My minor modding thread

[S3AMJ]

Hi mate... no... not worked it out as yet... changing the CAN protocol for the clocks gets rid of it but unsure of the knock on... Brian suggested it so maybe worth pinging him

<tuffty/>

Ok cheers dude it’s odd because it never came up prior to the gearbox map, so thought maybe that was the cause. I’ll give Brian a shout and see what he thinks. It is something I could live with worse case. Did you ever get an issue with your YAW sensor since? Fault clears after recalibration and all good for a little while then returns.

 

[<tuffty/>]

Ok cheers dude it’s odd because it never came up prior to the gearbox map, so thought maybe that was the cause. I’ll give Brian a shout and see what he thinks. It is something I could live with worse case. Did you ever get an issue with your YAW sensor since? Fault clears after recalibration and all good for a little while then returns.

I have coded my ESP out so I may never see those errors if I get them

<tuffty/>

 

[S3AMJ]

I think I’ll code mine out if it persists mate, turns out when ESP is off Ignitron still implements some form of “traction” control.

Do you code it out via VCDS or Ignitron dude?

 

[<tuffty/>]

I think I’ll code mine out if it persists mate, turns out when ESP is off Ignitron still implements some form of “traction” control.

Do you code it out via VCDS or Ignitron dude?

VCDS in the ABS module... only works on MK20 ABS modules iirc... don't remember the exact value but its either subtract 2048 or 1024 from the value to remove ESP... VCDS "should" pop up available values

<tuffty/>

 

[S3AMJ]

Thanks mate, appreciate that.

 

[Rainbird]

2048 is the one - though I could never find the reason why despite lots of Googling. I've had to use it on the Golf to resolve the usual ESP issue running a quick rack (LCR/TT) on the standard GTI. Should have kept my ****** LCR, was far less faff for minor stuff like that

 

[desertstorm]

I think I’ll code mine out if it persists mate, turns out when ESP is off Ignitron still implements some form of “traction” control.

Do you code it out via VCDS or Ignitron dude?

I have had the ESP coded out on my TT for years with no issues. I did used to get intermittent errors with the Yaw sensor when I first had the car and there is a common issue with these. The IC on the PCB is very poorly soldered and can actually detach from the PCB. The PCB is potted in the box and when I removed it the IC detached from the PCB and was left in the potting material.
Ignitron doesn't implement any form traction control unless you configure it to do that. Disabling the ESP doesn't stop the ABS module from activating traction control.

 

[<tuffty/>]

I believe EDL is still active after using 2048 to code out ESP... there are further 'codes' (more a bitwise calculation) to disable EDL too but I left mine on.... I think... been a while

<tuffty/>

 

[S3AMJ]

I have had the ESP coded out on my TT for years with no issues. I did used to get intermittent errors with the Yaw sensor when I first had the car and there is a common issue with these. The IC on the PCB is very poorly soldered and can actually detach from the PCB. The PCB is potted in the box and when I removed it the IC detached from the PCB and was left in the potting material.
Ignitron doesn't implement any form traction control unless you configure it to do that. Disabling the ESP doesn't stop the ABS module from activating traction control.

So your still able to use LC, Race mode, etc when ESP is coded out?
I’ve been given a known working YAW sensor, so I can always swap it out and see if it persists. Although it appears that the same issue is with Germains TT, so potentially using the TT DSG squib is at fault maybe?

 

[desertstorm]

So your still able to use LC, Race mode, etc when ESP is coded out?
I’ve been given a known working YAW sensor, so I can always swap it out and see if it persists. Although it appears that the same issue is with Germains TT, so potentially using the TT DSG squib is at fault maybe?

I swapped the squib in my car for the one used in the DSG cars as it has more ways available for the DSG paddle connections , I have no issues. With ESP disabled on the ABS I couldn't get launch control to work on my DSG gearbox as the stock software needs to see ESP switched off before allowing launch. When I enabled ESP on my ABS launch then worked correctly on the DSG gearbox. One of the reasons I had a TVS remap on my gearbox is they alter the mapping so launch works with or without ESP. Thus I can run without ESP and still have launch available on the DSG gearbox.
Race mode hasn't got anything to do with ESP working or not.

 

[S3AMJ]

I swapped the squib in my car for the one used in the DSG cars as it has more ways available for the DSG paddle connections , I have no issues. With ESP disabled on the ABS I couldn't get launch control to work on my DSG gearbox as the stock software needs to see ESP switched off before allowing launch. When I enabled ESP on my ABS launch then worked correctly on the DSG gearbox. One of the reasons I had a TVS remap on my gearbox is they alter the mapping so launch works with or without ESP. Thus I can run without ESP and still have launch available on the DSG gearbox.
Race mode hasn't got anything to do with ESP working or not.

I’ve also got a TVS map on my gearbox now, thanks to Badger5. I was under the impression that you couldn’t launch without abs as you rightly pointed out, I wasn’t aware that you can run with it without or without ESP though with the TVS map, I’m unsure weather my map has that “enabled” per say. Race mode is purely just how I’ve got mine setup, it’s enabled when turning off ESP via the button on the dash, just makes everything simpler that’s all. One button does all basically. Something I’ll look into once I’ve got the car back from Bill. Also something to consider is mines a DQ500 rather than the DQ250.

 

[<tuffty/>]

Been a while I know but been busy with work and nothing much to report on the car until now...

I had noticed the rear brake lines were looking a little past their sell by date so had bought up the stuff to sort the front to rear hardlines and flexi's... I had already replaced the lines to the rear calipers when I did the rear calipers

I have been putting it off for ages as the one line means I have to drop the fuel tank and its not a job I particularly relish doing on axle stands outside the house... but... while checking out if I could just cut and shut the line to replace just the bad bit...

...it kinda broke... Soooooo... guess I just needed to suck it up and get it done...

Used a plug and bleed nipple to stop fluid from leaking from the ABS unit while I faffed about under the car... had to use an M10x1 and M12x1 as they are different for whatever reason VAG decided on...

As is the way with the 8L these days... parts are proving difficult to get and I could only find one line (nearside) which even then wasn't the right one exactly missing the flexi part....

The nearside line wasn't as bad as the offside oddly but it was still pretty grim...

This of course was the easy line to replace ironically...

Now for the fun bit (said no one ever)... had to drop the prop and various heatshields.... followed by the tank... thank fully it only needed to tip down a bit at the front so no need to fully undo and drop it...

Bit of wrangling and out it came...

As I couldn't find a part OE or otherwise for this I bought some cupro-nickel tubing... bit more resilient to the weather than bog std copper...

As the OE line was steel I taped the replacement tubing as I was bending it to make it a bit easier to handle and also helped get the shape as close as I can

Took the line up to Bills so Alex could use his fancy flaring tool to sort the ends...

....should mention that some pillock (that would be me) managed to use the wrong fittings (some imperial things I had laying about) rather than the proper 10x1 so I had to cut the flare off and get them redone with the right ones (DOH!)

I of course painted the pipe before fitting it back in...

..and bled everything up...

Have to say the pedal feels better than it did given I recently replaced the fluid and bled everything before so I do wonder if that pipe was flexing where it was thin... scary thought tbh....

<tuffty/>

 

[<tuffty/>]

Not a lot to report but I have been doing a little beta testing for a new IECU firmware that addresses specific issues to do with the Cxx TCU my gearbox has... being the first iteration and the dumbest of the TCU's getting things like rev matching to work appears to be different to the later TCU's and before the car would lurch forward (as though not disengaging the clutch properly) on downshifts... this is now fixed and the car drives much smoother now...

I have been chasing a clunk from the front of the car too... this as it turns out was initially down to the the thread going on the rear subframe mount in the body...

So out with the helicoil kit...

Got full torque and yield spec on the bolt after that so happy days... however... there is still a slight clunk (not as bad as before) on hard acceleration and the only other thing I can think it might be is the replacement poly jobbers on the rear of the subframe aren't gripping the body as well as OE as it sounds much like the subframe shift clunk common in Mk5 chassis cars..

Needless to say I need to get the car in the air on a ramp and do a complete spanner check as the whole conversion was done on stands outside the house (not a bad thing) and its easy to miss something when you have limited space (and really bad close up eyesight lol)

While testing the firmware I also played with the boost a bit hoping that I could potentially get back up to 1.2bar but alas the clutches weren't having any of it and so I brought the profile back down again to keep the box happy...

Bit of playing about with the PID and imax etc and...

That is pretty bob on to what I was going for... the engine feels strong when on boost which is far earlier than the 20v could do (for obvious reasons) and the less aggressive torque onset keeps the box happy and is less likely to break things

Reported hp I think is a bit off but would need to get on the dyno to confirm... I suspect with the lower boost I might be knocking on the door of 500hp given at 1.2bar I managed 524hp...

Future work should only really be remedial now but need to chase this clunk... will look to rebuild my spare DSG box with a new clutch pack (Golf R is the one to use apparently) and might try and source an Fxx TCU as this would improve the box operation as a whole I think... the Cxx is a nightmare when cold... won't change into 2nd in drive so have to force it... assumedly this is a cold oil thing...

I also still have the rest of the body work to look at, rear subframe/diff refurb (and I still want to try this 8P rear diff conversion) but other than that I think the old girl is in a good place... until something else breaks lol

<tuffty/>

 

[Gops]

Not a lot to report but I have been doing a little beta testing for a new IECU firmware that addresses specific issues to do with the Cxx TCU my gearbox has... being the first iteration and the dumbest of the TCU's getting things like rev matching to work appears to be different to the later TCU's and before the car would lurch forward (as though not disengaging the clutch properly) on downshifts... this is now fixed and the car drives much smoother now...

I have been chasing a clunk from the front of the car too... this as it turns out was initially down to the the thread going on the rear subframe mount in the body...
View attachment 271133

So out with the helicoil kit...
View attachment 271134

View attachment 271135

Got full torque and yield spec on the bolt after that so happy days... however... there is still a slight clunk (not as bad as before) on hard acceleration and the only other thing I can think it might be is the replacement poly jobbers on the rear of the subframe aren't gripping the body as well as OE as it sounds much like the subframe shift clunk common in Mk5 chassis cars..

Needless to say I need to get the car in the air on a ramp and do a complete spanner check as the whole conversion was done on stands outside the house (not a bad thing) and its easy to miss something when you have limited space (and really bad close up eyesight lol)

While testing the firmware I also played with the boost a bit hoping that I could potentially get back up to 1.2bar but alas the clutches weren't having any of it and so I brought the profile back down again to keep the box happy...
View attachment 271137

Bit of playing about with the PID and imax etc and...
View attachment 271136

That is pretty bob on to what I was going for... the engine feels strong when on boost which is far earlier than the 20v could do (for obvious reasons) and the less aggressive torque onset keeps the box happy and is less likely to break things

Reported hp I think is a bit off but would need to get on the dyno to confirm... I suspect with the lower boost I might be knocking on the door of 500hp given at 1.2bar I managed 524hp...

Future work should only really be remedial now but need to chase this clunk... will look to rebuild my spare DSG box with a new clutch pack (Golf R is the one to use apparently) and might try and source an Fxx TCU as this would improve the box operation as a whole I think... the Cxx is a nightmare when cold... won't change into 2nd in drive so have to force it... assumedly this is a cold oil thing...

I also still have the rest of the body work to look at, rear subframe/diff refurb (and I still want to try this 8P rear diff conversion) but other than that I think the old girl is in a good place... until something else breaks lol

Looking lovely as always PT! I looked into this 8P rear diff thing back when I had my S3, although short lived but packaging wise it looked like it fits. Not sure on the Haldex controller but worth a punt!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Stuart B]

Good to see you're still posting forum updates Tuffty... so is the transmission holding the car back, or is it in the zone.

 

[<tuffty/>]

Good to see you're still posting forum updates Tuffty... so is the transmission holding the car back, or is it in the zone.

Its a combination of things tbh... the TCU itself is about at its max clamp pressure without patching the map with custom code to increase that... the box itself was on 80k when I got it and no telling what sort of life the clutch pack has had... there are ways you can use VCDS to determine wear but in reality its largely irrelevant....

The box itself mechanically is based around an 02M so there are limitations there if I push the torque and the engine is on the upper end of what I believe is safe in its current configuration without going for a bottom end build

If I wanted to push further (and the 3.2 VR has a lot to give) then I would need to build the bottom end to be safe, bigger injectors as I am at 85% IDC on the 630's I have, DQ500 DSG gearbox to take the increased torque...

As it stands I am around the torque figure my 20v was making but it comes in sooner and holds longer (albeit to a lower rev limit) and nothing is being nearly as stressed as the 20v build...

Fitting Golf R clutches and an Fxx TCU will not really help the longevity of the box as the limiting factor is the internals on the DQ250 at that point... the DQ500 is a far stronger gearbox in comparison

I am 'hoping' that I am in the zone as you say for both the engine and box... the setup seems happy at the moment but I guess only time will tell... obviously its hugely subject to how one drives the car... driving a highly tuned car is always going to narrow the reliability window but she feels less fragile than the 20v setup did for sure

<tuffty/>

 

[<tuffty/>]

Been a while since I have posted anything but tbh there has been not a lot to report... the car just does car things and I have been driving her a bit more this year than usual... I even drove her to the office (140 mile round trip) once and she just sat on the motorway and returned an average 26mpg for the journey which I was happy with...

Anyhoo... things that have happened...

I bought a mini pc to replace the 10" tablet I was using for ignitron...

This quite a bit smaller than the 10" (fnarr) being only a 5.5" screen

...but it is more powerful and less intrusive... I did not want to just stick some phone mount pads on this though so thought I would use the opportunity to learn a bit of fusion 360 and design a holder for it...

...and a back plate for more mount options...

...and finally a mount so I could still vent mount it using the YOSII mounts

This work out better than I had expected tbh.. although I did go through an R&D stage

The downside of a smaller screen however is that my old eyes could no longer really 'glance' at the dials so I redid the tablet view screens to make them actually more readable and actually useful

I plan to do a different version of this at some point but for now it works as intended..

Off the back of that I then wanted to tidy up the USB lead as this currently loiters about the passenger kickwell and passengers have been known to kick it... not ideal so back to fusion 360 and have come up with a mod for the blanks next to the ESP button to house a USB C socket

This would let me run a shorter USB cable keeping it out of the way and looking a bit neater

Next job that happened was to replace my alternator as for some reason I felt it was contributing to my battery issues... bought a genuine Bosch 140amp one for a very good price... and is the VR way... off with the front!!!...

Turns out the old alternator wasn't faulty after all but... I now have a new alternator along with the recently replaced new air con pump so meh... plus I had developed an oil leak from the oil filter housing... more on that in a bit...

I was getting into 3D printing more and more now and being able to draw up functional parts in fusion opens the door a bit to making parts for the car that I think would finish off the build nicely... my trusty Ender 3 V2 had been a fantastic intro machine but I needed something I could print engineering materials with so bought a Bambu Labs X1C with AMS... this means I can print fancy materials like ASA, ABS and Nylon...

Its also multi colour capable so I tried that out by drawing up some drink mats for Bill

I drew the mats/design and caliper holder in fusion... was an interesting process in making a drawing that could then be easily 'coloured' in the slicer for printing

I then bought some Carbon Fibre reinforced Nylon 6 material... I drew up some separators for the AN6 PTFE fuel lines on the S3....

I also drew up some stand offs so I could attach them to the OE bracket to hold them in place

The material should hold up to the under bonnet temps... I guess time will tell but they are holding up so far....

So... the oil leak... the VR6 has a water cooler the same as a 20v but is fitted to the side of the filter housing... this is secured using a plastic cap much like the TDi's... all mine was brand new when I first fitted the VR in... but it developed a weep out of the plastic cap and I thought it was loose... turns out it isn't and I dare not tighten it any more than I have...

The VR's oil temps are still a little too high for my liking given its a road car... I have seen over 100-110deg just from a short spirited drive on a cool day... so to remedy both the leak and the temps... I bought an oil cooler (finally!)

19 row rad, 80deg thermostatic plate and a metal cap... I will probably remove the water cooler and just fit this... I suspect it will take a bit longer to get the oil to temp but tbh thats not a massive issue for me... I would rather the temps were kept in check once up to temp as I don't rag on the car until I am at 70-80deg anyway

Talking of oil leaks... I also discovered the haldex is leaking... I suspect this to be the controller gasket as I replaced the controller a little while back... I noticed this when I did all the fluid changes recently and was having the 'skipping' issue on low speed turning.. that went away when I did the fluid change so assume the skipping was down to low haldex oil..

I have new gaskets and oil so will address that soon too

<tuffty/>

 

[<tuffty/>]

Been a while since I posted but to be honest there has not been much to report... just been driving the S3 more than the A2 of late and enjoying the old girl...

I did develop a vac leak meaning I had to disable the vac pump... although that turned out to be a leak elsewhere and (hopefully) fixed a leak from the haldex...

Found the face had a bit of a mark on it but probably not enough to cause a problem..

...but cleaned it up anyway as why not...

Used a new gasket and the rubber band trick to keep the bolts and gasket in place while I wriggled it into the small gap...

....then of course cleaned up all the leaked oil and refilled the haldex with new oil... which as anyone thats done this before knows how much fun that is

I took the front bumper off to check the vacuum pump... turns out it wasn't the pump or the hoses there but was the hard pipe up by the servo (should have realised that really)

View: https://youtu.be/Vr807nS343I?si=xy5wLc6QNIca5yx_

Fixed that then had a look at options for the oil cooler...

...guess I will need to have a think about how best to go about it lol

In other news..... I have been playing with the tuning a bit to try and keep the gearbox happy... the reality is that I will need a clutch as the box was around 70/80k miles when I got it so probably a little on the tired side and now its got a bit more than its designed torque being shoved through it I was having slipping issues...

After a few trips to mexico I am pretty happy with the current tune...

max boost of 1.1bar or 16psi in old money and kept the torque flat through out the rev range and controlling spool... no slip now and still pulls like a train

I might be able to turn the boost up a bit to lift torque once spooled maybe towards to the higher end of the rev range once I have swapped out the clutch but tbh I would rather have the reliability...

Soo bought a clutch kit...

Swapping the clutch itself is actually pretty easy... the joy of course is the removal and refitting of the gear box

To finish up I redesigned the mini PC holder I use with my Ignitron ECU... this is more a proper 'case' then the holder I designed previously

<tuffty/>

 

[Stuart B]

Good work tuffty..

 

[<tuffty/>]

One thing I have always wanted to address was my original DSG shifter mod...

This was basically a hacked about DSG trim panel from an 8P A3 and a hacked about 8L gaiter ring...

The 8P trim is much wider than the 8L so you can't really do much else than hack it about..

...and while I was happy enough at the time I did it its starting to look a little like its been thrown in... so now I have a basic understanding of Fusion 360 and a decent 3d printer I decided now it the time to have a go at remaking something a bit better..

The only bits I need from the 8P trim is the illuminated insert bit and the electronics...

The 8L shift trim is 'shapely' to say the least so worked out the radiuses and printed out some circular bits with datum marks so I could take more accurate measurements and bingo bango...

...I had a baseline drawing that fitted pretty well into the hole... so armed with that I then replicated the gaiter ring to get a baseline for the rest of the dimensions...

Happy days.... using this drawing as a template I then progressed to a trim panel to hold the illuminated insert...

...which now fits much better than my original.... from there I drew up the gaiter ring and its required details to allow it to fit and expanded the drawing of the illuminated insert panel to allow the electronics to be fitted...

Printed off a few iterations to get to where I wanted it to be... joys of a fast printer... and...

Gaiter trim fits in perfectly... the illuminated insert panel fits on separately to make printing the parts simpler minimising overhangs and requirements for support material...

Works much better than my original that was essentially hot glued in..

And all fits together perfectly...

The OE shifter trim does require a small amount of trimming to allow the wiring plug to fit...

Overall a good result I think... I had a few hiccups along the way while iterating through the changes which has made the Fusion time line a little more messy than I would like but it was a great learning exercise in Fusion 360...

I now need to remove the knob (fnarr) and gaiter from the car so I can test fit it to the current version of the print... I know I need to tweak the design further to add relief for the gaiter seam to make it sit flush but once that's done then I will do a final print in ABS/ASA material (more suitable for an interior car part than the PLA I am using for the development process)

<tuffty/>

 

[<tuffty/>]

The joy that is a fast 3D printer is that can quickly and easily iterate a design based on the physicality of output.... couple of things that came out of my initial design was that the gaiter was an absolute nightmare to fit as the frame was all one piece and the gap between the indicator section and the gaiter frame was 3mm

Another thing that came out of being able to test a physical item is that the gaiter frame hit the selector and pushed the whole frame out of the OE trim when I attempted to fit it properly in...

Soooo back to the "drawing board".... did some changes to the design by adding a relief in the frame to clear the selector and split the indicator section and gaiter frame section so that the gaiter would be easier to glue on...

This also had the benefit of making the 'join' between the two parts stronger....

The two parts are secured using M3x8 machine screws....

...and now clears the selector...

Fits rather well if I do say myself...

I have printed these "final" parts from ASA filament... its a version of ABS and is strong and heat resistant... printing this from PLA would mean that the slight sniff of the sun and a bit of hot weather and the PLA would as limp as a limp thing (fnarr)...

Gluing the gaiter on was much easier this time as I had proper access all the way round... note for this application I actually used the original manual S3 gear gaiter as the selector sits higher in the car than the vehicle it was sourced from (9R Polo) and all the DSG gaiters are too short

I trimmed off the excess leather including the bit I glued across the relief I just added for clearance!!! (DOH!!)

Seems to have worked out ok...

Need to do a little testing using the car to make sure its all secure and nothing fouls anywhere then I will make the files available on my Makerworld profile

<tuffty/>