98 Jetta TDI Problems Solved Smoking Hard Starting

Thanks to TDI Forum Threads for guiding me to solve many major problems. Bought this 1998 Jetta TDI. Basket case. Blue/Black smoke. Black film and oil on rear of car. You said Turbo issue. Your right. New Garret Turbo. No oil but even worse smoke. Took it to a Guru. Bad injection pump. Had a Re-manufactured pump put on and new timing belt. New MAFF sensor, Wastgate unit, new glow plugs and harness, injectors rebuilt and calibrated. Did parts hanging myself where I could. Got car back this winter. Ran great but I had a miserable time getting it started. Glow plugs on, hit ignition, it would start and die immediately. Then it was 10 minutes of cranking to get it started. Even on a 50F day with warm engine its 30 cranks to start. Threads said timing off. Took it back to Guru. Timing spot on. He does not have Vag-com and he suspected the IP was off calibration. I drove three hours today to take it to a Vag-Com Guru. Within seconds, yup, IP High Injection Quantity diagnosis. 45 minutes of hammer mod adjusting the IP and vag-com tweaking, it starts pretty easy. Not perfect, but I need a new ignition tumbler and suspect it's part of the problem. Now on to electrical problems to solve and I have a great little car. Runs like a scalded dog. Thanks for all the help. I would have been lost without you. Hope this helps the next guy.

Danny W said:

Took it back to Guru. Timing spot on. He does not have Vag-com and he suspected the IP was off calibration.

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Please - if a "guru" does not have access to Vag-com or better, can he/she be a "guru"?

Glad you took it to someone who could help.

You could be having trouble with the ignition switch. It can cause weird electrical problems including no start, start and stop, or headlights cutting out, dash lights, etc. Sounds like you are getting the car fixed up. Have you replaced the turbo boost lines yet? Or cleaned the intake manifold?

Well, he's a 50 year old VW mechanic. He's a Gulf War veteran diesel mechanic. He's a full time preacher and believe me, he took me on as a charity case because he didn't bill me for a fraction of the amount of diagnostic time he put into this car. You have to understand that all of this computer technology has left a lot of the older guys behind. He's good. Real good and did what he could do for me. My Vag-Com Guru is about 25 years old and has a college degree in Mechanical Engineering. Sfierz: Yes. All lines have been replaced including fuel lines. The ECU tube was replaced and my old Guru Pin checked manually to rule out any possible ECU issues. I checked the Intake when I did the turbo and surprisingly was clear. The tumbler does not start the car. The kid I bought it from wired a push button direct to turn the starter. Turn the key and hit the button. But now my security system locks the doors with a 5 minute delay. My horn honks with the security system but not on the steering wheel. Just weird stuff going on. Nothing to get excited about. I am just relieved that I got my car running and I'm not driving my 12mpg Dodge 2500 4x4 pickup. Thanks for the replies.

Fixing the ignition switch could help a lot, but you could also have trouble with the wires in the doors.