Future proofing my BEW turbo

Hi, I have a 221K mile original 2004 BEW Jetta turbo that is slowly leaking oil and I "brought back to life" temporary by articulating the smart actuator several times, seemingly freeing up the vanes. I now have some boost, but feel a turbo replacement is in my not-to-distant future.

I want to upgrade to the VNT17, will do exhaust, nozzles, a tune, the whole shebang at once. The problem being is my EGR (and presumably intake) is cartooned up bad! It's drivable, but definitely lacking power cause there is maybe a quarter or so opening for. the air to pass through.

I can't clean my intake, or I'd do that (I live in one of those apartments that looks down on working on your car and using a blow torch and compressor to burn it out).

So it looks like my options are:

1. Drive it like this for another few months till I am in a rental house (and a garage again-Yeah!)

2. Install a cleaned PD100 stock intake (with install kit obviously)

3. Install a PD150 intake with Darksides kit to retain the EGR/ASV. This will get me through the upcoming vehicle inspection (No EGR code for deleting).

Option #3, I can choose to delete the EGR/EGR cooler later if I decide AFTER I get the VNT17 and Tune to eliminate the EGR light.

It's important for me to keep the ASV, even after the tune. Some don't care, however I do.

At what point is the PD150's improved flow THAT noticeable over the PD100's (On a tuned motor....)? Is it worth it if I go VNT17, Tune (stage 4 likely), nozzles, billet cam-like I plan in the future?

I really want to fix this clogged up intake now, without having to buy two different intakes in the period of a year or to. Again, if my intake comes off-I can't clean it here in the complex via blowtorch. I can swap it out with another, on a weekend when the office isn't here, but my neighbors will dime me out or call the fire department if they think I'm burning down their precious place..lol

Thanks!

There's a place here near Portland that rents out lift bays complete with tools.
There are a couple in FLA too:
https://www.garageyourself.com/
http://dityautorepair.com/

Also, fire is not the best way IMO of cleaning out an intake. One 5 gallon bucket of degreaser
and let it soak for a week. Spotless. You also have to consider cleaning the intake ports on
the block. This can be tricky. There are plenty of pointers on this site regarding that.
I can't speak to the performance/parts etc.

Thanks for the info! I can use the bay now at military bases, so I'm covered there (At least now while I'm near my old base, not sure about auto hobby shops on the bases in the future).

This is my Daily, so soaking for any amount of time like that is a no-go. I am saving it to clean in the future for a back-up.

What I did was buy a dirty one off craigslist, scraped out as much as I could and soaked it.
Dirty one off, clean one on.

That's a good idea!

My only reservation goes back to the thought go "having/needing/wanting" to replace it again in a year or two for the build out I'm doing. I hate doing the same thing twice if I don't have to. Plus the PD150 intake is the same price (or less in some cases). I do like thought process though, that was smart. No down time.

I'll have to see what performance increases there are with the 150...

future proofing is a BS te3rm that only means spending way too much money for no benefit at all.
buy once cry once.
get tune and turbo and nozzles and be done with it. stick to stage 2 so you don't have to clutch swap and so on.
the vtn 17 is solid and well overkill for stage 2 but will perform nicly down low and up high from 120hp to well into the mid 200s easily.

I always enjoy reading Mongler98's replies

The biggest thing here is that your going to have to clean the intake ports on the head. Or it's going to blow up the engine. Leaving the head clogged up but having a clean intake will send chunks into the engine now that the air speed velocity is higher. This will kill your engine faster than Jeffery Epstein.
It's not an easy task to clean the intake but it can be done in place. Valves closed. Plastic picks brass brushes. Oven cleaner. Mighty vac and compressed air with a mirror followed by an oil change. With an egr delete your not going to make it any worse so you have time.

VincenzaV said:

I always enjoy reading Mongler98's replies

Click to expand...

They can be amusing, almost like my little sister commenting, LMAO!

I was worried someone would say that about the head intake ports too. It does make sense.

Can you use walnut shells like all the BMW and direct injection people do? It's very common on BMW threads... How come we don't see people doing that to TDI's? Are we late to the game?

VincenzaV said:

I was worried someone would say that about the head intake ports too. It does make sense.

Can you use walnut shells like all the BMW and direct injection people do? It's very common on BMW threads... How come we don't see people doing that to TDI's? Are we late to the game?

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if there have been Threads on the topic of Head Port Cleaning here in the TDI Club, however, there have been comments from time to time in various threads with similar discussions.

The "bridge" of crud from the Intake Manifold to the Head is broken when you remove the manifold. When a clean Manifold is installed without cleaning the head ports, the difference in the opening creates a lot of turbulence with the pressurized incoming air. When (not if) some of the crud breaks off,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, well, carnage can be the results.

I made a few tools (dental style picks) to remove the crud from the head ports, valves, etc. I use vacuum to get out the pieces as I do the cleaning. Mechanics mirror is handy to have too. I've never done any blasting ....... not really necessary, but for those who want peace of mind, go ahead. Lastly, compressed air can make a mess........

Just make sure the valve is closed you are working on.

As for a replacement Intake, choose from among your listed options based on your personal circumstances!

Walnut blasting? With out taking the valves out? No. Not a chance. I've cleaned a few heads. Take your time not difficult. Just messy

Walnut blasting is a great way to do it.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=502986