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Re: Stalking

Hairy green toads from Mars made Bob D'Amato say:

> Now wait a minute... I had an '80 rabbit diesel as well... and there is 
> **********---------->>>>>>>>>NO WAY<<<<<<<<<<---------------***********
> that vehicle would do more than 82 mph. We tried EVERYTHING in the 
> book... the car ran like a top, plenty of power... engine rebuild and all! 
> If you said 90, I would say ok.. but 110?!?!?!?!?!?!?! NO WAY!!!  How did 
> you do it???? Better yet, what did I do wrong?! :)

I believe the "official" top speed of that car was 87. I was a little
incredulous of my speeds myself. How I did it was fairly easy.
These were both during winter, and I ran a slightly different
fuel then to avoid freeze-up. It also helped my power. Take 8
gallons of diesel fuel, add one gallon of super unleaded, add
one gallon of kerosene (K-1?). Shaken, not stirred. Between that
fuel and the cold weather, the car ran a lot better.

Two stories about this wundercar.

First, I took it in to a dealer for a 60K service. I got the
bill back, and it was for almost $200! I started looking through,
and saw "spark plugs: $40". I asked what kind of spark plugs go
in a diesel. $40 removed. Next was "set timing, check wires: $25".
What do these wires go to? $25 removed. "Check fuel injection
pressure: pressure OK, 60 pounds: $20". That's a little low;
diesels use 1900 pounds.

After explaining the concept of fraud to the manager, they gave
me the service for $25. There really is nothing to do at 60K.

Second, driving to thanksgiving dinner one year, I feel something
remarkably like *acceleration* pushing me into my seat. A plume of
blue/black smoke is coming out the tailpipe. A *BIG* plume.
By the time I hit 80 (less than 2 seconds), I realize something
is wrong. Hit flashers, pull over, turn off engine. Why isn't
engine turning off?

It turns out that sometimes diesels start sucking oil past the rings.
Oil is like 105 octane racing gas for diesels. Since the key only
shuts off the fuel pump, it won't stop this. I got the engine off,
but my head was toast. At first, the mechanic thought I needed a
new fuel pump ($950 rebuilt, $1600 new!). Nope, just a vaccuum
bypass line for $70, picked up by VW. Oh, plus a new head.

The next year, I sold it. Oh, well.

-- 

Andrew L. Duane (JOT-7)			duane@zk3.dec.com
Digital Equipment Corporation		(603)-881-1294
110 Spit Brook Road			http://www.zk3.dec.com/~duane
M/S ZKO3-3/U14
Nashua, NH    03062-2698

Only my cat shares my opinions, and she's not a diesel.