Used 1.9 TD questions (temporary smoke cloud)

[BP10000]

I test drove a 1998 Jetta GL with a 1.9 TD in it this morning, and I had a couple questions. The car has 340k km on it, and is in quite good shape body wise, no visible rust, but with the typical repaint on the doors around the handles.

Was the IDI 1.9 an original engine in 199? When test driving it, the car drove nice and straight, and had plenty of power. No oil scum on on the coolant reservoir. One thing that concerned me was when winding up the revs a bit, at about 4k with lots of boost, the car suddenly shuddered and lost all power, and I saw in the mirror a huge black cloud of smoke. Don't remember any unusual sounds in the midst of the panic...  After I lifted off and slowed down a bit, the car seemed to continue driving like normal. The temp gauge didn't move. I tried accelerating again a little more gently and the car seemed like nothing had happened. Any idea what this was? Sticky wastegate?

the car has a serpentine belt system, how common is the crank nose problem?

Anything else I need to look at?

[BP10000]

To phrase it differently:

Has anyone else had a similar incidence of sudden temporary loss of power and huge cloud of smoke? Is this related to some kind of overboost protection?

Also, what's the story on the odometers rolling over after 300k? What cars are affected by this? (I guess that would be miles, do Canadian cars roll over after 480k km?)

[jtanguay]

1997 was the last year of the IDI motor for us Canadians (i'm pretty sure...) so '98 should be TDI.  you'll most likely have an issue with a sensor or something.

you shouldn't have a problem with the crank nose, although i've seen a TDI with the crank nose issue posted on here quite some time ago... a LOT of stress must have been placed on it, because it was pretty beat up  :lol:

[BP10000]

Hmm, must be a 97 then. I'm 99% certain it's not TDI, the car didn't have the TDI badges and there was the cold-start timing advance knob on the dash.

How does the waste gate work on these cars, does it just pop open at a certain pressure? That would explain the sudden rich condition and loss of power.

[Vincent Waldon]

The cold start handle is a dead giveaway that you have an 1.9l IDI engine... model AAZ.

The wastegate normally works smoothly and continuously to maintain maximum boost at around 10 psi.

The IP has an internal governor that limits fuel somewhere around 4000 RPM, so the loss of power sounds normal.  Black smoke, not so much.

The odos roll over at 300K... miles in the US or kms in Canada.  During the first 300K the word "total" will appear above the mileage... between 300K and 600K the word "total" disappears. After 600K the odo blanks out completely.... or so I'm told... haven't seen it myself.

Crank nose problem... fairly common.  Making sure the crankshaft bolt is the right part at the right torque and retrofitting the 1-way clutch pulley on the alternator will generally keep a good crank nose in fine shape.

[burn_your_money]

To me it almost sounds like the wire on the stop solenoid came loose and flickered on and off a couple of times.

Canadian cars roll over at 300 000 kms. If the cluster doesn't say total on it anymore then it has already rolled over at least once.

Every 1.9 IDI will eventually die from the crank pulley problem assuming everything else holds up that long. I bought a 97 Golf and it had died from the crank pulley problem so I don't believe the story that VW upgraded to the DI crank pulley in the later years of the AAZ

[allsierra123]

Im not sure if they did or dint. I did by a 96 motor with it already done to it. They either did a great job or it came from the factory like that.

[BP10000]

The odometer did read 340, I didn't notice if it said total or not. Do you mean they roll over at 399? If it rolled over at 300 it would just say 40k

Shouldn't there be something about the odometer in the FAQs? It seems like a pretty fundamental problem to watch out for.

[Vincent Waldon]

The odometer did read 340, I didn't notice if it said total or not. Do you mean they roll over at 399? If it rolled over at 300 it would just say 40k

The standard MK3 dash rolls over at 300K so it should never read 340,000:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0Aj1caFYP4

(fuzzy picture, but you get the idea.. you can see the word "total" go away as well).

Perhaps it was saying 34,000 ??  Did it look like the dash in the Youtube video ??  If the numbers were blue it was probably a MK4 dash which doesn't roll over the same way.

As per the FAQ... sure... there's only a few MK3 people here actually but wouldn't hurt.

[BP10000]

Thanks a bunch for your help. I'll really have to remember to bring a  camera next time.

It definitely was the dash in the youtube vid, so maybe it did say 34000. All of sudden those other ones advertised with 105k aren't so appealing...

Now if only I could find a nice mk2

[BP10000]

Thanks a bunch for your help. I'll really have to remember to bring a  camera next time.

It definitely was the dash in the youtube vid, so maybe it did say 34000. All of sudden those other ones advertised with 105k aren't so appealing...

Now if only I could find a nice mk2

[Vincent Waldon]

Thanks a bunch for your help. I'll really have to remember to bring a  camera next time.

It definitely was the dash in the youtube vid, so maybe it did say 34000. All of sudden those other ones advertised with 105k aren't so appealing...

Now if only I could find a nice mk2

Yup, us MK3 guys see ads for "amazing lo-mileage 1994 Jetta... only 105K" and we smile...  

The rubber clutch pedal cover is another clue... if it's worn thru *or* brand new....:wink:

[blackbird82]

So does this mean my 94 Jetta I bought Xmas of 07 with 150K on it had 450K. no word total appears
Also, its getting close to hittin the 600L mark.  Read 288K now.....

[vanbcguy]

I rolled Jezzie over 300,000 and just like the video, the word 'TOTAL' disappeared and it started out all over again with single digits.  I was having some work done just after and the guys couldn't figure out why my odometer was just reading "16".

Right now she is showing 14,000 or so.

So yeah, if you bought a '94 with "150K" and no 'total' then you bought a 450K car.

Obviously hasn't been a problem for you!!

[blackbird82]

haha, wow. that means that my cousins 97 Jetta TD, has over 600,000 k on it. cause he heard the odometers roll over, and he was pissed when it just went -------- when he hit 300,000k.  haha. cool.