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

[Erik Lane]

it takes work to spin an engine around. that's why
there always needs to be some fuel to keep it idling.
pumping air up to that compression takes some serious
work, especially at high rpms. since a diesel has
higher compression and is so much harder for a starter
to spin than a gas engine, i would think that it would
do even better than a gas engine at engine braking,
but that's not something i actually have any evidence
for.

but i wouldn't advise using engine braking unless
there are exceptional circumstances - ie a VERY long
or steep hill or brakes almost gone. it puts wear on
the clutches inside the tranny to shift from one gear
to another, especially when downshifting to use engine
braking cause then they have to spin up the input
shaft and clutch hardware to the higher rpms. (yes,
even manual trannys have clutches inside - they are
needed to match speeds inside the tranny when shifting
from one gear to another.) brakes are an awful lot
cheaper and easier to replace than ANYTHING tranny
related so i would rather put the wear on them. that's
what they're there for.

and that's really interesting about the upshift
indicator. i didn't know what those switches were for.
my indicator relay went bad and got shorted out. (or
something else shorted and melted it - i don't know
which went first.) so i pulled it out, and now the oil
pressure light doesn't work. but i found a jumper on
another car of mine in place of that car's upshift
relay and played with it and found out that that's
exactly what it's for! so that wiring goes thru there?
i still don't understand it, but haven't had time to
play with it much. i don't know how many systems are
affected by this whole mess, but both cars with the
relays gone now have wiper problems - sometimes they
work but mostly not. i don't know the pattern yet. and
maybe some other electrical problems. seems like maybe
headlights or fan? i suspect the fuse panel, cause i
can't see why they would route all that other stuff
thru that relay. has anyone else had a similar
problem?

thanks
erik 




--- Scott Alexander <salex at dsl.cis.upenn.edu> wrote:
> On Fri, 2004-01-02 at 17:13, Mark LaPlante wrote:
> > I figured that much out.
> 
> Sorry.  :)
> 
> >  I was wondering which way the connector should 
> > be pointed. Or another point of reference is the
> part number stamped on 
> > the part. The accelerator doohickie seems to
> contact the switch 
> > slightly differently depending on how the switch
> is put in. I seemed to 
> > be getting some intermittent continuity to the
> switch with the throttle 
> > at idle. The plunger seems to be separated from
> the baffled grommet 
> > part of the switch. Not sure if that is normal or
> not.
> 
> I can't help on that bit.  A PO removed the upshift
> "relay".  Both of my
> switches have exposed plungers since the rubber boot
> thing is about 50%
> gone.  My conclusion was that I'd take the macho
> approach and figure I
> didn't need a light to tell me when to shift
> (particularly after looking
> at the prices of the bits to put it all back
> together :).
> 
> > I have noticed the upshift light coming on when
> coasting around a 
> > downhill 270 degree offramp. I usually put it into
> third gear, which 
> > brings the rpm up, but I guess I don't really get
> the engine braking of 
> > a gas engine in a diesel, right? Or does the
> compression help slow the 
> > car?
> 
> I'll be interested to hear other answers on this
> since my car is a
> recent acquisition and has spent more time getting
> stuff fixed than on
> the road.  I did, however, do a quick experiment on
> a steep hill with
> the clutch in and out and concluded that I didn't
> feel any engine
> braking.  (Of course the speedo gear was missing
> from the trans when I
> bought the car, so I was going buy seat of pants
> rather than a gauge.)
> 
> Best,
> Scott
> > 
> > Mark
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On Friday, January 2, 2004, at 04:02 PM, Scott
> Alexander wrote:
> > 
> > > Assuming that you are talking about the
> electrical switch which sits on
> > > top of the fuel pump, it should be pointed so
> that the accelerator
> > > doohickie pushes it when the accelerator is not
> being pressed.
> -- 
> Scott Alexander <salex at dsl.cis.upenn.edu>
> 
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