New Beetle TDI, '98, white, rebuilt engine

ecowaters

Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2006
Location
San Francisco area (formerly eastern Mass.)
TDI
SOLD: 98 NB
SOLD

I moved to California and have been dragging my feet about selling my beloved New Beetle TDI, which is still in eastern Massachusetts.
(In fact, if anyone thinks this will pass smog inspection in California, please let me know, so I can keep it!)
This great car gets 40+ mpg highway. I drove it from Boston to Washington DC on less than a full tank of gas.
Note: the engine light is on intermittently. The code says it's a mass airflow sensor, but mechanics tell me it's fine. I've had the lines cleaned now and then. I'm told the dealer could turn off the code after checking it out.
It's a well-used car and looks it. I planned to keep it 'til it rusted out, but then had to move to California, where I don't need a car much.
No man driving this car would be accused of being in a chick car.
Mileage: 184,000.
Manual trans.
Asking $3,200, which is Blue Book.
Because I had planned to drive it forever, it has many new parts:
*Rebuilt engine installed in late 2009 by Kraftwerke of Braintree (see story below)
New turbo 2009
New battery from early 2010
New exhaust manifold gasket 2009
New water pump 2009
New timing pump 2009
Lines to the oxygen sensor were removed and cleaned in 2010
Brake job in late 2011
Oil changes always with synthetic oil
LoJack (I don't use it but it's there)
Aiwa stereo with 6-CD changer
Side and front airbags
Tires from late 2009
Snow tires from 2009 used one year
Runs great on biodiesel
It really is a great car.
*The engine was rebuilt by Kraftwerke of Braintree after I drove through a puddle in a storm in 2009.
If you're looking for a high-performance low-cost car and you're willing to get it inspected when the engine light is off or you have a sympathetic garage as I did or will go to the dealer to have the code light turned off, this car is a bargain.
If interested, contact soon.
Carol (email: flowscapes at gmail dot com)
(photo attached is from 2005; the grill has been dinged since then)
 
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RabbitGTI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 20, 1997
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
B4 Passat Sedan
I many have missed it in your ad, but do you have to stir the gears in your car or does the car do it? :)
 

Ironhands

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 30, 2009
Location
AZ
TDI
1999 beetle
Keep it

The diesel engine does not need to be smoged. It just needs to be driven out here. I have a 99.5 Beetle that I bought 3 yrs ago and they did not ask for a smog certificate.:D
 

ecowaters

Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2006
Location
San Francisco area (formerly eastern Mass.)
TDI
SOLD: 98 NB
Thanks. But I need to register it out there, lest my insurer figures out it is not garaged in Massachusetts. When it is registered, I believe I have to get it smog-tested since it's a '98 based on the DMV website. But I'd love to learn otherwise.
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
The smog checks you will be subjected to will depend on whether the car still has all the oem equipment still hooked up. In this case that will most likely be the EGR and CCV. The only other problem you'd run into is if the car being checked would actually have a sniffer stuck up the tail pipe. The places I've seen that do that are only checking opacity of the exhaust stream rather than analyze the gasses. I bring this aspect up because a dying or dead catalytic converter will have very little effect on how much soot is in the exhaust stream.

If the CEL is on, even intermittently, you need to find someone with a VCDS to find out what it really is. I say this because IIRC, the '98 did not have an oxygen sensor. None of the ALH engines in A4 chassis did. However, the ECU will store trouble codes when the CEL comes on, and a VCDS can read the codes correctly. That way, you or your mechanic will be pointed in the right direction on what to repair.

Thinking about it, maybe you mean the MAF sensor, the mass air flow sensor next to the air filter box. What you said about the O2 sensor makes sense if you really meant the MAF. They're pretty easy to fix if you start out with a C-note in your hand.

And what does it look like? I didn't find the photo link you said you had. Photos always help cars sell!

Cheers!
 

ecowaters

Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2006
Location
San Francisco area (formerly eastern Mass.)
TDI
SOLD: 98 NB
Thanks, Powder Hound.

You're right: the MAF sensor. I've had it to Kraftwerke, etc. for service. Whatever it is has not hindered its performance. The last mechanic thinks the sensor is oversensitive, since he cleaned the lines and checked the sensor.

The light goes off periodically. It passes inspection every year, because either the light is off or the garage is sympathetic.

The linked photo shows on my computer. Refresh the page? It's an old photo and not very focused. I'll take more later.

The California story is different depending who you talk to. I don't think California knows if you changed guts in your car unless they look under the hood, which they might. I just don't want to drive it across the country only to get a fail from an over-diligent smog-tester.

I could simply drive it there, fill it with biodiesel, have the lines blasted again, then go for the smog, I suppose.
 
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