2004 VW R32 Install - NOT DIAL-UP FRIENDLY

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Originally Posted by R32 JUhl

They're recovering from a REALLY dreadful reputation. But I've been keeping an eye on them for the last few months. Their most recent offering for the .:R is a performance exhaust system. And like so many of their products, its release was repeatedly pushed back. However, once it came out, it was met with a lot of praise! Its buyers are very impressed with the tone and quality of workmanship as well as the fit of the system.

Their customers for their intake, heads and slew of other bolt on pieces are really pleased, as well. If they want to sponsor a certain model... then we'll step up for the first of their .:R32 turbo kits! But right now we're in no position to lay down that kind of cash (got a wedding to pay for in May) so we have plenty of time to allow them to continue to build their rep.

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I remember when I got into the scene 3 or 4 years ago they were terrible. They are located about 15 minutes from my house, so seen a lot of their work. Needless to say, I wasnt impressed, infact I was probably repulsed if anything. They arent cheap, and did (or do) work that isnt too amazing. The techs there appear to be high school drop outs that have figured out how to do the work from reading a Haynes manual, might as well have not read at all.

They are out of Westminster, which is a pretty redneck/hick filled area, so of the 5 times that I've had to come into their shop, I couldnt get much out of their employees. Only reason I went there was that the next closest shop is in northern Virginia, more than an hour away. I really hope they did improve, but it would really surprise me if they did. They had enough business from all the ricers getting their intakes installed and LED pedals and exhuast tips...

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Originally Posted by integramodder

I remember when I got into the scene 3 or 4 years ago they were terrible. They are located about 15 minutes from my house, so seen a lot of their work. Needless to say, I wasnt impressed, infact I was probably repulsed if anything. They arent cheap, and did (or do) work that isnt too amazing. The techs there appear to be high school drop outs that have figured out how to do the work from reading a Haynes manual, might as well have not read at all.

They are out of Westminster, which is a pretty redneck/hick filled area, so of the 5 times that I've had to come into their shop, I couldnt get much out of their employees. Only reason I went there was that the next closest shop is in northern Virginia, more than an hour away. I really hope they did improve, but it would really surprise me if they did. They had enough business from all the ricers getting their intakes installed and LED pedals and exhuast tips...

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Thanks for the feedback, will proceed accordingly.

Hey Juhl I have a 2004 passat with monsoon and I also am getting rid of the radio; did you ever solve the noise issue?

Thanks

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Originally Posted by NoJoke

Hey Juhl I have a 2004 passat with monsoon and I also am getting rid of the radio; did you ever solve the noise issue?

Thanks

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I've "solved" it but have not resolved it. :D MY issue is noise coming from my built-in audio card. The noise is audible even through headphones plugged directly into the carputer. I have read others' comments on the board and it could be caused by the fact that my motherboard does not have a designated chassis ground (which I find unlikely since the Opus should be grounding the mobo). Many have addressed the issue with a quality sound card. As time permits, I will try both solutions. But most impostantly for you, the sound issue is my carputer problem and is not being caused by my "hotwiring" of the Monsoon amp.

If you want, we can take my extigy out of my jeep this saturday at the meet and throw it in your ride to see if the noise goes away. Little process of elimination.

We'd have to figure something out for power though (I think I hard wired it under the seat). Shouldn't be too hard ... let me know if you want to try it.

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Originally Posted by shakes

If you want, we can take my extigy out of my jeep this saturday at the meet and throw it in your ride to see if the noise goes away. Little process of elimination.

We'd have to figure something out for power though (I think I hard wired it under the seat). Shouldn't be too hard ... let me know if you want to try it.

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I appreciate the offer. I don't want to put you through that kind of hassle, though. Sounds like it would be a pain to do. It won't take long for me to test the mobo ground theory. And a decent sound card is pretty affordable anyhow. I just gotta squeeze it in between planning the wedding and work! We're two months out and haven't sent out the invitations yet. :rolleyes:

nah ... the only hassle for me would be power. it's under the back seat which just folds up, and is just connected via a USB cable.

But not that I think of it ... you'd have to load the driver on your machine though. And we all know creative drivers are anything but lightweight.

Maybe I'll bring them on my mem stick and if we get bored we'll give it a go. otherwise you'll figure it out sometime.

edit- never mind-
it just now....
2 minutes ago..
....dawned on me you have no head unit at all in the car...I'll admit it...
brain fart.

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Originally Posted by shakes

nah ... the only hassle for me would be power. it's under the back seat which just folds up, and is just connected via a USB cable.

But not that I think of it ... you'd have to load the driver on your machine though. And we all know creative drivers are anything but lightweight.

Maybe I'll bring them on my mem stick and if we get bored we'll give it a go. otherwise you'll figure it out sometime.

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Well, you motivated me to do something about the issue last night. But I still have work to do. I grounded the motherboard and that had no affect. Installed a USB sound card and that didn't improve the situation. I still hear all the activity in the carputer. But from that work, here's what I've gathered. My amp work-around is powered off the 5V PSU line - so that is ONE source of the carputer's noise. My internal sound card is ANOTHER source of the carputer noise. In other words, I have to attack BOTH issues at the same time in order to completely remove the noise from the audio system. Previously, I was only doing one fix at a time and it would not address the problem.

Fixing both issues will take more time than I have available at the moment, unfortunately. Basically, I have to introduce a clean 5V signal into the amp and locate, purchase and install a PCI sound card that will work with my XMD, WinTV/FM and Powermate.

Hey Juhl,

I want to get rid of the head unit all together with my carpc setup. I understand mostly how you ran the setup, but can you do a newbie DIY guide to how to replace the headunit so it is functional with the monsoon. The monsoon has been such a pain in the *** to me lately. I figured i could swap it out with an aftermarket amp but the way the car is wired and the ohms that the stock speakers are at makes it very difficult unless you rewire the whole car. Which is pricy.

So in conclusion, this is a request for a DIY guide to solving the sound issue. I am not familiar with capacitators or any of the jibberish. It has to be very newbieish at this point. I really do appreciate all you have done to help us MKIV owners understand our monsoons. Thanks again.