[Vwdiesel] Re: top speed for 82 Rabbit 1.6L NA

[Mark Laplante]

I thought I might be lucky enough to get a response from Hagar. I guess I didn't go back in the archives quite far enough, but I'll go do that. Thanks to others for your suggestions as well. Looks like I may try to play with the fueling screw to activate the 007 feature.

I was able to pass 75 mph the other day after a slight downhill (like an overpass). Going back on the uphill side slows to around 70 mph though. Top speed seems very grade dependent.

I will check the throttle travel. There is an aftermarket (Dana Corp, Toledo, OH) cruise system installed which I plan to remove -- it's possible it is restricting the movement of the throttle cable. It was non-functional when I got the car and I clipped the wires to the control unit on the dash, but they could be repaired. When I get it out, I'll send the parts to anyone who wants to play with them (that includes control module, wiring harness, sender from brake pedal, vacuum pump (I think)... might need to post some pictures for help in determining what is stock and what can be removed -- stay tuned. Photo of the underdash control module here: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=851037)

Car has 116K miles and counting. I can only trust that the PO was honest about the odometer -- seems about right based on Carfax registration info.

Just had the following changed: timing belt (old one had unknown mileage), water pump, front and right side motor mounts, fuel filter, air filter, replaced a leaky oil seal (forget which one at the moment), valve cover gasket and added the oil splash shield under the valve cover. This was all done by an independent VW/Audi shop with a good reputation. They also adjusted the valve clearance (I think that is what it is called -- the process where you use shims).

Flooring the accelerator does extinguish the upshift light, but that may have no relationship to the throttle setting -- not sure.

Glow plugs seem OK (but it's summer so hard to tell). After the dash light goes out, the car starts immediately. It's been started down to about 50F -- the colder it is, the longer it takes the white smoke to go away, but usually all gone within 10-20 seconds. I usually apply a little throttle to smooth out the idle and help get rid of the smoke -- sometimes I'm told to upshift -- doesn't seem quite right, but whatever.

Tell me if anything I'm doing sounds bad. I had an 81 Rabbit in college about a decade ago. Traded it in for a 95 Jetta (gasser) when it had problems with the fuel pump losing prime (I think) and a leaky fuel tank. Hard to say -- might have been a glow plug problem. I was young and dumb and lived in the city in Philly, parking on the street where I could not plug in the block heater and it just got to the point it would not start. In retrospect, I should have tried to fix it. I seem to remember it having more power, higher top speed than the current one, but I'm not certain.

I won't get a chance to experiment until Saturday. Thanks for all the advice. Great list!

Mark




>From: "H .Hagar" <h_hagar at prcn.org>
>To: <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
>Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 12:19:53 -0700
>Subject: [Vwdiesel] top speed for 82 Rabbit 1.6L NA ---( here is hagars take on it )
>
>This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
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>[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
>Firstly take the time and read a bit in archives 2002.      If there is a f=
>lat spot in the power at or before full pedal  it indicates lack of fuel.  =
> There are two possibilities    Fueling screw set too low  or there is a fu=
>el restriction somewhere.(Say screen in tank or fuel filter). The transmiss=
>ion number is easy to read -- look at bottom of bellhousing.   If you have =
>a GL xxxxx it should go a lot faster.Mine goes way faster than 72 MPH.   Do=
> test with window closed. Now if you have a GC xxxxx tranny then expect it =
>to be slower.   First turn the fueling screw in a 1/4 turn  and let us know=
> it should belch black smoke at full power.Then you can fine tune it by tur=
>ning it out in very small moves.        Mine went so fast that I was worrie=
>d about tickets  the limit was 120 Km/h        it went a lot faster than th=
>at   its a 1982  Rabbit 1.6L NA with 300 000 Km on clock.             Pleas=
>e give us more details like what kind of fuel and how much on the clock.   =
>       Hagar.
>--
>
>