2004 Jetta vibration problem

Ldan

Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2017
Location
Arkansas
TDI
2004
2004 tdi manual transmission, in lower gears no problem, when in 4th and 5th gears and at higher rpms my car has a vibration, once up to speed and on flat ground the vibration stops, when on an incline and pulling its weight uphill vibration returns, "although not in lower gears" i have new tires, the vibration is not the steering wheel it is transmition or moter, I do not believe it is the suspension. advise please Ldan
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Thanks for reposing in the proper location. Glad to see a new member come forward with an issue. That's what we are here for.
Check your motor mounts, harmonic balancer, shocks and struts. if it did it in any gear I would say it’s an issue with the flywheel, I had some bolts back out long time ago on the fly wheel and it was kind of like what you’re having but it would be ALL THE TIME but only under load. 99.9% sure this is not your issue, but it’s easy to check, make the fly wheel visible by the inspeciotn plate or plug, and wiggle it with a flat head, it will either not move at all or it will.

Might want to check your lugs/wheel studs. Torque them down again. I had one wheel that every time I took the wheel off I had to drive it and retighten. It was an issue with the powder coat on the inside of the wheel where the lug studs sit. I read an article in Porsche magazine, this guy had his wheels fall off at a race track due to the hot brakes softening up the powder coat and it caused the lugnuts to become untorqued to the wheel. Point is, those are EASY 5 minute inspections you can rule out really fast.

My bet is on a motor mount or a strut/shock, bushing, or some sort of imbalance on something. CV axles can make a symptom like this and so can a loss axle nut. Can’t hurt to check those pesky axle nuts. Takes you what another 5 minutes?
Go over my other checklist for you to do and report back with your findings. One we have specific symptoms we can track this down lickety-split
 
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UhOh

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Location
PNW
TDI
2000 & 2003 Golf GLS (2005 Mercedes E320 CDI)
Sounds like inner CV joints. In 5th gear and around 1,800 rpm if you nail it do you feel that vibration?
 

Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
Sounds like Inner CV joints but it wouldn’t hurt to check all the other possibilities as well.

If you end up having a bad cv, rebuild the axle don’t by a cheap reman or new aftermarket.

I have a friend who bought 4 new tires for his van, at 70mph he would get a vibration. He had it aligned 3 times, finally they determined that one of those brand new tires was slightly out of round. Just a suggestion in case nothing else looks bad.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Inner CV joints, specifically the right side. That is the one that gets "cooked" the most near the exhaust. There is a heat shield there that helps prolong this, but eventually they need to be service.

What I like to do is first see if you can lessen it by getting some grease in the joint. I have a special tool just for this purpose:



It allows me to slip some grease in past the boot via a grease gun. Often this is all they need, although some times it takes some driving to get the grease "worked in" to the joint, and help soften the grease already in there that has turned into a thick black wax.

But in some cases, the joint just needs to come apart, get cleaned, repacked with fresh grease, and reinstalled.

If I go through the trouble of the latter, I go ahead and do BOTH sides, and swap the joints left to right in the process, so you get a new bearing surface on the loaded side of the joint.

DO NOT INSTALL AFTERMARKET DRIVE AXLES
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Nice tool oil hammer, I thought you needed to put the cv back together in the same orientation do to wear on the bearings, inner and outer race if that’s what you call them need to be in the same orientation and it helps to keep track of what balls go where. That’s how I was schooled. Probably does not even matter! What I do know OP is that you never EVER buy a reman. I had no choice in the matter once, I took the old axle and took the guts out of the NEW axle and swapped them after flawlessly cleaning them and repacking. That is the big problem with a reman besides weaker metal shaft and what not. They don’t put good grease in them and often leave grit from the cleaning process behind in them. I filtered out a solution of thinned down grease I took out of the Reman and I found 12 bits of sand. 12 of them 12! It was destined to die every quick.
 

UhOh

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Location
PNW
TDI
2000 & 2003 Golf GLS (2005 Mercedes E320 CDI)
Mongler, when swapping side-to-side you DO keep each joint's inner and outer races matched up (good to also do the balls, though I cannot speak as to how critical or necessary this is). Mark them before removing.

I've only ever disconnected axles, never messed with CV joints. But, I DO have a feel for how messy this all is!

Brian, how effective is that tool? How does one know that the grease is really getting into the CV joint (rather than just pumping in all around it)?
 

indysoto

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2004
Location
Eugene, OR
You can also get really long needles with grease zerk fittings at napa that will slip under the boot and buy you alot of miles..
The six or eight? inner triple square or allen bolts could also be loose.
 

[486]

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Location
MN
TDI
02 golf ALH
How does one know that the grease is really getting into the CV joint (rather than just pumping in all around it)?
well, the grease does circulate in the boot somewhat, more at the outside than in the center. I usually blob some new grease into the flanges, and the little bit in the center of the flange never moves, but out toward the edge it gets mixed in pretty quick.

adding it to the outside of the joint eliminates the possibility of the grease being axially centered, fwiw

it flabulates around pretty good in there
 
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