[Vwdiesel] Eco Diesel conversion to non eco?

Mon May 21 06:02:26 EDT 2007

Scott,

That's about the story.  I bought a 91, non-eco, avoiding what I perceived
as a more complicated eco.  The sales people told me that there would be
92 ecos.  But they would most likely stop in 93.  They sold every diesel
without a problem, but VW didn't export many.  I was also told that the
market was MUCH better in Europe, and that was where VW was focusing.

Don't know the numbers, except that the asking was $10,600, and I paid 
$10,200.  Basically they heard that I was calling around, and found 
the same car in Elmira, NY for $10,200.  

Some 91s were ecos.  Mine was manufactured in 2/91, bought in 6/91.

Val

> 
>  	Mine, a 1992, didn't. But it also didn't have a 140 mph speedometer.
> >From what I've gathered about the Eco, VW was winding down production of the
> 1.6 and knew that either 91 or 92 would be the last model year they were
> exported to the states. Sales had flattened due to cheap fuel after oil war
> I, the mark was up a bit relative to the dollar, and the 1.9 L was nearing
> production. 
> 	Various figures have been floated for total production of the Eco,
> generally under 1500 units for both model years, but I'm suspicious of the
> figures; they seem to be rather available for such limited production.
> Perhaps near the end of the production run, parts like instrument clusters
> were just grabbed off the shelf and installed. That's just speculation,
> though.
> 	Scott 
> 	
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Cook [mailto:vwdieselbunny at yahoo.com] 
> Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2007 10:33 PM
> To: scott3491 at insightbb.com
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Eco Diesel conversion to non eco?
> 
> So the eco didn't come with a tach?
> 
> David
> 
> --- Scott Kair <scott3491 at insightbb.com> wrote:
> 
> > 	With a real & tuned pump and an exhaust system bigger around than a 
> > pencil, I'd expect better fuel economy, too. In town, it was about the 
> > only one of my VWD's that accelerated as well as the rest of the 
> > traffic from stop lights. Since it lacked a tach, I could only guess 
> > that the rpms were considerably higher at hiway speeds; 80 was no 
> > problem, aside from increased vibration and noise.
> > 	Of course, my own standard for comparison was my late Quantum. :)
> > 	I got lucky and found a fan connector belt in a yard, but having the
> 
> > driven fan bearing lock up is very disconcerting. We tried adapting a 
> > Quantum dual fan setup, but couldn't make it fit.
> > Don't know whether any
> > gassers have the driven fan setup. 
> > 	To get to the dicey interlock wires, you have to remove the plastic 
> > cover that's at the top hanger by the door pillar post, iirc. They're 
> > a very small gauge.
> > 	The flickering brake light might be low fluid at the m/c or the 
> > parking brake handle not quite hitting the switch plunger directly.
> > 	Take care,
> > 	Scott
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com
> > [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On Behalf Of mikitka
> > Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2007 11:32 AM
> > To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> > Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Eco Diesel conversion to non eco?
> > 
> > Let's see, my ECO is now a TD in a sense. I put the LDA on the pump 
> > and had Giles at Superior Injection work his magic on it. I had the 
> > little K14 turbo rebuilt and now I can hear it whistle. It didn't do 
> > that before I sent it off. I get around 15psi boost now and limited it 
> > to that. Not efficient past that from what I am told. I do get a fast 
> > spool up right from idle which I can feel in the seat of the pants. As 
> > for highway running, I think I get it motivated well. I can pass and 
> > cruise at 70 to 80mph with no issues.
> > 
> > As for economy with the less than stellar tranny from what I hear I 
> > have gotten a best of 52mpg and an average back and forth to work of 
> > 47 mpg. I don't think that is too bad.
> > 
> > I did open up the exhaust and put a 2.5 inch down pipe on it and 2.5 
> > inch system all the way back and took the cat off.
> > Illegal, probably but it makes
> > it run so much better and around here it isn't checked for emissions 
> > anyway.
> > 
> > 
> > Thanks for the tip on the seat belt. Now to get to the wires and put 
> > them together. My seat belt light flickers every now and then as does 
> > my brake light now.
> > 
> > As for the cooling fans, now that is something to start worrying 
> > about. Not fun and from my understanding they are hard to find.
> > Any ideas as to will
> > other year set ups work that I can get to have on hand when mine go 
> > out?
> > 
> > One thing though that I don't understand is why I have a 140mph 
> > speedometer and all the others I have seen are 120mph. It is the 
> > original instrument cluster from what I can tell. I don't have the 
> > shift dots either. If I could find another ECO I would grab it in a 
> > heart beat.
> > 
> > Nick
> > 
> >  
> >  
> > 
> > 	The smaller turbo was included not to increase power, but in order
> to 
> > inject enough oxygen to reduce emissions. The aneroid was deleted 
> > because it adds fuel at higher rpm, and that would have shortened the 
> > life of the catalytic converter. That was their story and they stuck 
> > to it.
> > 	The smaller turbo spools up at lower rpm than conventional turbos, 
> > but also flattens out sooner. It accelerates from stoplights better, 
> > but power falls off sooner on hiways.
> > 	The transmission seems to be a unique code, too.
> > The engine spins
> > perceptibly higher at hiway speeds, which decreases fuel economy 
> > noticeably.
> > 
> > 	In order to duplicate the performance of, say, a
> > 1989 A2 TD, you'd
> > have to replace the pump with one that has an aneroid, retrofit a 
> > conventional exhaust system- which might not be
> > legal- and give serious
> > thought to replacing the tranny with one that has longer legs.
> > 	The cooling fans are linked by a belt that's about the size of a 
> > shoestring and cracks from age and heat. The driven fan bearing will 
> > freeze and take out the belt as well as the primary fan and motor. 
> > Removing the belt and letting it run on the primary fan will work 
> > until hot weather, when it's unable to cool the engine sufficiently, 
> > especially with the a/c on.
> > 	The wires on the seat belt interlock will eventually crack, find 
> > their own ground, and disable the starting system.
> > Splice them together
> > before this happens.
> > 	Cheers,
> > 	Scott Kair
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > 
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> 
> 
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>  
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