[Vwdiesel] Weekend projects

[Travis .]

Busy weekend coming up here. I will be adding a clutched alternator pulley to my 1.9 TD AAZ engine so it is easier on the crank sprocket. I have found several online have done it and they said it really smooths things out. I can imagine it does after seeing what the TDI does without it being clutched (as the pulley is failing). The bad part is that pulley is $180 vs the TDI's $50. I think it came from an MKIII TDI so parts are harder to find and some more expensive. But it is cheaper then a blown engine if the sprocket fails and I would think cheaper then take the crank out and paying to mill the notch to put a TDI sprocket on and also buying the sprocket. I may still do that but both fixes don't hurt. I am still trying to figure if I need to bolt it on as there haven't been the best write-ups. Just a few pictures and statements saying it will work. 
 
The 04 Golf will be getting a dogbone motor mount. I had replaced the OEM one with a 034M 60 dur rated one. DON'T DO THAT. The 034M dogbone mounts have a history of failing sooner it seems from reading up on them. I bought another OEM one to put in. You can see the engine rock a lot at start up and you can feel it when you accelerate and let off. The whole point of that mount isn't to support the engine but rather to hold the rocking motion don't. A bad mount with a harder take off could cause your wheels to spin and hope and then possibly breaking your differential as some have experienced. I don't drive that hard but the recoil of it first twisting and snapping back still could cause it to start hopping-more so pulling a trailer.
 
Other thing on the Golf-the outer left CV boot has a tear right were it attaches to the the axle on the small part. So not a lot of grease has come out (I didn't even see grease other then a couple drops). So before winter and before I put too many more miles on I figure I should also get that done. I am trying to figure if I can do the change without removing the whole axle or at least not removing the ball joint (for alignment issues and added parts needing to be changed). I think I may be able to take it off at the tranny, lift of and then possibly nock it loose leaving it attached on the hub but we will see. I don't want to damage the CV joint either. 
 
Also working on my (diesel) JD 332 L&G tractor trying to get it ready for my brother to do some welding on it for the following weekend week I go there for a show. 
 
Last weekend we put a cam in my brothers BEW 05 jetta wagon. His was just on the start of the wear. His oil pressure checked out fine (using the oil bypass filter line to check). Not a terrible job but it does cost money. We used Franko6's cam from tdiclub along with his reusable bolts and modified cam bearings. The bearings are noted to have wear on the oposite side of the ALH and previous engine as the added injectors running off the cam force the cam down rather then up like previous cams. There wasn't an change where the oil was added into the bearings and the theory is that that is part of the issue causing the cam to wear is the oil is getting too hot as not enough oil flow is happening in the head. The hot oil in the lifters running off the same oil galley then boils and lifts the lifter into the cam the whole revolution rather then at the lob only and that making the oil even hotter and pushing into the cam even more. The bolt change-since the pressure is down and not up bolts aren't as big an issue but they are good bolts that have been tested in many engines (bew's) before. They are $50 vs the normal $120 or so. The cam was centered more around changing the profile to help with wear as well. As an added benifit most have reported better MPG and HP but that wasn't the center of why Frank changed the cams. So far the only issue I have hear was one person at 200 HP wasn't impressed that he didn't get more HP with the cam. Well-he was already close to the limites of the engine without more $$ to change mulitple things. I have seen a couple issues with the Colt cams and it took a long time for them to be produced as they were having cam blank supply issues. Not saying it is bad but there have been a few that have been cracked. A lot of happy customers there though as well. OEM cams-you all may know about the issues they already have. It is a long experiment but hopfully my brother won't need a cam again for a long long time. He changed at 138K miles. I have inspected mine ever 10K at oil changes and still no issues on mine (at 137K). Some BEWs are at 350K and on the OEM cam. Some ALH's need a new cam (although cheaper) at 250K. 
 
Brothers car still has an issue with his wippers turning on with the highbeams on and the blinkers are all messed up. The cruise control swith/stock will be getting replaced soon when the part arrives and the ignition switch will also be getting changed (that is the cheaper of the two at $29). Hopefully that solves his issues. Then he needs to do the 500 mile breakin of the cam with "off-road" oil (not EPA qualified but has different aditives). Frank requires after install the first 30 minutes running between 2000-25000 RPM with the oil, then drain and drive the car 500 miles keeping RPM in that range as well as much as possible and then you are good to go. Again-all theories that no one has proved but what can it hurt. 
 
Father had an issue on his car where he about lost the front rim. He notched some vibration. He stopped and tried to move the wheels but nothing happened so he drove straight to a VW dealer (never mind that was 150 miles away). He showwed up (don't know how) and at that point was missing a lug bolt and the others were loose. So he had to buy another rim. He puts a couple thousand miles on a week at times and also isn't mechanical at all. That kind of sealed the deal of him getting a Chevy as the next vehicle as there is a Chevy dealer in about ever town but VW's dealers are very scarce and few know how to work on them if there is an issue. He believes they are one of the best built cars out there-he just needs to be able to be serviced where ever he drives (all the states surounding MN). Also-with my brother and I each having kids we either have to drive two vehicles if we go to a place together or someone gets left out and it is a very tight fit in a VW. He is thinking the Equinox Chevy SUV with the small engine and FWD only. While only 5 passanger still the rear does have more room. It is too bad minivans still don't get the best MPG as my brother and I are still trying to convince him to find one of those. Back story on the cars-father has to drive a vehicle under a certain age (based on the miles you drive in a year). So he has an 09 and with the amount of miles he puts on he needs to have a newer one by I think 2014. They took away the company car program but they do pay a certain amount per mile (less per mile the more you drive) but only if you have a car under a certain age. 
 
That is the updates today.
Travis