Need tuning advice

jlcunlimited

Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Location
washington state
TDI
04 jetta tdi
Hi I've been gone for awhile and I just picked up a 04 Jetta with 200k on it and plan on some upgrades like turbo, cam, exhaust and tune. I know what cam and turbo I'm going with but I am looking for a 2.5 inch exhaust and wondering who to use for the tune. I live near Tacoma Washington.
 

1854sailor

Resident Curmudgeon
Joined
Aug 10, 2004
Location
Westerly, RI
TDI
2015 Golf SE SportWagen, 2015 Golf SE Hatch Back.
RocketChip and Malone seem to be the best for tuning, and BuzzKen makes an excellent exhaust system.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Just curious, what turbo? We all know that there is only 2 cams you can get.
Why are you just going with a turbo and a cam? its not the right way to start a build IMO.
Let me ask you what your budget is and if your going any of the work yourself?

Upgrades go like this.
Fuel injeciton
Turbo
Exhasut
Intake and cooling the air
more fuel upgrades
Mapping and sensors
Clutch
then a tune every time you step up the fuel or boost levels.
Head work (there is going to be a CNC head work here soon so hold your breath for mid 2018)
THEN A CAM
You can mix and match but the tune is what is going to cost a arm and a leg if you have to do it a few times vs once.

I did not install a cam until 5 years later of owning the car and i was upgrading tings left and right on a budget.
 

Owain@malonetuning

Associate Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Jul 1, 2016
Location
Vancouver
TDI
PD jetta wagon
Stock nozzles are good for 170hp or so. Anything larger than a VNT17 would be wasted on stock nozzles, but a 1756 would work okay. Even on a stock turbo the colt cams make a difference up top on the PDs (which have moody bw kp39 turbos), I'd do the cam while doing the nozzles, or leave both alone and just run a VNT17.

Darkside has heads available now, head studs should be installed past 24 PSI, you'll want a differential as well.
 

jlcunlimited

Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Location
washington state
TDI
04 jetta tdi
I am going with the vnt17 turbo because the one that is in it is leaking oil and I found the cam going flat so I plan on putting the Colt stage 2 cam and replacing the belt while I have it apart.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
How many miles on the stock engine? cam should not be going flat form normal wear. my 360K mile AHU's cam is only worn down by about 0.0018 from its original size.
Something is not right and you need to address why its worn down. Stock TDI's usually run stock internals and cam and can go 600K with out thinking about it if cared for properly.

If your just replacing parts, sure the cam is a fine upgrade. I would suggest a vtn17/22 hybrid for a fairly stock upgrade.
When you say, its leaking oil, what do you mean? Out the exhaust? into the intake/boost piping? If its in the boost pipes, you can measure how much comes out. if its only about 1 cup-ish your fine, thats normal.
What did your cam measure out? A regrind is probably your best option from Kerma.

If your turbo is indeed fubar and so is your cam, i highly suggest talking with Kerma and getting a regrind stage 2, some .357 nozzles pop tuned, and a vtn17/22. Tune from malone or kerma
This is a fairly tame build and should last a very long time with reliability to boot. You might want to get a upgrade on the clutch though in the future before you go any further. 2.5" exhaust is fine
The reason i say do the nozzles and what not, is your tune is going to cost you a fair amount of $$$ and nozzles are cheep. you should only have to do a tune once if your on a daily or budget. If you do not do a tune you can run all those mods with no issue what so ever and still see a good bit more power. there are self tunes you an do to get more fuel for the turbo but if your going to buy a tune, do it once
 
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jlcunlimited

Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Location
washington state
TDI
04 jetta tdi
I have the bew engine with 200k on it . I don't like oil leaks and I every connection is wet and there is a constant drip hagging off the turbo. The car is a daily and automatic so I don't plan on doing anything major. I just want a little more power and milage. I was looking at getting everything from kerma, cam turbo and tune.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Hate to brake it to you, no matter what turbo you get, you will have oil in your pipes. All the turbos that are direct for these cars are all journal bearings. This is how they work, its part of what happens and your going to have to live with a bit of oil in your boost pipes. Take off the lower boost pipe on the intercooler and measure how much oil comes out when its warmed up, should be about 1 cup MAX. Let it drain over night too. Unless you go to a water cooled closed bearing turbo, your not going to get away from this, ever. This oil is actually one of the many reasons the tdi's last so long. You can go buy whatever parts you want, but i dont like to see people toss money away at something that did not need replacing, from a repair point of view. #1 best way to get mileage is to change the nozzles. More efficient spray pattern.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
You can fix the leak on the turbo. take the bell off 4 bolts, clean it up, replace the oring if it has one or a tiny and i mean TINY thin layer of RTV. and i mean like the smallest amount ever. its just to stop the leaking. That repair is not difficult. You need to measure the oil loss INSIDE your system to diagnose your issues. Also a measurement of the turbo shafts play would help big time. there should be almost NON front to back and a small almost unnoticeable amount side to side but still enough to see or feel. Also, my new gt2052 has some oil wetness coming form the turbos compressor. its normal and part of the joy of a TDI.
 
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jlcunlimited

Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Location
washington state
TDI
04 jetta tdi
Well I would reseal it but with the miles on it and not knowing all the history I would feel better just replacing it. What is funny and one of the reasons I went away from this web site is no one has really has answered my question. Everyone wants to know why I am doing something and telling me why not to instead of answering my question. I have been a Nissan and Infiniti tech since 1991 and building aircooled VWs since the 80s and know how and why things fail and work. I just want to know what products out are recommended for my application now. I know when I did first TDI rocketchip was the best for tuning. I got away from this site after I built my Jettit back in 06 with how negative people were especially toward people that are certified techs.
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
Attitude on the interweb, whoda thunk it. I assure you folks are just trying to help. Thick skin.
As answer BuzzKen sells decent pipes.
If it were my car I might put in a bigger turbo (Garret VNT-17), inspect the cam and tune.
Also answered, tune will get you to 170 hp, sounds nice to me. Do you want more?
TDI Power Enhancements
 

JDSwan87

Black Swamp Thing
Joined
Feb 9, 2014
Location
Michigan near Toledo
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI, 5 speed Lagoon Blue Metallic(sold); 2005 Jetta TDI Wagon auto
Hi I've been gone for awhile and I just picked up a 04 Jetta with 200k on it and plan on some upgrades like turbo, cam, exhaust and tune. I know what cam and turbo I'm going with but I am looking for a 2.5 inch exhaust and wondering who to use for the tune. I live near Tacoma Washington.
For an exhaust, BuzzKen makes a nice exhaust. Albeit a little pricey, it's worth it but doesn't offer much of a performance gain.

As for tuning, really any of the reputable tuners are good. My suggestion would be the one that you feel comfortable with and responds to emails the quickest. Also, I suggest speaking with your tuner about your plans and expectations for your vehicle, BEFORE purchasing any upgrades. RocketChip, KERMA, Malone and TDTuning are all good tuners.

Turbos: again, I would suggest speaking with all of the tuners. They will guide you in the right direction.

Hopefully you stick around more this time and hopefully I helped answer your question(s).
 

jlcunlimited

Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Location
washington state
TDI
04 jetta tdi
Thank you for answering my questions. I am on a couple of forums and this one seems to be the worst for getting good information unless you get aggressive. Thanks for the information. Just an FYI the best forum that I am on is for my cam am and when it came to upgrades the first thing everyone asked was what what are your plans. Thanks again for the help I think I am just going to order all my stuff from kerma.
 

KERMA

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Sep 23, 2001
Location
here
TDI
99 beetle and 04 jetta
kerma has supported this site for longer than any of the others.

Just sayin.
 

JDSwan87

Black Swamp Thing
Joined
Feb 9, 2014
Location
Michigan near Toledo
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI, 5 speed Lagoon Blue Metallic(sold); 2005 Jetta TDI Wagon auto
Thank you for answering my questions. I am on a couple of forums and this one seems to be the worst for getting good information unless you get aggressive. Thanks for the information. Just an FYI the best forum that I am on is for my cam am and when it came to upgrades the first thing everyone asked was what what are your plans. Thanks again for the help I think I am just going to order all my stuff from kerma.
KERMA is a reputable company, glad you made a decision. I see you have the tiptronic, I suggest you drain/refill the trans fluid before your upgrades. The fluid is NOT a lifetime fill as advertised by VW. You don't need to buy the VW liquid gold trans fluid either, Idemitsu Type J is what I run and was recommended to run by oilhammer.

What cam are you going to run?
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Well I would reseal it but with the miles on it and not knowing all the history I would feel better just replacing it. What is funny and one of the reasons I went away from this web site is no one has really has answered my question. Everyone wants to know why I am doing something and telling me why not to instead of answering my question. I have been a Nissan and Infiniti tech since 1991 and building aircooled VWs since the 80s and know how and why things fail and work. I just want to know what products out are recommended for my application now. I know when I did first TDI rocketchip was the best for tuning. I got away from this site after I built my Jettit back in 06 with how negative people were especially toward people that are certified techs.
You never asked a question. You did ask "who to use as a tune", but then stated you already planned on going with kerma.

Im just trying to help you out bro. its easy to diagnose a turbos heath and can save you upwards of $1,000 for a part you dont need and if your cam is wearing out that bad there is another issue at hand you probably have to deal with. In all honestly best bang for your buck is to just get a tune and do a regrind. You dont have to be here. we appreciate the community and we all can be a bit thick skinned but no one here was ripping you apart. Best im going to say is good luck and dont take things personal dude, were just trying to help but if its not wanted then i bid you a farewell.
If you want the best tune, call around and speak with the tuners in person. they will all tell you the same thing. the tune they will write you is either a custom (kerma will not do that anymore) Malone is best for custom, or an off the shelf program that works for standard upgrades and that means nozzles, turbo and what not. Sorry i can't be the help you need.
 

JDSwan87

Black Swamp Thing
Joined
Feb 9, 2014
Location
Michigan near Toledo
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI, 5 speed Lagoon Blue Metallic(sold); 2005 Jetta TDI Wagon auto
You never asked a question. You did ask "who to use as a tune", but then stated you already planned on going with kerma.
Im just trying to help you out bro. its easy to diagnose a turbos heath and can save you upwards of $1,000 for a part you dont need and if your cam is wearing out that bad there is another issue at hand you probably have to deal with. In all honestly best bang for your buck is to just get a tune and do a regrind. You dont have to be here. we appreciate the community and we all can be a bit thick skinned but no one here was ripping you apart. Best im going to say is good luck and dont take things personal dude, were just trying to help but if its not wanted then i bid you a farewell.
If you want the best tune, call around and speak with the tuners in person. they will all tell you the same thing. the tune they will write you is either a custom (kerma will not do that anymore) Malone is best for custom, or an off the shelf program that works for standard upgrades and that means nozzles, turbo and what not. Sorry i can't be the help you need.
FYI he has a 2004 BEW, which are known to have cam wear issues. Some wear out sooner than others. Mine was 70%-80% at 166k miles, so mine will likely need replacement at the next TB interval.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
well then, i did not know that was an issue, is there a fix for it? just a sfot cam? Maybe zinc additive? not many cars have issues with cams wearing down like that in a such short amount of miles.
 

JDSwan87

Black Swamp Thing
Joined
Feb 9, 2014
Location
Michigan near Toledo
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI, 5 speed Lagoon Blue Metallic(sold); 2005 Jetta TDI Wagon auto
well then, i did not know that was an issue, is there a fix for it? just a sfot cam? Maybe zinc additive? not many cars have issues with cams wearing down like that in a such short amount of miles.
In a nut shell, as it has been described to me, they kept the same "length" cam and decided to make the lobes more narrow. They had to find space so the cam could drive the injectors also. That caused the special oil to be required (505.01). The problem was compounded because most owners and shops juat used "diesel oil they have used forever." I personally use Schaeffers S9000 Supreme and I have had good results.

On the BRM, the engine generation after the BEW, the cam wear got worse. I refer to BRM's as "the ole cam chewers."
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
When investigating turbos, cams and the associated parts, we appreciate your interest and support. As for support, I recall once attempting to support a site akin to the TDIs, and I was refused. The reason was, "....they already had enough sponsorship support." Wow... what a line. More like an ulterior motive prevented cross-purpose.

Anyway, we can say distinctly that our upgrade cam kits offer performance with longevity and we are able to provide cost-effective options. Our common sense approach dictates builds with great success stories. And we support our products with top drawer technical support. So, let us know how we can help.

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