So, We could all be driving Volkswagens

[JR]

My first diesel And the vehicle that started the sickness was an 85 VW Golf. It was on it's way to the scrap yard due to the injection pump going south and the owner not willing to sink several hundred dollars into a car that had close to 400k on it. So I acquired it and with the help of a diesel savvy uncle found an injection pump out of the same vintage Jetta at a scrap yard in PA for 75 bucks
Other than an oil change here and there and alternator that got robbed off the same Jetta I never put anything else into that car in two years. We knew the people that owned the Sohio down the road and I filled up with off road fuel. 15 Bucks would fill that little gem up. The few times I actually tracked mileage on longer trips I managed low 40's. I probably could have done better but I had a bad habit of winding that little rubber band for an engine out all the time. Like Gary says, non turbo, no PS and no AC. Give me an intercooled VGT with a lot more zip, AC and PS and our little TDI Beetle consistently gets mid 40's (almost all highway driving). I'll take it.

BTW Rusty, them are some nice nationality identifiers :-laf

 

[mwilson]

Those should be referred to as "Profiler Series Wheels"..........just sayin'....

 

[mwilson]

I'm not knockin' the TDI, it was just a hair too small and light for the extremely nasty driving over the past winter.

Hoopty will be a better choice for dealing with black ice, moose, deer, coyotes and pushing snow with the bumper.

And the newest menace...Texting while driving....gotta' have a solid car because if a texter bumps me doing the thumbing two lane drift thingy while I'm passing they are in for a rude surprise.......

Mike.

 

[Regcabguy]

Gary! Only 43?? I had a naturally aspirated diesel '79 VW Rabbit that would regularly do 48mpg and 52mpg on the highway!
What happen to the mileage? Thats a significant decrease!
GregH

Those old rabbits couldn't get out of their own way. Add a passenger,a grade and A/C and it was all over.
A driver and a flat highway and they bombed.

 

[fest3er]

I remember riding from Worcester to Hartford in an '81 or '82 (I think)) Rabbit. Maybe going to a Joan Jett concert. Four adults in it. Left lane. Traffic was moderate. It was, or had finished, snowing. R/F tire caught the little mound of snow between the lanes. We did a nice, slow 540 across both lanes of traffic and came to a stop parked as neat as you please in the breakdown lane, facing the wrong way. That car seemed to have enough go. Dunno if it was a turbo or not.

I thought it was so cool, I asked the driver to do it again. She declined.

 

[Simplysmn]

I dono the TDI jetta wagen we have with the wife driving is getting mid to higher 40's and when I get in it it's down to 38 but I drive Faster then she does.but we are going to trade the 12 in for a 14 and see how we do .

 

[GHarman]

In defense of the VW rabbit, mine was no race car! However, with studded Continental Contact, snow tires, I never missed a day of work because I couldn't bust through the snow! Back in the day, when I lived at the old house at 8900' elevation, we would often get 30-40 inches of snow and really cold temperatures. That was the early 1980's! I remember busting out, in the rabbit with snow being pushed over the hood as I broke trail up the county road to the top of the hill above my place. The rest was down hill from there. As long as ya kept the RPM up, there was plenty of torque to make up for the very low horse power output! It was a naturally aspirated Diesel. I worked for the gas company at that time. When you were called out on an emergency! You were expected to show up! Glow plug system failure was the biggest issue! There was an aluminum resistor fuse that blew, OFTEN! I kept a bunch in the glove compartment! I only blew one injector! Man what a racket! It had 180,000 miles on it when sold! A Good friend bought it and put another 100,000 on it, rebuilt the motor and sold it back to me! A friend from Church had lost his job, his car broke down (one of the early Hyundi's, the engine blew!) and the dealer refused to honor his warranty. So I gave the Rabbit to Him! He was Happier than a Frog on a Wet Rock! WHEELS! It wasn't fast! But it went from point A to B in a thrifty manner!

Greg

 

[JR]

If I remember correctly my Golf was rated at 55 HP at 2400 rpm

 

[JR]

Filled the beetle up this morning 11.5 Gallons and 542 miles on the trip = 47.1mpg
This was a hair more freeway driving than normal which is where this thing really shines from what I have seen.
I wish they put bigger tanks in these little cars the gauge was sitting halfway between 1/8 and 1/4 and still only took 11.5 Gallons of fuel...

 

[GCroyle]

Mine has daily driver duties saving lots of miles from racking up and the $$ of running the 5.9L. I knew it was not gonna be a race bug, that's OK. What it was was a single owner, 38K miles TDI, 5 speed that I put clutch in for grins a couple of years ago.

It REQUIRES a learning curve and Cady Mike offered some advice, some of which even helped or was close to correct. Like on my '05, unscrew fuel filter cap, yank off filter, new seals new filter, install and tighten. Hold key for a moment then start, all done. '00 VW four hoses, Mickey Mouse clip, vacuum tool to pull fuel thru to prime then turn key.

What I've done to mine was clean the intake manifold, find that on YouTube ready with the video cameras! I was diagnosed via VAGCOM that my turbo actuator was not responding. Removed exhaust manifold. Spent some real quality time learning about the variable vanes. Got it working. Now when you hit the go pedal the boost jumps up to 18" and then tapers down to about 10" on hard accel. But as you just do normal accel you can watch that boost respond darn right quick. Westach combo gage does the reporting. Plastic ain't worth a hoot, cracking and such but it fires up, scoots, sips and keeps me cool in the upper 90's on the commutes. If you're considering one, consider a real skid plate to protect the oil pan. Don't ask, it was way too ugly and stupid.

The VW forums abound, found this one and talk about active, can't even begin to keep up. http://forums.tdiclub.com/

 

[JR]

I've changed my fuel filter once and didn't have to pull vacuum. Maybe I got lucky? It fired once sputtered and died and fired immediately the second time.
So far I've been spared from the normal headaches. The timing belt and intake cleaning had just been done at the dealer prior to our purchase. I'll probably have to tackle them again by spring at the rate the miles are being added on.
We bought a steel pan after destroying the plastic pan on an ice ball in the road. Luckily no other damage so it got parked until I got the steelie installed.

 

[mwilson]

A trunk designed for two dead bodies and a spade, air level to make it look right for any prying eyes. Makes a great thing to haul tools in....

..

 

[mwilson]

Hoopty's new wheels...

 

[GCroyle]

Mikey,

You trying to say the trunk is so big you can haul a Komat'su Crawler in it?

Beep Beep!

 

[mwilson]

Mikey,

You trying to say the trunk is so big you can haul a Komat'su Crawler in it?

Beep Beep!

Does kinda' look like we were trying to stuff that excavator in the trunk now that I give it a second look.....

Mike.

 

[mwilson]

Just found this while taking a mental health break......

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/blog...t-in-an-automotive-megamerger?icid=autos_5870

 

[GCroyle]

Definition: Mental Health Break.

Mike's unabridged dic-shun-arry, Mikey says sorta like goofing off but it is related to things that have wheels, therefore its really working under a low mental load level.

 

[Ram4Sam]

Definition: Mental Health Break.

Mike's unabridged dic-shun-arry, Mikey says sorta like goofing off but it is related to things that have wheels, therefore its really working under a low mental load level.

That is some funny stuff right there..........:-laf

Sam

 

[mwilson]

That's pretty good Gary, it can not be viewed as slacking because I am doing research relating to my job...it's all relative........

The only flaw in your theory above is the mental load level, it is in low gear at all times......goldbricking or not....



Mike.

 

[mwilson]

To the topic at hand, I have read several times that VW wants to be the Number 1 carmaker on a global scale. The US market drives them crazy, they (the Germans) simply cannot figure us out. The redesigned Passat was a flop, they can't figure that out either.

They figure that Dodge / Ram / Chrysler already knows how to design and market cars in the US.

The only thing that they do know is we can kick their *** in a world war. Other than that they are simply lost.

JMHO.

Mike.