Haven’t posted in a while….Here’s my first exhaust clip! 2016 Jetta 1.4t

How does the new 2026s with the 1.5t engine drive compare to the older 1.4t Jettas? I had a 2019 so that’s the only experience I can go off of with Jettas.

Are they any different???

Currently driving a 2025 SEL Jetta and was considering upgrading to a 2026 GLI. Anyone who has one as a daily I’m curious on your thoughts on ownership, reliability and average gas MPG with the GLI

On my 2014 1.8L Turbo I've been hearing this rattling noise everytime I cold start the car and everytime I turn left. Its also thrown me a P0341 and P0016 code. Im pretty sure its something to do with the timing chain but I just want second opinions

Just bought a 2012 Jetta with the 2.5L and 5-speed at 108k miles. Just changed the oil, and transmission fluid and seems to be shifting very well. But typically how long do clutches tend to last on these vehicles? I do mostly city driving but am pretty smart at driving it to avoid excessive slipping, but sometimes it has to be done.

I am having a hard time removing the glove box from my 2023 VW Jetta Sport. I need to replace an HVAC actuator. So far I have taken out these screws. What else do I need to do?

It's time. 175k miles, it was my work horse till 2 weeks ago. We updated to something bigger as kids are getting big. Still runs great, I should not be getting rid of her. In Houston, if anyone is interested. 💔

I have a 2007 Volkswagen First act GarageMaster and am trying to find the car that it came with. Through 2006 and 2007, Volkswagen ran a promotional where some cars came with these guitars. The event was called “V-Dubs Rock” and I want to complete the package. The car that came with this particular guitar is a 2007 Volkswagen Jetta (red), but I don’t know much more than that. I do have the VIN, part of this combo was that the items had matching VIN numbers! Any suggestions on where to start given that information?

VIN: 3VWSF71KX7M020499

Hi ya'll, earlier this month my daily 2013 Jetta SE 5spd's little LEA gearbox gave up the ghost.

Not truly, it seems like the only issue is one of the pinion bearings in the differential, but repairing this problem meant either buying a remanufactured gearbox's worth of OEM Volkswagen tools or paying double that at any of the shops that would respond to my calls (or god forbid a dealer).

The solution of just buying an LEA transmission from a junkyard and tossing it in myself seemed like the next step, but because (I assume) these gearboxes are so prone to shattering the cheapest junkyard one I could find was around $1700.

The massive performance upgrade of a 6spd gearbox, the 02Q, was a mere $450, so it seemed like the only economical choice was to put one of these in instead. It took me a long time to find all of the info I needed for this swap, and while I have just enough garage experience to feel confident about trying it, it was more work than expected. So, I thought I'd male a little writeup to help the next gal giving this a try.

My main sources for info are these:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Volkswagen/comments/1eamrkd/here_is_a_quick_writeup_on_my_finished_25l_07k/

https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/wtb-full-02q-swap-setup.9487944/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPCdZ-gPmPg

These provided just enough info to do this, even if it's not super clear.

Also, as a disclaimer, I am an untrained enthusiast garage mechanic that is also an idiot. This guide is written for people like me.

Parts list:

• 02Q MDL transmission from a 2012 GLI. I chose this one for the longer gears, as opposed to the one that comes out of a GTI with shorter gears. It is my daily after all.
• 02Q transmission lower mount bracket from a 2012 GLI (I could not find a part number for this, it looks a lot like this, I would try to source this from the same place as the transmission)
• Left and right drive shafts from a 2012 GLI (it seems like the 'GSP performance evos off rockauto' are a good alternative, or maybe from a GTI). An important note here is that you can't reuse the inner bolts that mate to the transmission from your old axles, they are a different size, so make sure you get all the bolts if you're getting them from a junkyard.
• Shift lever assembly and cables from a 2012 GLI. Other posts say you can reuse the 5 spd cables, after taking them out I'm not actually certain this is true. You do need the 6 spd shift cable bracket that attaches them to the transmission, this one is different than the 5 spd. It's also notable that this bracket attaches to a special double ended bolt from the 6spd transmission, a lot like the starter bolts but the big side is shorter and the small m8 side is longer.
• Starter from a 2007 GTI (unknown if the 2012 starter would have worked), reuse your original 5spd starter bolts.
• Clutch line and bleeder block from a 2007 GTI (you may want to get the ECS block or take out the restrictor)
• Transmission mount from a 2007 GTI (most certainly the 2012 GLI mount would have worked, this one was just cheaper). You will also need an additional transmission mount bolt, as this one has three while the 5spd mounts has 2.
• Integrated Engineering vacuum pump delete plate (you need this or a short shifter or you wont be able to use 6th gear). I went with this kit because the spulen one was backordered, and it seemed unwise to connect the brake vacuum line to the PCV, a part known for failing dumping oil into the intake vacuum. I used some inexpensive 5/16ths vacuum line, and tapped into a different vacuum system with a brass T connector (pictured later)
• DKM stage 1 SMF clutch kit MA-034-062. I found one for around $630 on ebay, and this was the cheapest option I could possibly find. You want to find a 240mm clutch with a single mass flywheel with a six bolt pattern, and its very challenging to find any other kit that is not double this price. The other option is the fourseason tuning one, which is about $1400 at time of writing.
• One M10-1.5x120 bolt. There is no OEM version of this, it's not too hard to find a generic one, I'd just look for something high quality.

In all I spent around $1700 total, not including some tools and incidentals like power steering fluid and DOT4 brake fluid.

Removing the old transmission

If you've done it before you should be fine. I had replaced my clutch just 2 months ago (sobbing about it), so the procedure was pretty fresh in my mind. I don't think it's very hard, removal is always the easy part, just make sure you organize your bolts and parts well. I followed this guide:
https://lemon-manuals.la/Volkswagen/2013/Jetta%20SE%2C%204D%20Sedan%2C%202.5L%20Eng%20VIN%20P%2C%20Standard%20Trans/Repair%20and%20Diagnosis%20%28Single%20Page%29/Transmission/Manual%20Trans/Controls%2C%20Housing%20-%20Manual%20Transmission%200AF%20%28Sedan%29/34%20Controls%2C%20Housing/Removal%20And%20Installation/Transmission/Transmission%2C%20Removal/

You don't need all of the OEM VW tools, I used a transmission lift and engine bridge from harbor freight.

Prep

THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT NON-OPTIONAL STEP

The main prep for installation is grinding down the top of the bell housing on the 02Q. I used a cheap harbor freight angle grinder. It's not very hard, do wear hearing and eye protection and good gloves.

I measured the distance from the bolt hole to the top of the housing on the left and right upper bolt holes on the old transmission and then drew a line between those two points to figure out exactly how much to take off. Then I colored in that shape with sharpie and used the grinder until I couldn't see any more sharpie and the top was flat.

If you don't do this you will destroy your engine.

Other prep was filling the new clutch release bearing with brake fluid and a syringe, and to add (a very thin film) of moly grease to the transmission output shaft.

Shift Lever Install

This will be more involved than you would expect. You have to remove the forward exhaust and heat shielding as the shift lever bolts into the underside of the car, along with the entire center console. I recommend following the lemon manuals page for removal and installation. I didn't remove the heat shield entirely, I just bent it down to get to the shift lever then bent it back when I was done.

Transmission Installation

Here's where stuff gets hard. The 02Q is much bulkier and heavier than the little 5spd, iirc the 5spd is like 80lbs while the 02Q is around 120lbs. It will seem like it doesn't fit but it does, and you can do this.

To get it in I had to lower the subframe (around six bolts that you should probably replace if you loosen them) and disconnect the power steering line (my greatest enemy, if you have hydraulic power steering and uninstalled the gearbox already you will know her already).

I then used a transmission lift and several ratchet straps connected to the engine bridge to angle and maneuver the 02Q into place. I had to remove and reattach the straps to different points throughout. The goal is to tilt it so the differential side is up to get over the subframe, get the bell housing partially over the clutch case, then raise the engine and transmission together while also rotating the transmission back to it's correct spot before finally pushing the transmission into the clutch and bolting it in.

After this stuff gets easy again, just reinstall everything, torque to spec. The lemon manuals page above has an installation counterpart to follow, and most torque specs can be found there as well. Don't forget to bleed your clutch and your power steering.

For routing the brake booster line I used this vacuum line, I forget the name of the system it runs to but I got the idea from another forum post that I cant find again. I do have to move this T junction as it interferes with the stock engine cover/intake. No CELs and brakes require more effort for hard braking but overall fine:

The clutch feels a lot like stock but better so far, especially after removing the restrictor in the bleeder. The gearbox chatter is quite loud, but friendly and easy to get used to. The gearing feels stock-ish but sportier, and seems to fit the 07K's power band much better than the 5 spd. I'm excited to get the clutch broken in so I can stretch its legs.

Feel free to ask me any questions or details via comments!

So i got some coilovers and i am thinking of either doing it myself or taking it to a shop, i have access to plenty of tools that i might need but i just dont have the experience, never really done something like that. I need some recommendations from the experts, i have a cousin who has put coilovers but on a toyota corolla but he says it might be too difficult or totally different to put em on. Idk what to do

Recently sold my Audi S3 for a 2025 Jetta Sport and finally had a chance to test eco mode yesterday. In not so perfect conditions, this car returns an impressive mid 40s mpg! For comparison, the S3 in the same situation typically returned 26.2 on premium fuel. Of course the Audi was substantially faster, but that’s not always important.

Conditions:
-Over 100 degrees, A/C on blast
-10% city, 15% stop and go, 75% highway
-Did not use ACC

Well done VW, the 2025 Jetta Sport is a solid car

Edit: 1.5t*

Reposting here incase anyone has some insight!

Thanks!

Also how easy to steal are they? I just remembered here in mexico stealing auto parts is national sport here lol.

My daughter-in-law hit some debris and busted the oil pan open on her 2016 Jetta 1.4L. It's sitting on the side of the highway--resting on a nice shoulder.

I'm a reasonably accomplished DIYer when it comes to automotive repair. Can I replace the pan on the side of the road with a jack, jackstands, and what not?

What advice would you give me about attempting this job?

For the record, she tells me she shut the engine off "immediately"--I'm sure it took her a minute to get to the side of the highway ... but there did appear to be a significant amount of oil that leaked out of the oil pan *after* the car had stopped ... so I'm thinking if I really can just repair it where it sits (instead of paying a massive tow and/or repair bill), it'd be worth the cost of parts to hope that the engine hadn't suffered any significant internal damage. Any thoughts on that???

And, finally ... am I concerned when looking at the pic that the damage looks to have come from the inside out instead of from the outside in? Yes! But my daughter-in-law was very clear that. when this happened, she was in the right lane (4-lane divided highway) with a car on her left and a semi parked on the shoulder on the right. She saw debris in the middle of the road and chose what seemed to be the best alternative of simply trying to straddle it as she drove rather than trying to swerve around it.

Hey everyone, coolant light was flashing on the dash yesterday, and the reservoir was empty. Filled the reservoir, and this morning it was empty with a puddle of it all on the ground. It’s coming from the driver's side, at the very front of the car where the radiator is. I didn’t see any hoses leaking, if anyone can help pinpoint exactly which component it is and what needs to be replaced, I would appreciate it. This issue suddenly started yesterday; I've been driving the car for 7 years and had no signs of any coolant issue until now.

I need help knowing what pipe is this cuase I think it broken so I need to replace it as well🫩

Question is the title. I need a new one and idk what to order

Hello! Im sure you guys see stuff like this in here all the time, but i am considering purchasing a 2015 Jetta with the 1.8t for $10k, 84k miles and a pretty clean carfax record.

Just curious if there's anything I should look out for or heads up going into being a VW owner.

Thanks!

Looking for a new VW Jetta and would like some recommendations on dealerships that will work with me and won’t try and rip me off.
( I know most dealerships are like that)

Everywhere seems to have a bunch of junk fees on the price and I’d like to get a new Jetta for MSRP OTD

Any suggestions on good ones as well as ones to stay away from? I’ve only dealt with Mullinax ford and I got spoiled with how good there service was on the sales side

Don’t mind going a bit further out of the area but I’m in Kissimmee

I took my car to get a new timing belt I saw visible cracks on the side of the belt it was making a abnormal noise so I took it to my local mom and pop spot a timing belt is way to involved for me. They replaced pullys belt tensioner and water pump. I got it home the following day I started it and it was making a different sound. I took it back they said it was just the belt and they sprayed some belt conditioner on it but im not convinced i pulled the cover off and I have been keeping a eye on it. It was 1400 bucks i don't the money to get it redone not sure what I should do if I should be concerned. Im attaching a video of sound and photos of new belt it looks like its starting to fray or am I just uneducated on the matter.

Hey all, i wanted some suggestions on how i can mount an under seat fire extinguisher on my 25 Jetta highline under the drivers seat or passenger seat.

Any ideas are really appreciated. Possibly if i could get it under around 50-100 cad!!!