1998 VW Jetta TDI Turbo Diesel - Timing Belt went, so...

ChristieAcres · #1 06/19/13, 10:55 PM

the father of the Owner traded the car to my DH for his labor (built railings for the guy). Once we got it home, DH went over to speak with Rob, a sharp Mechanic, who owns a very busy auto shop. Since DH does most of our automotive work, but we always use Rob's shop for the work DH can't do, Rob has kindly offered advice at times. He told DH not to assume the valves were bent, but change the timing belt first. Then, to start it up...

DH changed the timing belt, the water pump, and oil seal (latter two advised to be done). Once he set the timing, he started it and it ran a bit rough but not like it would have with bad valves. So, DH adjusted the timing and it was worse. The 3rd tweak did the trick! The motor ran very well. DH was surprised and very pleased he didn't have to remove the head...replace valves...

We took it for a test drive last night (DH drove) and it ran great. So far, DH has now changed the oil, is changing at least one heater (glo plugs), has to fix one rear brake light, and has washed it (inside/out). He will be replacing the tires and painting the wheels. The car has 195K miles, was never smoked in, and no pets, either. The interior is in good condition.

This is the "before" shot, will post a few other pics.

foxtrapper · #2 06/20/13, 05:32 AM

Great! Very economical car, and well worth keeping.

HuskyBoris · #3 06/20/13, 07:47 PM

nice !!!,,all my old VW diesels were usually toast when the belt broke causing all kinds of damage besides a bent valve or 2,,glad to see you got it working with a couple tweaks of the pump

ChristieAcres · #4 06/20/13, 11:28 PM

DH told me it was rare to get one with a timing belt that went without the expected damage occurring. Had our friend, the Mechanic, not tell DH to change the timing belt before tearing everything apart, we would have been out hundreds more... This next week, we are bringing him either a homemade pie or cheesecake!

Also meant to share DH had figured this motor had very minimal interference from what he could tell when he worked on it. I then got the 101 of what happens when the timing belt breaks.

Tomorrow or Saturday, we will be taking our VW in for new tires, also get some red paint for the wheels, and check some junkyards for hub caps. Since the stereo is toast, that will be replaced eventually. Here are a few interior pics:

ChristieAcres · #5 06/22/13, 01:40 PM

DH washed the car & we are getting new tires today.

Darren · #6 06/22/13, 02:32 PM

Those are great cars. Great mileage and you should be able to drive it for many more years.

ChristieAcres · #7 06/22/13, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darren

Those are great cars. Great mileage and you should be able to drive it for many more years.

We wanted to know what kind of mileage we were getting, so DH filled up the car and we calculated it. Just over 45mpg driving in the City, on the Hwy, and up hills...

I call it my "baby truck" since it sounds like a Diesel Truck, just quieter, while idling... We priced tires and will decide which type to get tomorrow. In addition, we bought a new stereo for it, since the stereo had been taken out.

wannabechef · #8 06/23/13, 03:26 AM

Please don't paint the wheels red Lori!

ChristieAcres · #9 06/23/13, 03:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wannabechef

Please don't paint the wheels red Lori!

Why? DH likes the idea and we will be getting nice hub caps for it.

wannabechef · #10 06/23/13, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lorichristie

Why? DH likes the idea and we will be getting nice hub caps for it.

I've never seen a wheel painted the same color as a car/truck and look good except for black.

Theront · #11 06/23/13, 08:06 AM

I am glad the belt went well for you. I work on a few of these and even have the tools for the cars. I would like to make a suggestion if it hasnt been done. The idler rollers and timing belt tensioners are known issues on these cars. I see you changed the water pump, good to go there. There are several websites dedicated to tnis engine configuration and lots of them have done the research for improved parts.
Good luck and enjoy the mileage.
Theron

ChristieAcres · #12 06/23/13, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theront

I am glad the belt went well for you. I work on a few of these and even have the tools for the cars. I would like to make a suggestion if it hasnt been done. The idler rollers and timing belt tensioners are known issues on these cars. I see you changed the water pump, good to go there. There are several websites dedicated to tnis engine configuration and lots of them have done the research for improved parts.
Good luck and enjoy the mileage.
Theron

Thanks for the suggestion, will have DH look into it. I signed DH up to a great site which offers a lot of detailed information w/pictures to go with. Yes, will also look into improved parts...

wannabechef, I saw a few very cool cars today with wheels painted the same color as the car (sports cars...). Since tires are black...nice contrast.

Since I was curious, I looked up VW Jetta TDI's online and then saw one almost identical to ours. They all had hub caps with NONE black, all silver...

The one like ours had nice silver VW hub caps. We will be getting those, eventually, not in a hurry. In the meantime, we may still be painting the wheels red as they are dingy looking & will be getting new tires tomorrow. Found a place with better prices for the same quality of tires but they were closed today.

wannabechef · #13 06/23/13, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lorichristie

Thanks for the suggestion, will have DH look into it. I signed DH up to a great site which offers a lot of detailed information w/pictures to go with. Yes, will also look into improved parts...

wannabechef, I saw a few very cool cars today with wheels painted the same color as the car (sports cars...). Since tires are black...nice contrast.

Since I was curious, I looked up VW Jetta TDI's online and then saw one almost identical to ours. They all had hub caps with NONE black, all silver...

The one like ours had nice silver VW hub caps. We will be getting those, eventually, not in a hurry. In the meantime, we may still be painting the wheels red as they are dingy looking & will be getting new tires tomorrow. Found a place with better prices for the same quality of tires but they were closed today.

Yes, silver is the norm...

ChristieAcres · #14 06/23/13, 10:29 PM

Here is a link to what the original Hub Caps looked like:

http://www.wheelskin.com/fwc61527u20.html

ChristieAcres · #15 06/24/13, 10:30 PM

DH contacted the guy who he got the car from, and asked for the Hub Caps (his DD was the Owner and had removed the nicer wheels before she sold it). We are hoping to get the original ones.

ChristieAcres · #16 06/24/13, 10:35 PM

Theront, DH inspected the idler rollers and timing belt tensioners when he worked on it and said they were in great shape, so that was good.

When DH installed the stereo, we listened to one of our CD's, and I was surprised there were eight speakers. The VW has new tires!

wannabechef · #17 06/25/13, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lorichristie

Theront, DH inspected the idler rollers and timing belt tensioners when he worked on it and said they were in great shape, so that was good.

When DH installed the stereo, we listened to one of our CD's, and I was surprised there were eight speakers. The VW has new tires!

The Germans do sound systems really nice, wife's BMW has 11 speakers, one of which is an 8" sub...the problem is all speakers are 2ohm and have to be replaced with BMW speakers or another company that makes 2ohm speakers. They are needing replacement now.

nosqrls · #18 06/25/13, 05:47 PM

Use lucas oil stabilizer and synthetic oil with a approved synthetic oil filter (k&n,mobile one, royal purple) and you should be able to go 7000-15000 between oil changes. and put lucas gear oil in trans. and lucas fuel add. to keep injectors clean. and yes it does work I have put it in a rough running engine while idling and you could hear it smooth out as it worked its way through.and better mileage to boot. The newer common rail tdi's use allot higher fuel pressure close to 30,000psi to run cleaner and more power and are shared by Audi,VW, Mercedes. You should be able to get close to 300,000 out of that motor. if you take care of it.

04 dodge ram 1 ton 4x4 Dually
5.9l cummins Diesel automatic
18.4mpg city 22.3 mpg Highway 12.8 mpg towing 12,000lbs +
not bad for a 7000lb + full time 4x4

tarbe · #19 06/25/13, 05:56 PM

tdiclub.com

Best VW diesel resource on the web. I have been hanging out there since 1999 and became a member in 2002 when I bought my first VW. I've had four now...currently own 3!

Here's hoping you get many miles from this old baby!

artificer · #20 06/26/13, 03:04 PM

I just talked to my TDI guru, one of the respected service people from TDIclub. He said you need to replace the valves. Yes, its running now, but if the timing belt broke with the engine running, the valves were damaged. You might make it 10k or more, but eventually the damaged valve(s) will fail, and take out the engine. Your engine is an AHU, and my friend was talking about the ALH engines, but I don't think it makes a difference. Both are interference engines.

Cost of parts from idparts.com is about $350 New valves, cam and lifters, cylinder head install kit... Yes, its a bit of money and some time to do, but its well worth it. 10k vs 100k-200k more life from the engine. (new valves need new lifters. New lifters need a new cam to wear correctly...)

The prices at IDparts.com are about as good as you'll find. There is someone out there selling cheap Chinese import stuff, but its worse than a waste of time. Prothe is one of the main sellers of the cheap crap, I believe.

Michael

Edit: Just talked to the guru... AHU, ALH, PD... doesn't matter. If the belt broke with the engine running, 95% or more chance of damage.

Edit2: ...and now the tensioner. They are designed to be replaced with the belt (60k life). The good timing belt kits come with a new tensioner. If you take the head off, it makes sense to replace it now, rather than let it take out the head later. On my 2006 TDI, I replace everything when the belt gets changed, including the water pump. Its cheap insurance considering the labor cost or time to do the belt change. Hopefully the belt you used was one of the good ones like Gates, Continental, or OEM