July 18th at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, WA: 2010 Waterwerks NW VW Audi show. Show goers can expect to see some of the finest examples of German metal in the PacNW. VW of America will be on hand to show off the new Jetta (as in all-new, redesigned), an autocross course, SPL Sound Off (courtesy of Audio Control and Car Toys), APR, Stasis Engineering… See More, Achtuning, and more…. Car Toys’ Aftershock Mobile Sound Stage will also be on-hand to provide the soundtrack for the show. More photos to come after the show tomorrow… Should be a good one. Don’t wait for the photos, stop by the show and see for yourself!

I’ve had a “check engine” light (CEL) on in my GTI for something like two years or so now. The MK4 uses many sensors in order to maximize the efficiency of the 1.8L turbo motor. This ends up being both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s great because I get about 37 mpg in the city, and 30 highway. But it’s also bad, because these little sensors also go bad, and sometimes with a disturbing frequency. Bad sensors result in annoying CELs.

I use Ross Tech’s VAG Com to check the error codes, then hop over to the VWVortex forums and research what the various error codes mean. Most codes are fairly common among the Volkswagen tuning community, so using the ‘Tex’s forum search, I can usually come up with a few threads that lead to a solution. My most recent reoccurring CEL battle was giving me these results in VAG Com:

Sunday,26,October,2008,06:57:38:59172
VCDS Version: Release 805.1

Address 01: Engine
Control Module Part Number: 06A 906 032 LP
Component and/or Version: 1.8L R4/5VT G 0005
Software Coding: 07500
Work Shop Code: WSC 13876
Additional Info: 9BWDE61J934016942 VWZ7Z0B5351813
1 Fault Found:

16804 – Catalyst System; Bank 1: Efficiency Below Threshold
P0420 – 35-00 – -

Readiness: 0000 0000

Pretty much, this code means my aftermarket turbo-back exhaust system was more efficient than the smaller-piped OEM system, and the O2 sensor wasn’t sending back the right signals to the ECU. After a little more digging on the Tex, I came across this thread showing a step-by-step how-to featuring a little device called Waynes O2 Sensor Angle Block. 42Draft Designs also has a great write up on the Waynes Block, why you may need it, and what is does.

I’ll report back in a few days to let everyone know if this solved the problem or not.

More info:
42 Draft Designs FAQ
VW Vortex Forums

This has been a long time coming…..

This past Tuesday, a few VWVortex members from the PacNW forum met up at Alki beach for a little GTG. It was my first time making it out to one of these events, and I look forward to the next one. Quite a few cool cars (and owners) made it out, and the weather was brisk, but at least it wasn’t raining. The Alki Beach boat launch has an amazing view of the city’s sky line. Next time I’ll have to make sure to bring the Nikon and a tripod as i only brought the Samsung point-n-click with me. Click the image below to check out the gallery.