[Vwdiesel] idle switch, diesel leak, oily engine block

[Mark LaPlante]

So, about a week ago I pulled the 82 Rabbit into the garage to replace 
its leaky hatch seal. As I removed the old one, the dried out headliner 
fabric disintegrated so I'm going to have to put in a new headliner too 
(mostly likely will just take it to a local upholstery shop). Anyhow, I 
decided to call it a night and think about it. I put some newspaper 
down under the engine compartment since I was hoping to find where I'm 
getting occasional half dollar sized oil spots from.

Christmas intervened and four or five days later I went back out to the 
garage and found a nice spot of diesel soaked into the newspaper about 
2 feet in diameter. Fortunately, my garage is uncarpeted.

I guess maybe this contributes to why my mileage has dropped to about 
40 mpg. (that and perhaps winter fuel).

So, I can't really see where the leak is coming from (fuel filter, fuel 
lines, and injectors are all dry). My best determination is from the 
area of the back of the pump where the cold start cable connects. 
Possibly related -- I've been parking with the cold start knob out 
since the cable movement is a little stiff when the engine is not 
running and I've already broken one cold start knob. Any suggestions? A 
side concern is that it seems that the diesel leaked onto the lower 
radiator hose -- not sure how long it can take it.

As for the idle switch, I found it had come loose in the engine 
compartment. So, can someone tell me what is its normal orientation? 
Also, what is its function? I hadn't noticed any running problems 
(other than decreased mileage).

The head gasket seems to be weeping oil onto the engine block, but not 
enough to change the level on the dipstick (still reads full about 1500 
miles since the last oil change). Should I be concerned? No starting 
problems down to around 25 F so far. When its that cold, it takes about 
5 seconds of cranking with partially depressed accelerator for the 
engine to catch completely and run on its own. White smoke throughout 
the process.

Happy New Year,

Mark