[Vwdiesel] fuel consumption during idle?CCCcccold here !

[Val Christian]

Mike, 

Been there.  I beleive the rule I used was 1 gal / 3-4 hours.  Sometimes
I got much better.  I vaguely recall 1 gal/6 hours in warm WX.

Perhaps Hagar has data from his test set.  But the bottom line is that 
you can run for  a couple of days on a tank.

One strategy I had with a 2M ham repeater, was to park my Rabbit on 
a hill top, and run off battery.  Periodic racharge of the battery
at 2000 rpm, then back to battery.  Parking with the nose pointed down hill
increased the chances of a restart if I overslept (or equivalent).
Oh, this was for emergency repeater operations. 

Sorry, my brain is cold.  -8F outside right now.  The low at my place
was -16.5F at 3:30 or so in the morning.   The curse of clear nights.
When I started my car this morning, the temp in a nearby town (reported 
on the broadcast radio) was -11F.

Before you get heaters, etc. let's have a conversation.  I've dealt with 
quite a bit of fuel and starting problems over the years.  Email me your
phone number, and some good times to call.  I could probably call you 
Saturday.

Questions I'll start asking are:
compression
injector patterns
timing
cranking RPM (without starting)
cranking current
etc.
Knowing that you won't be able to answer all of them.

I can tell you that a poor compression Rabbit, with bad injectors 
can be almost unstartable at a temp like 0F, but at 20F it'll start OK,
after a little cranking, and with a cloud of white smoke.  The same car 
will have absolutely no problem at 40F.  To a degree, cold starting is
a good overall test of the health of your system, which you already 
know.  


Val



> 
> Does anyone have any data (empircal, anecdotal or otherwise) on how much
> fuel a 1.6L diesel engine will consume per hour if it's idling , cold start
> knob pulled out, 
> with the outside temps hovering around -20*C ??
> 
> Anyone have any guesses even?....if I get some good figures from you guys I
> probably won't perform any tests with this weekend, otherwise, my driveway
> will be a test-bed for a fuel consumption idle analysis study..
> 
> I can get an Espar (coolant) heater for around $700 (barely used)
> (bro-in-law is a dealer/installer), but I just don't have it ($$) right
> now......
> 
> Gotta figure out a way to turn this Bondo Golfy into a daily driver before
> June ;-)
> No place to plug it in at work....the burnt glowplug is being difficult and
> I've done everything else already....synthetic oil, big (new) battery
> 1000cca, #1AWG starter wire....3 GP's working.
> 
> Mike in NB
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Vwdiesel mailing list
> Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
>