Newbie from utah, first time vw owner.

broncomitch

Active member
Joined
Aug 18, 2016
Location
West jordan,ut
TDI
2004 jetta
I increased my commute and started looking for a tdi jetta and sold my subaru* (sad day..).

After a crap load of reading and searching on forums and looked at 7 other tdi's, I settled for this 2004 jetta gls.*
109,267 miles on it.
5 speed manual*
Sun roof,*
Black leather interior with heated seats,*

Had it about a month now and really like it, the kid I bought it from did some stupid crap to it but I was able to look past it.
*He "smoothed" the trunk and primered it then put a ebay ricer grill on, threw away the belly pan, added a really dumb shift knob, put a cold air intake and Magnaflow cat back exhaust,and put this stupid pink headlight tint on (witch wrecked the headlights when I peeled it off)
*
I know what your thinking cus I thought it too..probably been beat on and not taken care of.
But turns out he bought it from the original owner a year prior and had up to date service records and drove amazing and considering what he did to it, in really good shape. So jumped on it.


So far I have been buying stuff to bring it back to factory and services.
Scored a trunk with the same paint code and got a belly pan and shift knob & boot, some touch up paint, wheel logos, found a blue grill so painting that now.*

Did a complete service on it,
I'm told I'm ocd about my vehicles and shop space and such so I'll be going through the hole car..

Oil change,
Transmission service, (went with the 050)
Fuel filter,*
Front and rear pads, (pain in the a$$)*
Intake and EGR cleaning, (soon)*
Intercooler drain/clean. (Very little in it)
Coolant change,*
Brake fluid change,*
Remove the factory sound deadening under the carpet, (soon)*

egr about 30% clogged or so. i expected it to be worse.*





When I was at the salvage yard and got that grill and a bunch of other little stuff, I scored a near perfect set of seats that were in better shape than mine so installed those but found the height ratchet was broken on the drivers so swap that out from my old seat.*

I have put 2.5* tanks through it now, the half a tank when I got it got 34mpg but with a tire pressure change and driving between 65-70 mph my last two tanks I'm getting 52mpg and going 672 miles to a tank.

I think it can do better cus I found I had a nail in my RR tire and was very low compared to the others and I have not put the belly pan on yet.*










Car is a pain to work on and really badly engineered and the plastic they used is a joke but so far liking it and very happy with the mpg.*
 

aja8888

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Location
Texas..RETIRED 12/31/17
TDI
Out of TDI's
If the timing belt and all associated rotating parts hasn't been recently changed, you should make that job the highest priority. Broken belt means toasted head and possibly engine.

Get a kit from one of our trusted vendors.

Get a VCDS cable too.
 

Nevada_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Location
Reno, sort of...
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
Being a PD motor and not a VE pump motor doing the timing belt is a really simple job, and I agree with the above poster , doing the timing set ASAP can save you lots of heartache and money too.The car looks really good, nice find.
 

broncomitch

Active member
Joined
Aug 18, 2016
Location
West jordan,ut
TDI
2004 jetta
There is a tag on the timing belt cover that says it was replaced 4/15/15 @ 93954 miles.

At first I wanted the VE motor then switched to a newer 2.0 but couldn't find one without a bad cam shaft or destroyed interior so after a bunch of research I came to the conclusion that the PD motor mk4 cars were the best of both worlds and lucked out with this car.
 

broncomitch

Active member
Joined
Aug 18, 2016
Location
West jordan,ut
TDI
2004 jetta
Blah,

It's pretty chilly today (storming the past few days)
Went to move the jetta this morning and it took longer to start and started pretty rough and then the ASR/ESP light came on and stayed on wile in the drive way.. moved the car and 10 minutes later started it again and fired right up and the light was off.???
 

broncomitch

Active member
Joined
Aug 18, 2016
Location
West jordan,ut
TDI
2004 jetta
So after some research on problems I could have, I looked at the glow plugs witch i have the good ones and there in good shape.
Next I looked at the fuel/vacuum pump and below that area was a bit dirty and Think I found a leak.
Looks to be leaking from the plate on the fuel pump..or possibly from the back gasket.. seam to also have a leak around that hose..


Also weeping here.



Anyone know where that cut hose goes???


It fires right up if it's warm outside..wondering if the cold temperatures are shrinking the seals allowing the fuel to drain out of the pump??

Seems like the glow plug system is way way overly complicated and rarely works..

Pulled mine out and there the good ones and look good.


Photo of the pooled fluid on top of the transmission.


Also, any of yours make this hiccup upon shut down?

Video
 
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