJTi

You can do that or just go to your dealer for the TSB and have them replaced

sorry if this is a dumb questions...but whats TSB?

technical service bulletin?

[boostedJTi]

Originally Posted by firsttimevdub

sorry if this is a dumb questions...but whats TSB?

technical service bulletin?

Correct. VW finally announced a TSB and a recall for the coilpacks as they are prone to failure so they get replaced freeeeeeeeee

[firsttimevdub]

Originally Posted by boostedJTi

Correct. VW finally announced a TSB and a recall for the coilpacks as they are prone to failure so they get replaced freeeeeeeeee

even for my used 2003 that i JUST bought from a private dealer?

[boostedJTi]

Originally Posted by firsttimevdub

even for my used 2003 that i JUST bought from a private dealer?

All 1.8T models are covered under the TSB as I recall correctly.

[GTIGUY03]

when was this recall released

[Red_MK4]

like 2 months ago...

[firsttimevdub]

so i went to my mechanic today and noticed that the black plastic hose that comes from, i believe, the intercooler? and connects to the black rubber hose that feeds the intake..had a HUGE hole in it from the fan hitting it...doucher previous owner...

Also, im ordering that green top sensor from black forest because my light came back on..

Also also, i went down to go pull the filter off my AEM CAI, and to my suprise, there WAS NOTHING THERE!

The previous owner must have either lost it, or never put it on..because there wasnt anything there.. gahhhh people are dumb!

Do they make any nice silicone hoses to replace that crappy plastic one? I taped it up for a temporary fix...but im going to need something more permanent..

I put a new filter on the intake too..so now its breathing FILTERED air..better than sucking up EVERYTHING in socal..

anyone have a picture of where that sensor is located? I was told that you have to slide out a clip and then remove, replace it and slip the clip back through to hold it..

i know d.light was very helpful earlier when i mentioned the occasional "flatline" issue, do you think that it may have been caused by that hole? Its not the ESP, ive tried both engaged and disengaged..

Thanks for the help!

[boostedJTi]

That hole should put you in limp mode, but it is after the MAP sensor which is probably why it hasn't. You can pick up new silicone hoses from plenty of places. BFI may or may not have em but if you check out www.sms-performance.com and give Shelby a call he can def get you sorted with anything and everything you may need.

[xcrazydx]

You are losing boost if there is a hole

[firsttimevdub]

Originally Posted by boostedJTi

That hole should put you in limp mode, but it is after the MAP sensor which is probably why it hasn't. You can pick up new silicone hoses from plenty of places. BFI may or may not have em but if you check out www.sms-performance.com and give Shelby a call he can def get you sorted with anything and everything you may need.

ok cool..thanks alot..

also, regarding my P2181 issue..ive been reading alot and they say that the 50/50 coolant mixture is a big factor in setting off the code, they recommend using 60/40..have you heard of this?

Im getting a new green top tomorrow..but do you think that since im throwing that code, that could be the contributing factor to my "flatline"?

also, whats the name of that hose?

[boostedJTi]

Just the silicone hose that connest the top of the intercooler to the intake manifold (at least, assuming this is the proper hose). No real name for it.

I've never had an issue with coolant mixture. So long as you use G12 and G12 only... I personally run G12++ in my mk3 and I have no coolant fan... Temps don't break 190 lol. There have been issues where when the coolant temp sensor fails you get the flatline, it happened to my MSP years ago.

[firsttimevdub]

Originally Posted by boostedJTi

Just the silicone hose that connest the top of the intercooler to the intake manifold (at least, assuming this is the proper hose). No real name for it.

I've never had an issue with coolant mixture. So long as you use G12 and G12 only... I personally run G12++ in my mk3 and I have no coolant fan... Temps don't break 190 lol. There have been issues where when the coolant temp sensor fails you get the flatline, it happened to my MSP years ago.

ok cool..i REALLY hope replacing the sensor fixes that issue...because i feel like im not experiencing the full potential of it!

haha

again, like ive said before, i really appreciate the help..

my car now hasnt gone over 190..the highest ive seen it is to the right side of the 190 line..haha and i did a search on those silicone hoses, kinda pricey! but it definitely seems worth it..

i was planning on spending my tax return on an apr ecu tune..but i think i'll use that 500$ towards making it nice and solid...and then tune it down the road..

[boostedJTi]

Originally Posted by firsttimevdub

ok cool..i REALLY hope replacing the sensor fixes that issue...because i feel like im not experiencing the full potential of it!

haha

again, like ive said before, i really appreciate the help..

my car now hasnt gone over 190..the highest ive seen it is to the right side of the 190 line..haha and i did a search on those silicone hoses, kinda pricey! but it definitely seems worth it..

i was planning on spending my tax return on an apr ecu tune..but i think i'll use that 500$ towards making it nice and solid...and then tune it down the road..

Pricey I know, could always consider upgrading to a FMIC.

[firsttimevdub]

what exactly would that do to my current set up? hp wise..approx..

would it get rid of my current hoses too?

this is my first turbo car!

[boostedJTi]

it would replace your hoses. and no immediate hp gain. you need to have the ecu reflashed for that... It will however prevent most of the boost drop in 3rd gear.

[Red_MK4]

there is no need for you to get a silicone hose on that... just get the regular OEM or whatever they offer in such places as ecstuning.com or sms....

the rubber hose will do just fine, no need for pricey silicone unless you do the TIP