Questions on Alh build

I hear so many different things from anyone I ask, what most people have to say is usually useful so thought I would just post a couple questions that have bothered me for a bit and have them here so I don't forget the replies. Please bare with my lack of knawledge. I'm just a first year apprentice in the trade still have a ton to learn!
Anyways I'll start by just listing the build so far, it's a 5 speed 01golf tdi, running a vnt 17/22 turbo that's new, did a stage 3 DC clutch, put the .520 race nozzles on,3BAR MAP, have EGR Delete and Im not sure if im supposed to own up to it or not but im running a stock straight pipe for exhaust. Also have a stage 5 Malone tune, stock intercooler and stock injection pump, also stock intake and stock internals also stock head bolts.
Question 1: With my set up now, can I stop and just daily drive it, it's got quite the gusty pull and im not unhappy with it aha. OR do I have to do the intercooler and injection pump and upgrade all internals? Is it likely I'll run into big issues and can do damage?
Question 2: I think I would like to get as close to the max power as I can get with the turbo I have, what do I require to get there? Like what is necessary (kinda ties into the Question 1?
Question 3: Like I said im running stock head bolts, I have been hearing about people doing the ARP head studs swap just one by one to avoide pulling the head, this question again ties in with the first question, is the one by one method safe? I guess if I do have to upgrade internals then may as well do it all in one shot?
Anyways, I hope for a variety of responses please be nice aha, this is my first post. I hear this is the place to ask all the questions! Im excited to hear what you all think.
Thanks

How much boost does the Malone Stage 5 run? Stock head bolts seem to hang in there with 24-26 PSI, at least they did for me. Above that the head will start to vent. Truthfully, 26 PSI is on the edge. You can bend rods at that boost level too if you're running a lot of fuel.

I ran a similar setup (but with some additional mods to improve breathing and intercooling) for some time before the valve guides, rods, and head gasket packed it in. But you'll certainly wear out the engine sooner with extensive mods and no internal upgrades.

Thanks for the quick reply IndigoBlue- I am running 26psi now with the malone tune, and I haven't noticed the head lifting so far. Makes me nervous to hear that aha. What would you say do first? Do ya think I'm at risk now daily driving it and occasionally getting silly and putting the foot down?

You're probably OK for a while. I ran mine at 26 PSI with a 6000 RPM tune for 120K miles before stuff gave up. That included something like 80 dyno pulls and a lot of track days. So the car was worked hard.

Head studs may be a good idea, but I'll let others comment on how well replacing one at a time instead of pulling the head works.

ahaha true man, REALLY do appreciate the reply. I've been running it for around 20,000km's now and it's been awesome, it towes my 1700lb boat almost comparable to my dad's Tacoma! If I could just keep it the way it is, and make it solid without doing huge internal work that would be ideal. Like do an intercoooler and maybe the 11mm pump, I'd be happy but I just really don't want to run into internal issues and not have a clue what to do: /

Here is another perspective based on my experience with a similar setup. I also upgraded the IP to an 11mm unit, bigger intake pipe and IC lower pipes. I was running RC4. Before I could swap out the OEM stock head bolts using the one-at-a-time process I had the #3 rod get a slight bend in it from thrashing the engine too hard. I could tell it was bent because it would vibrate and "pony" at idle. Darn. Pulled the head at a GTG and measured and sure enough, .003 difference which doesn't sound like much but it made it a ticking time bomb.
So, engine pull, build up a nice new long block with beefy Rostens, then the ARP studs, ported head, throw all the other stuff back on and Wa-La, new life and no thrashed head, rod or thrown internals. Expensive lesson. That engine had 85k on it when the rod bent. So this just points out there are many possible outcomes possible with build ups and driving style. What works for one car/driver may not work for another.

Thanks for a different perspective, Ya I totally hear that. Sorry to hear that happened to Ya, The big draw back to doing the internal upgrades is that I just don't have expierence to do it and I hate paying other people haha. That being said anyone know of good shops around kitchener waterloo area who would do that kinda work and what it usually is for time?

First of all, congrats on starting your apprenticeship, Automotive or Heavy Duty?
You're at a crossroads right now and have to decide where you want to go with this car. It's been said many times that modding is a slippery slope. With your car, there's very little left you can do without diving into internals/headwork, and anything you do to it now only pushes it closer to the breaking point which you're almost at already. If you're willing to risk it, read on. If not, throw some money into rims or stereo or something...
Upgraded exhaust and Intercooler (would suggest FMIC given your turbo and nozzles) and PD150 intake (+EGR delete, yours will not fit) would be my first steps given that you can do pretty much all this for less than the price of an IP.
Really would not proceed to this without strengthening your internals, but again, if you're willing to risk it, read on. To do the IP, you need to pull the timing belt. To do the cam, you need to pull the timing belt, if you see the trend here, you might as well do the headgasket/ARP studs and possibly port and polish while you're in there. By now, you've added more fuel and air to the mixture and most likely have bent a rod.
You're asking a question to which there are other looming issues. At 26psi, something's got to give...put head studs in, bend a rod, Upgrade the rods, blow a headgasket. It's not a "I'll do one and not the other" scenario. Remember failure of the weakest point.

I have not done this myself, so take this for what it's worth...

I've heard of many people having success replacing head studs one at a time, but think of how many km are on the headgasket before you do it. Again, risk vs. reward. I've read that the ARP's go in at a higher torque and as for replacing one by one, here's what I've been told:
-Replacing stock with stock, replace in reverse of your torque sequence.
-Higher torque than stock, replace in the same order as your torque sequence.
The reason for this is because you don't want to place higher torque starting on the edges because you risk warping the head.

Whatever you decide, enjoy your car, enjoy your apprenticeship. If you have a place to do it, the tools to do it, and can manage with your car down for a while, get a Haynes or Bentley manual and tackle it yourself. You gotta learn it sometime if you're an apprentice, and the way I look at it is I trust myself more than the guy down the street, that being said, BuzzKen is in your area (Aurora I believe), and I hear he does awesome work.

alphadrex

Thanks, I've just started on with a Mercedes Benz dealership it's a blast and im loving it so far. I really do appreciate all the replies guys!

So another question arises ahaha, could I get the tune backed off and just enjoy my set up with a little bit less balls and still be totallly fine and enjoy the amazing life expectancy of the alh tdi engine? With a just a tad bit more then slightly tuned motor?

Is that an option?

Yes, or keep the current tune but keep your foot out of it!

So what kinda boost am I looking at where I can still drive the piss out of it but not have to do internal upgrades? Would I be ok to sit around 23 psi? or even lower?

When I put the new engine in my wagon I decided not to run over 20 PSI with stock internals. Maybe a bit on the conservative side, but I don't want to buy any more engines for that car.

arp head studs

IndigoBlueWagon said:

You're probably OK for a while. I ran mine at 26 PSI with a 6000 RPM tune for 120K miles before stuff gave up. That included something like 80 dyno pulls and a lot of track days. So the car was worked hard.

Head studs may be a good idea, but I'll let others comment on how well replacing one at a time instead of pulling the head works.

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I was warned of the head stud weakness from fellow tdi'er that works at vw dealer locally @ 24 psi boost he said I was pushing it from his experience and thankfully lent me the tool to remove the stock bolts . One at a time was no problem all went well a Johnson bar can come in handy to remove as they felt freakishly tight. Now with almost a half million kms best be cautious . Running tuned with vnt 17 for over 100 000. Larger smic or fmic will treat your turbo though.

My setup is identical minus the R520 nozzles (hflox .230), I'm going back and forth about what tune to upgrade to, just a retune of my stage 3 with 3 bar map and leave it at that or jump to a stage 5 but the more I read the retune to maybe 23-24psi seems to be the wiser choice.

It gets really expensive really quick after your current mods or if something goes wrong.

Thanks for the replies guys, so should I do the head studs even if I'm gonna drop the tune back to 22psi? Also this is what I mean I keep hearing different things aha it SUCKS! So I hear that I should back off the tune on here from a couple people so I message a tune shop that is referenced in one of the previous replies and I hear back saying where my set up is at I should have no worries of upgrading internals and that he pushes alh's far passed my level without internal issues :/.

So there you have it...it is a crap shoot. Always has been. There are just so many variables across the board. You just have to make a decision and ride it out so to speak. You may luck out, you may not...it is all of the variables and how they end up meshing. Head studs would be good insurance and not break the bank. Then move on down the upgrade path as you can.

Three things bend rods: Fuel, RPMs, and boost. Your original post says you have .520 race nozzles. Exactly what are those? What size are they? If they're PowerPlus 520s from Bosio, that's not a lot of fuel.

You're not running faster than the normal rev range, and boost is high, but not out of hand. So depending on what fuel you're running, you've got one or two of three factors.

I never ran really big fuel with my ALH: I had Bosio PP502s with an 11mm pump. But I did have a 6000 RPM tune, which I used, and 26 PSI. So I had two or three out of three. And my engine still lasted for 120K miles before it showed the effects.

Hey everyone, I really appreciate the replies since this first post I did the upgraded SMIT, installed the ID parts piping kit, installed a pd150 intake manifold (wow what a difference both of those brought in power). I have a couple more questions now! Im debating doing the frank06 stage 2 cam and lifters, and replacing the oil pump sprocket with the 23 tooth one and replacing the tensioner and chain for it. I've heard it's not worth replacing the oil pump actually because its such a lubricated part of the motor? I am also really debating on doing head studs at all, I don't ever go passed 4000 rpms and rarely passed 3500, there's no need so much power under that aha. Also Im kind of thinking that I may just leave the stock head gasket and bolts because it will be in indicator before I worry about bending rods? or at least this is what I have been told? If I puke a gasket obviously ill do the studs.

Am I on the right track thinking like that?

milage is around 275,000 now so I know it's a bit early to be doing the oil pump chain, sprocket and tensioner but rather just get it over with I think

It is possible to have a rod get bent enough to keep functioning for a long time but you will feel the "lope of the pony" when idling. I had that happen.

Head and gasket remained true and tight. In this situation "intervention" prevented future carnage. I am now certainly checking the turbo rod adjustment actuator more frequently as it turned out to have a loose lock nut and slowly lengthened, thus increasing boost too low in the curve. Live and learn...
As for the oil pump sprocket issue I have never heard of any "advantage" so it sounds like a very specific mod...but I sure don't know everything about all the "potential" mods other than those which are popular and proven.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

Three things bend rods: Fuel....

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Fuel.. in reference to fuel timing or fuel volume? I believe too much advance timing with large amounts of fuel is one of the larger causes of bending rods.

OP, I don't have tons of quantitative measurable data, charts, pie graphs and what ever else like lots of people on here have. I am more of a if it works then it works kind of guy. What I can tell you is that you have most of the same setup as me minus the 11mm pump, Lift pump, and cam. I have had my 17/22 running 26 (or more) psi for over 100k miles. 60K or so with the 10mm pump, last 40k on race520 and upgraded fuel.

I had never touched the head until a few miles ago. I thought I was having coolant lose issues related to the head lifting. I replaced my head bolts as a preventative measure. Not really sure it was necessary.

Your current setup seems pretty safe to me as long a the tune is good. If you want to do the fuel mods as well, I don't see why you can't since I have had them for quite a while already. Obviously every vehicle is different, but a well running car should be able to handle the things you are suggesting.

hmmmm thanks for the replies guys. The new plan is to get it tuned down to 24psi, and do the 11mm injection pump, and cam and lifters from frank06 to make up for the tune decrease and hopefully run a healthy 24 psi tune for the next 400,000 ahaha.

How much do you have to worry about your egts Isonic? with your set up, are they still an issue for highway pulls? Im just running a boost gauge now, thinking I should do the Egt gauge as well, but not sure where to run it as my boost is overtop of my steering column, and if I was going to do both I shoulda got the double fitting one :/.

Subbing to this. Planning to do a similar build with my wagon.

By "piping kit" do you mean exhaust, or are you talking about intake piping?

Also, if you are running Race 520's and stage 4 tune I think the 11mm IP and lift pump will be overkill.

Overkill eh? explain that a bit more, I was wondering about that to. If im not cranking more boost out is the 11mm pump to much fuel? I wannna drop the tune from the stage 5 to a 4 and run about 24psi psi of boost. Also what are you talking about the "lift pump", I am just planning on doing the frank06 stage 2 cam and nitried lifters from him, and the 11mm injection pump, and leave the car at a safe 24psi tune I don't wanna do the internals and just want a boosty realiable car.

In regards to the piping kit I mean just intercooler piping to the turbo then to the race pipe into the intake manifold. I am also running a straight pipe exhaust set up though!

alhparty said:

How much do you have to worry about your egts Isonic? with your set up, are they still an issue for highway pulls? Im just running a boost gauge now, thinking I should do the Egt gauge as well, but not sure where to run it as my boost is overtop of my steering column, and if I was going to do both I shoulda got the double fitting one :/.

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Long 4th and 5th gear pulls will run your egt's up past 1450. long entrance ramp pulls will do it too, ( you know the kind that get you up to 100+ mph) For regular street legal driving it is no concern, any performance driving you probably would want an egt gauge. I also only have a 2.5" down pipe for exhaust mods, everything else is stock. Assuming I went 2.5" all the way back I think those numbers would come down.

alhparty said:

Overkill eh? explain that a bit more, I was wondering about that to. If im not cranking more boost out is the 11mm pump to much fuel? I wannna drop the tune from the stage 5 to a 4 and run about 24psi psi of boost. Also what are you talking about the "lift pump", I am just planning on doing the frank06 stage 2 cam and nitried lifters from him, and the 11mm injection pump, and leave the car at a safe 24psi tune I don't wanna do the internals and just want a boosty realiable car.

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I am no expert but I don't know how you could have an over kill on your fuel supply. it is always better to tune back fuel rather than not have enough to work with. As far as I can tell the 11mm is awesome with R520's. The pump can fuel the engine up past 4500rpm all day. A good tune will pull to 5000 rpm. The lift pump is nice to keep the IP with a nice 2-3 psi supply of fuel when you are reving higher, less work on the IP as well. I feel like the car is more responsive with these two mods. I have no data that shows that it reves faster but I think it does.

In my opinion it is all about drive ability. Let's face it, these cars are anemic turds when stock. All these mods are to make the car more drivable and enjoyable on the street. Even after this is all said and done, the car won't be fast, but it will be an enjoyable commuter.

What kinda stats are you looking at with your mods? For whp and torque? Like I said I'd like to back off my tune a bit Id like to really get my money's worth outa the car after finishing the build with the 11IP and cam .

alhparty said:

Overkill eh? explain that a bit more, I was wondering about that to. If im not cranking more boost out is the 11mm pump to much fuel? I wannna drop the tune from the stage 5 to a 4 and run about 24psi psi of boost. Also what are you talking about the "lift pump", I am just planning on doing the frank06 stage 2 cam and nitried lifters from him, and the 11mm injection pump, and leave the car at a safe 24psi tune I don't wanna do the internals and just want a boosty realiable car.

In regards to the piping kit I mean just intercooler piping to the turbo then to the race pipe into the intake manifold. I am also running a straight pipe exhaust set up though!

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I must have misread about the lift pump or picked it up from Isonic's post. Also I am assuming your "520 race nozzles" are Race 520 http://www.idparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1466 which are pretty big fuel. If you have something else then let us know.

Since you said "I don't ever go passed 4000 rpms and rarely passed 3500." then certain mods that pertain to high RPM fueling are not needed for your driving style (which is similar to mine).

The 11mm pump will deliver more fuel, or the same fuel in a shorter time. I would think you will end up having to change the tune and/or injectors to cut back fuel unless you are into "rolling Coal" (again, assuming Race 520) . In the end I just don't think you will notice for your goals and the way you drive. I imagine if you are building a 5000+ RPM tune that the 11mm pump would be critical because injection/ignition timing is the critical factor.

I have a 11mm pump because I have a converted Auto car. I am able to achieve my modest goals with lowly Sprint 520 nozzles. (Hover over car in user info on left for mod list). If I would have had a 10mm pump I would have gone PP520 or 1019.

Also, from what I have read, the cam should reduce EGT.

alhparty said:

What kinda stats are you looking at with your mods? For whp and torque?

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I never Dyno'd the car. Maybe 180-200 hp, 275 torque?? I don't know.

3turboz said:

Since you said "I don't ever go passed 4000 rpms and rarely passed 3500." then certain mods that pertain to high RPM fueling are not needed for your driving style (which is similar to mine).

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If the car will never go above 4000 rpm then I guess the fueling mods are not really needed. I will say that if you did do the mods, you may find that you suddenly have more usable rpm range that you just might enjoy.

Im gonna go ahead with the IP I think. Ya actually thats what im finding is passed 3500 rpms the pull just isn't there. So just to be clear, there's not like big drivability issues or problems with me running a less aggressive tune like 24 psi and installing a 11IP? I love rolling coal aha. If Thats the only possible negative bi product then I'll for sure go for it.

Also yes they are race .520 injectors

alhparty said:

Im gonna go ahead with the IP I think. Ya actually thats what im finding is passed 3500 rpms the pull just isn't there. So just to be clear, there's not like big drivability issues or problems with me running a less aggressive tune like 24 psi and installing a 11IP? I love rolling coal aha. If Thats the only possible negative bi product then I'll for sure go for it.

Also yes they are race .520 injectors

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I am not a tuner or programmer, I only know what I have and what I have seen. But, as far as I know, there is no issue for a good tuner to dial back boost and fuel via the tune. I would think it would be easier to tune well with the capabilities of a system versus trying to run the upper limits of a system.

Also, a good tuner will keep your car clean if you want, running big fuel doesn't mean you have to roll coal. In fact mine is only slightly hazzy when I really get after it.