hadvw

Man, I don't know how you do it - drive so far every day/week, and STILL have a ton of time to work on the car..

Got it - yes, it's the right part. Actually more extensive than I thought - it has (quick count) 14 different connectors/grounding connectors and 9 different plastic plugs that go into the body to hold it. A new accordion is included and comes pre-installed - that's a bonus - I wasn't expecting it to be included! That should simplify the job some. Not sure I'll get to it this weekend - about to leave on a trip for just over a week, and will need to pack/prepare this weekend. But, it doesn't seem that hard - maybe 1-2 hours if you've never taken the hatch apart and go extra slow. If you know how to take all the trim pieces off already, the actual unplug/replug should be quite fast.

Just curious - how much time/effort have you invested in this? Did you think about paying someone else to do it? Anyone in the Bay Area you would trust? I'm not saying you personally should have - I just know that, even if I could learn to do this given enough time, I already don't have enough hours in the day.. If I can't find someone local, my "default" plan is Mike @infamous. Plus maybe a built 5EAT from Hexmods..

Wish I knew - Fred Beans (or trademotion, which now seems to be the real guys behind FB OEM parts, not sure if that was always true) took a week to GET the part and ship it to me - using slow mail. Supposed to arrive later today, so if I haven't posted by tomorrow, PM me..

I've also heard about sugru, and it seems pretty cool. However, as far as I can tell, the problem isn't so much the insulation in the gate, it's the copper wires themselves wearing out and snapping. In some cases, the insulation is still intact, and the wire inside is broken. Of course, once the wire goes, the insulation soon follows. This would just be "better insulation on your failed wires". YMMV, though..

Thanks. Ideally, I'd be happy to be forced to postpone this for 8-10 weeks due to heavy rain, but.. weatherman says 75 next Saturday for NorCal..

I think the part number has already been mentioned in this thread: 81812AG03B. At least, that's what I ordered - will see if it's the right part Part should arrive this week, and I'll tackle it next weekend. I'll try to remember to take lots of pictures.

I'm going to have to take apart a good chunk of the trim anyway, because a lot of the wires are cracked near the hole, so it's hard to get a hold of them just to strip off insulation and/or solder them. And I'm guessing that I need to fix them all, or one by one they'll wear out and need to be fixed. And I'd rather not be without rear wiper, reverse lights, etc until I get a chance to fix it. I ordered the part for around $80 shipped from Fred Beans. I may end up fixing the old one eventually, but I'm worried that wire pieces other than the place where it actually broke have already suffered from fatigue and would break soon. Rather than disassemble the whole thing, solder up 8-10 wires, try to somehow fit that many larger wires through the accordion, etc... I think it'll be simpler just to replace with a factory harness. It's not like it wore out after 3 yr/20k miles. After 10 yr/110k miles, I'm ok with replacing a few parts - I expect it to now last as long as we keep the car.. (3-4 more years, 40-50k more miles). Not saying that's the right thing for you, though..

Update: today, rear wiper stopped working. Going by memory (doh!), I fixed the two newly-broken wires on the driver's side first, with no luck. Then, figuring maybe I had a brain cramp, went to the passenger's side, and fixed the one broken wire, which I think was the rear wiper power line. All I had time for before work. Rear wiper working again!! But 3-4 other wires now cracked, breaking soon. Is 81812AG03B the only part we need? It's hard to tell from the various diagrams what 81812AG03A is... Thanks to everyone - saved a lot of headaches..

Didn't have time to read all of it, but sure a fun thread!

We just passed the 10-year ownership mark, and have just over 110k on the car. Lots of things are so close in the Bay Area, you don't have to drive too far. I have a 40 mile roundtrip to work, but I've been telecommuting 3-4 days a week lately. My wife's trip is like 12 miles roundtrip, and she has summers off (teacher). We do maybe 15-17k miles per year combined. That includes road trips to San Diego (2x), Disney (2-3x), Tahoe (2x) in the last 4-5 years, lots of trips to Gilroy Gardens, etc.. And lately, we've been preferring the LGT over the minivan every chance I get.. How do you put all those miles on the car? Tahoe every weekend? When I was under 30 and single, I drove more than I do now.. Then I often did 12-20k miles/year.

Just got my shipping notification.. Can't wait for Avo intake, GS TMIC and CNT Racing catted DP!! Last hurrah for my '05 - hopefully it'll last another 4-5 years..

So, how much did parts/labor run, total?

Is that price right? $4,100? I see it for $280-300 elsewhere.. Why not just get a Hexmods F1? Seems to be about the same thing..

Generally how much does pressure go up from cold -> warm? How does ambient temp impact this? Any guidelines?

Just turned 110K miles. I think I went stage 1 around 30-33K. Stage 3 (bnr16g + injectors + fuel + gutted OEM pipes) around 63k. So, almost 50K on the bnr16g. About to add Grimmspeed TMIC + CNT Racing catted DP for "one last bump". Hoping to get another 4-5 years out of it. Recently had valve cover gaskets done, will be replacing hubs/bearings soon.. And have the Free Range Racing replacement hoses, since I'm sure I have a lot of rubber getting old..

Somehow missed this question earlier. AFAIK, the "early" and "late" 05s were differences in things like gas filler door sensor/gas tank sensor (something to do with a fuel sensor near the gas tank), and a few other things. The main reason you would need to know this is for an Accessport, where they ship a specific modified ROM for your car. If you got an early ROM when you needed a late ROM, I believe you'd get phantom CELs, due to it trying to read a sensor that wasn't installed in the later 05s, that sort of thing. I don't think there's any difference in the actual transmission hardware between early 05 and late 05 (sometimes written as 05.5) - but I could be wrong

So.. Would you still recommend disabling CL to OL delay?

Except they're also quite panic-inducing during panic stops when it feels like you have very little for the first 4 blocks.. My Bobcats had much better "panic-stop" grip. In my case, with lots of stop-and-go driving, and not rare "OMG, everyone's stopped up ahead" panic slowdowns, I liked them WAY better than the HPS. My current StopTech pads are ok. I think a little better than the HPS, not quite as good as the bobcats.. If HP+ is angle grinder bad, are DTC70s only good for one lap?

Looks like HP+ is what I've always wanted, not HPS. Didn't like "cold" HPS pads AT ALL. Anyone have similar data for Carbotech or StopTech/Centric?

Generally agree with your comments, but at least for '05, this is wrong. My '05 will happily bounce off the rev limiter in any gear as long as I like in manual mode (well, I know for sure at least 1st/2nd/3rd - have never had it near redline in 4th/5th). I think you actually have it reversed - I seem to recall hearing that '07+ will upshift for you (and do rev matching on downshift?).

Which project is this for?

Since it's on that page - for anyone wanting to consider this, and who doesn't already have parts lying around, we're looking at $3500 just for the modified turbo + accessories, correct? With CA tax, that's almost $4k. It sounds good, but that's past my level of "willing to pay for it".

I popped out the accordions last week, took a quick peek, and looked at the wires under the insulation. All mine seemed fine. 2005.5 (i.e. late 2005) 5EAT model. Of course, my antenna wire's got a break somewhere, but I don't have the time or the desire to replace that cable..

Just one comment: I had a stage 2 (gutted OEM pipes) VF-40, and I REALLY liked the instant get-up-and-go of the TDC stage 2 tune with those mods. Yes, it really fell off after 5k rpm, but man, it was really, really fast to respond in around-town driving. I switched to a bnr16g (with injectors + pump) because of worries about the turbo dying and ending up where you are when I was at 63k miles. 50k miles later, bnr16g still going along happily (now with IP&T oil line kit v1). About to add Grimmspeed TMIC and CNT catted DP.