Hello all. Have a 2000 Beetle, TDI of course, 5-speed. Bought it for my wife a while back as we found that the higher fuel economy would pay for the car, fuel, and save us some money each fill up since she drives a lot for work. I've always been a Nissan guy and didn't think I would particularly like the Beetle, I wanted a Golf TDI instead, but I'm actually pretty happy with it... though would still prefer the Golf TDI. 
Anyway, been running great but have run into some issues as of late. She hit some critters, a raccoon and a cat... yeah... anyway, the raccoon cracked the lower lip and busted the fog light while the cat (not a big cat, regular house cat) demolished it. This happened during the winter so when it started getting hot again I tried the A/C and it didn't work. I thought maybe it had just leaked the R-134 out but turns out that wasn't the case unfortunately.
After a lot of hunting around I thought it was the fan control module that was the culprit but after some even deeper searching found that it was the low speed part of the fans that went out. Fortunately I haven't had any melting wires or anything yet and the FCM seems to be functional still so I'm trying something a little odd, attempting to put some e-fans from an old Nissan Maxima I had into the Beetle. The Maxima's fans actually run 4 wires to the motor. The way I understand it is, two wires power "half" of the motor for low speed and power to all 4 run high speed. Some simple wiring with some relays I have laying around from the Maxima and I should be able to get it to work... partially. I was able to rig up one of the fans to the Beetle's larger fan bracket but I'm still working out how to replace the smaller one. As soon as I figure that out it should be on the road again.
Somehow I got the A/C to actually work again, not sure how. I'm thinking it was when I tried putting my code reader on there. There weren't any codes but I left it on to "reset it" and afterwards found that the A/C was finally engaging again, just no functioning fans. As soon as I get the fans working I'll be more willing to drive it and with the A/C on. Will be nice as that Beetle has one of the best A/C's I've felt in a long while. Definitely the best R-134 system I've ever felt. Normally I despise R-134 systems but this one is quite impressive.
While trying to figure all this out I found yet another problem... turbo is on its way out. Excessive oil loss and a bunch of oil in the intake pipes. So yeah... found a used unit that will work till I can afford a new unit but still not going to be very fun. :ugh
So yeah, that's my TDI story so far. Hopefully I can get it back on the road again soon as the fuel economy in that thing is too great to pass up, especially now.
Anyway, been running great but have run into some issues as of late. She hit some critters, a raccoon and a cat... yeah... anyway, the raccoon cracked the lower lip and busted the fog light while the cat (not a big cat, regular house cat) demolished it. This happened during the winter so when it started getting hot again I tried the A/C and it didn't work. I thought maybe it had just leaked the R-134 out but turns out that wasn't the case unfortunately.
After a lot of hunting around I thought it was the fan control module that was the culprit but after some even deeper searching found that it was the low speed part of the fans that went out. Fortunately I haven't had any melting wires or anything yet and the FCM seems to be functional still so I'm trying something a little odd, attempting to put some e-fans from an old Nissan Maxima I had into the Beetle. The Maxima's fans actually run 4 wires to the motor. The way I understand it is, two wires power "half" of the motor for low speed and power to all 4 run high speed. Some simple wiring with some relays I have laying around from the Maxima and I should be able to get it to work... partially. I was able to rig up one of the fans to the Beetle's larger fan bracket but I'm still working out how to replace the smaller one. As soon as I figure that out it should be on the road again.
Somehow I got the A/C to actually work again, not sure how. I'm thinking it was when I tried putting my code reader on there. There weren't any codes but I left it on to "reset it" and afterwards found that the A/C was finally engaging again, just no functioning fans. As soon as I get the fans working I'll be more willing to drive it and with the A/C on. Will be nice as that Beetle has one of the best A/C's I've felt in a long while. Definitely the best R-134 system I've ever felt. Normally I despise R-134 systems but this one is quite impressive.
While trying to figure all this out I found yet another problem... turbo is on its way out. Excessive oil loss and a bunch of oil in the intake pipes. So yeah... found a used unit that will work till I can afford a new unit but still not going to be very fun. :ugh
So yeah, that's my TDI story so far. Hopefully I can get it back on the road again soon as the fuel economy in that thing is too great to pass up, especially now.