SMG's 2001 Vortex Blue TDI

[SMG]

So I never planned on buying another Beetle. (Whoops)

I wanted a TDI and this car was way cheaper than a normal TDI Golf or Jetta, only has 160,000km (99,000 miles) on it and was meticulously dealer maintained since new. In the last few months it has gotten a new turbo, brakes and 2 calipers. I ended up getting a really good price on it after a lot of talking and pointing out minor paint flaws, etc.

It's a special edition Vortex Blue with all of the GLX options. Apparently there were only 2 TDI's in this colour ever made since you could only order them online.

I'll eventually get a new suspension for the 2.0T and put my FK coilovers on the TDI, same with the skidplate since I seem to be wearing it out in a few places. Also planning on bigger nozzles, VR clutch and a chip to wake it up a bit.

Loving the mileage though! I have over 500kms on the car already and I'm not even down half a tank.





No turbo spoiler:

[bugsy98nb]

Sweet Nice find Jordan !

[miffmole]

Nice acquisition. I like it...the MPG sounds great.

[Yello_jellybean]

Welcome to the TDI club Jordan! Glad to have you on board!

[hestersu]

OK. I'm calling first dibs in this thread. Bite me Growler!

Love it Jordan!

[Toad]

Sweet find Jordan! I didn't know there ware any tdi vortex bugs, that's crazy and I'm jealous.

[CoriBug]

Congrats Jordan!!

[warren]

nice find!

[Lnzbug]

Nice find! I like those two colors together

And you already have the clear corners on.

[AceJay]

Spray it Techno Blue

[DZLBUG]

Sweet! Welcome to the TDI club...now get your arse over to the forums at TDIclub and start learning.

Before you start modding, get it all up to date mechanically. I know Canada dealers are better with TDI's, but "dealer serviced" and TDI's don't normally go together. Unfortunately you don't have much other options up your way, with some careful monitoring on your part you should be okay.

New turbo before 99k? If it genuinely went out, then the car has probably had a rough life. Most likely it just had dirty VNT rings, bad actuator or maybe just a vacuum leak. VW dealers love to replace turbos on TDI's for no good reason.

Make sure you use good oil on a 10k mile interval. Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5w-40 or Shell Rotella T 5w-40 synthetic are both excellent choices. I'm partial to the TDT, but Rotella is a very good oil. If you use something other than these two, make sure it is DIESEL rated oil, preferably 5w-40.

As the weather cools down, it is a good idea to run Power Service in the white bottle to make sure you don't have any problems with gelling. Always fuel up where a lot of fuel gets sold so you aren't filling up with old rotgut. It is always a good idea to go into fall with a fresh fuel filter.

Timing belt...get it done now...the right way. All parts in the path of the belt must be replaced. Have them use the 2003 parts which will give you a 5 year, 100k mile interval. Tensioner, 2 small rollers, 1 large roller with new stretch bolt, water pump (metal impeller) and long life belt. Make sure they use the correct lockdown tools and set the injection timing slightly advanced, 70 or so is a good number.

Mods: nozzles are the best place to start, I would go for PP520's. Send your injectors to this guy and he will install the nozzles of your choice onto your cleaned and properly calibrated injector bodies. 48 hour round-trip service for Canadians...costs about $550 US or so for the whole shebang. After that comes tuning, Rocketchip or Aligator are best. Stock turbo can take up to 18 psi sustained. With this level of tuning and nozzles you will quickly slip the stock clutch. Buy more clutch than you need, the DC Stg III clutch is a great choice for lots of holding power with a stock feel. 2.5" downpipe and exhaust are recommended to keep EGT's down with tuning and bigger nozzles. The turbo can handle 1650F (pre-turbo) sustained. A Boost/EGT gauge is essential for any mods.

Good luck with it and have fun. Let me know if you have any questions and I will be glad to answer to the best of my ability.

[SMG]

Wow.. Thank you for all of the info there, that's basically everything I wanted to know. The car was bought with 53,000 miles on it by a retired woman who drove it daily for 4 years. The turbo was done under warranty for some reason but I have access to the whole maintenance history of the car, my friend is the service manager at the dealer where the car was serviced.

The diesel scene is huge up here. All gas stations have diesel pumps and probably 40-50% of VW's in my area are TDI's. The MK2 and MK3 turbo diesels were also very popular up here so a lot of the MK2's that are left have swapped TD's in them. So there's lots of fresh diesel and lots of competent diesel mechanics in my area.

The timing belt is one thing I was wondering about. The dealer did the timing belt during VW "Certification" in 2005 since it had 86,000km on it (53k miles) and was getting close to its 96,000km (59k miles) t-belt service. This was done at the dealer with OEM parts (confirmed with my friend).

It now has 160,000kms (99k miles) on it and two dealerships and two independent VW shops have told me not to bother until 186,000kms (115k miles). Everyone up here seems to be pushing 100,000km / 60,000mile belt intervals. What's your take on it?

[TBUGS]

I want it we never got that colour in England. I would love to buy it from you when you finished with it.

[bigsexyTDI]

Dude that TDI rocks hard. Looks really clean too.

I would relate the turbo to the retired woman. If I had to guess, she putted around in it, and like DZL said, coked up the VNT vanes.

One thing I would recommend that he didn't would be to go to dieselgeek.com and look at buying a racepipe. That eliminates the EGR valve so you dont have to worry about that and the intake clogging anymore.

Oh and go talk your buddy out of your old fat fives, and that thing will be one sharp ride.

[Bella Sera]

Very nice. Someday I plan in joining the TDI group. I would love if they would start making Bugs with that option again, if they don't, I'll buy used.

[BEETLETHIS]

what that is crazy when did you buy it? and if you need any help im a diesel mechanic so dont forget!!!

[Fowvay]

This is 100% sincere. I will straight up trade you. I want this car.

[AbuNigel]

That's such a beautiful color. You gonna give it the same paint/shaving treatment as you did to your cyber green?

[SMG]

Originally Posted by Fowvay

This is 100% sincere. I will straight up trade you. I want this car.

Your car isn't really what I'm looking for. I need a TDI and I'm not really big on yellow or 1.8T's. Thanks for the offer though.

Originally Posted by AbuNigel

That's such a beautiful color. You gonna give it the same paint/shaving treatment as you did to your cyber green?

The hood and door both need paint so I will be looking at that option in the spring when I get around to having the bodywork done. The car is a bit dinged up from being a city car for 4 years but underneath it is IMMACULATE. It's in way better shape than my CG.

[pm22071985]

Originally Posted by SMG

The hood and door both need paint so I will be looking at that option in the spring when I get around to having the bodywork done....

Sweet...Looking forward to seeing what you do to the TDI !!