First TDI. Questions about stock power and maintenance.

I recently picked up my first TDI, a 2000 Jetta TDI GLS 5 speed with 155k miles. Got, at least I feel, a good deal due to faded paint, salvage title, and some minor problems. Got a coolant leak at the t-stat. Owner had a receipt for timing belt parts 30k ago, but only show belt, tensioner, and water pump. No other idlers or bolts. So I ordered at complete kit from IDparts along with thermostat and housing kit. Ordered a Ross-Tech HEX-V2.
I've been going over the forums and checking common problem areas. I have at least 3 door switches acting up, cruise doesn't work, need an antenna base, and am getting face fulls of foam from the ducts. So that's on my list of minor things to address.
As to the engine, I have a few questions. Overall it seems to run well. I have a bit of lifter noise on cold start, but I have no idea when the oil was changed last, and it may be somewhat normal?

1)Stock power/pull. My commute takes me up almost 3000 foot elevation gain going home. Several 6+ percent grades. On the worst of the hills, it seems pretty near full throttle to hold 70mph in 5th. I dont know what is normal. Coming from A 250hp forester XT, it of course feels slow.
A few things I have done: VNT sticking, only moving about 1/4 inch. I worked it with a wrench and it broke free very easily and now moves fully with vacuum on the actuator. That seemed to make a improvement in around town driving. Today I pulled the fuel sender assembly. The Suction check valve was nearly plugged. So I drilled it out. Again, made a noticeable but small improvement. Fuel filter and full service is next, as it looked very old, and and media looks very dark and slimy in the thermo-t hole.

2)I Pulled the intake tube off the EGR valve. With a mirror, I can see all the way to the bend in the manifold. Almost no soot, mostly oily residue. Is it still worth pulling the intake to clean?

3)Due to the VNT sticking, even though its free now, should I pull the turbo, or pull the exhaust and oven clean it, or drive it like i stole it and hope it stays freed up?

4)MAF. with 150k and 17 years on what looks original, should I clean it, or just replace It as preventative?

With a scan tool, you can log actual and requested MAF and MAP, see how close it is tracking. If it gets too far off, it will of course flag a DTC. But a bad MAF can be pretty awful at under reporting the air flow but will not set a DTC.

If you do a warmed up engine floorboarded launch off the line, does it smoke at all? If so, does it go away after a couple times of doing so? If the VNT was sticking, it may just be a case of the car was driven too easy for too long by the previous owner.

Check the snowscreen in the air cleaner inlet. I like to cut it out completely, and just run a cold weather filter when necessary like the later cars already do.

The Mann filter number is on your air cleaner lid. Just add a "/1" to that number for the cold weather version. Or look it up for a 2004 car with a BEW engine, same filter.

Some lifter tick at start up is normal, there is even a TSB about it. Some cars do it more than others, some barely at all. So long as it quiets up after a few seconds I would not lose any sleep over it. My ALH does it, worse when cold, gone in 3 seconds or so at the longest.

I would also want to check the timing, although if you are doing the belt anyway, that will get done regardless.

TDIs pull through the mountains pretty easily. I even drug a car through them (the smaller ones, not the Rockies). Turbochargers make their own atmosphere, so there is normally enough margin left even in thinner air of higher altitudes that the turbo should be able to overcome. It works the turbo more, obviously, but not beyond its design limits.

I've driven through the Rockies in my 1975 Bus (65hp), 1991 diesel Jetta (52hp), 1993 F150 (155hp) and my 1998 Jetta TDI (90hp). The TDI easily was the easiest to drive through the mountains. It barely noticed, LOL.

Do you hear the the turbo at all?
Also, can you give more detail on the specific symptoms you get when cruise not working. That may narrow down a potential low power cause.

Is the glow plug light blinking? The cruse control will not work if so. (few other things also)

I have a brief lifter tap every morning for years now.
Started only in cold weather, but now a few seconds every morning.

Before throwing 'maybe that's it' parts in it do a few tests with VCDS.
Check for codes first.

Read how to log the blocks needed for performance diagnosis.
There's a low power thread that has great help for that.
Your trip home makes me think either your not getting enough boost or the timing belt is not adjusted correctly.

Quick check, if you have a clear fuel line from the filter to the injector pump there should be a small bubble in the high point of the line before you start the car.
Start the car and check for bubbles going through.
I always have some tiny ones, some people say none.
A lot of bubbles is an air leak somewhere.

You may also want to run a can of diesel purge through the injector pump to clean it.
You disconnect the 2 fuel lines going to the injector pump and run longer ones into a clean container with the purge in it.
Run the car on the purge raising the idle up & down a bit.
I use a $5.00 clear universal fuel filter in the feed line incase any gunk comes out of pump.

After that would be a good time for the new fuel filter and if no record of when the plastic tee fitting was changed get that also with new O-rings.
Fill the new filter with diesel fuel before trying to start the car. It will run out and stall if you do not. You will have to bleed the lines to get fuel into the pump and loosen the injector lines to get the air out.

oilhammer said:

Check the snowscreen in the air cleaner inlet. I like to cut it out completely, and just run a cold weather filter when necessary like the later cars already do.
The Mann filter number is on your air cleaner lid. Just add a "/1" to that number for the cold weather version. Or look it up for a 2004 car with a BEW engine, same filter.

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Don't think I ever read about a cold weather air filter or see a listing for it.
Something to do today.
Are you saying the BEW air filter is a cold weather filter and it fits the ALH?

Yes, the BEWs (and VERY late German-built ALHs) ditched the snow screen in the air inlet tube and just use the foam prefilter equipped element instead.

They both fit in the same air cleaner assembly.

Are you talking about the air filter that looks like it has white colored scotch-brite as the first filter layer?

Nevada_TDI said:

Are you talking about the air filter that looks like it has white colored scotch-brite as the first filter layer?

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Yes, that is a cold climate filter. The diesels get them standard, or on the older cars had a snow screen. The gas engines generally do not get them, but some do.

Since US-spec cars are designed to operate anywhere in the US, which includes both cold and hot climates, all US-spec cars will have both cold weather and hot weather equipment where applicable as standard.

If you never drive anywhere where blowing snow, blizzard conditions would occur, then there really is no need to use the cold weather filter. You also likely won't need the heated breather tube, either, but it too was standard equipment.

Ok I will try to cover everything. First, I won't have my cable infill today, then I have to learn the software. I am diesel mechanic by trade, but medium and heavy duty. I do a lot of computer diag, but every software is different.
My car does not have and appears to never had a snow screen. Just a Smooth tube from air box to grill. No doors, no provisions for screen.
The cruise simply does nothing. Won't set, no resume, no accell. I was guessing just a bad stalk or brake switch. Haven't looked into it.
When I first got it, it would give a slight puff of white smoke and smelt a bit like unburned fuel. Now i dont notice anything.
I have what I consider significant bubbles in the clear line. That's part of why I pulled the sender. I also put some grease on the tee, and replace the injector to pump return line as it was weeping. That was yesterday evening. This morning it started better than it has every other morning, and it was pulls noticeably better. First time it pulled very good all the way past 4000 in 2nd without feeling like it falls off.
It seems to pull hills ok, I don't have to downshift, but there is not much left. Most hills it will pull from 60 back to 70 in 5th but not in any kind of hurry. Nothing like driving my forester.
I can hear the turbo, but only with the window down. At lower speeds.

Did you remove the tube from behind the battery? You have to take the air cleaner out, then a little nut, then the tube pulls back and out. There are two Phillips screws holding the snow screen mounting in place.

The cruise switches are easily checked with a scan tool, takes 30 seconds.

You definitely need to have access to VCDS to check and see why the cruise control is not working, as oh says, it takes 30 seconds to find out. It is possibly (likely) the blue switch that is attached to the clutch pedal frame.

oilhammer said:

Did you remove the tube from behind the battery? You have to take the air cleaner out, then a little nut, then the tube pulls back and out. There are two Phillips screws holding the snow screen mounting in place.
The cruise switches are easily checked with a scan tool, takes 30 seconds.

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Yes took the tube out. There is absolutely no provisions for a snow screen. No screws or place for screws. Just one solid tube from air box to grill.
I figured I would look into cruise when I get the scan tool. Right now it's not a big deal to me, as I hardly use it.
My fisrt priority is getting it running tip top.

Ah, cool, someone put the newer style tube on there already. Usually the screen just gets cut out and the tube gets put back together.

The stalk switch is a pretty common item to fail, especially on 2000 and older cars, as there is a little ribbon wire in there that over time gets a crack in it. The later versions had a little plastic guard, and then they eventually gave up and just put wires in there. Beware of some super cheapo stalks available on the internet from places like prothe/hans and the like.