2004 Jetta TDI Turbo Problem

Pro Mustang

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2010
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado
TDI
2004 Jetta
Hello TDI Club: I hope I am in the correct section to ask these questions.

My daughter has a 2004 Jetta TDI. The timing belt cover says it is a BEW engine. It look like I will be needing to make some repairs and I need your help since this car is new to me. You can see that I am a car guy from my user name and I have a Mustang now for my hobby car.

Anyway:
Her turbo has been making a ??? whoshing sound for a while. It sounds like an air leak by the passenger floorboard on acceleration. She also has a check engine light on. I had the codes read a few days ago and it gave an MAF Code.

Yesterday, she took it to a dealer and they found out last night that the dealer gave them an estimate of $3,598.00 to replace the turbo and the converter (oil in it).

I found a complete exhaust manifold and turbo at TDI-parts.com for $499.00 including a $150.00 core charge. My muffler shop can get a converter and install it for $350.00 (after they test this one-if needed).

The dealer listed the turbo at $1,456.88 and the converter at $906.50.

Am I on the right track by buying the complete turbo from TDI-Parts.com and fixing it myself? I am a pretty fair mechanic and I pay attention to details and I have a Chilton manual. Can I do this????????

I did not see an MAF at TDI Parts.com Where is the best place for this???

I will really appreciate your helpful comments and any tips you might be able to give me.

Thanks in advance!!!!
 

Joe_Meehan

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 3, 2005
Location
Ohio USA
TDI
NB TDI, 2002.5, Silver
I would suggest look at our list of local (Colorado Springs) members, some of who do repairs, who might be able to take a look and determine if it needs all that work. Even if it is needed, they likely can do the work for a lot less and or suggest a local independent mechanic knowledgeable of TDI's.

I can almost guaranty you will be happy.
 

halocline

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Location
San Antonio
TDI
04 Jetta Wagon
You can get a brand new borg-warner turbo for $925 from metalman parts. But, I would venture an uneducated guess that you don't need a new turbo. Dealers LOVE to replace them, the profit margin must be really high, given the way they seem to tell everyone they need a new one.

Take Joe's advice and find a knowledgeable TDI mechanic unless you are personally convinced that the turbo has failed. One test you could do is to remove the pipe connection at the turbo that leads to the intercooler, start the car, and see if there's oil spewing out. If the turbo seal is toast, ALOT of oil will come out when you rev.
 

Pro Mustang

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2010
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado
TDI
2004 Jetta
Thanks for your replys. I will check out the Colorado Springs area for members. Yes, the mechanic said there is a lot of oil in the exhaust. I honestly do not know anything about this but your help will help me a lot.

Thanks
 

SDMFer

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2006
Location
d
TDI
d
have the hoses been checked going to the intercooler? mine came off and I had zero power and an extreme "wooshing" sound when accellerating. Checked this site, got a couple quick tips on what to check (ie above) and voila! Fixed in 5 min for 0.0 dollars and everything was hunky dorey.

Check that first before taking it anywhere. Even get underneath the car with someone revving the engine, around the front passenger corner, put your hands around the the intercooler pipes and feel for blowing air. Mine wasnt completely off so a quick look would have told me that it was on fine. iT wasnt till i felt the blowing air that i knew it came partially off.

report back on your findings.....but check it out.
 

Pro Mustang

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2010
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado
TDI
2004 Jetta
I jacked the car up and checked the pipe coming from the intercooler. The hose is connected to a coupler on the turbo good but the coupler is loose in the turbo.

Is it normal for this connection to have a loose feeling?
 

SDMFer

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2006
Location
d
TDI
d
not sure off hand, but if its safe for your limbs, I would feel around for a boost leak (air pressure) when revving the car up. Just my .02 but Im no pro yet ;)
 

Pro Mustang

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2010
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado
TDI
2004 Jetta
I can tell you if there is oil in the exhaust pipe and elsewhere, it is all inside. The car is pretty clean in the turbo and intercooler areas. There is a bit of oil around the hose that connects on the passenger side of the turbo. Air filter hose??? I will look again. Thanks guys, I will keep looking at things tonight start it up tomorrow and check for leaks (when I have someone else here). If I am not sure, I am going to take it to a recommended (here) shop. Thanks for all your replys and I will keep you posted.
 

Pro Mustang

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2010
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado
TDI
2004 Jetta
All of your help has been greatly appreciated!!! At this point the situation is looking much brighter. The dealer we took it to did shut off the check engine light. This meant that I could get the emissions done. I got the emissions done and it passed. This is great because my daughters plates expired yesterday and with the emissions passing, I was able to get her plates renewed. YES,YES,YES. With that done, I looked at the problem of the boost leak. I am confident this can be fixed. One of the recommended mechanic shops on the list here, is European Performance Specalities. I went there today and they are sure they can fix the boost leak and check the injector timing for about $250.00 tomorrow. I am going to look at it a bit more tonight and if I do not think I can find or fix the boost leak problem then, I will take it to them. The owner seemed like a decent guy. Thanks for all your help. PS. 1/2 an hour after I got the emissions test the check engine light came on again so we were lucky to get that done!!!!

I am so pissed that a dealer could even think of telling my son-in-law that they needed $3,600.00 worth of work.
 

Pro Mustang

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2010
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado
TDI
2004 Jetta
Final report:

I took the car to European Performance Specialities today. In the end, they did find and fix the leak on the boost side of the turbo. I think they said it was the bottom connection. Additionally, they found the pipe that goes from the EGR to the Exhaust Manifold was broken. They also fixed that. Problems solved for $211.00 That is a far cry from the $3,600.00 the dealer said it needed.
They did say the power does seem down a bit, so there is a possibility the Converter is starting to plug. But for now, our major problems are over. Glad we found a good place to have this car worked on. Now we can continue with other smaller items in regards to maintenance and repairs.

Thaks for all your help!
 

Street Toys

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Location
USA
TDI
sold
Just go for a ride up hwy 24 to Woodland Park or Cripple creek and I am sure that you will burn out anything (if there is anything in there) in there and you can enjoy the scenery while your doing that!;) No need to hot-rod it at all, just a normal relaxing drive up that road will definitely warm things up a bit:D
Besides, the Sonic in Woodland Park has really great burgers!!!:p

Nick/Street Toys
 

Pro Mustang

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2010
Location
Colorado Springs, Colorado
TDI
2004 Jetta
Well we went back to the dealer and the manager had no problem with giving the money they charged for the bad estimate they gave. They also said they will fire thr tech. Not sure about that but at least we got the money back.
 

streeker02

Veteran Member
Joined
May 12, 2008
Location
Halton Hills
TDI
2003 Golf TDI
Pro Mustang said:
Well we went back to the dealer and the manager had no problem with giving the money they charged for the bad estimate they gave. They also said they will fire thr tech. Not sure about that but at least we got the money back.
If every dealer fired a tech for mis diagnosing a problem with a TDI, there wouldn't be many techs left....
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
streeker02 said:
If every dealer fired a tech for mis diagnosing a problem with a TDI, there wouldn't be many techs left....
LOL! That's why I left... I refused to do things wrong. :p
 
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