[Vwdiesel] Talking about cooling - The demise of a diesel bunny

[Duncan L. Forbes]

Last night my friend Joe, who had bought an 84 diesel rabbit a few months
ago from fellow lister Kris, drove up in a new Kia wagon. When he got out, I
asked him if they had traded in their Jeep Cherokee (his wife's rig). He
said no, that the Rabbit had burned up.

I was shocked as Kris had done lots of work on the car and it was in good
shape. This is why I had recommended that Joe (a not very mechanical guy)
buy the car. He is a salesman that travels a lot so the high fuel economy
was a real selling point.

Well, on Saturday he was up in Seattle calling on clients when he noticed a
loss of power and a huge cloud of smoke behind the car. He managed to coast
off the road and into a Kia dealership. One of the mechanics at the
dealership came out and popped the hood to find that the somehow the belts
had come off and the engine had massively overheated. Coolant was in the oil
and coming out the tailpipe. It wouldn't start back up as the battery was
dead too as the alternator belt was off as well. They then tried jumping it
and it would turn over but not fire. So the pistons hadn't seized but
definite loss of compression.

So needing another car immediately he purchased a Kia on the spot. The
Rabbit was donated to a charitable organization up in Seattle before I had a
chance to talk to him. I would have liked to have the car as a rebuild
project.

I don't know how Joe didn't notice that the belts had come off as I would
imagine that there were at least some noises as they smacked around under
the hood. He also must not have seen his temp gauge climbing fast. However,
as I said, he is not very mechanical. It is a pity as I am sure that the car
will end up in the junk yard now.