[Vwdiesel] 105 degrees in the shade or the saga of the EGR

[dieseltdi at verizon.net]

Today it was 105 degrees here in beautiful Texas (34 days above 100  
so far this summer and no rain) and I was on my third day of working  
on my 98 Jetta TDI.  Many of you may remember that I cratered my  
turbo a while back, well several months ago, the oil supply line to  
the turbo began to leak so I knew I would have to chase that down  
asap.  Turned out that a bracket that keeps the line from  vibrating  
had broken.  That being said, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that  
there seemed to be a distinct hesitation before the turbo kicked in.   
In the last few days, that hesitation has gotten worse as has the  
smell of biodiesel fumes in my AC vents.  Then the other day, I  
suddenly found no boost above 5 psi and the car threw a manifold  
pressure code.  So I got up early day before yesterday, when it was  
only 85 degrees and started pulling stuff off.  Well nearly 3 days  
later, I fixed my oil leak and discovered the cause of my boost  
problems.  Sometime after I swapped out the turbo, the two top bolts  
that hold the EGR cooler either unscrewed or simply fell out.  This  
left the cooler suspended by the two flex pipes on either end, one  
going into the exhaust manifold and the other to the EGR.   
Apparently, the vibration cause the two corrugated sections of the  
flex pipes to break and the cracks have been getting slowly larger.   
By the time I pulled them today, the smaller one from the exhaust  
manifold was almost broken in half and had 2 other cracks and the  
longer pipe had 2 fractures in it.  Seeing as how these two pipes are  
over $300 from the dealer and seeing as I had a 1Z engine sitting  
next to my Jetta, I simply pulled off the EGR riser from the 1Z (it  
doesn't have a cooler), removed the cooler from the Jetta, rerouted  
one coolant line and plugged another, reinstalled the EGR riser and  
VIOLA!!!  Everything is fully functional.  I did take this advantage  
to also install an blocking plate on the EGR riser.  This plate has a  
small 10mm hole for the exhaust to come through instead of the huge  
opening that is stock.  Now the car will pull 22 psi on a full stomp  
again (it is chipped) and I am happy again.  However, now I need a  
replacement EGR riser for the 1Z engine, anyone got one laying  
around?  Hayden

" Those who are willing to sacrifice Liberty for Security, deserve  
neither Liberty nor Security."  Ben Franklin
"Dictatorships all have common factors:  a government controlled by  
one party, a leader who claims to have special powers outside the law  
to keep the country "safe", secret prisons where people are locked up  
without charges or trial and government opponents are branded as  
unpatriotic and charged with aiding the enemy."

Visit my website at:  http://mysite.verizon.net/resosxp8/mydieselpages/
Proud owner of:
2004 Passat TDI GLS, 2.0l, 8 valve, 134 HP, 247 lb/ft of torque  
(making 150 hp with Diesel Power Tuning Box), Blue Graphite,  
Anthracite leather interior, ABS, ESP.
1998 Jetta TDI (Wetterauer Chipset, 2 1/2" exhaust, K&N Filter,  140K 
+ miles, and running biodiesel)
1981 Rabbit Pickup -Awaiting a TDI engine swap with a 96 Passat 1Z  
engine.
And many, many, many VWs; from a 1946 Beetle (11 Beetles total), to  
Vans (5 - 3 splitties, 2 bay window), Rabbits (3), Karmen Ghia (1),  
Jettas (5), Passat (1), Dasher (1), New Beetle (1), and Rabbit  
Pickups (3) most now gone but not forgotten.