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Engine Specific Info and Questions => TDI Engine -General Info => Topic started by: 8v-of-fury on February 04, 2009, 07:51:01 pm
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My dad's thinking of buying one. its got 81k on the clock. What needs to be worried about? anything that goes around the 90-100k mark? Also this will be his first diesel. what really specific tips can i give him?
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If it's the PD engine, I would pull the valve cover and check the condition of the cam lobes. If there's wear, it's a $2k repair bill. This is especially important if the owner didn't use the right oil (and still possible if they did).
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how will i identify a pd engine? whoa, is that specific to the later model tdi's? thats a ***ty deal lol hmm, i will have to take a look to see what i can dig up about the PO and wat not.
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how will i identify a pd engine? whoa, is that specific to the later model tdi's? thats a ***ty deal lol hmm, i will have to take a look to see what i can dig up about the PO and wat not.
if he can't prove that the oil was changed on schedule, and that the proper oil was used... just walk away.
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yeah, good idea. If he seems the least bit sketchy.. ill be like, oh wait. **** you buddy! lol haha that'll fix him! lol thanks for the heads up guys. anything other then that to look out for on an 04? rust areas anything like that?>
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yeah, good idea. If he seems the least bit sketchy.. ill be like, oh wait. **** you buddy! lol haha that'll fix him! lol thanks for the heads up guys. anything other then that to look out for on an 04? rust areas anything like that?>
i thought VW's had some crazy 10 year no rust warranty??? or was i thinking of another brand?
but yea unless this guy's selling the car super cheap, be very very cautious!!! if it drives with funny noises out of the engine bay, then its not good. i've heard that even running with the wrong oil for 5000km and then switching back to the right oil will give you problems down the road. with the amount of retards that take their car to those lube places (some of which are equally as stupid...) i would probably stay clear of any PD motor.
on TDI club theres a few threads with the damage that can occur. this one lady's motor was pretty bad. an entire intake lobe was completely rounded off so that the intake port did not open. pretty scary!
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one lady's motor was pretty bad. an entire intake lobe was completely rounded off so that the intake port did not open. pretty scary!
Holy ***e, thats whack and all from the wrong oil eh? Well ill be sure to tell him to be very very attentive on the test drive :P thanks
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how will i identify a pd engine? whoa, is that specific to the later model tdi's? thats a ***ty deal lol hmm, i will have to take a look to see what i can dig up about the PO and wat not.
If you take off the plastic engine cover and you can see the four injectors and hard lines going into the head and there is a fuel pump in front of the head it's an ALH. Generally, these are fairly reliable but I'm not too familiar with specific issues, so do a search on ALH.
If you take off the plastic cover and there is no fuel pump/had lines/injectors and instead the head has a bulge on the front, it's a BEW engine (the PD "pump-deuse"). The PD is a newer engine but there's moderate possibility of severe cam wear, especially if the wrong oil is used.
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If it's a true 2004, it should be a PD engine. And, as noted by everyone else, there is the cam-lobe wear issue.
It's really hard to trust anyone when buying one, unless they have the warranty book stamped by the dealer for every oil change. Even then, I've heard stories of blown heads on cars that were ONLY maintained at the dealer, and on time.
If your dad buys just one year earlier (ALH), then he's much better off. Timing belt changes cost more for an ALH, as there are more rollers, but oil changes are ALOT cheaper, easier (buy Rotella 5W/40 synth at Walmart), and they generally last longer. The PD is just too fragile in regards to cams, lifters, etc.
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just wanted to add that i think they are even a bit noisier than an ALH...
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just wanted to add that i think they are even a bit noisier than an ALH...
Yeah, and I think the exhaust smells like the reaction between an acid and a metal. Yeetch.
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What? My exhaust doesn't smell like anything except on start-up on a cold morning. And mine is much quieter than my 1.6TD.
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meh, i told my dad to avoid o4's like the plague. :P
is 04 when they started with the PD engines? Every Tdi before would be ALH?
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meh, i told my dad to avoid o4's like the plague. :P
is 04 when they started with the PD engines? Every Tdi before would be ALH?
in North America, that is correct. over in the EU they've had PD's for a while... 2004-2007 were all PD's AFAIK... or did they even produce diesels in '07?
i wouldn't avoid PD's like the plague entirely... just make sure that he does his research. as stated above, if the owner can produce statements of oil changes done at proper intervals (verify by seeing with your own eyes, and doing the calculations) which should be in the manual, or other maintenance book, then start to take the car seriously as a good runner. another thing to check, would be the reputation of said VW service center (where the oil changes were done) and make sure you can't find anything bad said about it.
i bet you could really lowball someone with a bad PD motor... start laying down some serious bill estimates for repair, and get the car for dirt cheap. just get the cam changed, and the timing belt while you're in there (not really too much harder to change the cam while doing a T-belt job), and voila. you'll have a nice car!
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Yeah, it is not actually hard to change the cam. If you can change the timing belt you can change the cam and lifters. The only real issue is that the pd cam is about 3 times the price of a VE engine cam.
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038 109 101 R - PD Camshaft price $330,00 / $382,80
038 109 101 K - ALH Camshaft price $228,00 / $264,48
thats for an '06 model, which is probably more robust... all in all that is a great way to low ball someone :lol: and the price diff from the ALH isn't really...
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Where did you get that quote from? Every place I have looked has pd cams near $600.
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Where did you get that quote from? Every place I have looked has pd cams near $600.
thats the ETKA. prices are probably a bit stale :lol:
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038 109 101 R - PD Camshaft price $330,00 / $382,80
038 109 101 K - ALH Camshaft price $228,00 / $264,48
thats for an '06 model, which is probably more robust... all in all that is a great way to low ball someone :lol: and the price diff from the ALH isn't really...
Yea that $330 figure is more like current aftermarket pricing... IF you can find one on the aftermarket :) They're damn expensive and it's a really epidemic problem.
FYI link to impex for that P#
http://worldimpex.com/parts/genuine-part-camshaft_222650.html
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038 109 101 R - PD Camshaft price $330,00 / $382,80
038 109 101 K - ALH Camshaft price $228,00 / $264,48
thats for an '06 model, which is probably more robust... all in all that is a great way to low ball someone :lol: and the price diff from the ALH isn't really...
Yea that $330 figure is more like current aftermarket pricing... IF you can find one on the aftermarket :) They're damn expensive and it's a really epidemic problem.
FYI link to impex for that P#
http://worldimpex.com/parts/genuine-part-camshaft_222650.html
yea that does sound more like it... perhaps they've also constructed the camshaft to be of superior strength and quality???
that new 5w30 or was it 0w30 fuel conserving oil was PD approved... that oil must be really good if it can protect the camshaft...
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Where did you get that quote from? Every place I have looked has pd cams near $600.
thats the ETKA. prices are probably a bit stale :lol:
If you got that quote from vagcat, those prices are in EUROS, about 2X the USD. For an accurate price, try 1stvwparts.com. Go there, and enter the part number. Worldimpex price is close, but they're usually higher than 1stvwparts.com.