Recently bought a 2001 tdi(alh) and would love some help learning/troubleshooting.

KingJ416

Active member
Joined
Dec 26, 2021
Location
Canada
TDI
2001 volkswagen jetta TDI
I live in Toronto, Canada 🇨🇦 and I recently bought a 2001 jetta TDI(alh). When I had bought it, I was informed that the power steering fluid was leaking. Most likely from the steering rack or hard lines, but that it was a pretty bad leak.

Now I'm not too knowledgeable about cars yet, and so I brought my cousin who is a HUGE VW guy. He told me the alh is EXACTLY what I want in terms of fuel consumption and that the engine looked "immaculate" for the year it is. He said that for $1000CAD it was a STEAL. And so I took a chance and bought it.

Not 1 code came up when scanned and the only other known issue was a leaking tire aside from basic maintenance(plugs, brakes, etc.) And so I drove it "as is" for a few months until the power steering pump's spool had snapped.

We replaced the pump and filled it up and for a few more months I hadn't noticed any issues. Would top up fluid every so often but only as needed more or less.. and it was nowhere near running perfectly. But it got me from A to B.

Then a few days ago I was idling while having a smoke with a friend and I heard/felt a hiccup from the engine. While wondering what happened I noticed smoke coming through the hood and when opened up, noticed it was from the powersteering pump/serpentine belt area. I could hear the snowflakes sizzling as they hit the pump.

I checked the reserve and it was running dry so I topped up what fluid I had left and got up to the "MIN" line and decided to head straight home. About a 35 minute ride hitting a max of about 70km/hr.

When I got to my area I heard a squeeling sound as I was coming to a stop(on the brake pedal) but when I released the brake it stopped. I then noticed that my battery light had come on and assumed my serpentine belt had somehow snapped or fell off which would mean my alternator wasn't charging the battery anymore.

And when I got home I had realized that the power steering spool had this time bent about 45° and the belt had jumped off the track. I then tried to free the belt when I realized the belt had pinched itself between 2 of the spools below. (Water pump and either tensioner or alternator) can't remember the exact layout sadly.

But now I'm at the point where I'm wondering if it pinched first, causing the belt to bend the spool if possible. Or if the pump just heated up so much that the spool bent which loosened the belt to come off. Either way, a steering rack is looking like $3-500 and another pump is like $250. Looked into a power steering delete kit or hardline replacement kit.... both around $100 but atleast a 2-week delivery time from a company I'm not 100% sure is legit. Just wondering if anyone has any advice or ideas?!
 
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KingJ416

Active member
Joined
Dec 26, 2021
Location
Canada
TDI
2001 volkswagen jetta TDI
Well the guy I bought it from wasn't really mechanically inclined and neither am I.

He said it leaks powersteering fluid pretty bad. But I'm still trying to learn and was tight on money at the time.

So i asked if I could run without the power steering until I could afford to fix it and was told it's not recommended, but that I could.

And yes I mean the steering pump pulley. Didn't know anything about the serpentine belt and pulley system until the 1st pulley snapped.

And then was told to look into getting a rack when we replaced the pump the 1st time but I had just done breaks too.

So when I got prices at 500 for new and around 300 for rebuilt...... I just couldn't afford it. Specially so close to holidays.
 
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Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
Idparts sells quality racks, power steering pumps, pulleys, serpentine belts and timing belt kits. In short everything you need to get your car running in tip top shape, I’ve heard they ship to Canada, I don’t know the particulars.



You should make sure that the serpentine belt, which when they break turn to spaghetti, didn’t get behind your timing belt cover and cause your engine to jump time.
 

KingJ416

Active member
Joined
Dec 26, 2021
Location
Canada
TDI
2001 volkswagen jetta TDI
Idparts sells quality racks, power steering pumps, pulleys, serpentine belts and timing belt kits. In short everything you need to get your car running in tip top shape, I’ve heard they ship to Canada, I don’t know the particulars.



You should make sure that the serpentine belt, which when they break turn to spaghetti, didn’t get behind your timing belt cover and cause your engine to jump time.
Thanks! Luckily the belt didn't break but it did start to tear so I'll probably need a new 1 still, but it shouldn't have been able to get behind any covers. I mean the section of the belt that pinched between the 2 pulleys was in there pretty good..
 

hskrdu

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 17, 2003
Location
Maryland and New England
TDI
2003 Golf GLS 4D 5M, 2015 GSW SE 6M
Welcome Aboard. We have lots of members in the GTA (Fred's is based in Canada), and if you are keeping your TDI for the long haul, you may want to get see if there are some local helpers available with VCDS, and gather some options for TDI specific mechanics near you. Generic scan tools and gasser shops aren't a ton of help if you are intent on learning about your car and doing upkeep and maint.

Here's the Ontario forum:
 

P2B

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Location
Toronto & Muskoka, Canada
TDI
2002 Jetta, 2003 Jetta, 2003 Jetta Wagon
It's usually the hard lines that corrode and leak here in the rust belt. Here is a legit local source for replacements:


Order a new power steering pump and serpentine belt while you are there, or hit a boneyard, and you should be good to go. I'd offer parts from my collection but I won't be in Toronto for a couple of weeks.
 

KingJ416

Active member
Joined
Dec 26, 2021
Location
Canada
TDI
2001 volkswagen jetta TDI
It's usually the hard lines that corrode and leak here in the rust belt. Here is a legit local source for replacements:


Order a new power steering pump and serpentine belt while you are there, or hit a boneyard, and you should be good to go. I'd offer parts from my collection but I won't be in Toronto for a couple of weeks.
Thanks alot! Gunna see if I can figure out if it is indeed just the hardlines, and if so thats very helpful! Appreciate it 🙏👌
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
Well, the number 1. Oe electronic parts only, No off brand garbage.
My dad found that out the hard way... twice. Stay with the good distributers listed on here. Trying to save 20 bucks isn't worth it.
He had to do tb twice because of a bad "new" tensioner.
Try to rebuild factory parts (when possible) over buying new. Cv-shafts. Calipers etc. Can save money that way.

Check your Glowplug numbers before ordering. Not all are the same voltage.
And the biggest one. Don't skip maintence.
 
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fatmobile

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2019
Location
north iowa
TDI
an ALH M-TDI in a MK2, a 2000 Jetta, 2003 wagon
When I see a block of words, it's hard for me to read.
Please hit return every once in awhile.
 

KingJ416

Active member
Joined
Dec 26, 2021
Location
Canada
TDI
2001 volkswagen jetta TDI
Well, the number 1. Oe electronic parts only, No off brand garbage.
My dad found that out the hard way... twice. Stay with the good distributers listed on here. Trying to save 20 bucks isn't worth it.
He had to do tb twice because of a bad "new" tensioner.
Try to rebuild factory parts (when possible) over buying new. Cv-shafts. Calipers etc. Can save money that way.

Check your Glowplug numbers before ordering. Not all are the same voltage.
And the biggest one. Don't skip maintence.
Thanks! And are you referring to the pump when you say same voltage? Or the plugs?
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
Thanks! And are you referring to the pump when you say same voltage? Or the plugs?
The plugs. I do not know what years or engines. But the older ones a mod was to put different voltage plugs and controllers in to aid cold starting. Don't know if it's applicable to your engine or not.
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
ALH engines didn't have the same issues with the fudged glow plug recalls the BEW engines had.
I do agree get proper parts, some idiot put autolite crap in my alh I had and not only did they cause intermittent codes but the ends of 2 plugs bulbed and made removing them very difficult.
Alright. Appreciate the clarification. Wasn't sure what engines it was. @KingJ416 basically buy a good part enitially or do it twice. These cars are picky. Like a nissian with NGK or denso plugs. Buy once, cry once.
 

KingJ416

Active member
Joined
Dec 26, 2021
Location
Canada
TDI
2001 volkswagen jetta TDI
So I have a guy who's parting out an mk4... says he has the rack with inner and outer tie rods included. I asked the price and he said "make an offer"

Any clue where I should start?
 

Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
I bought my used one at a local junkyard about five years ago for $40.
 

P2B

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Location
Toronto & Muskoka, Canada
TDI
2002 Jetta, 2003 Jetta, 2003 Jetta Wagon
Go to car-part.com to get an idea of what local yards are asking for used parts, it's $80-125 for a complete rack. I would not sell my spares for $40.

Keep in mind the hard lines on a locally sourced used rack are unlikely to be in much better shape than your existing ones. At a minimum you'd want to wire brush and rust paint them before reinstalling.
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
So I have a guy who's parting out an mk4... says he has the rack with inner and outer tie rods included. I asked the price and he said "make an offer"
Any clue where I should start?
I'd say $100 is a good price; $200 would be on the high end that I'd want to pay.
 

Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
For $200 you can get a rebuilt one. Though I bought a rebuilt one that the rebuilder had clocked the steering column stub exactly backwards. There was no way to get the wheels straight and the steering wheel sensor happy at the same time.
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
clocked the steering column stub exactly backwards. There was no way to get the wheels straight and the steering wheel sensor happy at the same time.
Recently worked on a car (replacing the rack) where this is what some previous monkey had done. We had to turn the steering wheel "upside down" to get at the bolt that holds the column to the rack. Here's what the steering wheel looked like before we pulled it off with tires pointed dead straight ahead (Sharpie marks are mine; you can see the factory alignment mark on the column at ~6:15pm position, and then the centre-punch mark added by aforementioned chimp just past the 12o'clock position).


Same issue with the steering sensor angle being totally jacked up; solved by taking off the clockspring and winding it back half a turn so that everything lined up upside-down "correctly" again.
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
I know, right? They obviously know the price they want, and they're just hoping this person walking through the door is going to offer 50% of OEM MSRP, when typical sell price is probably closer to 10%.
 

KingJ416

Active member
Joined
Dec 26, 2021
Location
Canada
TDI
2001 volkswagen jetta TDI
So the guy agreed to $75CAD and it comes WITH inner and outer tie rods.

Found a link for the pump for $150ish CAD

And most likely gunna use the canadian OEM site for the hardlines.

THANKS ALOT GUYS!!

Now the rack is coming from a 2007 jetta 2.0 mk4. Should fit right???
 

KingJ416

Active member
Joined
Dec 26, 2021
Location
Canada
TDI
2001 volkswagen jetta TDI
Idparts sells quality racks, power steering pumps, pulleys, serpentine belts and timing belt kits. In short everything you need to get your car running in tip top shape, I’ve heard they ship to Canada, I don’t know the particulars.



You should make sure that the serpentine belt, which when they break turn to spaghetti, didn’t get behind your timing belt cover and cause your engine to jump time.
Can I ask just exactly what you mean when you say cause my engine to "jump" time? What does that do/mean?
 

P2B

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Location
Toronto & Muskoka, Canada
TDI
2002 Jetta, 2003 Jetta, 2003 Jetta Wagon
Can I ask just exactly what you mean when you say cause my engine to "jump" time? What does that do/mean?
The camshaft and injection pump are driven from the crankshaft by a toothed timing belt. These are interference engines, which means pistons will hit valves if the crankshaft to camshaft timing changes ("jumps") due to a failure of the timing belt system while the engine is running.
 
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