New turbo time

Skenzi

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 18, 2015
Location
Seattle
TDI
1997 jetta
So I'm thinking about a new turbo, the seals on mine are going and it's on borrowed time... only plans for the car are new nozzles and chip, other than that it's my cross country driver..

So my question is where is the best place for a quality turbo, and is the hybrid worth it?
 

ketchupshirt88

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2012
Location
waupaca, WI
TDI
2005 Passat daily, a bunch of others in the graveyard out back...
what makes you think the seals are failing? A few ounces of oil in the intake track is normal, if that is your concern.

As for the hybrid, i do not think it is worth the extra coin. Its almost cheaper to put in a VNT17 than a K03/04 hybrid and the VNT will perform much better...

Frans at dutch auto parts is probably the most cost effective vendor IF you really do need a turbo. He has used for 200 and rebuilt for 350. Used ones are cleaned and inspected, rebuilds have a new center section inside of original wheel housings.

You can also look for a used one in the classifieds. i paid $50 for my last one and it was still going 2 years later when i swapped it for my home brewed hybrid gt15/17.
 

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 your planning on doing a few light to medium upgrades and keep the bottom end stock here is a decent list you can play with how ever you see fit.

Turbo now, mild upgrade
mid power nozzles
exhuast
head work, port &polish, EGR delete, Maybe a colt II cam if you have the $$$ to spare
Ditzel mod
EGT and OIL PSI gauges
Chip tune from malone
full suspension upgrade with prothane bushings and bilstein struts
Get some good tires
Hawks Pads
that will make your car fantastic to drive and have fun with, not brake the bank, and still be able to keep the stock clutch.

You can measure the amount of oil by doing the following
vent the CCV into a catch can. You can make a simple one for now just for testing, 1" hose in and out into a soup can lol
Clean your IC and pipes with soapy water and a shopvac and a hose (laundry detergent work best.

Now run for 5K miles like this and now drain the IC and see how much oil comes out and compare that to how much oil you had to add to the engine. If this amount of less than 1 quart your fine. about .25 -.75 quarts is normal for a healthy to moderate normal wear for 200K engine. You can put a cloth rag up against a noodle strainer and use some coat hanger wire and zipties to make it like a catch for the exhaust so that its about 2" away from the pipe. your looking to trap oil. Drive like that for 20 miles. if you see anything more than just a few droplets your turbo is dumping oil out the exhaust port. a tiny bit when cold is normal we see this as blue smoke but if its enough to not get burned up by the heat and make it to the end as oil droplets your not in good shape. imagine dipping a tooth brush in oil and flicking the bristles so that it sprays oil. you dont want to see this.

Turbo shaft play is some what normal side to side, it wont feel tight but it wont have a noticeable amount of play (sorta) its the end to end (back and forth) play that you want to not have much of if not any. Oil loss is #1 sign, not turbo shaft play.
 

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.
also what oil are you running? going a step up in oil weight can mitigate a light oil leak on a turbo that is worn but not dying (burning more than normal)
 

Abacus

That helpful B4 guy
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Location
Relocated from Maine to Dewey, AZ
TDI
Only the B4V left
If your planning on doing a few light to medium upgrades and keep the bottom end stock here is a decent list you can play with how ever you see fit.

Turbo now, mild upgrade ($620, $875 for hyrbid)
mid power nozzles ($300 for nozzles, additional $210 to have them installed)
exhuast ($300-$500)
head work, port &polish, EGR delete, Maybe a colt II cam if you have the $$$ to spare (head work is $600, port & polish is $400-$500, Colt Cam is $300 extra)
Ditzel mod ($30)
EGT and OIL PSI gauges ($125-$300)
Chip tune from malone ($300)
full suspension upgrade with prothane bushings and bilstein struts ($400-$700)
Get some good tires ($400)
Hawks Pads ($100)
that will make your car fantastic to drive and have fun with, not brake the bank, and still be able to keep the stock clutch.
"Not break the bank"? We obviously have very different banks. I included pricing, in red. And if these mods are done, even a select few, there is no way the clutch will hold. I'd done a few clutches resulting from just a few of these upgrades. I'm not saying they're not worth the extra smile factor, just that there is a hefty cost associated and they are not without drawbacks.
 
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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.
"Not break the bank"? We obviously have very different banks. I included pricing, in red. And if these mods are done, even a select few, there is no way the clutch will hold. I'd done a few clutches resulting from just a few of these upgrades. I'm not saying they're not worth the extra smile factor, just that there is a hefty cost associated and they are not without drawbacks.

Originally Posted by Mongler98 View Post
If your planning on doing a few light to medium upgrades and keep the bottom end stock here is a decent list you can play with how ever you see fit.

LET ME EXPLAIN
Turbo now, mild upgrade ($620, $875 for hyrbid) thats about right I was thinking used for half of that honestly
mid power nozzles ($300 for nozzles, additional $210 to have them installed) sounds about right for a quality set but install is easy
exhaust ($300-$500) !$100 tops if you have a welder, i did my 3" for $85 in pipe and wire and cutting wheels, heat wrap and high temp paint
head work, port &polish, EGR delete, Maybe a colt II cam if you have the $$$ to spare (head work is $600, port & polish is $400-$500, Colt Cam is $300 extra)Head work cost me $200 for a deck and guides and relived with new oil seals local, port and polish can be done easily for $40 in sadning bits from harbor freight. Cam is defiantly $$$
Ditzel mod ($30)
EGT and OIL PSI gauges ($125-$300) auber gauges are about $80 for the display and the sensor together, best gauges money can buy PEROID So yes thats about right
Chip tune from malone ($300) 100% worth it lol
full suspension upgrade with prothane bushings and bilstein struts ($400-$700) I paid more than this with springs, i think about 900
Get some good tires ($400)
Hawks Pads ($100) $80*
that will make your car fantastic to drive and have fun with, not brake the bank, and still be able to keep the stock clutch.

Point here is that a car worth $2k with another $3,110 from what i added up here (results may vary!) and you have a fun car that equivalates to a Boxter with 4 seats and 45mpg. you can buy a boxter for 5K same as a miata but they dont get the mileage, 4 seats, the life long engine, and the fun of a car you dont have to put a crap load of maintenance onto. A porsche at any price is a $80k cars maintenance, headlights are about 500 each vs $50, etc.. Mitatas are done to death and are great cars. If you are on a under 8K budget you can get the best of both worlds in a TDI VW IMHO. 10K is not a brake the bank budget for any car. I understand that not everyone has $5k or more laying around. i for one do not anymore but the point is that if your going that rout i for one think tdi's are a great way to go. This is why i said earlier about selling at 300K when there still in the prime vs going further. its all about what you want to do honestly. I for one have a 336K mk3 AHU that owes me about 9K with tires and glass included. what a mistake that was LOLOL JK
 

Skenzi

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 18, 2015
Location
Seattle
TDI
1997 jetta
Thanks for the replies, the scroll of the turbo is always wet with oil, with no other visible leaks onto it, and there is a lot of oil in the intercooler and tubes... and it'll only really use oil at higher rpms, around town it'll use/burn quart about 900-1500 miles, on the highway usually every tank of fuel

As far as oil, I use delo 5w40 because I get it from work..
 

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.
uping the oil will do nothing here. due to how much your burning. 1 quart burn is typical for every 5000 in a tdi in bad shape but not in need of major repair. when i put my gt2052 i went from a quart every 4,000 to about 1.25 quarts every 12,000 when i do my oil changes. but this was after a put in my catch can system. before the catch can system after turbo i was doing about 2.5 quarts over 12,000. Now i run a CCV inlet into the exhaust fairly close to the outlet of the turbo and thats coming from my catch can output. Evidently the CCV will get sucked into the turbo REALLY BAD if your air filter gets slightly clogged.

Sorry if my sentences are not as well thought out today. i have a massive cold and just checking up on the forums between sleeping and blowing landmines from my nose.
 

john.jackson9213

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Location
Miramar, Ca. (Think Top Gun)
TDI
1996 B4V
Skenzi,

You have to budget for a clutch! First thing I did was a tune and that showed me I needed a new clutch. My suggestion for a clutch is a South Bend Stage 2 Endurance. Stronger than the VR6 clutch and still a light pedal.

For a turbo, check out this post: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=5351991&postcount=6

I am running the GTC1549VZ in my B4V and it has been great for 2 years. Ask Abacus how it drives! Very responsive turbo and with a tune and nozzles I am over 170 hp at the front wheels on the dyno.

No need for a ported head, a cam upgrade or a full exhaust upgrade. But I do have a fresh ported/polished head in the garage. No plans to install it.
 

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.
head work is the biggest upgrade you can do that will deliver power over every other upgrade possible, best area to spend money on a decent build.
also 10/4 on the SBC stage 2 enduro. make sure you bedd it in properly and dont beat on it for about 300-500 miles, i was at 300 miles, first hard pull and had some chatter from it for 4K miles before it smoothed out
 

Abacus

That helpful B4 guy
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Location
Relocated from Maine to Dewey, AZ
TDI
Only the B4V left
head work is the biggest upgrade you can do that will deliver power over every other upgrade possible...
Why do you say things like that like they are the absolute? Head work is good, but not the biggest upgrade you can do that will deliver power over every other upgrade possible.

IMHO injectors in conjunction with a tune will deliver more power than head work, which is related to air flow and volume. If you want to break it down even further, I have dyno results from doing injectors and tunes separately. Air flow and volume are meaningless without the fuel to create the power. They are all interrelated, however.
 

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.
Sorry, did not mean to say biggest as in best*
Biggest as in most involved work. No best bang for your buck is nozzles and a tune no dought.
 

BleachedBora

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Oct 16, 2003
Location
Gresham, Oregon
TDI
'81 DMC-12, '15 GL350 CDI 275 hp/448 tq - '81 Caddy CJAA, '05 E320 CDI 250hp/450 tq, '23 ID4 AWD Pro S Plus
The K03 hybrid is a great turbo, (as is a BV43, but that's a lot more work). The cost to make the car a lot of fun to drive is a whole lot less than doing a whole new car, but it does cost a bit to do it right.

Last I checked B4 Bilstein HD's (which Abacus I think was pricing) were discontinued and in very very short supply, that said there still might be a couple sets around. Some of the bolts for the suspension install have been discontinued as well, so I bought up VW's remaining supply. :D

It's hard sometimes to keep these cars going - both from a parts and a labor perspective.

-BB
 

Skenzi

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 18, 2015
Location
Seattle
TDI
1997 jetta
My buddy is actually putting a clutch in it as we speak, I did the vr6 clutch because I don't plan to get too serious with the car, just eventually new nozzles, and turbo when it ****s out... looking more for reliability than anything
 
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