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Comments
Problem is, with just a noise and no failure, it would have been a fight.
There as an issue with another vin# regarding bad cams but certainly not my 2006 TDI Jetta with cam/lifter photos that look like every other post on this site and others. We are basically out of luck. I would like to post photos of trashed parts but still not sure if I can do that. If someone else can post I will email you the photos.
I think you already got your answer... the "pumpe duse" engine was *known* for camshaft issues due to the extra 4 cams on it for the 4 fuel-pumps were too skinny to reliably handle the loading.
Might I suggest you check out Freds TDI page you will find more technical details than you care to digest in a single sitting.
It is a buyer beware world we live in. I feel the soft metal, thin lobe whatever was a mistake by a propeller head engineer and it is being covered up because there is not a good place to easily compile/post legitimate complaints.
We know that a dealer will always say, 'first time I ever heard that one'. Look on the forum website and see who the advertisers are. Individual consumer can't win. Had someone say to get the photos and details on Facebook and other social media, don't overstate, just state the facts. Might do that.
Does anyone have a good suggestion or do I just need to take it to the mechanic?
My brother's Jetta is plagued with mysterious, makes-no-sense lights and so is my BMW MINI. I just turn 'em off with the scanner and that seems to work for a few months. Of course, with an airbag light I might dig deeper--at least get it scanned and see if there is anything "real" going on. Might just be a seat sensor.
I had a glow plug check system lamp go on, when it was nothing more than 2 burned out rear brake lamps (aka, bulbs) ????? @ 170,000 miles, the two lamps (aka, bulbs) were R/R 'd FREE by the local VW dealer. The nearest gasser analogy would be the spark plug check engine lamp goes on when 2 brake lamps are burnt out !!?? (false in that there are no spark plug malfunctioning sensors)
The only logical corollary here is no real indicator to indicate SERIOUS. A lot of folks will pay attention when a check engine lamps lights.
So far in 8 going on 9 MY's, two rear brake lamps and one drivers side low beam have burnt out. I really have never really liked, nor found useful, full power DRL's-daylight running lamps. I am told with them OFF, mpg would actually increase .5 to 1 mpg.
I purchased this 2009 Jetta TDI Sportwagen. The car only has 1800 miles on it and has the original Michelin radial tires. Last winter the tires were all over the road even when the road was cold. When we had snow, it was too dangerous to drive the car. Since winter tires with spikes are illegal (from what I was told at Costco Tire Center) does anybody have some good recommendations on tires that would be considered "all season?" I looked at the Michelin winter tires at Costco. The technology sounds like it would be better then what is on the car, the sales guy said you change the winter tires back to the other tires every spring.
Does anybody have any suggestions on a good tire for this car and one that I could leave on year round?
Also, does is Tire Rack.com a good company? Do they ship the tires to you and you find a place to install the tires? Is that how it works?
thanks for any help regarding getting some good tires that can perform during "normal" driving and all seasons.
However, nothing substitutes for winter snows. To expect an all seasons tire to perform like dedicated snows is an unrealistic expectation It can also be unsafe. Dedicated Michelin winter snows are probably some of the best rated winter tires also.
Having lived in the Northeast for many years, I can tell you that having 4 snow tires on a car makes a world of difference. I owned a Mercedes CLK convertible that was terrible in the snow. When I put on 4 snows, it handled the snow like a Jeep! The difference was incredible. Of course, you have the expense of buying the extra tires, but you're not putting miles on the summer tires when you have the snows on. Many tire dealers up north offer free changeover and free storage, but that takes some homework.
My brother in law is the CFO of a major tire chain, and he has nothing but good things to say about Tire Rack. They are a well respected company. I believe that you can find what installation stores they have in your area right on their website. What I'd do is get the Tire Rack price, then bring it to your local tire stores and see if they'll match it.
But the one thing that TireRAck has that a lot of shops don't, is the Hunter Roadforce ballancing system for tires that you get shipped on rims (best bet, you never get a bad tire this way)
When you get your order they are well packaged mounted, ballanced and include a complete new set of wheel bolts.
I drive in horrible winter conditions for months every year (live in Canada, we know snow) but my 2006 Jetta with 4 General Altimax Arctics on 15" steel rims will bulldoze a lot of snow and hang on to snow packed roads very well. It's just very deep powder that causes things to go bad.
The VW Jetta TDI's are not the best winter vehicle out there that's for sure, ( too little clearance underneath the oil pan and kind of cold blooded)
I have used TireRAck for 3 different sets of 4 mounted winter tires on steel wheels, all General Altimax Arctics.
PS
The Tire rack is the best source of information on tires.
BTW, you still have the link to order that really nice front hood deflector for the Jetta?
Thanks for checking...
Raising a suspension does not fit the definition of 'upgrade' in my dictionary but it does fit the definition of 'mullet'. Don't do it, gagrice!
imho raising the suspension is a downgrade and i'd like to reiterate my recommendation to leave the cars center of gravity where it is , or lower it, but don't raise it.
If one needs ground clearance that badly maybe better choices are a VW Tig sans mullet,
or a pickup-truck avec mullet.
VW diesels are nice but compromising other aspects of driving just to continue with diesel was not worth it to me. the failure rate on the new TDI fuel systems seems also not worth it to me.
Is there any consensus on why the TDI fuel systems are failing. Are people getting low grade high sulfur diesel? Could it be the winter blends are causing the problems?
If one's Jetta was considered totally bald, adding 1" spacers to the front springs would be more like a 'comb over' or at worst a crew cut!
My 2006 Jetta hangs so low in the front on the stock set up, it looks more like a vacuum cleaner going down the road.
Here in Vermont... many of the roads are not even paved. The paved ones are beat to death in the winter by salt and plowing every few hours. At least a bad dirt road can be graded... but potholes in a paved road are simply sharp-edges for the snowplow to grab and tear off more asphalt.
Also, the springs on vehicles tend to "sag" over time and miles. Many vehicles here in Vermont have at least one broken spring. (roadsalt and bunpy dirt roads can break the end off of a coil-spring and the driver may not even know it is broken)
Replacing the springs to restore factory ride-height is not unheard of.
BOTTOM LINE: Adding an inch or so the ride-height may be a necessity for those that live where the roads are not baby-bottom smooth.
It rode way too high for my tastes afterwards actually, but the factory springs were junk. leaf springs in back, coils in front. apparently, this was the closest i ever got to the mullet.
longo, thank you for extending the analogy with your spot-on point about comb-overs.
one reason i traded my 06 jetta at 120k miles was the long list of big-$ items it needed, shocks, springs, camshaft, tires, wiper blades, valve stem caps.
gagrice, it sounds like you drive so few miles per year that you should just cave in and stick with gassers! I've cut back from 60k/year to merely 25k or 30k, and I've gone all gasser. If I drove as few miles as you , I'd probably be driving one of those planet-sized tractor-sized INTERNATIONAL pickup trucks that can tow full size loaded 30,000 lb trailer. i've seen one on the highway locally - it's hilarious - and awesome.
When one of those Hollywood Eco Weinie types got a CTX I thought about it. Great for running over Prius blocking the left lane.
Hmmm, sounds like home, just add wandering herds of Mule Deer on the roads every fall and you have the perfect reason to spend the winter in Arizona.
I have been shopping for a nice AWD and have noticed a lot of them for sale in your part of the country......now I know why, they are probably all beaten to death by driving ON the roads and not off. :sick:
Many people here in Vt will purchase a "winter beater" car and leave the good one parked in the driveway all winter.
Besides, ANY vehicle with 4 wheel drive that runs is worth at least $1,000.
My wish.... Subaru TDI. (Only because VW wont make a 4WD sedan)
Sad part is, they do and right here in North America.
They are all exported to Europe.
Strange but true.
Just took a 2007 Jeep Overland CRD out for a test drive last week and it was a big expensive lump to drive.
(on a lighter note, I have seen a VW TDI installed in an old dodge mini van, rattles and belches blue smoke, but it's the worlds most mpg van on the panet)
I would personally get out of the headspace about "longevity", which is merely a speculation projected into the future...in other words, it is not a fact, and therefore should not be part of your calculations.
The TDI's excellent fuel economy is a fact, and the particular car's service records is a fact, as is the car's present condition--a testament of sorts as to how it was taken care of. So, too, it's excellent driving characteristics.
also a fact is VWs somewhat "spotty" reliability record.
In other words, you gotta work with data that is measurable or researchable or can be experienced first hand.
A spotless used TDI with excellent records---that's good!
A TDI with 150K on it---not so good...not bad, but that IS a lot of miles for any car. So you could consider a 150K car, but you should pay accordingly, and consider that with those miles, the car's life is at least half over, if not in fact more, statistically speaking.
Sure, some cars go 300K.
Most don't, though. It's attainable, but not realistic IMO.
You have to play the odds when buying a used car, and 300K is like putting $1000 bill to WIN on an old nag.
I run a 04 Civic with 131,000 miles and an 03 TDI with 172,000 miles. I can tell you unequivically that at like miles (110,000, 120,000 miles) the Civic costed more to maintain and used app 32% more fuel. These two cars while perfect for the commute, for which they were bought are not even close to being "similar" cars.
I am satisfied with each car. However, I do wish the 04 Civic was a Civic TDI. I do not wish the VW TDI was a VW gasser.
Tirerack lists (reviewers avg rating, currently)
1. GY Assurance Comfortread Touring (8.5)
2. M Primacy HP (8.4)
3. M Primacy MXV4 (8.4)
4. M Pilot Exalto A/S (8.3)
5. M P MXM4 (8.2)
To me the only real "disadvantage to the Michelin" are the prices. It however for a host of reasons was and remains the gold standard/s for the VW's.
@ the time,I actually researched and settled on Toyo TPT's. (195-65-15 H's oem size)) @ app 61,000 miles, it is on track for 120,000 +miles. Long mileage wear was obviously high on my priority list. Michelin MXV4's were on the top 5 list. In 20/20 hindsight (9/12 years and experiences of other VW and Toyo drivers), I was one of the few that got app 112,300 miles on the oem GY LS-H's. Toyo TPT's for my situation seemed projected to be able to go 1020+ miles and are a far cheaper price than M's.
Given my situation there is no doubt in my mind that the M MXV4 would be able to do the 120,000 + miles. I did buy on price. One "disadvantage" to the TPT's are its directionality. So the only way you can rotate is front to back and back to front; which is the oem recommendation anyway. However over the miles (200,000) and years (9) I have found the 4/5 tire CROSS rotation to be the best, even as it is NOT the recommended procedure. The concept here is each tire gets on each position, ergo evening out the wear.
We run the "eNtyre" from Nokian Tyres on our TDI.
Given that we swap-out to our winter rubber pre-mounted on seperate wheels for the winter, I expect a lot of miles from them.
Of-course, the "drawback" to running winter tires is that the dealership may not be able to calculate the actual miles on the tires if there are any premature-wear issues. The raw odometer miles will include miles which were NOT run on the tires.
http://www.oemplus.com/foglamp-kit-reflector-p-854.html
http://www.ecstuning.com/ES1905668/
http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Jetta_VI-Sportwagen-TDI/Lighting/Tail_Lights- /ES1083677/
http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Jetta_VI-Sportwagen-TDI/Lighting/Switches/
For example, putting a foglight into the air-intake for the intercooler could be a bad thing.
In the past, (on MKIV VWs), one could replace the headlights with "eCode" units which INCLUDE foglights. The headlight switch easilly pops out and can be replaced with one that has foglight settings. (as you can see in the link above provided by past appender)
Some folks do not realize that the headlight switch slides out if you PUSH-n-TWIST it. (really slick German engineering)
eCode = European-specd headlight units which are MUCH brighter than USA law allows.
http://www.volkswagen.com/vwcms/master_public/virtualmaster/en2/unternehmen/Welt- weit.html
I am *very* pleased with my new Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sports on my MINI--it transformed the car for me---smoother ride, good grip indeed. Can't say about the mileage but the tires are only a little more than the Turanzas. I think Turanzas from Tirerack are $116, plus tax, shipping, mounting, blah blah. So probably same-o same-o with the 760s.
PS: I don't need anything for winter driving, so if you do, the Potenza Sport might not be your baby.
I see a lack of education (and MAJOR lack of judgment) in these areas:
1. Understanding acceleration and total time and distance to pass
2. Knowing one's specific vehicle's ability to pass.
3. Knowing how much the extra weight in the car reduces its acceleration
4. Knowing how much the extra weight in the car reduces handling to swerve back out of oncoming traffic
5. Judging to know if you've actually passed the other car using mirror, window, etc.
6. Knowing whether the other car is even passable
7. Knowing to start accelerating much sooner before entering the passing lane to have a jump on the speed
8. Knowing even published data and tests are likely using new cars with professional drivers with red-line RPM and pedal to metal acceleration.
9. Knowing decent horse-power and decent torque may be cancelled by fixed gear ratios.
10. Weather.
11. Knowing some slow drivers are jerks and will speed up to keep you from passing, so knowing when to cancel the pass and fall back.
But it all boils down to total time and distance, and judging how far away is that oncoming traffic. I'm working out the calculations that ignore #11.