I just seen this post after sifting through some threads on here.
Well I carfaxed this Jetta and weighed the pros and cons for eight hours before the auction ended. I did what I call a sniper bid at the last 20 seconds for 5501.00....One shot one kill....Sorry to whoever got outbid if your reading this.
Flew down to Forida....Muggy weather blows... Got an oil change, one new tire up front and hit the road.... This thing drives like a dream, just needed a good detailing since the interior was disjusting.... Drove from Miami Florida to Milwaukee Wisconsin and felt like a new car the whole way. First fillup averaged 43.8mpg, second 44.6 and third 45.4, still have just under half a tank on the 4th fillup. I like these numbers compare to the 91 ecodiesel I use to have. The ecodiesel got 38-43mpg... it was never steady...
So after getting it home after a gruelling trip and feeling like total crap for days I finally give it a good inspection myself... My main conern was the timing belt. Timing is in tact but has tiny bits of freying on the outer edge of the each tooth on the belt, no cracks but looks a bit dry to me so Its gonna need a timing belt. While I was pulling off the intercooler to egr tube I noticed some signs of oil in it... I just routed the breather hose to the ground today... I wanted to still check the turbo shaft play since I already had some of the tubing out as well.
Come to find out there feels to be a little bit of shaft play in it... What the hell would cause the shaft at 102k? Higher exhaust gas temps from the egr? The oil from the crankase breather possibly mixing with particulants from an overdue airfilter?
I also just noticed it almost has nearly no heat so I plugged my scangauge and its at a steady 155*f so im guessing the thermostat is stuck open... Could a lower engine temp cause an adverse effect on the motor as well...
Otherwise Im super happy with this thing, it drives and performs like I thought it would. If anyone has any ideas or theorys on why this turbo has shaft play in it at 102k post here, im interested. Are these just a cheap line of garrets turbos?