[Vwdiesel] 82 diesel vanagon passed the diesel emissions test! Diesel Wi...

[LBaird119 at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/13/2002 8:09:32 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
jon.sykes at ps.ge.com writes:

> He actually mentioned that diesels perform
>  better in cold weather.

  That makes sense since it would give you more dense air.  Sort of like a
VERY mild supercharger.  ;-)

>  Last but not least mentioned that I should not be afraid to
>  work the engine, that it's better to give it the revs and max speed in each
>  gear when need be (especially on hills, hiway, etc.), rather than pussyfoot
>  and labor the engine

  I was told this by our service Mgr. He didn't know just why but had noticed
that the diesels that had been driven softly had more problems/complaints
than the ones that were driven hard.  Scott was recently told to drive his
harder too I believe.  He was told it keeps the carbon from building up on
the valves, which were nearly choking off his intake.

Said that 4th gear is really an overdrive!  I'm not
>  100% sure about this though.

  Several VW's did have overdrive in 4th.  Ever notice an "E" 4 speed in
a Rabbit?  Otherwise While they were an overdrive it's only a .97 or .91.
Then consider that the final drives on VW's are generally lower than most
RWD American cars which we're used to hearing gear ratios for.

I'd like to get many miles out of this engine
>  before it needs a rebuild (he said 150k is possible as long as the oil's
>  changed every 2500 miles) and don't want to lower the mpg too much.

  Wow, that seems a little excessive with today's oils.  Of course having
the oil tested would confirm this.  The manuals for the Rabbits say every
7500.  I do every 5000 partly because 7500 seems high and also because
5000 mile increments are easy to remember.  :)

Driving
>  the van through its full capacity and not being afraid to use 3rd gear up
to
>  40 or 45 mph is quite a different diesel vanagon experience.  Can keep up
>  with the flow of traffic much better.  Like I said though, I'm worried that
>  driving her this way could do some damage or wear the engine out faster.
>  Anyway, I'm one happy camper (and all set to do some camping).

  I've always driven the crud out of the Rabbit.  Now they are higher geared
but I'll run it up to 60 in third.  It'll do a tad over that but by then it
will handle
a shift to 4th on the worst of hills and loads.  It's kind of scary to listen
to
it but it does keep the carbon blown out of it and I've never come close to
breaking anything.  I don't run it like that all the time but I do stomp it
in
each gear until decently wound up before I shift and do the same in the
next gear.  It's not quite as good on mileage that way but a happy medium
pretty well does both.  I manage to out accelerate most of the traffic
this way as well.  :)  Makes driving a "gutless" diesel much more fun!
     Loren