ALH nozzle swap or hot swap injectors?

Maverick80

Active member
Joined
Nov 11, 2018
Location
Oregon
TDI
2011 cjaa , 2001 Jetta ALH
How hard is it to actually just swap nozzles on the ALH? Do you have to have them synced by a shop or can you just swap them and run? Also would it be a better idea to just buy injectors ready to go with nozzles than swapping nozzles? I’m trying to not spend any unnecessary money but I don’t want to totally sacrifice a good outcome.............
 

Yourbuddysatin

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2016
Location
Pennsylvania
TDI
2013 Jetta tdi
You have a 50/50 shot doing it yourself. It’s too cheap in the long run to have drive by wire or some one comparable to set and pop test them. Plus a warrenty.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
if you dont keep it clean AF, your going to have a bad time. Its not difficult to swap nozzles but its a skill that some cant do. you are going to need to pop test them when done and you can do that to with a hydraulic jack and some rigging. honestly the price you pay to pop test and tune the nozzles with the hot swap is worth the price.
Go hotswap. you want to be driving, not fixing right?
 

ryanp

Vendor
Joined
Jun 22, 2008
Location
Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK
TDI
Arosa CR - 550hp - 9.7 @ 150mph 1/4 Mile, Citigo 4x4 CR TDi - 340hp, Caddy 2.0 CR 4x4 TDI - 300+hp, Golf Mk2 Van 1.9 TDI - was 290hp, Mk5 Ibiza 2.0 FR TDi - 270hp, BMW 135d - 360hp, BMW 330d - 335hp, BMW 335d - 380hp + a few more ........
the pressures are never right so dont risk it!
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
Get them build by a shop who can balance them. The chances of them being correct just by swapping nozzles is too low.
 

Maverick80

Active member
Joined
Nov 11, 2018
Location
Oregon
TDI
2011 cjaa , 2001 Jetta ALH
Thanks for all the information guys!! I’m gonna go hot swap..... is there a vendor that you would recommend??
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
KERMA, have them pop test tune them to what you need. you will need to rent the pulling tool if they dont include it anymore but its cheap enough.
What size are you going for?
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
DBW is a business who builds the injectors. Kerma sells all sizes of injectors, except .158 as far as I can tell.
 

Curious Chris

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 11, 2001
Location
Pineview GA
TDI
Jetta Wagon 2003 RIP Rockford IL
Hot swap with Drivbiwire is the ticket if you want no down time. If you have an extra set of injectors you can send them to him. I trust this guy all the way. I have gotten injectors from him twice.
 

Nevada_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Location
Reno, sort of...
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
Maverick80, you don't mention much about your ALH, but coming from from someone who has purchased multiple sizes of nozzles, (me) I would suggest going to a .216 nozzle as opposed to a .205 in case of a turbo replacement/upgrade in the future. I started with the .205's and a Stage 3 Tune (which was badass!) and a few years later my turbo died. A hybrid turbo turbo turned to be cheaper than a VNT-15 replacement at the time, so I thought, "I now have more boost available, why not more fuel too?" So I bought .230 nozzles and just had way too much fuel for this altitude even with 24 PSI of boost, so I sold my .230's, bought .216's and could not be happier. You see I purchased three sets of nozzles, when if I would have done my research first, I would have purchased .216's the first time and called it good.
Unless of course, you plan on buying a giant turbo and a monster clutch, then forget everything I said. :)
 
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Maverick80

Active member
Joined
Nov 11, 2018
Location
Oregon
TDI
2011 cjaa , 2001 Jetta ALH
Thanks Nevada !! My ALH is 317k miles old and is relatively new to me but I have gone over every maintenance item since purchase so now I want to upgrade it . I daily drive an mk6 TDI golf that’s tuned and am looking for similar or better performance if I can.
 

Gothmolly

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2005
Location
Providence, RI
TDI
2002 Golf
Easy peasy, search for the guide on here. It took maybe 90 minutes, and that was being super careful with everything. Don't bother with a shop or anything.
 

Rrusse11

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2014
Location
PA Deutsch Country
TDI
2002 Golf, 5spd; 05 Jeep CRD
Like Nevada, I've done 3 sets of nozzles during "tune development".
A local shop pops and balances a set for $120. If you're near Portland
get DFIS to do them, and if you've already got another vehicle, I wouldn't bother with a "hot swap".
Shouldn't take more than a couple of days to have them worked.

Here's a couple of links for Firads .216s, from all reports excellent quality, and like Nevada says, a sweet spot for reasonable power
upgrades while preserving economy.

https://blackhazeworkshop.com/en/parts/firad_high_fueling_nozzle_for_alh_ahu_or_other_ve_tdi.html

https://www.idparts.com/firad-p502-injector-nozzles-set-of-p-879.html

I ended up with .230 Wuzetem (Polish) nozzles, lots of fuel and power, but economy has suffered.
For the towing I do, no problem with getting 30mpg pulling a teardrop at 70+mph.
And if I ever get the bug for a bigger turbo, (like I already have, {;o) ), I've got the fuelling.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
#1 best mod to go with nozzles is an EGT gauge.
I sugest Auber guages, they are top notch and you can program them to defuel the engine when EGT's get to hot. Trust me, its cheep insurance on a turbo's life not to mention the engine.
Oil PSI and EGT are fantasist, boost is cool but fairly unnecessary.
I put in a set of pp764s with the stock AHU turbo and firsqt hard pull i shot up to 2200*F and the 2nd hard pull i saw it spike for a blink of an eye at 2100F and the turbo melted.
I was being agressing with my QA and this probably wont happen to you but an egt gauge is really easy to install with a few of the right tools and you dont have to take anything other than the intake off to install one.

What other mods are you going for?
If you want to keep it simple go with the 205's and a tune with a few gauges. get some sticky tires and good breaks and you will have a blast!
 

[486]

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
MN
TDI
02 golf ALH
with only .205s you can not hurt anything from power balance issues
just toss them together yourself

look at the idle compensation in vag-com and shim up the ones that are reading minus a bunch if you don't want to put together a poptester (I just use my porta-power)
 

flee

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2011
Location
Chatsworth, CA
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS wagon
DBW is a business who builds the injectors. Kerma sells all sizes of injectors, except .158 as far as I can tell.
I like dealing with DBW because he is the one who actually builds and tests the parts.
In my case, one of my injector bodies was unusable and he contacted me directly so
I could ship him another one without costing much turnaround time.
Your money, your choice.
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
I like dealing with DBW because he is the one who actually builds and tests the parts.
In my case, one of my injector bodies was unusable and he contacted me directly so
I could ship him another one without costing much turnaround time.
Your money, your choice.
My first set of nozzles, my .205, I bought from Kerma and had DFIS build them since I'm local to them. Was happy with them, never had a performance issue. Purchased my 1019's from Kerma using the hotswap option because I needed them on short notice. No issues thee either. Really all depends on if you have a spare car and the $$$ to do the hotswap. Took about 5 days to get my core deposit back.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
You're close to both DFIS and Cascade German. You may do well to consult both about a swap since you could probably have it done while you wait if you're nearby.
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
You're close to both DFIS and Cascade German. You may do well to consult both about a swap since you could probably have it done while you wait if you're nearby.
Everytime I've gone to DFIS, they say it's at least a 2 day turnaround. I'd call ahead before just showing up if you want them done same day.

Also, I've noticed what's on Cascades website isn't always up to date. The nozzles they have listed are PowerPlus nozzles, not ULSD rated ones. I'm sure they actually carry them, but I'd still call and ask.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
I just want to point out that there are an awful lot of ALHs running around with "non ULSD" rated nozzles.
 

Nero Morg

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 19, 2017
Location
OR
TDI
2014 A6 TDI, 2001 Jetta TDI, 2014 Passat TDI
Won't disagree with you there. Just going for longevity.
 

Jetta_Pilot

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 14, 2005
Location
West Hill, Ont.
TDI
2015 Passat Highline TDI Candy White (SEL Premium) long gone 2002 Jetta TDI
Well I'm going against the grain here. In 2005 a fellow member swapped my .158 nozzles in my 2002 Jetta slushbox for .205 nozzles. Nothing done to them, straight out of the box. Absolutely no problems at all ever. Got great power and mileage until 2016 when I moved to my Passat
 

Nevada_TDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 17, 2008
Location
Reno, sort of...
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI
Or, you could look in the For Sale section for some injector bodies, and send those off to be rebuilt with your nozzle of choice. Even though the $600.00 deposit is returned, it is still a lot of cash up front. It would not hurt to see if your injector bodies will wiggle out. or require a slide hammer, if they will wiggle out you may not want to "Hot Swap" at that point...
 
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