ALH VNT 17 questions

Hey everybody. I just want to say I've been driving mk4 diesels for nearly 8 years now.

My turbo is basically stuck and I want to order a VNT 17 to replace it. I bought the car off a friend who I've personally seen drive the car 10 years prior. Good mechanic. He says he put in perfect spray nozzles (I will check with him to make sure exactly which ones he put in). There is also an upgraded pump (does anyone know the number and where to check which pump I have?). And I have a tuner. I don't know exactly what name the tuner is, its not a name I hear too often.

Will the vnt 17 upgrade turbo produce dangerous boost?

Do I need a 3 bar MAP sensor?

If so, do I need to calibrate my tuner to accepting it?

If so, how do I go about that?

I want to do 3" if possible, I actually found that a 3" turbo back was cheaper on amazon and thinking of piecing a 3" straight pipe all the way back

Do I need the 1 3/4 billet adapter from kermatdi to integrate this? I'm pretty sure I do..

I've been doing alot of research but theres so much contradictory information that I have been weeding through. thank you for reading.

That turbo will not produce much more that whatever it’s tuned for now. Fuel is always the determining factor to increase boost. I would def recommend a 3bar map. You will definitely need a retune to get the power increase. 3 inch is nonsense for that small of a turbo. The vnt17 does need the adapter coupler or the newer style snap in hose.

Hope that helps.

From what I've read, I've seen that a 3" wouldn't exactly hurt either. The temptation to do so is because I found a 3" downpjpe for less than half of what I can find a 2.5" for. I read it was a PITA to install. Also I need the larger pipe diameter size to compensate for other areas, in which are lacking.

No it won’t hurt at all. Just not needed in the least for that small of a turbo and power outlook. My 2.5 was a little bit of a pain bolting it on the turbo being larger than stock so I’m sure 3” is probably worse. Just my opinion. I get what you mean going cheaper. I did full 5” on my Cummins because it was cheaper than a 4”-5” turbo back.

Will the vnt 17 upgrade turbo produce dangerous boost?
changing your turbo does not make higher boost without remapping., ecu is asking for stock vnt15 boost levels.
Do I need a 3 bar MAP sensor?
3 bar map sensor is safe for around 1.6bar boost (400mbar left hysteresis for overboost triggering). some tuners will go up to 2 bar boost with 3 bar sensor, but since theyre at around same price GO WITH 4BAR
If so, do I need to calibrate my tuner to accepting it?
Yes, a different map sensor is calibrated into ecu.
If so, how do I go about that?
tell your tuner your map sensors part number
I want to do 3" if possible, I actually found that a 3" turbo back was cheaper on amazon and thinking of piecing a 3" straight pipe all the way back
do ot

Oh boy....

Can I calibrate map sensor through VagCom? I borrow a friends and am not all too savvy with the program.
.

No, you will not be able to calibrate the map scaling with Vagcom. You will either need to get a new tune, or learn how to tune it yourself and get the necessary tools to do so.

Great. Is there some source that I can look at to reasonably look at attempting to tune it myself. Most likely I won't have the time to mess around, however if it involves disassembling the tuner and replacing resistors or whatnot or something along those lines I would consider attempting it. I mean I don't know. I have no idea what the route to "learning how to tune it myself" with an existing plug in tuner which I still don't remember the brand and type of tuner it is. all I know is, it dumps more fuel when its plugged in.

Essentially you have to copy the maps from the ecm. Then use an editor to adjust fueling, boost, egr if you desire, ect.... Thought about doing it myself, but decided to go through someone so I could maintain reliability.

Being cheap will not always produce good results. Best to do homework before biting the bullet.

Cheap tuner and many highly recommended is Jeff Stevenson via facebook. I have mk4 ALH recently bought also. Here’s his quote,

Are you going to do a clutch as well? If so with nozzles 3 bar and vnt17 I can do a stage 4 for $150 usd plus a 75$ core on the ecu that ill return one you ship it back. Im going to go for southbend clutch stage 2.


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Unless tuning is something that interests you or plan to make some money doing it I don’t think it is useful to do. Cheaper and less headache in my mind to let an actual tuner do all of it for you.

No Cat and NY... does not always mix...

A 3" cat back is not about necessity, it's about throaty sound. If it's cheap, you most likely get what you pay for. But it won't make your car necessarily go faster.

Which leads to tuning. Sure, you can do anything you put your mind and money to. I don't know Jeff Stevenson, but I do know Jeff Robertson. Rocketchip... He's been tuning a long time. He knows the tunes and I usually buy 'boiler plate' tunes. You give the parameters, he makes the tune. I usually figure what goal you have set, then provide component to that level. We prefer avoiding the Chinese turbos. There are a lot of bad choices out there. I think you can boost the turbo so it's dangerous for the 17 turbo.

What nozzles and who did them 'perfectly'? In spite of the talk, bigger nozzles and turbo will do more even without a tune. Many people upgrade injectors and our Stage II cam and are happy...at least for a while. The tune will maximize the effect of the parts installed. Many of these parts are 'potential'. For example, VNT-17, 520 injectors, 3-bar map, Stage II cam with mild port and an RC III or IV tune will get you where the stock clutch will slip. South Bend? Maybe. Stage II Clutch? Which One? Even there, it's a matter of what horsepower you expect, whether you buy a Daily Driver SBC rated for maybe 160hp or the Endurance that gets you around 200hp.

We have great choices of clutch kits, that are effective, but it centers around a good, balanced and properly surfaced single mass flywheel. We stick with the Sachs version compatibility.

You have to figure out if you want 100 horsepower or 200. If you want 200, you are looking at the wrong turbo. The last thing you will find it's worth spending your money on is the pipe.

Calimustang...$150 tunes? Where is your vendor's agreement? If you are selling here, you have to meet the requirements.

So, what injectors are they?

Big pipe. Like I said, you being New Yorker, you may have to pass emission testing.

Look carefully of what I said. I copied and pasted so therefore I am not selling it. I refuse to violate the forum rules.


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stock turbo, Nozzles with an IP upgrade?????
sounds like someone didnt know much about tuning or just found a really good deal on the pump.

I think I'm gonna go with the KermaTDI Q-Pro Programmer and vnt 17. Tuning wise, should I be able to get a decent tune out of this system? I never used an advanced tuner like this before in anything so I do not know the logistics of running that thing. I already have some **** I messed around with on vag com. I want to do the exhaust, I don't need emission testing. I also have a manual boost controller, sodo you think I should rip that dogs--- out when I do all this?

Franko6 said:

No Cat and NY... does not always mix...
Like I said, you being New Yorker, you may have to pass emission testing.

Click to expand...

We don't have that for a MK4. It's exempt, but it's changed slightly in the last couple years. It used to be a safety inspection for $10 and you're out the door in 5 minutes. Now, they have to plug your car in. It's still exempt, but now they charge us $10 more and a bit more time. My white car is still catless, still passes just fine. We don't have the CARB nonsense and exhaust probes for cars like a mk4, it's not as bad as Cali...for now. My car says PASS in vagcom when i plug that in each time, the same shows up on the machines during inspections. It's just a money grab, it's ny after all.