[Vwdiesel] Basic questions from diesel owner wannabe

[Doyt W. Echelberger]

At 03:20 PM 9/18/2005, you wrote:
>What with tightening oil supplies and the fact that my employer is
>moving (and lengthening my commute) in mid-2006, I'm starting to take a
>look at diesels. I've had an '87 Audi 4000 quattro and belonged to the
>quattro list at www.audifans.com, so finding my way to this list was
>pretty simple. In perusing the archives, I recognized (so far) one
>person I know from the  quattro list, Doyt Echelberger.
>
>I'd love to have a new TDI, but barring my winning the lotto, I think
>an early-90s Golf or Jetta ECODiesel would fit my budget--preferably a
>Jetta for the larger trunk. Are these cars fairly troublefree? (I've
>never owned a rice burner in my life, and I'm asking for reasonable
>reliability, not Toyota reliability.) Any particularly good or bad
>years, or problem areas to look for? I'm sure I won't get the
>performance of my 4kq, but can they get out of their own way?

..................I'll rise to some of those questions....the early-90s 
Golf or Jetta ECODiesel were not very popular because they were a bit loggy 
compared to earlier VW diesels. It had to do with the environmental 
regulations and the technology that was required. So not as many got out 
there into the US market. Overall quality was headed downward for VW since 
the middle 80's, in my opinion. But they don't have the high-tech 
electronics that plagued (?) later diesels.
I drove a few, but never owned one because my 85 Jetta TD was_ much 
_snappier, and seemed indestructible....so I just kept it and still drive it.

Incidentally, I also owned an 86 4kq, and thought it was the best handling 
car I_ ever _owned. I ALSO own and still drive 1987 Audi 5ktq, and a 1985 
Jetta TurboDiesel, and can compare the vehicles.

My 85 Jetta is not the greatest handling car I have ever owned, but it 
isn't a Yugo or a Renault Dauphine. Amazingly enough, it does go over 
bumps, railroad tracks, and corduroy roads almost as well as my 87 5ktq.... 
But that is the only way it compares to the great cars we have owned. It is 
much more softly sprung and isn't as solid and tight as either Audi.  It is 
a lighter car but has lots of interior room, good seats, and huge trunk. My 
wife liked driving it when it was newer.

It had_ lots _of body leaks that ended in an inch of water in the footwells 
and total replacement of all the cabin footwell carpeting, padding, and 
insulation.

One leak was in the seals of the tail lights, and another in the sheets of 
plastic under the door panels.......the sheets were there to deflect water 
that entered from the window seals, but instead of deflecting it into the 
door drains, is was shunted into the space under the door panels and it ran 
out at the bottoms of the panels and found its way to the footwells. And I 
had to enlarge the umbrella effect of the actual mushroom-shaped cover over 
the fresh air intake in the wiper bay ahead of the windshield.

I've replaced inner and outer tie rod ends.

The headliner came loose and drooped, starting at the rear window.

The 5 spd tranny stopped working properly after about 5 years, and I 
swapped in a used replacement from a wreck in Michigan. That replacement is 
still OK. Every few years I have to replace some parts of the shift 
linkage. VW Rabbit GTI trannies are pretty close to the diesel tranny if 
you ever have to replace one.

The headlights are at least as bad as those on the original 87 5ktq......or 
your old 4kq, and you KNOW what I mean.

The diesel engine warped its head at about 150k miles and I the head 
gasket. It may have to be done again in a year or two. They do that now and 
then/

The low oil pressure light flickered all the time and the low oil pressure 
buzzer was annoying, so I disabled them both and use VDO gauges from FLAPS 
(after measuring oil pressures with a shop gauge.)

The air intake/filter box rattles and hums and even howls, all at 
different  RPMs, and it drives me crazy or crazier, whatever. I though 
about replacing it with a racing filter, but couldn't find on locally that 
fit right off the shelf. And $50-$$100 looked like the direction of a fix. 
So I have the box all jammed against the frame with bumpers and pads, and 
it is a little better.

Body is amazingly salt resistant, with shiny paint yet at age 20 years. 
Amazing, actually.

The engine requires new glow plugs every 4-5 years. And I think I put in a 
new radiator once, and I know I replaced the heater core under warranty.





>  How easy
>will it be to pry one loose? I have the 4kq in the meantime and am
>prepared to wait for a good diesel Golf/Jetta to come up. Yes, I know
>they sold only 47 '92 Jetta ECODiesels in the States, and if I can find
>one, well and good, but I don't plan to hold out for one! :) I'm in the
>Seattle area, BTW.
>
>Thanks for your thoughts.
>
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>
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