Opening those strange clamps near the firewall.

mcarlito

Veteran Member
Joined
May 13, 2011
Location
Saratoga, New York
TDI
'03 Jetta wagon TDI
Hello,

I've been on this forum for a long time. '03 jetta wagon tdi 328,000 miles and happy with my car.

I'm going to be installing new vacuum hoses located just center close to the firewall. My question is, there are two units in front of the hoses that are clamped into place. Can anyone tell me how to un-clamp the units without braking anything? If I can move those units, I will have better access to the vacuum hoses.

Thank you very much for your input.
 

jokila

Vendor
Joined
Dec 3, 2004
Location
Houston, Texas
TDI
2003 Jetta GLS, Manual
My advice to whatever you do is to only take one hose off at a time and cut your length to match and reattach. You don't want to end up with a spaghetti bowl of hoses. I don't recall having to remove anything off the firewall when i did mine.

Be careful on the plastic pieces so you don't break a nipple. I usually turn the hose on the connection to loosen things up first.
 

najel

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Location
Madison Lake, MN
TDI
2002 Golf 5 speed
Are you talking about the solenoids? N75 & N18?



They are on a bracket that comes off by removing a few nuts. They are well hidden and it's easy to drop them, so be careful.
 

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.

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
Also McMaster-Carr carrier all sizes, all firmness, many colors.
When you find that the on-way black and white check valve is wasted, find an alternate source. As a VW part it's crazy over priced.
Some folks will cut the ends of the hose along the length for real easy removal.
 

mcarlito

Veteran Member
Joined
May 13, 2011
Location
Saratoga, New York
TDI
'03 Jetta wagon TDI
thank you all

I'll try to respond to all. In response, I have replaced some hoses and have learned to replace one hose at a time. I purchased the two different sizes on McMaster Carr.

Yes those are the two units but the orientation is different, more clustered and all the hoses are behind the units.

Thank you to all so far for your help. So I guess it's a couple of nuts I need to find to remove these units??? I'll look around and see what I can find.

Thank you
If I can throw this thought out to people who are just getting into the tdi journey. Find someone who can help you through the tough times when something goes wrong with your tdi. I have located a tdi guru and so much more of a mechanic near by who has become a good friend and has saved me many times. If I didn't find him on this tdi forum, I most likely would not have my car today. Plus I try to do as much work as I can.
 
Last edited:

najel

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Location
Madison Lake, MN
TDI
2002 Golf 5 speed
Yes those are the two units but the orientation is different, more clustered and all the hoses are behind the units.
They are basically valves that are controlled by your engine computer to turn vacuum on and off to operate two things: the turbo vane actuator, which regulates how much boost your turbo makes, and the EGR valve, which recirculates exhaust gas into the engine for emissions reasons.

I don't think all hoses are typically behind them, so maybe someone worked on this before you owned the car.

But yes, you can remove the whole assembly, that will allows you to get to everything more easily. I think it's 2 or 3 nuts. There are more than that, some of them hold the valves to the bracket, but I found it easiest to remove the bracket all together. Just take a flashlight and try to identify them. This post has a picture identifying the nuts: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=1862086&postcount=9
 

mcarlito

Veteran Member
Joined
May 13, 2011
Location
Saratoga, New York
TDI
'03 Jetta wagon TDI
Thank you very much. I did locate the solenoids and the two nuts for each. The car I bought new in '03 and there are some hoses in front of the solenoids but there are some behind that I really need to replace. Thank you again for the visual. It helps.
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
When I did my vac tubes, I left all in place, replaced 1 hose at a time. Easy peezy.
 

Fahrvegnugen

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2017
Location
Burlington Vt
TDI
01 golf 1.9 alh gls silver
I remember taking the solenoids of the fire wall, which is also easy. When doing this the first time there is great worry of breaking the brittle plastic, so I removed them for peace of mind. Pulling the hoses while carefully scoring along the nipples helps them pop off. I used an extension with a swivel bit to access the nuts for the solenoids. I used the two sizes of McMaster Carr hoses and they work great.
 

JB05

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Location
Il.USA
TDI
Golf,2005,anthracite blue
A suggestion I read here was to spray silicone on the rubber hoses to soften them. It worked for me when changing the N75 solenoid. Don't know about the ALH, but on my BEW. this solenoid had one slotted hole; so I only had to loosed the inner, hidden nut.
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
Mcarlito says: Can anyone tell me how to un-clamp the units without braking anything? If I can move those units, I will have better access to the vacuum hoses.

There is a bracket for the two solenoids that can be removed by removing two acorn nuts.

As for replacing line, the LAST thing you want to do is break a nipple off of any connection. Since you are removing and replacing lines, use a utility knife and cut lengthwise along the hose from the base to the end of the nipple. Otherwise, use a small screwdriver, twist and pry the hose off from the base.

On many of the vacuum reservoirs, there is a slot along the hose nipple. You can use that opening to cut the hose. When that is not available, twist and pull straight out. I can tell you, breaking nipples off is aggravating, but most often repairable.

The amazon vacuum hose is fine, but don't forget there are two sizes of hose. About 14' of the 2.5mm and another 6' of the 3.5mm. So, if you decide to replace all your line, silicone runs into quite a bit of money.
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
Najel, you have it backward.

The N75, is the pressure converter that goes to the turbo actuator. The other device, is for the anti-shudder valve, which only operates when you turn the key off and only for a few seconds at that time.
 

najel

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Location
Madison Lake, MN
TDI
2002 Golf 5 speed
Najel, you have it backward.

The N75, is the pressure converter that goes to the turbo actuator. The other device, is for the anti-shudder valve, which only operates when you turn the key off and only for a few seconds at that time.
On my car (02 Golf ALH engine) the N75 (to vane actuator) is the far right (when looking from the front of the car), the N18 (to EGR valve) is to the left of it, and the N239 (to the ASV) is mounted on the intake manifold, right by the ASV vacuum actuator. Maybe yours is different? But that is how it's shown on the stock diagram as well:

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8722/16872254906_166acf578c_b.jpg
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
If yours is like that, I will say no more of your actuator's position. I believe the normal positioning is N75 is closer to the left side of the engine.
 
Top