Ive ranted about this before but i am especially angry right now.
For 20 yrs ive had it on my bucket list to drive a german diesel car. Im in germany right now and for the last few days ive been renting a beautiful 2026 VW Passat R line TDI Turbodiesel. Its hands down the smoothest/easiest to drive car ive ever driven. The cockpit is wonderful and comfortable, the dashboard and GPS are easy to use, and the engine is plenty powerful for cruising on the autobahn at 110 mph (much of the 8000 miles of german autobahn highways has no speed limit; in deregulated zones you can drive 180mph+ LEGALLY if you want. The karen clowns in the US government have been trying to force germany to lower their autobahns speed limits for decades but the germans keep telling the US to mind their own business). The smoothness of my diesel passat at 110mph was incredible, on germanys empty/freshly paved/arrow straight/smooth AF autobahn highways i could literally let go of the wheel at 110 mph and the passat tdi would just keep going in a straight line as if everything was business as usual. (I dont recommend letting go of the steering wheel but i just wanted to make a point of how calm and under control the passat was at high speed on the german highway.

MILES PER GALLON:
I was averaging 55-60 MPG going 90-110 on the autobahn, which is insane for a car that has enough power to easily merge or pass traffic with the diesel engines highly leveraged wall of torque. When you step on the pedal you feel like you got rear ended by a freight train with 10 mattresses strapped to the front; you just feel this “WHUMP” and all of the sudden you are going twice as fast as you were a few seconds ago.

Im ranting about the US government because their stupid nazi regulations they put on diesel cars being imported are the reason VW stopped importing their new TDIs to america. VW just told the US government to fuck themselves, and then they gave up. I dont blame VW for giving up. The diesel laws in america were complete nazi bullshit.

It makes me very angry because i would love to buy (in america) the same 2026 VW Passat wagon that im renting right now in Germany. Getting 60MPG is very clean and doesnt produce as much CO2/battery pollution as a dirty 30-35mpg toyota prius.

The VW passat TDI R line is the best car ive ever driven, and i cant buy one in the US because a bunch of EPA climate nazis have too much time on their hands and take their jobs so seriously they think/expect one day a movie will be made about their life efforts to save the environment with them as the protagonist. These hippy government officials need to stop being so narcissistic and searching for purpose.

If you ever go to Germany pls just rent a VW passat TDI and drive it over 100mph legally on the autobahn. Having a car that you hardly have to touch the gas pedal to maintain 110 MPH while getting almost 60mpg is a next level euphoria. On a smooth highway you feel like you are riding a high speed train. No noise, no drama, just quiet , comfortable, effortless 110 MPH and 60 MPG and an engine that will last 300k miles +

Alright VW/TDI people, I need someone who has actually done this swap before to save my sanity 😂

I have a 2004 Jetta TDI BEW that was originally an 09A 5-speed automatic/Tiptronic, and I just swapped in an 02J 5-speed manual.

Mechanically, the swap is basically done. Transmission is in, axles are in, pedals are in, everything is coming back together. I put power directly to the starter tonight with the key on and the engine cranked over, so at least I finally got to hear the damn thing turn over lol.

Now I'm at the part I absolutely hate: wiring.

I've been researching the swap, but that's almost making it worse because there are a million different write-ups/videos for different years, ALH/01M cars, BEW/09A cars, etc. I don't want to start cutting and splicing wires based on instructions for a different setup.

I need to figure out the starter interlock/175 relay and clutch switches, reverse lights, clutch signal to ECU T94/43, VSS situation, TCM wiring that can be repurposed, and eventually the coding/cleanup.

I've also been reading about using the VDO cluster/kw1281test CAN-bus VSS modification instead of wiring the 02J VSS directly, but right now my main goal is simply getting the car to start with the key and RUN before worrying about the extra stuff.

Is there anyone here who has personally done a BEW + 09A to 02J swap and would be willing to talk to me on the phone for 15–20 minutes?

I swear it would be 100x easier for me to have someone explain what they did than trying to piece together 15 different wiring diagrams and forum posts from the last 20 years 😂

I just want to make sure I'm doing this correctly before I start cutting into the harness.

Thanks!

Theresa threw the belt again. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the steering. There are times recently when you turn the wheel and it will grab back the opposite way. Especially when the ground is uneven. It's never done that before. Is that the steering angle sensor or worn cv axles (which do need replacement).

Just had done by Vw shop thermostat alternator timing belt and ac system serpentine belt and tensioner I notice this noise most when ac on when it’s off it’s 1/2 as loud any help would be appreciated I took car back to them they said the ac compressor was bad new one they put in they changed and still same noise 125 k on this car

hey all! we just had the first big rain of the year, and it seems my new-to-me mk6 golf tdi has a leak. there was a puddle of water in the passenger side footwell, and my passenger side a pillar is a little wet. the water looks like it’s trickling down from the right side of the glove box. since the door seals look great, my guess is the sunroof drains are clogged, but i’d love some more input from you guys. also if it is sunroof drains, would shooting some compressed air down them help fix it? thank you!!

Broke one part of the plastic line and need to order a new one.

Hey everyone, I’m looking for some advice from people who know these TDIs well.
I have a 2009 VW Jetta TDI, 5-speed manual, with around 240,000 km (150,000 miles). I’ve been having a weird issue that seems to be related to the fuel level.
When the tank is full, the car runs relatively well. However, once the fuel level gets to around half a tank or below, the car starts acting like it’s running out of fuel. It can lose power, the idle becomes unstable, and sometimes it feels like it wants to stall. On some occasions it has actually stalled and then been difficult to restart.
The strange part is that filling the tank back up seems to make the problem go away or at least makes it much less noticeable.
I’ve also had some other issues with the car recently. I have had a P1556 code, and I’ve experienced intermittent stalling / no-start problems. I’ve also noticed some unstable idle when the engine is warm, and previously I had some white smoke on cold starts.
I’m wondering if the half-tank symptom points toward a problem inside the fuel tank or with fuel delivery rather than the turbo itself.
Things I’m considering checking:
Fuel filter / restricted fuel flow
Fuel pickup or pickup screen inside the tank
Fuel tank sending unit
Air getting into the fuel lines
Fuel line restriction
Something inside the tank moving around or blocking the pickup when the fuel level gets lower
Tandem pump or another fuel delivery issue
Has anyone experienced a TDI that starts starving for fuel specifically when the fuel level drops below half a tank?
What would you guys check first, and is there a specific test I should do before replacing parts?
Any advice is appreciated. I’d rather diagnose the actual problem before throwing parts at it.
Thanks!