New Beetle, New Engine.

[CapnDenny1]

Well I've put 1,000 miles on my new engine in my 2003 Turbo Sport. It is running great, better than when I bought it with 20K on it. The Car Doc's shop in St. Louis did a great job. The price went up $800 from their quote. The shop manager claimed it was because of stuff he assumed was included in the long block and wasn't. They also replaced a bunch of plastic fittings that he said just kept on breaking since they were 8 years old with 166K on them. Still to get a new VW factory engine installed for $5400 is pretty good I think. that's what I was getting quoted for a used engine from some other places.

I have a weird problem since they worked on it with the brakes. When I back out of the garage in the morning and hit the brakes I have to pump the brakes a few times to get it to stop. I found that the rear pads were just about gone so this weekend I replaced the pads and rotors on the rear. The front pads still look great.

I can hear the vacuum pump start up when I hit the brakes that first time in the morning and I can feel the pedal go down a bit after it runs. But I still need to pump the pedal. I don't remember the pump running either.

I'm going to check the vacuum lines to the brake booster once I get the hood open. (Another problem since the new engine.)

Has anyone had an aftermarket catalytic converter installed by Midas or Car-X ? They claim they can do it for $300 versus $800 to put an OEM exhaust in there.

[Bluestream]

Thants an expensive engine. I paid $3500 for my whole car, and it is in mint cond.

Good luck though...

[flip240]

The flex fitting on our OEM exhaust broke, so that gave me a chance to install an APR downpipe But if you'd rather have a shop do it; looking at the exhaust, the catalytic converter looks fairly easy to access for an exhaust shop, so it shouldn't be that terrible for them to do or screw up, but for $300 you aren't getting any better quality cat than the OEM or aftermarket.

[Smileybug]

I had my cat replaced at a local muffler shop last year and it cost me less than $200. No issues in the year and a half its been on there.

[Bugg1n]

I used a $65 Magnaflow cat (w/ oxygen sensor fitting) from Ebay and had a muffler shop do the weld.

[simonsi]

Originally Posted by CapnDenny1

I can hear the vacuum pump start up when I hit the brakes that first time in the morning and I can feel the pedal go down a bit after it runs. But I still need to pump the pedal. I don't remember the pump running either.

AFAIK the 1.8 uses manifold vacuum for the brake booster. Diesels use vac pumps as they don't have any manifold vacuum to speak of.

The pump you hear running is probably the Secondary Air Injection pump which is for cold start emissions, not brakes.

After brake work on the rear especially it can be difficult to get the play out of the e-brake system. Try holding the e-brake ON and pressing the brake pedal hard several times with the engine running.

My 2.0 was the same, no air in the brake lines (although it can be worth checking again), gradually disappeared over 100miles or so...

[CapnDenny1]

I found a local shop that replaced my cat with an OEM style cat. About half the shops said they couldn't replace just the cat. Most wanted anywhere from $800-$1100 to replace it. I found a guy that did the entire job for around $600. He said to drive it for a while and bring it back to run the emissions. I've driven it for 4 days now and the CEL came back on!

I guess I'm not surprised, because I know the secondary air pump is bad. I heard it run once a year or so ago and it slowed down and just stopped right after I started the car. I will put it on the scanner tonight, and hopefully it is telling me it is the SAI that is the reason for the CEL.

I hope I didn't spend $600 for nothing. I had two shops tell me the reason for the codes was the cat, so I'm hoping they were right.

I guess I will change out the air pump myself. They are available for $140.

Take care all,

Dennis

[Smileybug]

What were the codes that you actually got?

[CapnDenny1]

The code is

P0411 secondary air injection system incorrect flow.

So I guess I'm buying an air pump.

That's all that came up, so I guess whatever other codes there were have been fixed by the cat replacement.

It will be nice to get this problem corrected finally.

[sb_beetle]

Originally Posted by CapnDenny1

The code is

P0411 secondary air injection system incorrect flow.

So I guess I'm buying an air pump.

That's all that came up, so I guess whatever other codes there were have been fixed by the cat replacement.

It will be nice to get this problem corrected finally.

Make sure you check the hoses from the pump to the air box and combi-valve! I had one at the base of one of the hose ribs and only found it when I could feel air escaping. If indeed you do need a new pump I have a brand new and in box Pierburg.

[CapnDenny1]

I'm pretty sure the pump is bad. t was getting loud for a while and then one morning I heard it come on after starting the engine and it gradually slowed down and stopped, as if something was rubbing against it.

So how much do you want for the pump? What is the model number on the one you have?

[sb_beetle]

Originally Posted by CapnDenny1

I'm pretty sure the pump is bad. t was getting loud for a while and then one morning I heard it come on after starting the engine and it gradually slowed down and stopped, as if something was rubbing against it.

So how much do you want for the pump? What is the model number on the one you have?

PM sent

[CapnDenny1]

I replaced the cat, replaced the air pump. The next morning the new air pump ran but it was really loud. It sounded worse than the old one when it failed. I drove it for 2 days and now the CEL is back on. I haven't read the code out yet, but I assume it's P0411 again. I will check the air pump, because it looks like I have a new air pump that is just bad. What a pain!

Is there anything else that may cause this code to come up?

I think the valve (I forget the name) is working because I was driving it without the air pump for a few days and when I started it cold I could hear the exhaust really loud coming through the empty air injection hose. But after 30 seconds exactly, the valve would close back up and it got quiet again.

Is it possible that this code P0411 "Improper Airflow" could eb caused by some other part that is bad? Or do I just have a bad air pump still?

Thanks for any help.

Dennis