01 w/ VF dogbone and heavy vibration under 1100

Crispy222

Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2012
Location
CNY
TDI
'01 Golf 4dr 5sp
01 w/ VF dogbone, heavy vibration under 1100

We have an '01 Golf 4dr with some lite mods along with proper maintenance. 170k on the clock. Bought the car with a 'bad turbo' not making any boost or noise. Turns out it was stuck vains. Cleaned up the turbo, intake manifold, piping and runs great. It has the glow plug harness replaced and starts without issue (garaged over night). We run Motul oil and a Mann filter. Efficiency has been great with 45+ mpg in the winter and ~50-52 mpg in the summer. Mods lists as follows:
Malone stg 1
EGR fully deleted
ASV replace with 'race pipe'
Bilstein shocks & struts w/ H&R sport springs
All new OEM bushings front and rear, including TT LCA bushings.
Just installed VF dogbone mount that I picked up from a friend.
Engine and Trans mounts are OEM and unknown life span on them.
At idle and below 1100 rpm, the vibrations are very heavy. Increasing the engine speed above 1100 in neutral or under load, the vibrations disappear. Is this something due to the engine out of balance and we'll have to live with it? Is there some adjustment in the injectors balancing. The IP seems very loud compared to other TDI's I've heard. No excess smoke, but a little smelly compared to what I think is normal.

Up coming maintenance will be a SMF and Stage 2 clutch this spring with a 17/22 setup next year.
 
Last edited:

V-DubLuv

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2012
Location
Davis, California
TDI
2002 Golf Tdi
Stiffer dogbone results in extra vibration. Give the new bushings time to settle in and the vibrations will decrease slightly, other than that, you're going to have to deal with it. If you still want the performance of the stiffer bushings without the low rpm vibrations then take a look at a tune with an incorporated high idle, around 1100 or so.
 

desertpir8

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 20, 2012
Location
Mesa, AZ
TDI
'03 Jetta TDI
Another possiblity...

I just had a similar problem of excessive vibration below 1000 rpm or so.. As I was wrenching on my car this weekend, I found that the front exhaust mounting bracket was coming apart. The folded tabs were loose where they pinch the bottom part of the mount, allowing the mount to move, and exhaust/catalytic converter to resonate.. I unbolted the mount and hammered the tabs down to tighten it up... completely cured the vibration.
 
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