[Vwdiesel] tdi heat (fwd)

[Val Christian]

My experience operating cold in the late 70's with a Rabbit was complete
radiator obscuration was needed below about -20F for any kind of heat.
At -40F it is essential, or the temp never gets near normal.  The IDI
1.5L engine had no bottom shroud, and the cooling from air turbulence 
going down the road was more than enough.  After 9 Rabbits or so, I got
a 1.6L Jetta, and that has a shroud on the bottom, which made a difference,
but by then I wasn't going to the cold places but that car makes good 
heat.  The TDIs are even better heat producers, when run at highway speeds,
but as has been discussed, they are inadeqate at normal cold, which to me
is below 0F.  Just about anytime of the year, I can travel from home to 
the nearby interstate, a total of almost 3 miles, without ever seeing the 
temp gauge move.

Heat wave here today...high 40's.  Beats 4F last week.

BTW, with the 1.5L and the slow glow plugs, it was normally necessary to 
either a. carry a spare battery for starting (somehow the glow plugs seemed 
to draw the battery down faster than the faster plugs did), or b. take 
the battery inside, and install it in the car prior to starting. 




Forwarded message:
> 
> TDI heat.
> lol, good one.
> 
> Seriously, to check plugs, use a small old school battery charger with an
> analog gauge on the front.  Disconnect the plug, and run current through the
> plug.  The meter on front will tell you what's up for current, and compare
> with the others to find dead ones.   Failing that, use your digital current
> meter, and put a small plug in the wall power supply in series with it.  Run
> this through the plug, read current, and compare.  I have found an ohmmeter
> to be mostly useless to check glow plugs.
> 
> You need heat...
> cardboard the rad over until the electric fan runs continuously, then take a
> bit off, like a strip at the top an inch at a time.  Only way man.  They
> just don't make any heat.
> at -40, the rad can be closed off, and the temp gauge drops when you hit the
> city and stop at a light just from the heater core. Gotta pay attention with
> this setup, but it does work.
> Trick is you're keeping the cold rush of air off the motor, which vacuums
> most of the heat away when it's cold.  Can try a storm front like a big
> truck would use, BTDT, works okay, and less risky than covering the rad
> core.  You can cover at least half the rad core with no worries at all
> unless you pull some big mountain pass every day.
> -james
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
> Behalf Of Chris Geiser
> Sent: January-05-12 6:10 PM
> To: Vwdiesel
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] tdi heat
> 
> So after the responses here, I've been reading more about the coolant glow
> plugs - sounds like they may not be working (04 Jetta BEW - manual
> tranny).  The next time it gets cold, I'll check if there's current to the
> plugs - from what I read, coolant glow plug system only comes on when below
> 14 F (and we're in a heat wave now with +40 predicted for tomorrow).
> 
> Also - If I put an Ohmmeter on the positive post and on the block, what
> should the resistance be if plugs are good / bad?  Seems to me I remember
> that being a legitimate way to check them if not powered by a common bar,
> or if I disconnect the bar?
> 
> TIA again!!
> 
> CG
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