JettaD build thread
 

Bought this car at 230k miles. It intend to at least double that :D

It has some obvious issues, cylinders 1, 3, and 4 have bad glow plugs, EGR is stuck open and the turbo needs to be cleaned. a/c needs to be recharged.

Plan to also clean the injectors, replace the fuel filter, change oil and filter plus trans fluid/filter. Brakes are a bit soft, will be looking into replacing the master cylinder, rotors, and pads. Will also do a coolant flush and replace the thermostat.

After repairs and maintenance are done a baseline economy will be established and I'll mod from there :D

Hi,
With respect to the a/c; get yourself a freon detector from Harbor Freight when one is on sale or get a 20% off coupon from any auto mag. This will tell you where the freon is leaking. Could be an a/c compressor seal, a porous hose (most likely), or a loose connection, or one of the two radiators.
Good luck.

Sounds like a good plan. The TDIs can do some impressive mileage.

Thanks for the a/c tip! I'll probably get around to it in March or April next year. It's not super hot where I am.

Got the oil changed last night. Manual says to use either 5w-40 or 5w-30; sticker from the last change says they used 15w-40. I used 0w-40 any thoughts or ideas on me using 0w-30 next time?

Also done last night: replaced cabin air filter, washed intake air filter (k&n), cleaned MAF sensor, ran half a bottle of seafoam through the motor at a 50/50 mix with diesel, installed LED tail lights, dropped half a can of seafoam in the oil crankcase, replaced the fuel filter.

Also plan on putting a full can of seafoam in the tank at my next fill up. Gonna replace the brake rotors and pads, replace the glow plugs, and change the transmission fluid and filter.

Any idea what I should be using for trans fluid? I'm having a hard time finding answers on Google.

Any other thoughts or comments? Maybe some rear wheel skirts done in sheet metal? Would need to be removable to rotate/replace tires.......,...

Here's pictures! JettaD no mods https://imgur.com/gallery/burXu

With respect to oil viscosity: A while back, someone on this site referenced an "expert opinion" piece by an oil expert (engineer?). In that write up, the expert said that 0-30 would be preferable to higher viscosity oils because it flowed easier. He said that because the oil flowed easier, the oil pump would be able to push more oil thruout the engine. Further, because the oil flowed easier, oil pressure would be higher in the bearing surface areas such as the rod bearings and main bearings. The 0-30 would also be better at start up.

Well, I normally run 10-40 Mobil 1 Full Synthetic in my vehicles and change the oil at 4000 to 5000 mile intervals. It was time to for an oil change in my 3500 Silverado, 6.0 gasser. So I tried out his advice. 6 quarts of Mobil One 0-30 and a new oil filter into the truck. Normally, this engine is very quiet and smooth, no rattles or lifter noise. Now with new oil, lots of lifter noise and other engine rattles (Mains? rods?).

I ran this 0-30 oil for about 1100 miles, thinking that maybe the noises would quiet down. They did not quiet down, so out with the 0-30 and back in with the 10-40. All the noises went away.

So I would say, what does the engine tell you? Is it using oil? Does it rattle more with lower viscosity oil? And there was a reason that 15-40 was used. Although that reason could have been that the oil change place was just out of the of the 30 weight oil.

The car is not my daily driver yet, it won't be until I get the brakes figured out. Rotors are warped (minor) and they don't stop very quickly. I had to almost double my normal stopping distance when driving it home. Gonna try a brake fluid flush to work out any possible air bubbles and if that fails I'll go for the rotors and master cylinder.

When it's my daily driver I'll be able to get a better sense for what it's telling me with this new oil.

I'm gonna search for this "expert" opinion and see what he says. Do you have the link by chance?

P.S. this is mobil1 full synthetic oil I'm using.

Hi CappAttack,

No, I do not remember his name or even when it happened except to say that I think that it was in the last 18 months.

I just did a search on "oil viscosity" and did not find the reference.

Does the manual specify synthetic oil and long change interval? 5w-40 is (I think) only available in full synthetic because of the wide viscosity spread, and that particular weight, along with 15w-40, is a diesel truck oil which, not being API certified, usually contain higher levels of anti-wear additives zinc and phosphorus. Because it's an older car, designed for an older oil which would have contained more of those additives than current API SN (maximum phosphorus limit has been steadily reduced, from 1400ppm in SL to 800ppm in SN), I would default to a truck oil in 5w-40 myself. ETA: since 5w-40 is readily available here; I've never seen 5w-30 on the shelf locally.