jackfolstam
Veteran Member
I have two problems with my ALH:
1. Fixed Every time the first time I go to accelerate with the car in gear clutch out, the engine will rev up to 1300 or so and then back to idle, with my foot still partially on the throttle. If I put my foot down further nothing happens. If I take my foot off then put it back on again, everything is normal. I can rev the engine out of gear to any RPM, but once in gear and moving it will hold back that first time. Very annoying when pulling out of parallel parking.
Possible Solution 1: Hooked up the brake light switch signal to the ECM.
Possible Solution 2: Hooked up the brake cruise cancel to the ECM.
2. My engine shudders between 1000-1300 RPM or so. When I'm trying to crawl in a parking lot or traffic in first or second gear the engine will start to buck a little and get worse if I try to accelerate slowly. If I accelerate above that RPM range it's fine. It feels like if you went from first gear to fourth accidentally instead of second, at low RPM. It's done this since day 1.
Only other issues are maybe ticking lifters; I don't have any engine bay sound deadening so it could be a normal sound, and boost deviation three times. I'm certain that's from a worn out vane control.
Info/troubleshooting so far
A. The car is a 79 Rabbit with a 99.5 ALH 210k miles from a Jetta manual, running the original 020 with an 8V 210mm flywheel. Could a flywheel of the wrong weight cause the bucking (I'm assuming it's not the stock weight)? Also the timing mark does not line up. I painted on a line on the flywheel but maybe I got it wrong. I can pull a glow plug and check. How far off can the crank be before seeing issues?
B: Could it be a fueling issue? I changed the injectors, VCDS shows they're in range. The plunger above the fuel inlet on the pump is all together. I just put in a junkyard 11mm pump yesterday, issues are still there. It came out of the junkyard car very shiny, only a little bit of dirt on the bottom, no leaks. Didn't check anything on the pump before installing it. IQ set to 3 on the old pump and the new through VCDS. From memory not a lot of bubbles in the fuel lines.
C: As for wiring, only running engine required stuff is hooked up to the ECU. No cluster, no brake light signal, no cruise, clutch safety is shorted, no cabin stuff, radio, airbag, etc. My friend put an ALH from a 98 NB into his Caddy with the cluster from my 99.5 Jetta, power steering, A/C, and he's working on ABS right now, no cruise, clutch shorted, and his car does the first acceleration slowdown too.
D: Timing belt? I had to delete the roller below the tensioner to fit my motor mount, and so I guess the tension. Normally it's set to where the notch lines up with the tab on the tensioner. I set it tighter by going just past the notch. Is this too loose still? One day I did try and go past by one width of the notch and there was no difference, so I set it back.
E: Harmonic balancer bad? Any way to know without getting a new one? I do have a new transmission whine...any danger in pulling off the balancer and firing it up, let alone drive it around?
F: Alternator pulley? I can see the tensioner bouncing up and down. I'll pull the belt off and drive it around the block.
1. Fixed Every time the first time I go to accelerate with the car in gear clutch out, the engine will rev up to 1300 or so and then back to idle, with my foot still partially on the throttle. If I put my foot down further nothing happens. If I take my foot off then put it back on again, everything is normal. I can rev the engine out of gear to any RPM, but once in gear and moving it will hold back that first time. Very annoying when pulling out of parallel parking.
Possible Solution 1: Hooked up the brake light switch signal to the ECM.
Possible Solution 2: Hooked up the brake cruise cancel to the ECM.
2. My engine shudders between 1000-1300 RPM or so. When I'm trying to crawl in a parking lot or traffic in first or second gear the engine will start to buck a little and get worse if I try to accelerate slowly. If I accelerate above that RPM range it's fine. It feels like if you went from first gear to fourth accidentally instead of second, at low RPM. It's done this since day 1.
Only other issues are maybe ticking lifters; I don't have any engine bay sound deadening so it could be a normal sound, and boost deviation three times. I'm certain that's from a worn out vane control.
Info/troubleshooting so far
A. The car is a 79 Rabbit with a 99.5 ALH 210k miles from a Jetta manual, running the original 020 with an 8V 210mm flywheel. Could a flywheel of the wrong weight cause the bucking (I'm assuming it's not the stock weight)? Also the timing mark does not line up. I painted on a line on the flywheel but maybe I got it wrong. I can pull a glow plug and check. How far off can the crank be before seeing issues?
B: Could it be a fueling issue? I changed the injectors, VCDS shows they're in range. The plunger above the fuel inlet on the pump is all together. I just put in a junkyard 11mm pump yesterday, issues are still there. It came out of the junkyard car very shiny, only a little bit of dirt on the bottom, no leaks. Didn't check anything on the pump before installing it. IQ set to 3 on the old pump and the new through VCDS. From memory not a lot of bubbles in the fuel lines.
C: As for wiring, only running engine required stuff is hooked up to the ECU. No cluster, no brake light signal, no cruise, clutch safety is shorted, no cabin stuff, radio, airbag, etc. My friend put an ALH from a 98 NB into his Caddy with the cluster from my 99.5 Jetta, power steering, A/C, and he's working on ABS right now, no cruise, clutch shorted, and his car does the first acceleration slowdown too.
D: Timing belt? I had to delete the roller below the tensioner to fit my motor mount, and so I guess the tension. Normally it's set to where the notch lines up with the tab on the tensioner. I set it tighter by going just past the notch. Is this too loose still? One day I did try and go past by one width of the notch and there was no difference, so I set it back.
E: Harmonic balancer bad? Any way to know without getting a new one? I do have a new transmission whine...any danger in pulling off the balancer and firing it up, let alone drive it around?
F: Alternator pulley? I can see the tensioner bouncing up and down. I'll pull the belt off and drive it around the block.
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