My Half Baked 2006 Jetta TDI

jetta_coupe_gtd

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Location
Westchester
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 'Dusty'
Changed the oil at my buddies Oil Change night. Knocked out 6 oil changes. I was trying to be first in and first out so I could hang out, but Advance Auto supplied the wrong Oil Filter so I had to make a last minute run to get the right filter.



Currently at 232,xxx and while I could change it at 10k, I'll likely change this one at 240k so I can easily track the times to change it.

Not much else planned at this time, she needs a bath soon haha

Edit: I also met up with a fellow TDIclub member and he ran the VCDS Diagnostics.
Codes:
008213 - Intake Manifold Flap Position Sensor (Bank 1)
000280 - Engine Coolant Temp Sensor
01221 - Crash Sensor Side Airbag
01578 - Airbag Deactivation Warning Lamp
00856 - Radio Antenna
00849 - S-Contact at Ignition/ Starter Switch
01317 - Control Module in Instrument Cluster
01299 - Diagnostic Interface for Data Bus
02873 - Control Module for Back-Up Camera

Airbag light is from the door sensor, likely the common wiring issue. The few codes from the radio I'm not too worried about, especially since I plan on hooking up the rear view camera soon (which wasn't on the OEM radio, so weird it popped up here). The intake manifold flap sensor I'm very curious about. Not sure why the Coolant Temp Sensor is on...
 
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jetta_coupe_gtd

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Location
Westchester
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 'Dusty'
About to click to 234k, got it aligned as I have a long drive to visit a friend this weekend and dont want to ruin the Michelin PS4S tires.

My friend is anal when it comes to cosmetics so I might spend a few minutes to clean the paint... but I have to wash the car first and thats a long shot haha

As far as the codes mentioned earler, one the crazy hot days where I have been driving a lot and running the A/C for a while I sometimes will see the CEL come back, but its temporary and goes away after a drive or two
 
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BXE

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Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Location
Cornwall
TDI
VW Passat B6 1.9tdi
Nice progress on the Jetta. Out of interest what engine code do you have there. Did it come with much service history eg. Cambelt and water pump. And when? As this may be worth checking visually as a precaution. Unless you know it’s recently been changed.
 
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jetta_coupe_gtd

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Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Location
Westchester
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 'Dusty'
Nice progress on the Jetta. Out of interest what engine code do you have there. Did it come with much service history eg. Cambelt and water pump. And when? As this may be worth checking visually as a precaution. Unless you know it’s recently been changed.
Mines a BRM. Picked it up from a Tech who had just done the timing belt, and I believe water pump. I havent checked the camshaft for wear, bought a Valvecover gasket but it seemed like it was a bit more of a pain, so I havent done it yet...

I did snap this pic as my car seems to have found a friend at work. This GTI regularly parks next to me, always backed in like me haha
 

Rx7145

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2017
Location
Ohio
TDI
2006 Jetta BRM
If you don’t wanna pull the valve cover, you can get a cheap borescope off Amazon that connects to your phone on your computer and put that down the oil fill cap. You should be able to get a good look at least the lobes on the front of the engine.
 
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jetta_coupe_gtd

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Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Location
Westchester
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 'Dusty'
If you don’t wanna pull the valve cover, you can get a cheap borescope off Amazon that connects to your phone on your computer and put that down the oil fill cap. You should be able to get a good look at least the lobes on the front of the engine.
Am I being paranoid about the difficulty of the VCG? Cant remember what deterred me when I first bought it. Havent had the time to get back to it, but I would love to install the parts I bought for this car to slowly make it better. I also have some Control Arm Bushings that I will install 'someday'

One part that I did just buy and want to install ASAP is this steering wheel I got from VWVortex. Basically a brand new wheel to replace the very worn wheel I have. Looks like an easy install. 2 tabs on the back of the wheel to release the airbag. Disconnect with the battery disconnected, then remove the big nut. Install. Am I being optimistic here?


I think I have to do the headliner soon too, its completely separated in the back now haha
 

turbodieseldyke

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Joined
Jun 6, 2010
Location
Free Mustache Rides
TDI
Big ol' honkin' tdis
Damn. You should've gotten a leather-wrapped wheel. Your new one looks nice though. I've never seen an 06-era sponge rubber that wasn't completely wrecked. Mine still just has a slip-on cover.

Am I being paranoid about the difficulty of the VCG? Cant remember what deterred me when I first bought it.
Probably the caveats everyone says that you have to rotate the cam to a certain position or remove the egr, or else the cover won't come off. The few times i've removed & replaced the cover, i didn't have to do any of that. It just wiggled out & back in.

You will need a long skinny T30 bit to reach two of the screws back by the egr though. Stupid a-holes couldn't engineer enough room to squeeze a 3/8 socket extension back there.
 
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privateTDIjet

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Joined
Jun 21, 2022
Location
Montreal, Canada
TDI
2009 Jetta 2.0 TDI and 2014 Passat 2.0 TDI / Ive got a MK5 bentley manual, message me for a free diagram
Am I being paranoid about the difficulty of the VCG? Cant remember what deterred me when I first bought it. Havent had the time to get back to it, but I would love to install the parts I bought for this car to slowly make it better. I also have some Control Arm Bushings that I will install 'someday'

One part that I did just buy and want to install ASAP is this steering wheel I got from VWVortex. Basically a brand new wheel to replace the very worn wheel I have. Looks like an easy install. 2 tabs on the back of the wheel to release the airbag. Disconnect with the battery disconnected, then remove the big nut. Install. Am I being optimistic here?


I think I have to do the headliner soon too, its completely separated in the back now haha
You're right the steering wheel was a really easy install. Never seen a foam wheel this clean. I do occasionally see one in good condition at the scrap yard on like a grandma owned golf but it's once in a blue moon.
 

Rx7145

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2017
Location
Ohio
TDI
2006 Jetta BRM
Interesting I was at the junkyard and they had a nice leather wheel. I was wondering how big of a deal it was to takeoff. Hopefully, I can find a good YouTube video.
I feel the valve covers pretty easy to take on and off. It does require a little bit of wiggling and jiggling, but I’ve always been able to get them off.
 
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jetta_coupe_gtd

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Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Location
Westchester
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 'Dusty'
Yea this was basically an NOS wheel as it was removed in '08 at 100 miles to be replaced with .... a leather one haha

My time is at a premium and searching on ebay here and there yielded meh results so when this popped up I bought it for $60 shipped and dont regret it one bit...

And thanks for confirming that the VCG shouldnt be horrible, I will give it a try soon. I really want to try and tidy this up a little and a VCG is one step towards no oil leaks. Start at the top, right?

now about that headliner...
 
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jetta_coupe_gtd

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Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Location
Westchester
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 'Dusty'
This was really easy to do... once I had the right tool to deal with the airbags spring clip

You really cant tell just how bad the old steering wheel was, but heres the natural 'before' pic


Done!


No new warning lights... Might finally tackle the one I added during the suspension swap, but probably wont. I probably WILL drop the car off to get the headliner done, its really bad as its fully detached at the back and I cant see behind me lol
 

jetta_coupe_gtd

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Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Location
Westchester
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 'Dusty'
Interior looks much less sh!tbox now... though the fact that I didn't have them redo the entire headliner/ pillars/ sunroof and its not a perfect match reminds you that it IS still a sh!tbox





Best Way Upholstery in Culver City did it for $420 cash out the door and was done in under 24 hours. I'm happy. I've blown the Year 1 budget, but the car is significantly better today than when I bought it.
 
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privateTDIjet

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2022
Location
Montreal, Canada
TDI
2009 Jetta 2.0 TDI and 2014 Passat 2.0 TDI / Ive got a MK5 bentley manual, message me for a free diagram
Interior looks much less sh!tbox now... though the fact that I didn't have them redo the entire headliner/ pillars/ sunroof and its not a perfect match reminds you that it IS still a sh!tbox





Best Way Upholstery in Culver City did it for $420 cash out the door and was done in under 24 hours. I'm happy. I've blown the Year 1 budget, but the car is significantly better today than when I bought it.
Are those wolfsburg seats? Ive never seen those holes other than in germany made models. Obviously, they did a wonderful job on the headliner. I think the two tone tan looks even nicer.
 

jetta_coupe_gtd

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Location
Westchester
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 'Dusty'
Are those wolfsburg seats? Ive never seen those holes other than in germany made models. Obviously, they did a wonderful job on the headliner. I think the two tone tan looks even nicer.
I think this is the most 'basic' model you could've gotten as its very limited on options. I would've preferred cloth, but I dont think they ever offered that.

... and Thank you, the car feels much less crappy. One side bonus that I really appreciated that I wasnt expecting was the vanity lights for the front visor/mirrors are no longer falling out/ dangling. My wife still thinks the car is crap, but it feels less crap to me now haha
 

jetta_coupe_gtd

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Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Location
Westchester
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 'Dusty'
In what feels like a "complete coincidence" the car felt a little funny driving to work today. Feels like the Turbo is spooling up later than usual. I believe I need to tackle this 'zip-tie mod' that I was reading about. Shame I don't have a VCDS and will need to reach out for some help, but curious if anyone wants to chime in and suggest something else I can check in the interim..

I swear one of these days I will get to the paint :ROFLMAO:
 

jetta_coupe_gtd

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Location
Westchester
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 'Dusty'
You really need VCDS to do the turbo output test. I did it and it fixed my overboost problem.
AJ is local and helped me check the codes earlier in the year. He is currently listing 2 different ones in the classifieds, but I cant tell which one I would need for mine. The fact that both are unlimited use makes me want to get one that I can use on a mk4 also, because I only see myself getting older VWs, not newer.

 
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jetta_coupe_gtd

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Oct 25, 2005
Location
Westchester
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 'Dusty'
LOL She cant be bothered. Truthfully, this is a "look, I listed it" ... I dont think anyone will give me cash for it.

In other news, I had some time yesterday and was determined to finish running the wire from the center console to the trunk to get the back-up camera functioning. I need some help understanding what Im doing wrong. Looks like the camera isnt getting power. The wire from the RCD headunit has the yellow RCA connector, along with a single red wire, while the back-up camera had the yellow RCA connection and then a red & black wire. I assumed (yup, I know) that red<->red and then ground the black, but thats not working.

Untitled by Simon Tuman, on Flickr

My ground might not be the best, but before I get more wild shaving the trunklid area to 110% bare metal I wanted to make sure the rest makes sense...

The only instructions I have with the camera. *shrug*


Help!
 

jetta_coupe_gtd

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Location
Westchester
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 'Dusty'
That’s kind of a hilarious listing.
It was very tongue in cheek, even if I wanted to sell it right now (which I dont) its not the right time for so many reasons...

One is that I have to wrap up this rear view camera issue, and also need to do the zip-tie mod and get the turbo boosting again. Its a DOG right now...

This is shaping up to be the best DD so I plan to keep it around
 
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jetta_coupe_gtd

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Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Location
Westchester
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 'Dusty'
Well, in true sh!tbox nature when I spend some money on "comfort" the mechanical stuff starts acting up. Been having an issue with no boost / laggy boost and it looks like I need to do the zip-tie mod. Simple fix, but the length of the zip tie is difficult to determine without trial and erro easier when you have the diagnostic tools... and like most mid 00s cars, a simple OBD reader wont do it. I was able to borrow a VCDS cable, but my laptop has been **** since I havent used it in years... if it aint one thing...

However, a simple part to try and throw at it (and also HIGHLY recommended for regular maintenance) is the fuel filter. So I changed that. Didnt look horrible and the diesel that was in the reservoir was nice and clean. Good signs... Gotta keep this thing going!



I also went and logged all the receipts to get a good picture of the maintenance history and saw a lot of good things, thank God the PO kept the receipts. It was regularly serviced by the same place, but sadly they were bad at updating their dates/ miles and I have a few service items with the same date. I was able to sort out some of it, but regardless. The filter is new and changed, but the problem persists.



Hopefully this week I can get it boosting again because the 996 is a thirsty b!tch compared the TDI...
 
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