[s.e.hilliardTDI]

Hey all,

New to turbo diesel's but learning fast.
A month ago I bought an 2001 Silver four-door Golf TDI with only 86,000 miles. A really nice car.
The bad news is I think it had sat a lot more than it driven and was probably babied on the throttle end, good for having a nice clean low mile car not good for build-up in the VNT.

So last month it went into limp mode ... you all know the rest of the story... took it to VW... they would have been happy to sell me a complete turbo...

Anyway, long story short. I did a lot of reading. Got the VNT moving like it should, new vacuum actuator (for good measure), etc. Found the intake clogged pretty good and sent it to be acid bathed. On my way to going back together expecting no further complications.

So now the million dollar question.

What should I be doing or using to help keep things running smoothly for at least the next 86k miles.I understand there are no guarantees.

I have read a lot about keeping the throttle on the healthy side of 2500. What else?

Should I be using a fuel additive, if so what kind and how much?
I live in Northeast Ohio and the car started and ran fine on our coldest day this winter (before all the cleaning)
Should I be running some sort of special oil or oil additive?
My understanding of the intake clogging issue is oily residue from CCV.
What oil do ALH's really like? (please be specific)
(I am a big fan of Mobil 1 synthetic stuff for my gassers, but am flexible)
I had read about rescheduling the EGR
(but then heard that was only a myth)
What about letting the car idle (a few minutes) after a drive?
(I have read this is necessary on older diesel stuff, does that include these cars?- if so what exactly is the procedure??)

Thanks for any helpful hints.

 

[Seatman]

I don't know about the rest but the egr thing is because the gunk in the manifold is a collection of oily residue from the the turbo and exhaust gases from the egr, I think the egr only kicks in when the car is at low revs etc which is one of the reasons for giving it boot and also altering the egr settings. You only need to let the car idle for a minute or so if you've been driving really hard and it's been on full boost all the time because the turbo can get seriously hot and it can do something to the oil which can kill the bearings.

 

[dezel]

I have 112,000 yet to experience limp mode or any problems. The oil recommended in the manual is 5w40 synthetic vw spec. 505 00. It must meet API CF4 or CG4. You can shop www.idparts.com but I use Rotella 5w40 synthetic meets the specs. mobil 5w40 for diesel trucks does as well. I use these oils because of availability Walmart etc. If you check www.myturbodiesel.com Faq all your maintenance questions,intervals will be answered. Being that you are not the orig. owner check up on it.

 

[tshoe32]

After cleaning the intake twice, I removed the EGR cooler and modified "ported" the EGR valve. I just have the intake off the car 6 months after doing the mod and the intake looks like it did after the cleaning. In Wisconsin, I am not required to go through DMV inspection. The service engine light is on but hope to do a mod to fix that.
Check out my pics of my EGR Valve, see post "modified "ported" the EGR valve" in general discussions.