ALH turbocharger upgrade, EGR/ASV delete

After the original Garrett VNT-15 on our 2003 Jetta Wagon gave up the ghost at 270,000 km (vane actuator failed), I decided to go for an upgrade and supplement the whole project by doing an EGR/ASV delete, adding a race pipe and a refurbished intake manifold.

First, I followed the EGR delete thread DYI by "nh nam vet". Great photographs and a better hose solution ("tee delete") when doing the EGR cooler delete.

The EGR/cooler delete kit from JS Performance rounded out the parts I needed: molded hose and connector - Meyle: 119 819 0010 or Lemforder: 17637 - connecting the coolant outlet to the heater core; and of course, the exhaust manifold block-off plate and gasket.

My refurbished intake manifold came from eBay "bhp_recycling" … well worth it - no sticky mess and parts cleaner to dispose of.

Before I tackled the turbocharger replacement (VNT-17) I made up a blanking plate to block off the intake and prevent any stray material entering the engine.

Joe at Tri-Star Auto supplied me with the VNT-17 "plug and play kit" which included the exhaust manifold gasket, turbocharger oil return line gasket, and turbine outlet-down pipe gasket + a nice braided S.S. hose and fittings to replace the original turbocharger oil supply hard line.

Here are my parts lists ...
Intake manifold:
-SIX BOLTS WITH WASHERS @ N-902-006-04 = M8 1.25 PITCH X 45 mm (uses a 6 mm Allen-head driver)
-INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET @ 038 129 717 D

Exhaust manifold:
-EIGHT COPPER NUTS @ N-902-002-01 (uses a 13 mm 6-point socket driver; old nuts used a 12 mm for removal)
-EIGHT NUT-MANIFOLD SPACERS @ N-900-955-01
-THREE COPPER NUTS @ N-902-002-01 - for the turbine section exhaust-down pipe connection
-TWO COPPER NUTS @ N-902-002-01 - for attaching the compressor heat shield to the studs on the exhaust manifold

Other:
-TWO BOLTS @ N-905-927-03 - for the turbocharger oil return line (uses T40 driver)

Some procedure notes and hints …
Intake manifold and VNT-15 removal: PB Blaster and walk away for a day or two

VNT-17: I got the BEW version; smart vane actuator feedback left disconnected of course. Tri-Star Auto sent along a very nice aluminium compressor outlet adaptor that mates with the ALH boost pipe. At first glance, because the VNT-15 compressor outlet is in the plane of turbo rotation (faces downwards), one might be scratching the ol' noggin about how to connect up the VNT-17, whose compressor outlet is parallel with and offset from the axis of rotation (faces sideways).

By rotating the boost pipe 180* from factory, the pipe will connect up nicely with the VNT-17 compressor outlet. One could use a BEW boost pipe and not the compressor outlet adaptor, but Joe at Tri-Star mentioned that the BEW pipe is inferior and super stiff to get over the compressor outlet.

There is a catch - the return line for the power steering on the ALH is somewhat in the way and impinges on the boost pipe. I heard one could plumb in a BEH return line as it runs somewhat differently along the frame rail,.. but that's a major pain. What I did instead was added a 3/8" thick rubber washer under the return line support grommet - which shifts the line upwards; then a nudge here and a careful coaxing there I was able to have the return line pass the boost pipe and the compressor intake pipe. Bob's Your Uncle !!

The turbocharger support bracket is the same (VNT-15 and 17). I recommend removing the hex bolt fixing the bracket to the engine block first and then freeing the bracket from the turbine casting once the old turbocharger is on the bench.

Turbo oil line: As already mentioned, the turbocharger upgrade kit came with a braided s.s. oil supply hose and the necessary fittings to replace the hard oil pipe. This also permits an ugly removal of the hard pipe instead of counter holding the fitting at the turbocharger end which would be necessary if reusing the hard pipe.

Hint: The braided hose I received from Tri-Star has a 90* female flare (FF) crimped on one end and a straight FF on the other. The 90 goes into the turbo oil inlet fitting (the smaller one supplied with the hose), and the straight goes onto the filter housing oil outlet fitting (the larger one supplied with the hose and replaces the banjo bolt used with the stock oil pipe).

Vacuum hoses: I got rid of everything per an EGR/ASV delete and following the superb diagram by "DaveLinger"…, but kept the N18 and the N239 connected electrically. With some new vacuum hose I somewhat simplified the rats nest.

I did all of this from above (EGR/ASV and cooler delete made everything super easy to access) and lying on my back with the car up on ramps. Getting the turbocharger oil return pipe, it's gasket and the two T40 bolts lined up to fasten to the turbocharger within the small gap between the turbine casting and compressor billet was likely the toughest part of the whole gig

Race pipe installation was a breeze, and after a few short test drives, I headed on over to Tri-Star (I think I am his most distant customer) where Joe woke up Mark Malone and we did a Stage 1 Tune (+20 whp) which includes getting rid of EGR delete MIL constipation, the hot-start fix (2003 ALH manual gear box), eliminates boost oscillation and boost creep, + a bit more current and dwell time on the glow plugs.

So far so good. 3rd, 4th and 5th gear pull aways are responsive, smooth and boosts to c. 21 psig I'm going to do some logs and report back.

Many thanks to:
Forum Members: "nh name vet" and "DaveLinger" ;
JS Performance (Burnaby, BC) for the EGR/cooler delete kit + race pipe ;
Tri-Star Auto (Gowanstown, ON) for the Garrett VNT-17 upgrade kit, and working with Mark Malone on the Stage 1 Tune … and, of course, putting up with a few pesky newbie questions; and this forum for the same.

One more hint:
Before the first engine start, I pre-charged the turbocharger bearings and the oil supply line; and also disconnected the fuel pump solenoid switch wire while my sweetie turned the engine over for a few seconds … just to make sure the bearings were ready to go. After the disconnect/reconnect, you will find a latent fault code related to the fuel pump solenoid switch.

Someone please let me know if this should be in another Forum.

good day Rr. thanks. figured another newbie might benefit from the details. i fly a fairly large collective pitch scale helicopter, so 'am used to sharing on Forums such as these.

i don't have any VCDS kit or the programming knowledge yet, so went with the physical delete. what is "ULSD" ? any issues without ASV aside from shut-down shudder ?

as far as cabin heat, we have not had any real Winter weather so far, but on our recent road trip to visit Tri-Star, I sensed I was turning the cabin heat up a tad to achieve the same cabin temperature... by no means a definitive set of observations, but I understand that an EGR cooler delete would increase engine warm-up time … though i have a Frost Heater and an oil-pan heater.

ULSD= Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel. It was phased in in the US a dozen or more years ago.
I don't know what your winters are like but with the frost heater you should warm up OK.
The EGR doesn't affect the engine heat once it is up to operating temperature.
I run a race pipe here in So Cal but I kept the EGR and cooler in case I sell my '02.

Are you anywhere near Port Dalhousie?

Nice write up, you covered all the little stuff too. I have a question about turbo lag, do you notice any with your Stage 1 tune and the larger turbocharger?

flee said:

ULSD= Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel. It was phased out in the US a dozen or more years ago.
I don't know what your winters are like but with the frost heater you should warm up OK.
The EGR doesn't affect the engine heat once it is up to operating temperature.
I run a race pipe here in So Cal but I kept the EGR and cooler in case I sell my '02.
Are you anywhere near Port Dalhousie?

Click to expand...

good afternoon, flee. thanks, of course, ULSD

we can, or should i say, used to get regular -30*C days on end, but now it's much more variable. Frost Heater was a good investment never-the-less.

oh, and the EGR cooler ended up in nasty shape during the EGRectomy … even with PB Blaster.

we are up in the Ottawa Valley in Winter and out on the West Coast near Powell River in Summer - a fair piece from Lake Ontario.

Nevada_TDI said:

Nice write up, you covered all the little stuff too. I have a question about turbo lag, do you notice any with your Stage 1 tune and the larger turbocharger?

Click to expand...

hi NV_TDI. thanks. it was a little work but i took good notes and it was essentially a copy and paste job.

i don't have a lot of experience on the interplay that the Tune would have with the somewhat larger VNT-17 (versus the stock 15) … while i am not as performance oriented as some on this Forum, i would go out on a limb and say that the VNT-17 pre-Tune was somewhat more lagy than the 15, but then again, i was just happy to get a turbo bolted back onto our everyday ride

as Joe suggested to me, the Tune seems to come into its own above 50% throttle position and for my driving style i did NOT detect "oh wow, she has more lag" than the 15. i have not logged any data yet, but while on a hill on highway 400 at 100 km in 5th, i pulled away to get past a transport and made 140 quite confidently with more left on the pedal, and along the way the boost peaked at 21 psig.

i can log some data - might help provide a more quantitative picture.

Thanks R^2. Ya, been thinking to get the ASV back on … or get fancy with a CO2 cartridge plumbed into the race pipe's boost gauge fitting. After all, it is our every day drive and if this should ever happen, I doubt dumping her into 5th and standing on the brakes would work very well on the winter roads out here in the country

In any case, I've inspected boost pipes - damp only - my ProVent dump can helps with that; take pains to change the crankcase oil every 4-5k km Fuchs 5W40 (my neighbour thinks I'm crazy and have too much cash), make sure the oil is up to temp before we hit the autobahn, and cool the turbo down for 120 s before shutdown.

Maybe I lucked out getting 270k km on the stock turbo, but taking good care of the oil may have had something to do with it + I probably could have "just" replaced the vane actuator.

Regarding VCDS, it's on my sweetie's holiday radar and I appreciate being forewarned about TDI addiction; but if I aim to get 500k km out of her and have some fun while we're at it, all the better. I mean, we are not performance crazy or anything, but even that Stage 1 tune does make our little wagon a little more fun; and i see from your mods that you are a little more than addicted

Best wishes.
P.S. We heat with wood too - 100% - run a Blaze King Chinook 30 with a cat combuster. Best heat going! but today it is +10*C