I believe it's pretty flat in NE ohio (like the top of your head maybe?), we're talking about the SF Bay area. Ever been there?
Fisherman's Wharf. Bay Bridge. Yep, been there.
FWIW, I drove the car back from North Carolina when I bought it dead stock with the original AVX trans, which you may know has the tallest of all VW transmission R&Ps: 4.25:1. The car barely got out of it's own way. It was dangerously underpowered; 65 mph with the pedal mashed running up the mountain highways. I vowed right then that I would make it run better, which I have, with help from this site. Gearing is just one performance metric. State of tune is another equally important metric. I've since driven my modded Jetta on those same mountan roads. It easily pulls the tall gears on long, steep grades without downshifiting and runs all day with the left laners at arrestable speeds. Low gears are good for the track or an autocrosser, which that 4.25:1 gear set ended up in.
the AVX is the LOWEST geared trans, not highest. the ACN type, and F type trannies were the highest geared. you could either get a 3.67 with a .75 5th gear, or a 3.89 with a .71 5th gear..
anyways, the AVX should have been screaming at 65mph..
but, point of the story being, that an ACN trans, or something similar is a PERFECTLY GOOD MATCH for a 1.6TD.
ilikevwdiesel is the only user on the forum that says the high geared trannies are no good for the torquey diesels. but they are fine for the gutless 1.8L 8v engines they came stock behind..
theres some flawed logic somewhere in this derailed topic..
Yes, lowest; you know what I meant. 80 mph tops with a tailwind with the AVX and it sounded ready to gernade. 65 mph up the mountain roads limited by power, not gearing. My point is, even with low gears (ala AVX) the car can still be a dog, which mine was.
OH!! gotcha.. yea, makes sense now..
my car has 3.67 gearing, and its quicker now than it was with 3.94's..
lol, 80mph with a tailwind.. that reminds me of driving a n/a w/ a GC 4 spd.. the best my n/a's will do with stock government, is 83mph, down hill, on the governor.
u guys are so FOS it's pathetic...get a room already.
well, from that last comment, it could be interpreted that you are aggravated, because of the name calling. im assuming FOS is some sort of abbreviation for a bad name.. and then saying to go get a room? thats not something you usually say to someone unless you are aggravated with them.. ive never heard the response "get a room" used in any way besides a negative manner..
negative comments get negative responses..
u guys are so FOS it's pathetic...get a room already.
Watch this and learn something...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHVXbKD5IPk
Carry on.
sounds like your timing belt is a little tight...
Only if factory spec is a "little tight." 30K on the belt.
May I suggest an alternative site for those interested in screaming at eachother in a forum:
http://vwvortex.com/See a few pages back where Dieselstink and I were discussing something? See how I decided I had it wrong based on the evidence? See how neither of us insulted one another, called eachother names or implied anything about one another?
Please feel free to use the PM function if you want to have off topic rants at one another, I'm sure the rest of us would appreciate it.
u guys are so FOS it's pathetic...get a room already.
Watch this and learn something...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHVXbKD5IPk
Carry on.
Such a nice car 
Thanks. It will be one of the few cars I'll dearly miss if something were to happen to it. That said, I was ready to shove it off a cliff until recently when I finally figured out how to fix the alternator belt drive. The bad part was, it would spin the alternator fast enough to keep the light off, but not enough to adequately charge the battery. The only clue it was happening was that the temp and fuel gauges read a little low. The car stranded me more than a few times. It's been flawless since -- knock on soot.
Also agree 100%... Wastegate wouldn't be open till 10PSI no matter what, assuming it is set for the 10-12 PSI factory spec.
Actually typical wastegate actators are not binary. If the boost is regulated at 12 psi the begin bleeding off exhaust somewhere below that pressure and should be fully open at 12 psi. That is why the Gillis valve is so popular. No pressure is applied to the WGA until the target pressure is reached, unlike stock set ups.
I was ready to shove it off a cliff until recently when I finally figured out how to fix the alternator belt drive. The bad part was, it would spin the alternator fast enough to keep the light off, but not enough to adequately charge the battery. The only clue it was happening was that the temp and fuel gauges read a little low. The car stranded me more than a few times. It's been flawless since -- knock on soot.
[/quote]
My lawnmower alternator belt's been fine. Only adjusted it once since I installed it. It's been about 6000 miles and not one squeal with all the elec load I can throw at it, even in the rain!
I was ready to shove it off a cliff until recently when I finally figured out how to fix the alternator belt drive. The bad part was, it would spin the alternator fast enough to keep the light off, but not enough to adequately charge the battery. The only clue it was happening was that the temp and fuel gauges read a little low. The car stranded me more than a few times. It's been flawless since -- knock on soot.
My lawnmower alternator belt's been fine. Only adjusted it once since I installed it. It's been about 6000 miles and not one squeal with all the elec load I can throw at it, even in the rain!
[/quote]
Excellent!
I am running stock tires on my car.
I am getting around 43mpg right now with the car. Alignment, all new suspension, etc.
With that acn tranny its a pretty fun car to drive around town in gears 1-4, but then again i am no racer.
25% of that commute is up/down twisty mountain pass and the rest is freeway at 70mph.
On those hills I was very surprised to find that I could pull everything in 3rd gear if I really wanted although a few spots would make the car really lug so I shift. But I don't need to go crazy on that part as far as shifting like I thought I would. 5th gear is doable in traffic on flat ground
I can really go nuts with this setup around town and rev the hell out of the car and it seems to pull well.
I am running stock tires on my car.
I am getting around 43mpg right now with the car. Alignment, all new suspension, etc.
With that acn tranny its a pretty fun car to drive around town in gears 1-4, but then again i am no racer.
25% of that commute is up/down twisty mountain pass and the rest is freeway at 70mph.
On those hills I was very surprised to find that I could pull everything in 3rd gear if I really wanted although a few spots would make the car really lug so I shift. But I don't need to go crazy on that part as far as shifting like I thought I would. 5th gear is doable in traffic on flat ground
I can really go nuts with this setup around town and rev the hell out of the car and it seems to pull well.
43 MPG US sounds pretty darn good to me!! That's about 5.3L/100KM Canadian. Better than a Prius...
I am running stock tires on my car.
I am getting around 43mpg right now with the car. Alignment, all new suspension, etc.
With that acn tranny its a pretty fun car to drive around town in gears 1-4, but then again i am no racer.
25% of that commute is up/down twisty mountain pass and the rest is freeway at 70mph.
On those hills I was very surprised to find that I could pull everything in 3rd gear if I really wanted although a few spots would make the car really lug so I shift. But I don't need to go crazy on that part as far as shifting like I thought I would. 5th gear is doable in traffic on flat ground
I can really go nuts with this setup around town and rev the hell out of the car and it seems to pull well.
if your trans says ACN on the bottom, and you turn 3k going 60mph, then someone had the 5th gear swapped out at some point, or the whole case has been replaces, and its just an ACN case with a mystery gear set in it.
my gasser with stock 185/60/14s and a stock ACN trans will turn 3k @ ~73mph.. and i get 35 mpg.. not bad for a gasser, but certainly not diesel numbers for sure..
Thanks again!
Looks like after a little sidetrack the conversation is heading in a valuable direction again. It's a mere 5 degrees F at the moment here in MT but I might head out later to check my timing. Not more than 2 month ago when I put this pump on I set it at 1.05mm. A few folks have mentioned to get my pump "dialed in" which I completely agree with and that's why I began this thread (not expected such a long one). So I'm curious if there are any more recommendations for "dialing in" this pump. There seemed to be a supported thought that maybe I'm a little under-fueled? I can adjust the LDA pin orientation to get smoke under full load (and I've pulled back this setting a bit)...this seems to tell me I've got adequate fuel? maybe? Anything I should try even if it's for experimental purposes for you all to learn something? Max fuel screw?
The car seems to drive wonderfully around town and I like the power but while I can drive 80 down the interstate if need be, I feel it should cruise this speed with a little less oomph than it needs at the moment and without such high boost.
I don't want to go looking for a problem, but am simply trying to figure out how to best tune this thing.
Thanks again!