Former VWDieselParts.com Forum

Have a chance to get a '98 Jetta TDI from local rebuilder I've known for around 25 years. The car was totaled by the insurance company, but it only required a hood, right front fender, radiator support, front bumper, grill, and other trim and light doodads to fix, and then only the hood had to be painted, everything else matched. The car has 80,564 mi. on it, starts at 30 degrees F almost immediately and runs very well. Never had a turbo anything before though and am a bit leery of computerized, new-fangled stuff. What is y'alls opinion? What are the weak points, what goes out on these cars, what to check out, etc? The rebuilder put a new t-belt on, new water pump, and the other belts, brand new. Put the car on the alignment machine and the alignment is still o.k. I'm retired and spend a lot of time there so I helped do some of the work doing these replacements. Still, I really have no experience with these cars.
Thank you, Harry

My father bought a 1998 Jetta TDI. So far, we've found the transmission has no 4th or 5th gear (due to the previous driver's inability to drive correctly). The car starts and runs great, but it smokes all the time out the exhaust, warm, or cold. I attribute this to the excessive buildup of shit in the intake system. I dont know for sure its there, but I know the pre P.D. tdi's have more of a buildup problem than the bosch ones.

My father's TDI has 106k miles on the ticker. Im sure its due for a timing belt, a GOOD synthetic oil change and the intake degreasing procedure.

These car's have EGR valves believe it or not, and this is what causes the buildup of soot and crap in the intake. That is the major downfall of the TDI. Other than that, they are great cars.

Coke thanks for reply.
This one shifts very well, for a sidewinder, like my old Golf and others, this one somewhat better. I wonder if the EGR thing can contribute to coking the turbo, etc. I'm unfamiliar with these newer ones. If "coking" is an issue, how is it prevented, I wonder?
Harry

From what I've been hearing the intake can clog up but doesn't hurt anything. It's about a $1000 to get it cleaned. People are saying that its from short runs. I've heard it said that once you start it you should run it for half a hour. I guess the heat will clean it out. Another problem is not changing the air filter often enough and blowing the mass flow air meter which is pricey. If your a little proactive with the maintenance you will do well.

as far as we've seen at work[vw dealership] synthetic oil seems to help the keep motor cleaner-it helps to prevent coking. personnally i recommend a 98 tdi highly, possibly the best allround car i,ve ever owned.

as long as the body is solid[gotta look out for that in these parts] then if the cost is low-buy i. mechanically anything can be fixed or repaired.

as long as the body is solid[gotta look out for that in these parts] then if the cost is low-buy i. mechanically anything can be fixed or repaired.