My Half Baked 2006 Jetta TDI

[jetta_coupe_gtd]

Here it is! 2006 Jetta TDI with 230k on it and 3 pedals. Some worn interior & paint that's been baking in the AZ Sun, but she made the 500 mile drive home yesterday without skipping a beat.

Initial pics from the Ad

No plastic cover hiding this powerhaus

I didnt buy it sight unseen. I had @TDiFrontier check it and based on his reaction I decided Sunday to buy the plane ticket and fly out to Phoenix and get the TDI.

Already have some fun stuff coming, the usual MO based on all of my other DDs, but also cleaning up the interior a little. I will see what I can do about the paint.

Stay tuned for now!

 

[jetta_coupe_gtd]

And the Adventure itself! I wanted to get there early since I knew I had a long drive home.

Lyle picked me up from the airport and we hit the road up North to Cottonwood, AZ. A nice view on the drive...

Nearly there, we were both needing a stop and seeing the local Filiberto's Taco Shop got me salivating. Was delicious!

Upon arrival, the dusty car was even dustier!

also Dusty was this Datsun 312 (I think)

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Handed Henri (Middle guy) the cash and we took a quick group pic before we headed out

and then the long, journey home...

Fun note: I filled up the tank on the PHX side of the border. Proceeded to drive almost exactly 300 miles home and only took a 1/4 tank of fuel.

I'm pretty happy with it right now, I'm going to estimate this one hangs around for a few YEARS

 

[Rx7145]

Nice I have the same color. easy 100k in that car.

 

[jetta_coupe_gtd]

Nice I have the same color. easy 100k in that car.

Is yours as burnt as mine?! haha Lets see some pics

 

[MrCypherr]

Glad to see it was a good buy. Especially flying out! Always helps to have a TDI buddy to check out the car before hand.

 

[AverageAndy]

Nice find! It was a perfect weekend in AZ for this. Maybe the paint is burnt, but at least you knew it would have full tint!

Next trip, you should carve out time for a drive through Jerome, then stop for a meal at Leff-Ts in Dewey.

 

[MrCypherr]

Is the paint that bad or would a good hard detail with a cut and polish bring it back to life?

 

[Tdijarhead]

Paint, is no where near as tough to fix as rusted out rockers, fenders and everything else underneath a car. Good find!

 

[jetta_coupe_gtd]

Im going to leave it to my buddy to evaulate. He has a way of saving paint that I think is too far gone. I will deal with the interior bits... I also need to get the pass rear door to open. I guess the actuator or something is bad. I put my kiddos child seat back there so I want that door to work. She doesnt have a problem climbing in from the driver side but I want it to work as it should.

I ordered all new window switches, and mirror switch for the driverside switch panel as every single button there is faded/ chipping away. Also ordered a new shift boot to replace the OEM one thats falling apart. Should clean up the drivers touch points short of the steering wheel.

I also want to change the headunit to one with Apple CarPlay, but will still play CD's (yes I still listen to CDs). Any recommendations?

 

[turbodieseldyke]

Proceeded to drive almost exactly 300 miles home and only took a 1/4 tank of fuel.

There's 3 extra gallons after the needle maxes out, so you used around 6.5gal. Decent.

 

[jetta_coupe_gtd]

Alright, questions for the group.
(1) Engine bay (along with the rest of the car) is extremely dusty, I’d like to clean the engine bay , but worried about using the high pressure washers and don’t want to go old school and clean by spray bottle and hand... ideas?
(2) Lots of talk about checking the cam from me looking around, anything else I should buy when I get a VCG
(3) No-Brainer mods I need to do?
(4) Is the Kerma tune the one to go with, and will this stay CA compliant with it?
(5) Anyone in LA that has a VCDS I can borrow/ pay to use VS buying one?

 

[jetta_coupe_gtd]

Just to give you guys a glimpse of the driving I deal with on my commute. Its about 6 miles door to door and about 5 miles is on the 405. Its basically like this the whole time. Takes me about 30 minutes door to door...

Anyways, I ordered some Bilstein B4s, and have some H&R Springs on the way too, along with a Valve Cover Gasket. Yes the B4 is an OEM replacement and the springs will lower the car. The car is meant to be a budget build, so naturally its getting lowered without upgrading the stock suspension, other than replacing 18 year old OEM stuff. If the car hangs around long enough to destroy these B4s, I will buy B8s at that point. The H&R springs are only supposed to be a 1" drop so they shouldn't get destroyed immediately

 

[Rx7145]

New item by rx7145

photos.app.goo.gl

picture of mine.

I would clean with a pressure washer. Be carful about getting the alternator wet. Drive afterwards to dry stuff off.

I don’t know how you CA people do it.

 

[jetta_coupe_gtd]

I would clean with a pressure washer. Be carful about getting the alternator wet. Drive afterwards to dry stuff off.

I don’t know how you CA people do it.

Thanks, I will try and be deliberate about where Im aiming the washer...

We have lovely roads in the mountains, Malibu canyon roads, PCH, the lovely endless beach/ coastlines, lots of food and sun... we manage

 

[jetta_coupe_gtd]

**Still hoping for answers to the questions above, an Elring Valve Cover Gasket is on its way, and I will post pics of the camshaft and associated bits once I install that**

Is there supposed to be something back here? Looks like there's a plastic trim or something that's missing... but I don't think I've ever seen trim in the trunk pockets...

Side note: Is there an online resource where I can see factory diagrams with part numbers? BMW has realoem which is helpful on the older cars. I know Porsche has some resources like that too

 

[Rx7145]

Doesn’t look like anything is missing to me.
I don’t know of any good online parts diagrams, Volkswagen likes to keep you in the dark.

 

[Ton]

You have to go to the VW dealer to part number information. This is my limited experience.

 

[Ton]

Does this car have a 6 speed transmission? I let looks like a beautiful car to me.

 

[turbodieseldyke]

OP, make sure you douche your sunroof drains with a cup of water, and see that they're running clear. Good chance they got clogged up with desert dust.

 

[jetta_coupe_gtd]

Does this car have a 6 speed transmission? I let looks like a beautiful car to me.

Thank you, I think it will look quite nice when I'm "done" with it. I've bought the majority of the initial parts it needs. Once thats done I will try and keep polishing the turd until it looks like the diamond in the rough I imagined it is/was. This ones a 5-speed

OP, make sure you douche your sunroof drains with a cup of water, and see that they're running clear. Good chance they got clogged up with desert dust.

Yes, this dusty VAG needs to get her pipes cleaned out...

Assuming this requires opening the sunroof and running ....?.... and water down the drains to make sure the water is clear when it comes out?

 

[turbodieseldyke]

yeah, park it facing slightly uphill & downhill, open the roof, and run some water down each of the 4 corners of the sunroof tray.

 

[Ton]

Thank you, I think it will look quite nice when I'm "done" with it. I've bought the majority of the initial parts it needs. Once thats done I will try and keep polishing the turd until it looks like the diamond in the rough I imagined it is/was. This ones a 5-speed



Yes, this dusty VAG needs to get her pipes cleaned out...

Assuming this requires opening the sunroof and running ....?.... and water down the drains to make sure the water is clear when it comes out?

Thank you for the answer.

 

[jetta_coupe_gtd]

Installed a BOSS headunit this weekend to replace the failing and peeling OEM unit. Tried to be an adult about it and bought the proper adapter, suggested mount kit, antenna adapter, etc...

Had a friend help me with the wiring as Im mid-move and dont know where half my tools are. Properly crimped and heat shrunk.

The Metra Double DIN Mount seemed to be the go-to from what I saw, and promised big hopes, but seems to be different than what I got.

In the pics it shows two pieces for that "gapless fit between the dash and the kit" but after a lot of frustrating moments, following by dremel action, I was able to get the mount kit to hold the headunit, but as you can see no where near the 'flush mount' it was supposed to be. I dont know where this removable piece is/was but I certainly didnt see it so either they updated the piece and didnt update the pic or something else is going on, Im disappointed to say the least.

Gotta figure this out so I can deal with 'phase 2' of the install which is getting the wired carplay and rearview camera all wired up. I was already working in the dark, so I just wanted the stereo to work today, which it does and Im happy with this headunit.

 

[Rx7145]

I’m curious why you didn’t go with a RCD330?

have you had any battery drain problems?

 

[jetta_coupe_gtd]

I’m curious why you didn’t go with a RCD330?

have you had any battery drain problems?

I just installed it so no battery problems, and as far as the RCD330 never even knew about these ones... naturally and now Im annoyed because that looks like it checks all the boxes I wanted (BT, CD Player, and Rear view camera) Its amazon so maybe I can return it all, and just snip my adapter and do it again LOL...

Is that one plug and play or does it also need an adapter?

Edit: Dang, $165 + a $30 adapter... and no silly mount kit... why do I find about this stuff after the fact LMAO

 

[Rx7145]

Most are plug-in play and might need an antenna, adapter or something like that.

 

[jetta_coupe_gtd]

Thanks, I ordered the RCD330 headunit and its adapter... going to send everything minus the antenna adapter back and will wait and see if the RCD330 needs it. Wish I knew about it already

 

[jetta_coupe_gtd]

All that stuff got returned to Amazon and the RCD330 is on its way from Wuhan. The dieselgeek Deluxe Shifter Kit arrived today and I have some Michelin Pilot Sports on their way in 215/40/18. Hoping to close the deal on the wheels this weekend. I need to start assembling the Suspension too so I can call this one 'done' sooner than later.

 

[jetta_coupe_gtd]

It finally happened...

In other news, I picked up some wheels for the car this week, tires should be delivered too... The wheels are painted black and I hate black wheels. I originally was going to just leave em, but I'm tempted to try and remove the paint before installing the wheels...

We'll see how much desire I have to do that VS just installing everything. I really want to get this suspension installed too. Seems like the rear installation should be easy, but the front might be a pain in the ass without certain specialty tools that I don't own. I also don't want to take the axle nuts off and it seems there are two schools of thought for that part of the install. So lets see what happens with that.

 

[turbodieseldyke]

re: specialty tools,
Rent the spring compressors for free at autozone.
Make your own strut spreader by grinding down an old bolt into the appropriate shape.