[Vwdiesel] No Power, bogging down, etc

[David Cook]

All-

My Cabriolet (w/'81 Rabbit NA motor) suddenly has no
power.

Here's what happened:

Yesterday, after finally getting everything set up, I
was able to put some veg oil in the tank.  (I haven't
been able to do it since the end of July.)  I had
maybe 1-2 gallons of diesel fuel left in the tank,
then put 4-5 gallons of vegoil in.  Later I went
straight from my house to the gas station to top it
with diesel, which is like 5 blocks from my house.

As I was getting into the driveway of the gas station,
it was suddenly like it had run out of fuel or
something, the engine would barely chug along.

I managed to get it to the pump and fill it up, put in
about 6 gallons.  

After starting it, I could barely get it to move. 
Sometimes if I stomped on the accelerator, it will rev
up prettymuch like normal.  Other times, it will
barely chug along, then eventually rev up.  It was
very difficult getting the car home.

Few questions:  How long would it take for the pure
diesel fuel that is in the pump to be used up?  I
guess I wouldn't expect it to have been comtaminated
too much by the thicker veg oil in the very few blocks
it takes me to drive to the gas station.  Before I
moved to my current house, I would drive several more
blocks before getting to the gas station with no
problems, so I'm not convinced that is the real issue.

I gave up on driving the cabriolet last night, and
plugged it into the block heater.

This morning, I went to start it.  It started okay,
and revved up pretty well with no indication of having
any real problems.  I let it sit and idle for a couple
minutes to help the engine warm up.

So, I started off to work.  It drove fine until about
when I needed to shift, then all of a sudden it lost
all power again.

Getting it back home was just as difficult as
yesterday, except luckily I had only driven about a
half a block.

Anybody have any ideas?  It was cool yesterday, but
not cold-maybe 60s.  And, it was the very same veg oil
from the same place I've been getting it for over a
year, so no change there.  I tend to think the timing
was more of a coincidence than anything else.  

I did change the inline fuel filter pre filter
yesterday afternoon in case it was plugged, but that
has made no difference.

Sandy?  Any thoughts?

Thanks,
David


David Cook
Red '86 Cabriolet Diesel Powered
Red '90 g60 Corrado 
Brown and White '78 Westy Campmobile "Bear"
and others in various states of disrepair
Pictures here: community.webshots.com/user/superdave5599



 
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