Project VXOverLand

[Thelgord]

First attempt at installing the OEM weather trim failed. All of my clips broke so I attempted, and failed, to repair them. Such a pain in the @$$ this thing is. Now I need to find those stupid clips, or come up with a different solution to hold it in place. The good news I finally have all of the parts I need for the rear brakes. Next Sunday I start a 19 day vacation, so that'll be fun ...

[Thelgord]

Got the clips (see above) on order, hopefully they wont take too long to ship. This weekend is brakes, engine oil, front and rear diff fluid, grease u-joints, and I still need to track down a vacuum leak that I have been unable to locate.

[Thelgord]

I think I found the cause of my EGR valve code. There is a large hose that goes from the brake booster to the top of the engine with a one-way check valve embedded inside. The air is supposed to flow freely, but it makes a "noise" when I blow through it and it seems restricted. The valve is working in the other direction, stopping back air flow as it should. I will try to clean it out later in the week, maybe tomorrow if I have time, before I buy I new one.

[Thelgord]

Today I tried the last possible fix for my error code 0405, cleaning the piping that runs both directions from the EGR valve. No luck, code still comes back. Time to get a new one. Damn it.

[Thelgord]

As the VX gets more and ready for daily use, I am starting to get rid of my other 4x4, a 2013, Toyota Tacoma. First thing to go is the camper shell as it doesn't really change the value of the truck at all and I get a better return by selling it separately. That money will go into the VX and will be more than enough to get her ready to take over as my daily driver.

[Thelgord]

New head unit finally shipped! Sat in "pending" status for over a week. Still waiting on waist seal clips to arrive. I start 19 days of vacation on Monday, I plan to start the work on the breaks then.

[Thelgord]

Head unit and speakers installed today! Just need to finalize the mount in the dash as the unit is just a tad too large.

Head Unit: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Front Speakers: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Amazingly enough, for the price, it sounds ... well ... amazing. The Bluetooth works well, and receiver picks up more stations than my JBL in my Tacoma. Less than $40 and I have tunes again!

[ipd]

Hope they last for you. My experience with the cheaper end of speakers is that they usually don't last very long. Even without "Stereo Abuse", the ambient conditions don't do wonders for the materials used in their construction.

[eternal21]

That is a pain in the butt to do, for sure. I have my spare one soaking right now so that the job won't be as hard this time around.

[Thelgord]

Worked on the rear brakes yesterday, and of course, new issues were found. Got the passenger side brake pads changed out easy enough. Drivers side was missing a lug nut when I purchased the VX so I popped into the auto parts store and got a replacement. However, after I took the wheel off, I noticed the lug was just destroyed. Threads were all sorts of chewed up. No problem (I thought), just pop it out and replace it. The new lug is being a rear PITA to get re-seated properly, and being Georgia, it decided just dump all sort of rain and bad weather on me. (My next house WILL have a garage) I would finish it up today, but I am heading out of town until Tuesday and yes, I am still waiting waiting for my weather strip clips to arrive.

[Thelgord]

While working on the rear brakes I discovered a bad lug stud. After breaking 2 replacements, I finally got a new one to seat correctly. PRO TIP: Grease your spacer washers LOL!

Also completed the rear brake work today! Yay! The VX stops MUCH better now. Whew ... that was WAY more work than it needed to be.

As it turns out, there is a wear bar that scratches the rotor when the pads become too thin. The last person to work on the brakes used these as clips to hold the pad to the mounting clips. It was keeping the pads from moving. I put on the new pads anyway, and properly this time.

Seriously, 99% of the problems with my VX are a lack of doing things right the first time. I am fixing so many things that shouldn't even be an issue! Arrrrrgggg! It is ... frustrating to say the least.

[ipd]

Unfortunately, that's a standard feature of many used cars. ^ Glad to see you're reviving it.

[Thelgord]

I am still getting grinding/grating noise out of something in the front axle. I have yet to track that down, could be a stuck caliper, low diff fluid, or even a wheel bearing. Both wheels seem to act the same and it doesn't pull to one side or the other, though it does need an alignment. At this point I am thinking (hoping) diff fluid needs to be changed out.

[Thelgord]

I was at Walmart today with my better half and picked up a new radio antenna. It's more ... floppy ... than the OEM antenna, but still looks good and is a good match for what it replaced. At only $9 I am not complaining.

[ipd]

I ended up buying a VW antenna off a member here a while back. I'd have given you my old one if I'd known you needed one.