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new to beetles with lots of questions

887 views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  PRM502STREET 
#1 ·
My name is Cole and my girlfriend is a new beetle owner. it is an 04 turbo model and i believe it has the 1.8? Its a nice little car but theres a few things that concern me. It is a convertable and the rattle with the top up is rediculous. The passenger door also rattles horribly, is there a solution to either of these? The other thing im not sure about is the engine, it feels VERY slow. I know its not a performance car, but you cant even tell when the turbo spools. Do i need to be looking for mechanical issues or is this just how theyare? Lastly, is there any kind of tuner on the market? Cobb makes the accessport for my subaru and i love that thing. Is there something compariable for these? What are the normal modifications for these cars? Not just in engine performance, but the whole car in general.

That was a lot, but i dont know the first thing about these things lol. Im a NASIOC native and have learned the best investment in your car is finding a good forum. Thanks guys, any general knowledge you wanna throw in here will be greatly appreciated!
 
#2 ·
Welcome to the forum...this is a great place to be. Full of lots of great people with lots of knowledge they love to share.

I wish I could answer any of your questions; but I don't have a convertible so I don't know anything about them. I am sure there are plenty that will be chiming in to help though.

We would all love to see pics of the little bugger ;), we are suckers for pics here.
 
#3 ·
Yes, it's a 1.8T, 20 Valve turbo. The engine cover says 20V Turbo, which means it have five valves per cylindar. It's a fun engine. Lots of people think it has a 2.0T. It's not.

The door rattle is most likely the speaker. Not sure why you wouldn't hear the turbo spool, unless you have a broken breather hose, like I do.


I'm no mechanic, but I can Welcome you to the Org! :wave2:
 
#5 ·
Before you start trying to mod this car I would first make sure it is mechanically sound. Also a bit more
information about the car would be helpful. How many miles on the engine? What transmission does it have? Was the very important but many times overlooked Timing belt and water pump service done yet?
If not than that's where I would start and not trying to tune an engine that isn't running right.
BTW, that 1.8 is a little pocket rocket when it runs properly and while it isn't a race car it is far from slow.
My suggestion is to take the car to Autozone or another car parts place where they can scan it for codes.
Write down those codes and post them back here. There are many,many things that could hinder the performance of these cars and without knowing what the codes are anything anybody says is pure guesswork. You may want to start by opening the hood and taking the plastic engine cover off. Then check all the vacuum hoses. They are known to dry rott from heat and age. Check the connection to you N75 valve and you Diverter valve. Be sure you run only Premium gasoline 91 or better Octane gasoline in that car and make sure you only put VW approved synthetic motor oil in the crankcase. These cars are very High maintenance and very picky about what makes them tick.
Good Luck and please keep us posted.
 
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