thinking about buying a 2004 jetta wagon 1.9 tdi

J

jaybuller

USCG MK
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
1,446
hello yall that have tdi jettas, escpecially the 2000 to 2006 years. im looking at a 02 and an 04 right now, both are tdi and 5 speed. one has 148,000 miles and the other 120k. are these motors good to go with that kind of mileage on them or are they nearing rebuild time? they both sound good and run good, no smoke or knocks or anything. just need advice on what to look for and what to stay from....
 
Both should be the ALH motors, same as my 02 which currently has 222,xxx on it. If the maintenance has been done on them I would not be scared at all. Biggest thing is timing belt and intake cleaning, that should happen at about 60k intervals.
 
Have an 02 an love it! As long as you service them like you should you will have no problems. There awesome cars!!!!

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
 
alright the 04 is a jetta wagon 1.9 tdi bew engine... with 148,000 miles. the only matenence done was a timing belt 10k miles ago. is this one of the engines that have the camshaft problems? thanks
 
The 06 is most known for the camshaft, the 05 also, but not nearly as often. I would recommend checking out tdiclub.com there is some great info over there on them.
 
It can have the cam problems, and that is about all I can tell you, I don't own one so I never looked into them that hard.
 
Any of the TDI's motors will go 400K+ miles with proper service, so no worries there. If they had timing gears instead of belts, you would never have to do anything other than oil changes.

Regardless of what some people will tell you, ALL 04-06 unit injection tdi's (BEW, BHW, and BRM engine codes) will need a cam. I work on them for a living and change cams on a regular basis in the PD motors. I've had numerous cars with maintenance records you could wipe a white glove on that still needed cams before 150K. I did one that had 55K on it and the chamfer on the edge of the lobes was already gone. Last one I did was an 05 passat that had 205K on it; it had .116" worn off the cam LOL.

Once you fix the cam, they're great motors. However, it's a $850 job if you do it yourself. So figure that into the price of the car.

My personal favorite is the ALH engine in 00-03's. It's the 94-98 12v cummins of the VW world. Simple, reliable and durable as hell, easy to turn up, and parts are very plentiful.

Only word of caution with 02's is some, not all, of them had defectively manufactured cams and/or lifters from the factory. First signs is the lifters spider on top and the edges of the cam lobes wear down. It's relatively easy to spot with a flashlight with the valve cover off. However, doing a cam in an ALH takes 2 hours tops and costs less than $275 if you do it yourself. It's not nearly the hassle it is with the PD motors.

The ALH's will usually get 3-5mpg better than any of the unit injection (PD) motors also.
 
Last edited:
thanks i think i will go for the 02... after hearing all this and some other reserch i just want the best mpg and most trouble free motor. thanks for the advice.... when you guys turn these motors up with tuners and injector nozzels and stuff does the mpg go way down? thanks again
 
Whitbread, I've got an 02 Golf TDI... Love it.

I bought it as the 2nd owner with only 65K miles on it, Its at 95-96K now...Only problem I've had is my AC compressor went out this summer.. Got one from a buddy that has a NAPA store... All good ever since.

Would love to speak with ya sometime about a weird issue I have intermitenly... Not major, just weird.

I'll send ya a PM with my number...

Thank you,

David
 
what about a 99.5 ?it is for sale here is the guys ad yall think this is a good one?..

It's got a few miles on it but it runs like a top. Dark blue with heated tan leatherette interior. Cruise, Power windows/locks/mirrors/sunroof. 5 speed. New clutch ~190k. Timing belt and rollers ~210k (100k continental). It has 15" alloy wheels with fairly new Goodyear tires. It has tinted windows (darker on the back 3 than the front).
It has an immobilizer 3 cluster with half-height MFA that shows you distance till empty, mpg, etc. I have both key remotes.

Everything works, including the AC. Also the PO added Bozio injector nozzles. Consistently gets 45 MIXED. That includes my daily work comute which consists of 4 miles on surface streets (25-35) and 10 miles of highway as well as my daily errands (running around with the wife, dinner, etc). All freeway it has had no trouble doing over 50. I don't do hyper miling or pulse&glide or anything - just normal driving including above the speed limit and this returns excellent mileage ALL the time.

I recently did an oil change and fuel filter change. It has a larger catback exhaust and ventectomy.

It has a broken glovebox hinge. The rusty driver's fender has been replaced and repainted professionally under VW's warranty. The new fender has a lifetime warranty.
 
IF your looking for them in michigan(especially northern) Rusting would be a huge concern for me.
 
zstroken said:
IF your looking for them in michigan(especially northern) Rusting would be a huge concern for me.
Click to expand...

THIS THIS THIS^^^

Ask me how I know... Everything is a rusty POS here:hehe::bang.

Seriously though, if your looking at a vehicle in MI (MN, WI- You get the idea) look over it extremely thoroughly. If you can get it on a lift and search every nook and cranny do it. Finding rust where it really shouldn't be down the road sucks!!

Although I dont know how rust resistant VWs come from the factory. All the European cars ive driven have never had rust issues. They were given extra attention and special treatment though. Still its only a matter of time before the rust starts. My Dodge has also has special protective coatings applied and I just found new annoying rust on it.
 
VW's are not rust proof, but they are no worse than others so if the car looks good and has no other issues I would buy it.
 
99.5 to 2003... any other year stay away. My 99.5 five speed gets 55 mpg on 800a mile trips from ohio to Georgia.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top