2003 Jetta VR6 2.8L, 6 speed tarns

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I recently acquired the Jetta VR6 as a payment for some money that I loan to a friend. The Jetta was mainly driven to high school by his oldest son and know at Miami had no need for the car. It was mainly sitting the back of the yard before this year. It took me 2 days to get it clean. The car has 88K on the odometer and needs lots of TLC they never did any PM's besides new battery and some oil changes.

Can you help me with some of the weak points of this version of car and what oil should I used???

I run 5-40 Rotella on my Volvo Turbo and have few jugs on hand. I pulled the spark plugs and they where the original plus NGK brand Vols-wagon/ Audi.

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VR6 are very very solid motors, 5/40 works well. My buddy runs 10 or 15/40 in his older 98, no timing chain noise at all. Suspension can add up quickly, shocks front and rear, amrs, beam bushings in the back etc. Definitely throw a whole service at it, plugs air cabin fuel etc. Coil packs can be hit or miss, try to find the best one out there if it fails, with a good warranty. Other than that, just keep up with it, address things as they come up and dont push serious stuff off. The mk4s are a great deal.
 
The 24V VR6 was a great engine, but only saw action for a few years, so parts are a bit harder to find than the earlier 12V VR6.

I'd check suspension components (control arm bushings in the front for sure) and replace with good-quality parts (bilstein, OEM, etc). FCPEuro.com is a great lifetime-warranty source for all things VW.

Get Pentosin or OEM fluids (except for oil). The Rotella you mentioned will be a great oil for this engine. It's what I run in all my early-2000 VWs.

There are a lot of odds-and-ends that go on these, but this is probably the BEST car for quality DIY articles online. VWVortex, as well as TDIClub (for non-diesel-specific items) are your go-tos. By 2003, VW ironed out most of the early-build issues.

I would recommend getting a VCDS cable, or at least a knock-off (they works just as well) to scan codes. People that speak ill of VWs most likely don't have the cable and therefore are diagnosing things blindly. The computers on these cars pretty much diagnose themselves if you have a way to read out the data.

Great car! I would love to have such a low mileage specimen!
 
Thanks for the Vortex forum just register. I'll look into VCDS cable, I do have a scanner that does Volvo stuff and is great for this cars.

FCPEuro is my favorite place for euro parts and their warranty is the best.
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VR6? I thought they were known for timing chain problems? and with the chain on the back, it usually spelled the end of the car? Or was that fixed by this model year?

Automatic or manual? It looks of the vintage of the dreaded 4AT era.

That's my only knowledge. Get a scan tool and have fun, I recall VR6's being fast rides.
 
Originally Posted by LazyDog
Thanks for the Vortex forum just register. I'll look into VCDS cable, I do have a scanner that does Volvo stuff and is great for this cars.

FCPEuro is my favorite place for euro parts and their warranty is the best.
banana2.gif



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The reason I suggest to get the VCDS cable is it can access all the specific VW modules and can reprogram everything from engine to transmission to window regulators to radio to ABS pump. Then again, I'm not as familiar with OEM-agnostic cables, so this could be standard.
 
Originally Posted by LazyDog
Thanks for the Vortex forum just register. I'll look into VCDS cable, I do have a scanner that does Volvo stuff and is great for this cars.

FCPEuro is my favorite place for euro parts and their warranty is the best.
banana2.gif



01.gif


The reason I suggest to get the VCDS cable is it can access all the specific VW modules and can reprogram everything from engine to transmission to window regulators to radio to ABS pump. Then again, I'm not as familiar with OEM-agnostic cables, so this could be standard.

Originally Posted by supton
VR6? I thought they were known for timing chain problems? and with the chain on the back, it usually spelled the end of the car? Or was that fixed by this model year?

Automatic or manual? It looks of the vintage of the dreaded 4AT era.

That's my only knowledge. Get a scan tool and have fun, I recall VR6's being fast rides.


The 24V got the updated automatic transmission, but this sounds like a 5-speed car.

The timing chain is an issue, but I believe less-so than the older 12V.
 
Originally Posted by Audios
VR6 are very very solid motors, 5/40 works well. My buddy runs 10 or 15/40 in his older 98, no timing chain noise at all. Suspension can add up quickly, shocks front and rear, amrs, beam bushings in the back etc. Definitely throw a whole service at it, plugs air cabin fuel etc. Coil packs can be hit or miss, try to find the best one out there if it fails, with a good warranty. Other than that, just keep up with it, address things as they come up and dont push serious stuff off. The mk4s are a great deal.
I thought by 2003 the rear beam bushings were better than the older ones? I owned a 2000 and it needed them at 190k km and my 03 has 210k km on it now and they are fine.

Nice low mileage VR6 and it doesn't look too rusty behind the front wheels. I'd be all over that in a heartbeat, 2003+ are a lot nicer than the earlier MK4s and you get an extra 12 valves in that VR6.
 
Originally Posted by spavel6
Originally Posted by supton
VR6? I thought they were known for timing chain problems? and with the chain on the back, it usually spelled the end of the car? Or was that fixed by this model year?

Automatic or manual? It looks of the vintage of the dreaded 4AT era.

That's my only knowledge. Get a scan tool and have fun, I recall VR6's being fast rides.


The 24V got the updated automatic transmission, but this sounds like a 5-speed car.

The timing chain is an issue, but I believe less-so than the older 12V.

Seeing this thread today makes me think it's a 6MT, based on the thread title which I must have not read yesterday.
 
Originally Posted by supton
Originally Posted by spavel6
Originally Posted by supton
VR6? I thought they were known for timing chain problems? and with the chain on the back, it usually spelled the end of the car? Or was that fixed by this model year?

Automatic or manual? It looks of the vintage of the dreaded 4AT era.

That's my only knowledge. Get a scan tool and have fun, I recall VR6's being fast rides.


The 24V got the updated automatic transmission, but this sounds like a 5-speed car.

The timing chain is an issue, but I believe less-so than the older 12V.

Seeing this thread today makes me think it's a 6MT, based on the thread title which I must have not read yesterday.

If this is 6MT, OF COURSE he will keep it!
 
The car does have a 6 speed manual trans and it does pull very hard. I need to fix the muffler leak and do an oil change on the gear box with
Red line gear oil and see how it runs in the highway.
 
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