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Athena: the dieselgate daily

15K views 71 replies 11 participants last post by  dub_life91 
#1 · (Edited)
thanks for looking in here:wave:

after driving to work 80 miles daily for the last 3.5 years I decided that it was time to keep an eye out for a more fuel efficient car as living out here in the pacNW is not cheap at all, nor is driving a petrol car lol. I was just browsing a local dealer and found a 2012 golf tdi with the technology package which I went to check out; and I ended up buying it 2 days later. with 32k on the clock and all service records done locally at the dealer where it was originally bought I think it was pretty good going for 15k all said and done.

considering all that has happened with dieselgate I was skeptical about buying a fixed tdi but so far I am very happy with the car....of course there will be modifications in the long run but most of the engine mods may wait till after the 2 year warranty is up or whatnot.

when i bought her:
IMG_20181006_124455 by Liam Walsh, on Flickr

how she sits now:
IMG_20190405_130638 by Liam Walsh, on Flickr

Interior mods
-OEM Monster mats
-OEM Volkswagen First Aid Kit
-OEM Volkswagen Road Emergency Kit
-OEM Euro Switch
-3M 25% tinted fronts and 15% tinted rears
-ECS Tuning boost gage kit w/New South Performance Boost Gage
-Valentine V1 radar detector(will be hardwired in the future)
-Cobra Dash camera kit(front and rear cams)
-Rennline smartphone mount for MK6 Golf/GTI
-DeAutoKey interior LED kit
-DeAutoKey interior LED footwell lights in red
-Doubleapex USB charger kit
-Remote down and up windows with the key fob via VAGCOM
-DRLs disabled via VAGCOM

Exterior mods
-DeAutoKey LED license plate lights
-DeAutoKey LED reverse lights
-DeAutoKey LED indicator lights, front and rear
-OEM Votex Spoiler
-OEM R-line taillights
-Weathertech Window Deflectors in dark tint
-ECS Tuning Blue tinted blind spot mirrors
-Helix Clear sidemarkers with amber bulbs
-Lamin-x clear for headlights and yellow for fogs
-Nokya Hyper Yellow 9006 fog lights
-Stickers;)

Suspension/Brakes
-H&R Sport Cup Kit
-H&R 24mm Rear Adjustable Sway Bar
-ECS Assembled Front Big Brake Kit 312mm rotors

Exhaust
-Milltek 2.75 Cat-Back Exhaust System - Non-Resonated
-Darkside DPF Delete Downpipe

Engine Bay mods
-Darkside Audi S3 Intercooler
-Darkside Boost Hoses
-Darkside 2.0 16v CR170 turbo upgrade w/BV43 turbo
-Darkside 2.0 TDI Common Rail EGR Delete
-Darkside Braided Oil Feed Line
-Stage 3 tune by Jeff @ TDi ECU Tuning by Jeff
-ECS Tuning Expansion Tank & Washer Fluid Reservoir Cap Set in black
-ECS Tuning aluminum street shield skid plate
-OEM battery cover
-K&N reusable air filter

Transmission
-Darkside Billet Single Mass Flywheel & Clutch Kit
-ECS Tuning Shifter bushing upgrade kit
-034 Motorsports Billet Aluminum Dog Bone Mount Insert
-OEM VW European Short Shifter

Wheels/Tires
Winter Setup
-OEM VW Salamanca 17x7.5 5x112
-Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ 225/45 R17
Summer Setup
-Mercedes AMG 6 Slots 18x8 et44 5x112
-Federal Super Street 215/40 R18
 
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#37 ·
Why not go stage 3 if you have a CR170 turbo? Didn't want to change the clutch or?
 
#42 ·
Hey man, grab a decklid from a wrecked GTI and use that for the spoiler! Cheaper than the one from VW thats unpainted and I love the OEM look.
@colty- yeah the plan is for stage 3, I just got my car back and hit some snags as the tuner device Malone shipped wouldn't power on so we had to send it back and are still waiting to hear from them. otherwise the clutch has been upgraded and the front brake rotors are now 312mm ones off a gli. if all goes well I am hoping we can finish up this weekend but it all depends on Malone sending us a unit that works:rolleyes:

@chaak0- I thought about that route but I got a killer deal on the oem votex spoiler and it looks a nice offset with the grey/silver colouring on there:cool:
 
#38 · (Edited)
How goes the build? I have a stage 2 malone on mine but everything else is stock except cosmetic modifications. Not sure I can pass emissions in my state with a delete unfortunately. If you've been driving it stock all this time, you're going to fall even more in love it with after the tune.

Pic of mine right now!

[/url]IMG-3456 by Chris Kidd, on Flickr[/IMG]

IMG-3398 by Chris Kidd, on Flickr
 
#43 ·
currently awaiting on Malone tuning to open back up Tuesday so I can get an eta on the stage 3 tune and flashzilla unit that we are waiting on...once I have that I can get everything else planned out and if all goes well I will have a full stage 3 tdi in the next few weeks:beer:
mind you nothing ever goes to plan but here we are lol:D
 
#46 ·
:wave:welcome back lol, I was looking out for you in Leavenworth but missed you as well. I did see some of your instagram pictures and it looks like you had fun too!
I am really hoping I can finish things up soon and be stage 3 and enjoy the car to its full potential. oh I also got the votex spoiler done:D
 
#49 ·
not much has happened lately, still waiting to finish up the stage 3 work

although going home last week I had a blow out of the rear passenger side and luckily was able to pull off the highway and safely change the wheel out for the spare:thumbup:pics of the blow out later lol but needless to say that the summer wheels are off for the year now and the winter ones are on:beer:
 
#50 ·
alright so I finally ordered the stage 3 tune and should be able to move forward within the next few weeks:beer:ended up going with TDi ECU Tuning by Jeff in Vancouver who was more than helpful answering my questions:thumbup:ironically less than a day later Malone finally responded to me after 3 weeks of waiting...oh well lol:p
 
#53 ·
#55 ·
picked her up yesterday afternoon and holy cow what a difference! you can actually hear the turbo now and she definitely pulls harder now with the appropriate tuning done. gotta finish up a few more small bits but otherwise she is stage 3 now.
I will try and post a few pictures later on of what I can see, didn't get too many during the process:beer:
 
#56 ·
really enjoying the stage 3, have a minor update to the software for the fans and getting a bit more midrange power coming tomorrow:thumbup:

ordered a few bits from ECS: rennline phone mount, cabin filter, and a wheel bolt cover removal tool as I really need one for the summer wheels lol:laugh:
 
#57 ·
#58 ·
bought some DeAutoKey LED front and rear indicator bulbs, really liking them although they advertise as they do not flicker but the fronts do upon start up...but no big issue for me.
also have a Rennline phone holder that i will be installing in the next week along with a cabin filter that i need to install:beer:
 
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#62 ·
welp summer wheels went on the wrong way so that got fixed this morning and it looks like the sensor for the brake pads may be broken, gunna take a closer look on my day off. i was able to get it put back into the holder and the light on the instrument cluster has not come back yet..so in theory i think i temporarily fixed the problem for now:popcorn:
 
#65 ·
to cap the week off i got a flat tire wednesday right as i was heading to work and come thursday morning it was a 2 inch screw in my tire:banghead:
at least les schwab fixed the puncture for free.....then the guy dropped the wheel on its face as he went to put it in my car:facepalm:at least it was in a bag....
 
#66 ·
oil change reminder went ding today..with doing 80 miles daily these oil changes sure come round really quickly.
ordered an oil kit off ecs and figured i would also do my fuel filter as i have done 30k miles on the car since i got it less than 2 years ago and they wanted to charge me 17 dollars to ship a 26 dollar filter to WA:screwy:went ahead and paid a bit more (less than 10 bucks) for the same filter from napa and it will be in-store for pick up later this week.
did some research on changing the fuel filter on a tdi and it seems like a few people recommend vcds and there are also a few people that dont bother..i am aiming for the latter but if anyone has hints they would be greatly appreciated:beer:
 
#67 ·
it is almost as if the car knows i am trying to save money:banghead:
had an error come up on the info screen saying keyless defective and after doing some research found a post over on the golf mk6 forum that gave me a list of possible problems and their solutions: https://www.golfmk6.com/forums/index.php?threads/kessy-keyless-issue-soutions.283685/
i ended up going through all of them: the car battery is just over a year old, both keyfobs have brand new batteries in them, all the windows/sunroof were closed, i tapped both keys to the push to start to see if that would re-sync them, and i checked the see of the Kessy sensor behind the rear seats was plugged in correctly.
after doing everything i think the conclusion is that the sensor must have gone out or worse that the module under the dash is out. still have to run a vagcom scan but seeing as it is pretty much just a "feature" and the car still works fine it really wont be at the top of my list to fix unless i end up selling the car.
 
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