[Vwdiesel] The good the bad and the ugly...

[Chuck Carnohan]

Mark makes some very good points here.  Not all D engines- or Timex
watches for that matter, are created equal.  Standardization and Henry
Ford had a great deal to do with all of this.  When I was a kid my dad
had numerous "Horseless Carriages";  1909 Packard, 1913 Stevens Duryea,
1912 Stutz.... Anyway, those cars were virtually hand-crafted to last
forever with lots and lots of mechanical savvy, maintenance and care.
Of course those early cars were for the rich and famous, affordable to
only a select few.  So, there are trade-offs.  We owners of old diesel
Rabbits and Jettas have the opportunity with patience and lots of parts
gathering to high-grade the perfect transportation for our discreet time
on this earth.  What fun eh?  Just cause we may have started with a
lemon- with a little patience and mechanical persistence we can make our
lemons into lemonade!  The oil is important though!  So is the fuel and
the maintenance and the cleaning and the driving habits, and as Hagar
would say- the art of VW maintenance.  I'm still waiting for the poetry
H.H.!

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Shepherd [mailto:mark at shepher.fsnet.co.uk] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 2004 12:07 PM
To: vwdiesel
Subject: [Vwdiesel] The good the bad and the ugly...


The point I was trying to get at was engines are machined to tolerances
that although small; have a pronounced effect on running...even with the
best oil in the world... this is the same reason burglars can pick
locks! 

The Miser 




Formerly discussion of old/dirty but healthy engine v clean but worn out
newbie... 

Imagine three engines coming off the production line all identical and
going into for example three Rabbits.. 

For simplification we'll call them Tom; Dick & Harry 

Tom a typical car runs well gets treated reasonable and from time to
time has minor faults that require fixing... seals go after 100,000
miles head gasket leaks after 120000' rings gradually wear and replaced
after 150000.... A typical engine?? 

Dick however is a bitch... rings break after 30000. Bores wear quickly;
timing belts need changing between due dates because they tend to fray
on one edge... always runs a little lumpy and 2/3 of the fuel economy of
Tom... Pistons wear oval after 100000... owner glad to see the back of
car..[sells it to Nate ;o)] 

Harry is everyones dream ecoomic from the start...exceeds stated
economy... never any problem old belts look like new belts 100000 miles
owner decides to give the car a birthday ...precautionary replacement
head gasket and whip sump off to check for wear at bottom end... pistons
big ends little ends crank end float: all no perceptable wear No
cylinder wear...nothing... 

My point is excepting abuse engines' destinys are preordained to a great
extent... 
I had a 'Harry' once... unfortunately Harrys body was a little poor and
whilst awaiting repairs was vandalised by some young tearaways.... 
I kept the engine for about 15 years before 'giving' it to a collector
for peanuts.. No it wasnt a VW: :o( .. it was a Fiat sports engine.. 
. 



Mark (The Miser)Uk 
"There's nothing more stimulating than driving past a bonfire and then
realising it's your car that's smokin"

-- 

Whatever you Wanadoo:
http://www.wanadoo.co.uk/time/

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