any engine difference in mkiv golfs?

im looking for a mkiv golf, ive heard 02-03 is the motor to get, any more detail than that?

i thought the golf didnt even get the tdi until 02, but im finding some 2000-2001 year tdi's

Here in north america (don't know where 'At home' is for you) the ALH TDI engine appeared in the A4 chassis starting with the New Beetle in '98, followed by the Golf and Jetta in 99.5. 2003 was the last year. Previous to the A4 chassis, the A3s had an AHU engine. The Bx chassis also had them (Passat) but I do not recall the engine series designation for these.

so all mkiv and beetles to 2003 had the alh?

ok cool yes im in north mericuh

mk4 Golfs (typ 1J) were available in North America with TDIs starting as the 1999.5 model through 2003 with the ALH engine and 2004 - 2006 with the BEW.

now whats so bad about the BEW, and how can i visually tell if its a bew or alh? specifically in the 2004 model year, assuming that some had the alh and some had the BEW, or did NO golf get the alh in 04?

The4ork said:

now whats so bad about the BEW, and how can i visually tell if its a bew or alh? specifically in the 2004 model year, assuming that some had the alh and some had the BEW, or did NO golf get the alh in 04?

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The BEW cam is intolerant of 5w30 oil irrespective of the oil quality standard it meets (i.e., blind faith in 505.01 is not acceptable); 5w40 oils of most recent standards do just fine.

Does the engine have an external injection pump run by the timing belt? It's not a BEW, which doesn't matter because...

2003 was the last year for the ALH engine in the US & Canada. 2004s had the BEW. There have been zero documented 2004s with the ALH or 2003s with the BEW.

"At home" is an entirely useless location. Put where you actually live so we can be of some help.

Im in cali

so is it physically the cam, or engine design.

Would this be remedied by installing an aftermarket cam?

what differences if any are there in just the ALH golfs, is there a particular year thats better? im assuming the 03 will be the best and have all the refinements if any.

Im more of a mkII guy, i could tell you all the differences in those years, but not the mkiv's

Nothing bad about the BEW, it's just a different design. Simpler in some senses and not as amenable to engine modifications, but just as long lasting and dependable as any other diesel.

The one potential weak point is the cam shaft. If a 5-30w or non diesel oil was used, excessive wear could ruin the cam and followers. It's a $1,000 repair but many have made the fix and kept on motoring. Many of us have never had the wear problem at all. If you find an 04-05 that you're interested in, it's not a lot of work to take off the valve cover to inspect the cam.

p.s. Earlier models with the ALH engine had/have real problems with the O1M automatic transmission. If you go with the earlier model go with the manual transmission.

Doesn't seem to matter what age the car is, it either came with everything or it didn't. I would say the ALH is better imo, reading all the issues with the PD's does kinda put me off them. Better mpg, easier to tune, less things tend to go on them i.e. tandem pumps, lift pump, cams etc etc.

Ill be def getting a manual