jrsride2002
Well-known member
It's a serious project. Promise.
Back story about me:
I used to own a '03 Jetta wagon GL with the manual transmission(DußCity 2.0). Used it for work, drove around the U.S. After 130K miles, while going through Oklahoma. A snow patch, swallowed me whole. Pulling me into, the roadside drainage ditch. I slide right through a road sign, doing major damage to the front passenger door AND roof. Damage was severe, body shop estimate was more than I thought worth the effort. I was wrong.
I quickly sold the car, cheap, to a guy from Florida. After about a year, I missed my Jetta. So I started to hunt down another. One that I would cherish, fix, and keep long term. So I searched Craigslist, long, far, and hard. Until I found her. She will be my next DußCity....
DußCity 2.X (2.1):
There was a posting for a sister Jetta, to the one I used to own. Forest green in color. Black interior. Heated seats, that was a perk. Even had a sunroof!!! I’m sold, just on the photos. She was in Sibley Mississippi, along the Louisiana border.
Even as had I found her dead, laying in the backyard of a General Contractor. Next to a well used excavator, a small tractor, another MK4 Jetta Sedan TDI in dire need of attention, and the remains of a vehicle long lost to time. All I could do, was smirk. Challenge accepted. The owner knew nothing of the current condition, other than the driver's door opens. His story was, “Daughter was rear ended, wrecked the hatch. Parked it until he found a hatch.” That was 3 years before my acquisition. Flimsy story, AT BEST. Open the door, and was broadsided by the wave of mildew. Shifter would only move from 3rd to 4th. Any other gear, was extremely difficult and not worth snapping the shifter or anything frozen/not frozen. He had one key, lost the other. Owner did not have any battery to try and crank off of. So who knows. Other than leaves, rust, and calcium deposits(rust for aluminium parts). It was a clean engine compartment. Nothing living, nor took residents there. After an hour of loading her onto the tow dolly. The exchange was made. Title for cash. We were on our way.
Tires held air, but have plenty of rot on them. They would hold, for the journey back to Spring Texas. After spending a few minutes at Das European Autohaus, I got the initial report:
She had a seized motor. Front quarter panels, front bumper, rear hatch totaled, rear bumper, heavy mildew under the carpet and in the seats, frozen shift linkages, no brakes pressure, no clutch fluid, a ungodly presence of rust, and other smaller issues. Yup, that was within minutes of getting to the shop.
So then I was on the hunt for a running 1.9L motor. Found one, bought it. Had it installed. Now I have updated to DußCity 2.2. Still didn’t run. Christian noticed that the windows were working, and then stopped working. Popped open the fused panel, completely corroded out. He looks at me, “You have to replace the fuse panel.”.... Damn… (DußCity 2.3??)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/G6mCBxuB9dRjvmMT1apjKjZusxmQGjahdeXcv88BcaOgraa1TN9PDgbRv-p3_Ad6PfnYwaXKBiSUm054kwUdpMXuRcCtY_SeOo_odhiqdeAwsM0bv3GsP59FObrlFzRDm2vxbpPjzkiApNRd8Fc-Y-EurTvyzoCgBf8JYXUwuaWOIXZtK0lFeojtqk3p33Iaj3yA_TBY341-7oacUt29Sp_7PnHbGe3s4k7Wu2mYXV8Z8sqfGz5JYPit7x39EoFNbRGxzhvAKoVxnU87S-HsPsrXSZIcTqJPutgY69kxKc9h1cv8MaB7SQkgaly04dg0lENVUbNlxcrHJSCse3fz4ILjibk5t2Q4rpvqyMMZC20rksj2BTKjYrRiSPoK9UPcuReZneYlTvrKzJDs50PgNa5Ry6NlBqUgTAeUjUAowrVXFXBipVQlDbsz71LYeJPLu5vazr___UMpWhpazrz0rXwD-0MvT62MKN6LveIy_zdpA1K96AA6R6Q8-2MpcZTcBz7YZGuzOr35vARhZuxtAbvpAu1k8TzZs0d29pKwdcsbT-3lgGzMDdVGM-gE7M5fWvQmzupeQTnS7PJ1-LrBi0bqd5pEWWDeK0G4lUYDomv8pg=w532-h885-no
Mostly swapped over to a new junkyard replacement.
After getting that done. We TRY to bleed the fuel system. Not working so well. Christian said to replace the Injection Pump. Bought a used one(I know, I know. That’s also coming up in the story), swapped it in. This time, we did not waste so much time, with bleeding the fuel lines with the air compressor. We broke out a can of either. After TWO YEARS of sitting, the engine comes to life!!!! After a couple of minutes of either down the intake, we get diesel in the IP and she was running under her own power!!
Now you’re up to speed with my current situation. I will give a little more details.
Now we have a little bit of an issue, not major. But a fly buzzing around your head, kind of issue. While the car does run, and starts. It take about 10 seconds of cranking, to get ignition. My thought, is that my used 11mm IP might have a leak, or looses pressure. I don’t know for sure. My thought is to replace the clear lines going to and from the IP, run the car for a minute or two, then let it sit. To see if there may or may not be some kind of loss from there. I have replaced the, in tank sending unit already.
But to be honest, I am not going to worry about it now. All I want to do, is bold the intercooler up, reattach the power steering lines, radiator support, condenser, and radiator. Whatever is going on with the fuel system, is small details. And I am not ready to deal with small details. I am trying to get the big picture stuff done, first.
Should I be considered to be at version 2.2, or 2.3(for the fuse panel)??
Now that we’re all on the same page, I thank you for staying and reading about my excitement for getting this machine running again. I will certainly update, with more info, when it happens.
~Junior
Back story about me:
I used to own a '03 Jetta wagon GL with the manual transmission(DußCity 2.0). Used it for work, drove around the U.S. After 130K miles, while going through Oklahoma. A snow patch, swallowed me whole. Pulling me into, the roadside drainage ditch. I slide right through a road sign, doing major damage to the front passenger door AND roof. Damage was severe, body shop estimate was more than I thought worth the effort. I was wrong.
I quickly sold the car, cheap, to a guy from Florida. After about a year, I missed my Jetta. So I started to hunt down another. One that I would cherish, fix, and keep long term. So I searched Craigslist, long, far, and hard. Until I found her. She will be my next DußCity....
DußCity 2.X (2.1):
There was a posting for a sister Jetta, to the one I used to own. Forest green in color. Black interior. Heated seats, that was a perk. Even had a sunroof!!! I’m sold, just on the photos. She was in Sibley Mississippi, along the Louisiana border.
Even as had I found her dead, laying in the backyard of a General Contractor. Next to a well used excavator, a small tractor, another MK4 Jetta Sedan TDI in dire need of attention, and the remains of a vehicle long lost to time. All I could do, was smirk. Challenge accepted. The owner knew nothing of the current condition, other than the driver's door opens. His story was, “Daughter was rear ended, wrecked the hatch. Parked it until he found a hatch.” That was 3 years before my acquisition. Flimsy story, AT BEST. Open the door, and was broadsided by the wave of mildew. Shifter would only move from 3rd to 4th. Any other gear, was extremely difficult and not worth snapping the shifter or anything frozen/not frozen. He had one key, lost the other. Owner did not have any battery to try and crank off of. So who knows. Other than leaves, rust, and calcium deposits(rust for aluminium parts). It was a clean engine compartment. Nothing living, nor took residents there. After an hour of loading her onto the tow dolly. The exchange was made. Title for cash. We were on our way.
Tires held air, but have plenty of rot on them. They would hold, for the journey back to Spring Texas. After spending a few minutes at Das European Autohaus, I got the initial report:
She had a seized motor. Front quarter panels, front bumper, rear hatch totaled, rear bumper, heavy mildew under the carpet and in the seats, frozen shift linkages, no brakes pressure, no clutch fluid, a ungodly presence of rust, and other smaller issues. Yup, that was within minutes of getting to the shop.
So then I was on the hunt for a running 1.9L motor. Found one, bought it. Had it installed. Now I have updated to DußCity 2.2. Still didn’t run. Christian noticed that the windows were working, and then stopped working. Popped open the fused panel, completely corroded out. He looks at me, “You have to replace the fuse panel.”.... Damn… (DußCity 2.3??)
Mostly swapped over to a new junkyard replacement.
After getting that done. We TRY to bleed the fuel system. Not working so well. Christian said to replace the Injection Pump. Bought a used one(I know, I know. That’s also coming up in the story), swapped it in. This time, we did not waste so much time, with bleeding the fuel lines with the air compressor. We broke out a can of either. After TWO YEARS of sitting, the engine comes to life!!!! After a couple of minutes of either down the intake, we get diesel in the IP and she was running under her own power!!
Now you’re up to speed with my current situation. I will give a little more details.
Now we have a little bit of an issue, not major. But a fly buzzing around your head, kind of issue. While the car does run, and starts. It take about 10 seconds of cranking, to get ignition. My thought, is that my used 11mm IP might have a leak, or looses pressure. I don’t know for sure. My thought is to replace the clear lines going to and from the IP, run the car for a minute or two, then let it sit. To see if there may or may not be some kind of loss from there. I have replaced the, in tank sending unit already.
But to be honest, I am not going to worry about it now. All I want to do, is bold the intercooler up, reattach the power steering lines, radiator support, condenser, and radiator. Whatever is going on with the fuel system, is small details. And I am not ready to deal with small details. I am trying to get the big picture stuff done, first.
Should I be considered to be at version 2.2, or 2.3(for the fuse panel)??
Now that we’re all on the same page, I thank you for staying and reading about my excitement for getting this machine running again. I will certainly update, with more info, when it happens.
~Junior