84 rabbit questions on MPG, preformance, IP timing, repairs.

[Furcar]

Hello everyone!
I need some help/advice on my 1984 diesel 4 door 4 speed Rabbit. (pictured below.) a "hair" under 200k miles.

I, with the aid of my mechanic did some major work on it, head gasket, valves, timing belt...ect alot of stuff. ip seems stock we did not touch it.

My mpg though is pretty subpar for this car 36mpg mixed. Since i did all this work could it be my i.p.? My car runs awesome but the mpg is surprising. Do you think the ip needs to be timed...and how much should i pay for it to be timed..and what specs whould i ask for?

Also my car does not smoke...after 2 minutes of warm up it makes no smoke, every rabbit i see on the web always has a trail of black smoke mine does not smoke a bit...why?

Is the ulsd hurting me...my ip has a SLIGHT leak and i read it could be the new fuel, can i add something to it to make it easier on my pump?

Also where should the shift points be for this car...no tac i usually shift into 3rd at 25mph and 4th at 35mph.

Thanks for all you insite on my questions!!

[bscutt]

I have gotten best mileage by winding out the gears to about 3000 rpm before shifting, but with light pedal pressure. Just let it wind up. Also chekc all the usual culprits, tire pressure, wheel bearings, dragging brakes, even bad alignment. Also if the IP is leaking more than a drop every few minutes that will have an adverse affect.

Timing is also critical but if you're getting good performance & no smoke you're probably in pretty good shape there.

[Quantum-man]

You've not posted the mpg you're getting; so it'll take Dumbledore to work out if it's you or your car with a problem

[hagar]

Like to share my experience with Rabbit diesels ---with the rest of you.---I drive a Rabbit 1984 1.6L Turbo --Fraulein "Bunny Bondo" ---finest car I ever seen ---dollar for dollar mile for smile ----how do you like 100 MPG from an OLD girl like that ? EH ?---normal grocery shopping or the Opera with four adults --at 70 Miles on a gallon Imp ? 266 500 Km on the clock.
NO smoke and the Lube stays clean.---NOT like tar.

I --hagar met Mark Shepherd UK ---(Quantum- man) at "Hogwarts" , I was first year (freshman ?) he was second year. . We both took a course named "Diesel Magic".

It was run under Professor . Rudolf Diesel ---and his assistant Professor . Robert Bosch

I had some problems at the beginning ----BUT then Mark and I had a beer --at the " Magic Pub"-----and he agreed to help me. .(English is NOT my Mothers Tongue).
There was a LOT of Krauts at Hogwarts ----if you are so --LUCKY as to have a kraut Mechanic ?
DO NOT INSULT HIM.----read my lips. --German Lingo is Diesel lingo.----he can read the books like I read H.C.Andersen.----in the proper lingo.

hagar.

[BlueDog]

I would agree that 36mpg-mixed is pretty subpar. I hope mine does better when I get it on the road. I've read lots of posts of guys getting mid-40s to over 50mpg. Mine smokes some blue-white smoke for the first couple of minutes when cold and then it goes away. Anyway, go to Hagar's saga and read-read-read. Read the posts from others too. Have you tried the search feature and typed in milage? It seems to me the answer to really good milage is in the fine tuning. Gotta get everything just right; one at a time.

[bryankwalton]

You've not posted the mpg you're getting; so it'll take Dumbledore to work out if it's you or your car with a problem

Mark, that's a little harsh. He states in the third sentence down:

"My mpg though is pretty subpar for this car 36mpg mixed."

[Quantum-man]

You've not posted the mpg you're getting; so it'll take Dumbledore to work out if it's you or your car with a problem

Mark, that's a little harsh. He states in the third sentence down:

"My mpg though is pretty subpar for this car 36mpg mixed."

Ah oops youre absolutely right I read it twice and did not see that. He didn't edit did he ?
Well 36mpg is 40 UK so I'd say its a middle of the road score I'm getting 32 US mixed for my gasser Q. TD Q got 45 to 50 uk mixed and 60Uk on a run (37.5 to 42 US 50 on a run)

[libbybapa]

[quote="Quantum-man"]he did't edit did he [quote]

Nope, not after someone else posted or else it would say at the bottom of the post in small letters "last edited" and the date and time "edited [x] times total".

Andrew

PS As his original post was at 4:08 am (my time) and bscutt posted his response at 6:45 am (my time) it would say that the original post had been edited any time after 6:45 am (my time) if edited after that time. Q-man, your post didn't happen until 8:17 am, a solid 1.5 hrs. later.

[Quantum-man]

Does my last post mention I've edited it 2 or 3 times?
I still havent said what Iwas intending which was "it is probably quite improveable with a little tweeking"

[dieselsnowmobile]

Nope. I think that someone has to veiw the post after you add to it to say edited. Otherwise, no one would have seen that it had been edited.

[bscutt]

Well, all edit stuff aside, my 80 and 82 both averaged around 42mpg in mixed driving, tops was 46 on the '80. In the winter when it's really cold I was getting about 39 because of the short hops to work and also with A/C on in the 82 I got as low as 39 in the summer.

36 isn't terrible but it definitely should be higher. I also thought my 82 was getting poor mileage when I bought it until I discovered the famous odometer gear problem (cracked gear, skipping 10% of the time). Best bet is to verify that the odometer isn't skipping and check all the rest of the things I mentioned above, and keep pedal pressure light.

[Diesel Dean]

Do you have the high R.P.M. GC four speed transmission? I have never seen good M.P.G. from that transmission.

[bryankwalton]

Do you have the high R.P.M. GC four speed transmission? I have never seen good M.P.G. from that transmission.

I'm guessing that he doesn't. If his transmission is stock, I'd be willing to bet that its a 4A. I've got an '84 Rabbit and the 4A transmission. Most '84s I've seen also have this 4A tranny. The only problem, I've never founds anybody or anything that can tell me what the gear ratios are for this tranny code.

[bscutt]

I have a friend getting 55 mpg from his '78 with a GC tranny. Before I swapped out my GC on my 80 with a 7A I was still getting in the low-mid 40s. But it was hell at 70 mph on the highway, sounded like it wouldd blow up - but it never did.

[tawney]

Not only can the odometer skip and throw the calculation off, (mine does too, but only occassionally) but you can also have issues that make the odometer incorrect even when it's working smoothly. Tire size can throw the whole thing off. If I compare my odometer to a ten mile stretch of highway, it will only read 9 miles; tires are a bit oversize on the front.