200K mile rehab saga: Good news from Volkswagen of America

Just a quick update, after about 6 months of waiting (and some back and forth), I
finally heard back from VW body shop- my fenders have been approved for replacement under the corrosion warranty! I am so psyched :)  They will follow up next week to make an appointment, etc.  I had pretty much lost hope!

People of the world beware: An assault on our privacy is coming, of unimaginable proportions.

Yes, that's kind of hyperbolic, but it's really the only way to get the point across.  Your personal data and information is quickly becoming digital - and almost everything digital is accessible online.  Here are a few small examples of the things that you probably don't think about being accessed by someone you haven't authorized, and how it could impact your life:

• A GPS track of everywhere you have been in the last year, from your phone or your car
• A list of the radio stations or music you listen to every day
• Pictures/video of you taken as you sit in front of your computer

There is no denying that we are heading toward a completely on-line existence.  Progress has spoken - social networking has propelled much more than photos of you and your friends to be put online.  Devices like exercise bracelets, music sharing websites that advertise what you listened to, refrigerators that track what you've eaten, cars that log your speed and driving habits, and SO MUCH MORE.   And the convenience of the cloud means that all this data is likely to be housed not in your hands - but those of someone else (like Facebook or Google).

The big question is this:

What stands in the way of someone you don't know getting access to these things?

In today's world, 9-times-out-of-10, even in the best case scenario, it's a single password.  Yes, a single password is all it takes for someone who wanted to completely ruin your life.  Even if you are conscientious and maintain a separate password for each website (which most people don't), most systems utilize your e-mail address to reset your password, making the point of vulnerability for almost of your data a single password - the one on your e-mail account.

Ask yourself another question:  What is my attitude toward passwords? How about my family's? And my friends'?  I'm willing to guess that the answer for at least one of these contingents is something along the lines of this:

"Passwords are a pain in the neck, I invest the minimum amount of effort I can get away with."

Unfortunately, it gets worse.

As your data footprint gets wider, the chances that someone will make a human error that exposes your data rises.  That means your data could be compromised even if you are diligent about security.

So if we look at all this in perspective over time, we have the following factors:

• More sensitive data being created, 
• More of that sensitive data being put on online, 
• With basically the same type of security we have had to protect our data since the invention of e-mail - at best, a single password, and
• At worst, diminishing security, as any of the increasing number of online services housing our data are vulnerable to compromise.
• As people are becoming increasingly aware, government agencies like the NSA are becoming more powerful (by necessity?), and can requisition your data from those services whenever they want

And still worse.

Up until now, you probably have a friend or two who have had their computer "pwned", or their e-mail account hacked.  Most likely they had to reformat their computer, change their e-mail and other passwords, maybe send an apology to their friends for spam they received from their account, and in the more extreme cases, change their credit card numbers and notify their banks.  

But this is NOTHING, in terms of the amount or severity, compared to what we will see in 5-10 years from now, as more of our data is made digital.  The stakes will be far higher.  If a hacker gains access to your Facebook account today, that counts for some amount of value - perhaps they can advertise something or blackmail you into paying some amount of money.  But if they can gain access to your banking info, your living habits, the vehicles you own, all of your financials, and other things we can't even imagine, hacking becomes more lucrative.  Instead of script-kiddies and people who write in broken English sitting in front of a home computer, we are talking about highly paid, technically adept, convincing actors, whose job it is to gain access to your data.  These people could even be blurring the lines between malicious or illegal activity, working for government contracts for organizations like the NSA.  They will stop at almost nothing, and they will move on to someone else before you even know anything happened to you.  Eventually, privacy is going to become one of the most valued (and valuable) things on the internet, and in the world.

The point of this article isn't to generate paranoia.  It's a wake-up call about where we're heading, and how our (collective) attitudes are going to need to change, if this is all going to be sustainable.  Sadly, we are most assuredly going to have to weather a few major storms before there is a widespread change in the way we all approach security.

So as crazy new gadgets that find new and novel ways to computerize your life emerge, think carefully about what you choose to adopt.  Consider the gains against the risks to your privacy.  If you do decide to adopt something, think about what you can do to prevent your data from falling into the wrong hands, and take the opportunity to do it.  

Turbo Boost Zero: Conclusion

Well, I got my car back together and everything went pretty much as planned.  The turbo does reach full boost now (about 18-24 psi as measured by my VDO boost gauge, known to read about 4 psi high).  The first day the car was a little peppier, nothing too noticeable.  But after a couple of day, there was a very noticeable difference! I now remember that the air/fuel mapping is adaptive.  Since the turbo probably has been having issues for at least a year now, the ECU probably remapped in order to compensate for the lack of boost (in an attempt to maximize power and minimize smoke, with what is available).  Over the course of 3-4 days, I noticed the car became really zippy again, and seems to smoke a lot less in general (don't worry, it still has the "anti-tailgating" feature if you stand on it for a few seconds).

So in the end, a 50 cent retaining clip was all that was needed, but because of what it took to get to it, along with other issues I noticed while I was in there, I probably spent close 8 hours working on it.  However, it's worth mentioning that I also got around to doing some important things on my list.  Most importantly, I finally replaced the glow plugs and harness, which (probably the harness) has/have been throwing an engine code for literally years now.  Unless I've forgotten, I'm pretty sure the glow plugs were the original ones the car came with.  After I changed them, I cleared the MIL code, and the light has stayed off for weeks now.  Easily the first time in 3-4 years.

Hopefully the car will have an easier time starting this winter.  Can't wait to find out...

Okay, I take that back.

Turbo Boost: Zero pt. 3

After tearing into the engine (removed hood, various piping, intake manifold) I saw what was causing the problem.  The issue was in fact the actuator on the turbo.  Specifically, the circlip that holds the actuator on to the vane lever had broken/fallen off, and the whole assembly was wedged together.  I went to the auto parts store and bought a kit with a bunch of spare parts including assorted circlips - one of which fit.

The assembly seems to move quite easily and there is no rust or dirt, so I think there is no point in going any further.  I tested the actuator with a vacuum pump and it seemed to be fine.  I did notice some loss but I'm hoping that doesn't matter.  I tried to make a better seal around the actuator vacuum port by using a larger piece of rubber hose and a hose clamp.

I am almost done putting the car back together, but I did notice that I seem to have lost two bolts out of the intake manifold.  I called the dealership and, of course, they don't stock intake manifold bolts (which is pretty much confirmation of my suspicions that they don't stock anything for outside customers).  So I ordered the bolts and they should be here Saturday.

About 1-2 hours of work and it should be back on the road.

Turbo Boost Zero: pt. 2

I got underneath the car and pulled the vacuum hose off the VNT (turbo) actuator.  I hooked up a hand vacuum pump with a gauge on it and put some vacuum on it.  The vacuum wouldn't really hold very long, either because the vacuum pump hose or the actuator leaked, but that wasn't really here nor there - I did manage to get well over 10 inches of vacuum plenty of times and the actuator didn't even think of moving.  I tried to move the assembly with my hand and the thing was frozen stiff.

The turbo actuator with the hose off

So I've pretty much come to the conclusion that either the actuator is frozen, the vanes or frozen, or/and the actuator is screwed.  Furthermore, I think the easiest way to deal with it is to try to get the turbo off.  Then I can fix it whatever way I need to, or even replace the turbo if need be (and if I can find another one I can afford).

Turbo Boost Zero

I've got a bunch of half-written blog posts in the can waiting to be finished and released.  Had a really busy summer, and NOT without it's car and e-bike issues.  I'll get them out eventually.

Wanted to give a play by play of this one.  Yesterday I was driving up the big hill in Randolph in my 2002 VW Golf TDI, and my turbo boost went out.  I tried stopping/restarting the car (which has worked in the few times in the past) but... nothing at all.  So whatever is is pretty shot.  As far as I can tell, the car has absolutely no turbo boost at all (I can hear no whistling and feel very little power).  The car is technically drive-able but has a hard time keeping up with traffic.  Reminds me of my old '81 diesel rabbit (NA).

I pulled the codes when I got home, and (among the massive list of other known issues) I saw a new one:

17964 - Charge Pressure Control
            P1556 - 35-00 - Negative Deviation

So at this point I'm thinking that it's one of the following:

• Boost leak (unlikely, since I probably would have heard it)
• Problem with the VNT actuator (misadjusted or stuck)
• Vacuum leak (due to a worn out hose)
• Bad N75 solenoid (this is the interface between the computer and the vacuum)

Stay tuned as I reduce the haystack down to a more manageable size, in search of the needle causing this problem.

Baby Motion Pager

Are you a new parent?  Do you have an infant that sleeps lightly at times, or needs attention frequently?  Perhaps you need to do something as soon as they start to wake up, and seconds are of the essence?  That has been the situation for our son, so I decided to put together a baby motion pager system, to alert me as soon as he stirred.  If this sounds interesting to you, read on!