VW Diesel Only

[lineman_fj40]

I dont know if this is alright but I thought it would be good to have one thread dedicated to the VW Diesel. NO GAS. Seeing how most of us cruiser guys own a diesel vw I thought this would be a good thread. I would like to see posted things like mods and sites to check out also some local shops to visit, pics are good too.

So tonight the wife and I just bought a 96 jetta turbo. I have owned a few vw in my time but this is the first diesel.

Lets see what happens

Jay

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

It was nice being a part of the "new addition" today. Good colour as well. Cheers.

 

[seapotato]

VI-VW's...

.

The day I bought mine I had a jetta and the passat of the same year as yours to look at. Passat guy was well enough off that he just paid for everything to be done before it needed to be, had a receipt for the tbelt from less than a week before because he didn't want to sell the car with it almost gone.

Jetta guy didn't know his ass from a hole in the ground. " yeah t belt was done a little over 120k ago."

So it was kindof a no-brainer which one to buy.

I have two smallish issues with mine at the moment , the pulsing throttle when I floor it, but I think I know what that is, N75 valve I think they call it.

Apparently if I installed a manual boost controller it would fix that as well...But the throttle pulse only happens if I floor it above 2500 rpm, and that happens about once every 3 months, so I can live with it...

And a slight coolant leak on the front of the engine, near the bellhousing. Takes almost 2 months for it to lose enough coolant that the low level light comes on( about 1 litre) I think it's an O ring or something. I'll poke around with it one of these days.



http://forums.tdiclub.com/ is a pretty good forum for info.

and http://www.myturbodiesel.com/ is good for how-to's and such.

 

[Toshi38]

I've got a 2004 TDI Jetta ... Seems decent gets good mileage. I picked it up for a good price and I've pretty much paid it off in fuel compared with my old V8 daily driver.

I just got the new suspension kit from the other thread. I'll probably install it this weekend or next and come back with how that all goes.

Otherwise I have done the brakes all around (pads/rotors), glow plugs (Free with factory recall), starter, and new battery (Free with Canadian tire warranty). It started a bit weakly when I got it but once the -30 deg weather set in a new starter/battery was in the cards.

I have a check engine light for an open on the O2 sensor heater circuit... I may get a new sensor or I might just put a resister of appropriate size on there to turn off the light before I sell the car. Shouldn't really effect the performance anyway.

 

[Diesel Cruiserman]

2000 golf four door, t belt kit.. headlight glass replaced, trailer hitch installed last week...

Needs front suspension reworked, clean intake this summer, maybe upgrade computer for better performance and milage.



Sold supercharged 100 series and quickly payed itself off with gass savings

Edit, milage 317000KM..

Rob

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

Wifes 05 Tdi Golf (BEW code motor) Has a little pump on top of each injector. Bit scary none of them have gone wrong yet.

-Timing belt and H20 pump 140K service last month
-Fixed leaking sunroof by modifying the drains (then saw there was a recall for this )
-Upper front strut bushings
-H&R Sport springs
-Recalls done.
-Change fuel filter 2x as often as recommended because the injectors cost a bloody fortune.
-Intercooler shrouding rubbed through the intercooler tubes causing boost leak and black smoke from over fuelling. (no CEL) Keep and eye out for that little quirk Steve.

A sensor for the central locking has gone. Kinda funny, car will randomly lock itself for no reason, especially in cold weather. One can never leave the keys in it running or not incase it decides to lock itself. It did it on the ferry once, luckily I had my keys in my pocket because the wife's were inside. Lock mechanism comes as a whole unit and costs $300+ dollars. Good thing sumer is on its way.

Been a good car other than (all) that.

 

[seapotato]

Wifes 05 Tdi Golf (BEW code motor) Has a little pump on top of each injector. Bit scary none of them have gone wrong yet.

-Timing belt and H20 pump 140K service last month
-Fixed leaking sunroof by modifying the drains (then saw there was a recall for this )
-Upper front strut bushings
-H&R Sport springs
-Recalls done.
-Change fuel filter 2x as often as recommended because the injectors cost a bloody fortune.
-Intercooler shrouding rubbed through the intercooler tubes causing boost leak and black smoke from over fuelling. (no CEL) Keep and eye out for that little quirk Steve.

A sensor for the central locking has gone. Kinda funny, car will randomly lock itself for no reason, especially in cold weather. One can never leave the keys in it running or not incase it decides to lock itself. It did it on the ferry once, luckily I had my keys in my pocket because the wife's were inside. Lock mechanism comes as a whole unit and costs $300+ dollars. Good thing sumer is on its way.

Been a good car other than (all) that.

All that is why I wanted an older one...even the 96 I bought is a bit on the new side for me. Waaaay too many wires and hoses under the hood for my taste.

But good little car , despite my mistrust of it's inner workings. It's a strange thing to drive on the highway in comfort and near silence at the speed limit...

Sometimes I contemplate that it'd be fun to drop this engine into something cooler, but I probably won't.
No time, and by the time I have time, it'll be time for cruiser time.

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

Came home after work yesterday and saw the golf was parked in the garage. After the torrential downpour yesterday this could only mean one thing.

-Ive resealed the taillights (fixed trunk lake)
-Fixed all 4 sunroof lower drain nipples (fixed footwell lake)
-new rear door gasket (fixed dribbling through gap)
-never park under trees

Now the devil car is leaking at the top of the "C" pillar. Guess its time to drop the headliner and check the upper sunroof to drain tube connections. Grunt.

 

[Toshi38]

Ya my old golf got a whole bunch of leaves in the area at the base of the windsheild... caused a lake in there and all the water came in through the heater vent intake

I must say that my jetta has a few quirks in cold weather... although for the mileage I get I don't really care.

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

Yep, rear sunroof drain (upper) were to blame. Here is a pic of the offending drivers side.Right where the brown(ish) drain tube meets the white(ish) coupling. One can even see the little drop forming after I poured a bit of H20 down that corner.

Vacuumed it all out and resealed the tube connection with some "Right stuff" gasket gorp. Might be a tad hard to pull it apart again but it won't leak. (fingers crossed)

 

[lineman_fj40]

So yesterday I decided to get busy doing maintenance on the jetta and much to my dismay the underneath is rusted through, So if anyone out there sees a 94-99 jetta with no rust dont care gas or diesel let me know. Mainly looking for body, so if it has blown engine or no engine prefered.

So after that little heart ach I continued with an engine flush, with seafoam of course, tightened up PS belt, Replaced ignition switch, removed getto box from trunk.

Now it runs good but has holes in it. God I suck at buying cars.

Future things to do are timing belt, cause it is just turning 200000 km, exhaust- they have a cat/resonator/muffler on it, so I am going to straight pipe it and increase it to 2.25 in pipe. Fuel filter tomorrow.

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

So yesterday I decided to get busy doing maintenance on the jetta and much to my dismay the underneath is rusted through, So if anyone out there sees a 94-99 jetta with no rust dont care gas or diesel let me know. Mainly looking for body, so if it has blown engine or no engine prefered.

So after that little heart ach I continued with an engine flush, with seafoam of course, tightened up PS belt, Replaced ignition switch, removed getto box from trunk.

Now it runs good but has holes in it. God I suck at buying cars.

Future things to do are timing belt, cause it is just turning 200000 km, exhaust- they have a cat/resonator/muffler on it, so I am going to straight pipe it and increase it to 2.25 in pipe. Fuel filter tomorrow.

Oh dear. That blows.

This on the other hand doesn't. Love the 2dr. MK2's Jettas.
http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/1990-Volkswagen-Jetta-16td-wolfsburg_19429661

MK3
http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/1996-Volkswagen-Jetta_19321977


MK4?http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/2000-Volkswagen-Jetta-Bora-MK4-MKIV_19401685

I was skeptical..... but it turns out they ar out there! Id say the MK2 would be the coolest, the MK3 would be the easiest and the MK4 would fetch the most money when it comes time to sell it. My.02.

 

[seapotato]

Yeah that blows.

I did what I could for checking under mine when I got it, but it's freakin hard to do when they're 3 inches off the damn ground.

All I could really do was feel around with my hand....probably best I don't look under there myself...

I came close to buying an older passat syncro wagon a few months back, with the though of throwing my engine into it, but decided I just wasn't that into it. ( it'd be a cool car in the end tho.)

I'd love to straight pipe mine too, but the exhaust is pretty new, so it's hard to justify. I guess you have to either stick a resistor on the sensors in the cat, or just leave them attached and tape them up underneath somewhere. If you cut them out, you get a CEL.
Or at least that's what I've read. it's another thing on the " do I really want to?" list with this car.

 

[Toshi38]

So yesterday I decided to get busy doing maintenance on the jetta and much to my dismay the underneath is rusted through, So if anyone out there sees a 94-99 jetta with no rust dont care gas or diesel let me know. Mainly looking for body, so if it has blown engine or no engine prefered.

So after that little heart ach I continued with an engine flush, with seafoam of course, tightened up PS belt, Replaced ignition switch, removed getto box from trunk.

Now it runs good but has holes in it. God I suck at buying cars.

Future things to do are timing belt, cause it is just turning 200000 km, exhaust- they have a cat/resonator/muffler on it, so I am going to straight pipe it and increase it to 2.25 in pipe. Fuel filter tomorrow.

Look into VW's rust guarantee's ... I know on the newer ones they had some sort of galvanizing and if you got a hole they've got a lifetime warranty against rust holes ... be pretty funny if you could get that

A buddy of mine got a new hood on his thanks to that ... but I don't know what years they did that on...

 

[Glenn-BJ74]

I don't know much about these rigs but some friends bought one ( 2004) and are raving about the mileage.
So how have these engines changed since 2000? What are the disadvantages of the later model engines?

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

I don't know much about these rigs but some friends bought one ( 2004) and are raving about the mileage.
So how have these engines changed since 2000? What are the disadvantages of the later model engines?

1998.5-2003 is the ALH motor. It is mechanically injected, electronically controlled 1.9 liter diesel. It uses a rotary pump (dont think inlines pumps were ever offered)
These are the motors that seem to be making the most power in the "tuner" world. People crank these up to produce over 400f/lbs of torque.

2004-2006(ish) Is the BEW. 1.9L Its the "Pump nozzle" motor. It has little pump nozzles as the name implies. It is a little more efficient and runs higher injection pressures. It also has multiple injection events so its quieter and a bit smoother. It is however more complicated and finicky.

Around 2006 VW TDI's did something strange and I'm no expert but it has to do with emissions. I think they discontinued the TDI in 07 or sold the 07's as 06's or something like that. Wikipedia would know the real facts. Anyways, to meet the higher emissions standards they went the urea injection route in the later models and I'm sure the entire injection system is different. They are to new for me to know much about them.

All these cars have their quirks, no debate there but in the milage world they kick *ss. They also make such usable power. One hardly ever has to shift gears because they just grunt their ways up hills. On paper they dont look all that powerful but behind the wheel they are just so easy to drive. I think VW did a great job with the MK4's (1998.5-2006) between the fun and humours advertising campaign and little touches like the blue and red dash lights, "key up" windows etc. they created a sense of fun and pride in their cars. You don't see people praising their Cavaliers or Neon's! lol.

 

[Toshi38]

I find the build quality is a bit s***... lots of funny little vibrations in the trim ... but otherwise its pretty good. Doesn't seem to be designed for use in snow/cold. The doors for instance will easily freeze shut requiring a pretty good pull to unstick them (thanks to the felt style weather stripping that gets wet then freezes at -30)

That said the little quirks are well worth it for the mileage.

In other news I picked up my big box of suspension parts last night... Hopefully I'll dig into it this weekend or next..

 

[Glenn-BJ74]

I saw some generic urea injection fluid at Canadian Tire - $9 per US gallon. A few diesel manufactures have opted for urea injection for emissions and after market suppliers are selling less expensive urea for the latter model.

As for useable power - I drove their 2004 and it had lots of grunt.

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

Doesn't seem to be designed for use in snow/cold. The doors for instance will easily freeze shut requiring a pretty good pull to unstick them (thanks to the felt style weather stripping that gets wet then freezes at -30)

..

Funny, Ive never had a problem with water on the outside of the car..... its the inside water that irks me. I'd have a fawkin glacier in the 's car by now at -30.

 

[45Kevin]

I'm a little disappointed with the milage we get with our 2006. It has a DSG trans and is a little larger and heavier than older models. Maybe in the 45 mpg range.

Our previous 99 was a 5 speed and got better milage. Maybe 55 mpg.

I drove a 92 in the early 90s and got the preverbial 60+ mpg with that.

I'd like to get a 2002ish station wagon, but people want stupid money for them.