Highest mileage ALH with Original TB

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
A friend of mine called a little while ago telling me he had finally found a TDI ('01 Jetta 5-speed).

Well, as I questioned him about price ($4k), condition, miles, etc., he said the owner (original) said he had not done anything to the car but change oil and filters.............. I ask about the Timing Belt. He said the guy told him it had never been changed........... 148,000 miles:eek:.

So, the car is coming out of Michigan to be driven to Southeast Kentucky in about two weeks! Will it make the trip? If it does, I'll be installing the works!:D

A couple of years ago I did a TB job on an '03 with 119k miles on the OE belt (on regular dino diesel oil, 15w-40).......

So, this '01 has the most miles on the OE TB that I've heard of at 148k.

Any stories out there worth sharing?
 

jettawreck

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Location
Northern Minnesota-55744
TDI
2001 Jetta and 2003 Jetta
Andy, the '03 I bought had 167K miles on it when I got it. It had been driven until thr TB broke (actually it appeared as though the tensioner was what failed first) by the prior owner. The head was off and laying in the trunk when I went to look ar it. They had taken it to a shop for a repair estimate and upon finding out the damages decided to sell it. I'm glad they did. It recovered nicely with some help from Franko6. Somehow, no parts were lost, everything removed was in some boxes in the back seat and trunk. I also found a working PhatBox in the trunk for a bonus
This isn't a record. I recall some post of somone that had silly miles on one years back.
 

Ski in NC

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 7, 2008
Location
Wilmington, NC USA
TDI
2001 Jetta ALH 5sp stock
I ran my original belt to 113k miles, everything looked ok on replacement. I knew I was pushing it. Inspected it once in a while to make sure it was snug and undamaged.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
Man, I'd rather change the belt in a parking lot then drive it that far. :S

-J

Yep, I'd be inclined to either tow the vehicle or haul on a trailor.

I'll most likely see the guy over the weekend and discuss possibilities and options to consider!
 

deegingerkid

Beware the Ginger! Vendor
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Location
The Left Coast
TDI
"Blurple" 2000 New Beetle 5M 2006 Jetta has been SOLD
Matt- 98AHU and I did a timing belt on an ALH beetle with 144,700 miles on it. The car is a salvage title and the current owner has no clue to the past maintenance. The belt was losing its outside edge and chunks of some of the teeth. With new belt, started right up. A bent LCA and subframe still need some love.
 

Matt-98AHU

Loose Nut Behind the Wheel Vendor
Joined
Apr 23, 2006
Location
Gresham, OR
TDI
2001 Golf TDI, 2005 Passat wagon, 2004 Touareg V10.
Matt- 98AHU and I did a timing belt on an ALH beetle with 144,700 miles on it. The car is a salvage title and the current owner has no clue to the past maintenance. The belt was losing its outside edge and chunks of some of the teeth. With new belt, started right up. A bent LCA and subframe still need some love.


Photo from above mentioned belt... We did that job last Monday :)
 

belome

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 8, 2010
Location
Mid MI
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS TDI 5-speed
Normally I'd say risk it, what's another 1k, but man they already pushed it well beyond a rational margin. Where in MI is it? Maybe Kirk in Rockford could do the job for you/them?
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
186k miles on a 5sp 2002 ALH for me. Had a 2009 CBEA in here with 185k this week, and he has no interest it doing it, LOL :rolleyes:
 

NMRJock

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2003
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
TDI
'09 Jetta DSG
A friend of mine called a little while ago telling me he had finally found a TDI ('01 Jetta 5-speed).

Well, as I questioned him about price ($4k), condition, miles, etc., he said the owner (original) said he had not done anything to the car but change oil and filters.............. I ask about the Timing Belt. He said the guy told him it had never been changed........... 148,000 miles:eek:.

So, the car is coming out of Michigan to be driven to Southeast Kentucky in about two weeks! Will it make the trip? If it does, I'll be installing the works!:D

A couple of years ago I did a TB job on an '03 with 119k miles on the OE belt (on regular dino diesel oil, 15w-40).......

So, this '01 has the most miles on the OE TB that I've heard of at 148k.

Any stories out there worth sharing?
If it's coming out of MI, make an appointment with Marty to get the belt done before the trek home. Marty is awesome!
 

wmgeorge

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2012
Location
Central Iowa
TDI
2000 New Beetle GLS 1.9L TDI
Get a 2 wheel tow dolly from U Haul and tow it home. The OEM belt in the car I have now went to 216,000 before trashing it all. Lucky for me the people I purchased from just had the head, belt and whatever else done 47,000 miles before I bought it.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
Actually, I think the guy is driving a company truck. If so, he will most likely pull his 4-wheel trailor back north to haul the car on.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
Thought I'd bring this Thread back up! (almost 150k miles on the OE TB)

Well, the dude has been driving the car daily for the last couple of weeks. He will be driving it down to KY from Michigan this Friday and leave it with me for the TB works.

In talking with him, I learned the previous owner has been using 15w-40 Dino diesel oil and changing it every 3k to 3500 miles ........... the engine has just under 150k miles on all OE parts, including TB.

So, I suspect the Intake is clogged down to about the size of a Nickel.:eek:

Obviously, I have warned him of the possibilities that are lurking with this vehicle.

I'll provide a follow-up mid-next week. It will be Tuesday before I can get to it!
 

Monster1926

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2012
Location
Youngstown, oh
TDI
2001 1.9 jetta
I drove mine from seattle to n.e ohio with 134k on orginal tb. First thing I did when I got home was had the tb changed thoses three days were nerve racking. Oh I drove it home in limp mode too not a fun expirence.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I drove my new-to-us 1993 Eurovan home last year 1600 miles straight with its original timing belt in place. It only had 48k miles on it when I started, but still... 19 years old at the time! :eek: Amazingly, it looked pretty good when I took it off.
 

VWRacer1

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2004
Location
SF Bay Area
A couple of doors down from my non-automotive business is an independent auto repair and service business. This past winter they had an '01 Jetta TDi in for "general loss of power and fuel economy" and a slipping clutch with 317k on the clock. It ran fine, but generally lacked power. The owner said he'd bought it new, but had done no maintenance expect tires, brake pads and changed the oil and filters once a year. He drove it daily commuting to work.

I only know this because I did the 200k TB change last weekend, and mentioned it to the guys in the shop, whereupon they started telling me the story of the Jetta. They said the belt was in "okay" shape, though checked and a bit worn. Maybe the fact that the guy only typically started it twice a day for an hour long drive down the freeway saved it. If he'd been delivering pizza and starting/stopping it 15 times a day it wouldn't have lasted that long. They did say the EGR valve and intake were pretty clogged, and that the car drove fine once they'd installed a new clutch, done the TB change and cleaned the intake tract.

BTW, my car's timing belt looked brand new after 107k miles. I bought a vag-com at about 95k in preparation for doing my first 100k TB change back in about 2006, and did the EGR reset then. After 200k the EGR valve had a light coating of tar, but no significant build-up of crap.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
I bit of an update: actual miles on OE TB 149,155!

The dude did haul the car back to KY on his trailer pulled by a Dodge 5.9 Cummins. He delivered it to me Sunday evening.

The engine timing was just barely above the bottom line...(warmed up to spec)

As I aligned the timing marks, I noticed that the TB would actually move on the IP Sprocket as I slightly moved the crankshaft back and forth to insert the Pin. Once everything was in place, all marks and pin went in fine.

The Serp belt probably wouldn't have made the trip from Detroit.

Although the Original Owner claimed nothing had been done to the engine, I found the Intake to be only slightly coated with crud.....about 20%. That's hard to understand considering he said he used regular diesel rated dino 15w-40 oil.

The IC had about a half cup oil in it.

The Tranny oil looked good .......

The coolant was OE pink!

The Turbo shaft actually feels tighter than the one in my '84 Vanagon ALH with about 130k miles on it.

Well, I will be putting it all back together this evening/night ...............
 

biojetta1

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 27, 2010
Location
kankakee, il
TDI
01 jetta tdi
I just purchased a 99.5 with 134k in February from the original owner with the original belt. I was freaking balls for the next month till I had it replaced. I literally had nightmares about it letting go and trashing the engine. LOL.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
Well, I finally finished up this afternoon. I had to let it lay a couple days.

Anyway, engine runs fine............

I also installed a clean Intake as well as cleaned out the intake ports in the head. The crud was very flakey and dry. I was able to get it cleaner than any of the rest. Seems using the 15w-40 dino diesel rated oil has a differet affect on the type of Crud that builds-up in the Intake.

Well, for a vehicle that was reported to have never had any maintenance done other than fluids and filters, I saw different. ............ Intake had been dipped, the EGR wasn't crudded too bad but signs of scrapping to clean it sometime in the past, and the OBD port is busted out of the bracket.

The snow screen was packed with road debris......

The only thing that went wrong in the work process was that the two screws holding the sensor in the Intercooler broke.............. had to install one of my ICs from the stash!:mad:

How do you get those screws out? Or, is the IC not junk?

Well, it should be good for another 100k ................... hope the ALT pulley holds-out!:D
 

Bob_Fout

Oil Wanker
Joined
Sep 5, 2004
Location
Indiana
TDI
2003 Jetta - Alaska Green (sold) / 2015 GTI 2.0T
Interesting report about the usage of dino 15w40. And in Michigan! Do you know what brand/type of 15w40?
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
Interesting report about the usage of dino 15w40. And in Michigan! Do you know what brand/type of 15w40?
No, but I can find out from the new ower ........... seems he said Chevron.

As I was sweeping up the floor, I found the two screw heads that come off the sensor on the Intercooler ........... phillips head! Tells me someone has been there since OEM. Those screws are supposed to be Torx 27 (25).

I have pics of the intake ports to post later .............
 

boertje

Veteran Member
Joined
May 24, 2002
Location
Coeur d'Alene, ID
TDI
'01, '01, '03, ‘06 NB - TDIs all.

Photo from above mentioned belt... We did that job last Monday :)
Matt, you did a great job on that black bug. Runs great. Still needs lots of other work though. I think that car had over 140k miles and might have been the original belt too. The owner is very happy with what you did that day for him.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
I talked with the owner of this car yesterday.

He drove it to Michigan and back this week........averaged 54 mpg!:D
 
Top