There was a couple VW diesel pickups and 2 diesel Rabbits, along with an '82 diesel van with a very solid body.
He ended up with the best Rabbit for around $200,...
and the vanagon for around $150. The guy had removed the engine from the van, "So no one would steal it" so he went back the next day and picked up the engine along with a extra parts inside the shop... for about $50.
Supposedly, the cars all ran when they were parked at this used car sales lot but you never know what it will take to get them running again.
We removed the upper timing belt cover, the timing belt looked real loose so we checked to see if the timing was in the general area and removed the slack.
The fuel line was too dark to see fuel in so we swapped in some 1/4" vinyl tubing, put a battery in, turned the key..., "Click"
So I told him to hold the key on and I'd feel for hot spots. The battery terminals were the cheap smashed wire type and got warm so I grabbed a negative cable off his parts car.
Tried again, still "click" and now the starter solenoid was getting warm after key held on for awhile.... so we swapped a different starter on.
That got it turning over but fuel wasn't coming out of the filter so I disconnected the return line from the top of the pump, put a 2 ft piece of clear vinyl on the output and sucked on it until fuel flowed from the filter and through the pump.
Reconnected the fuel line, cranked it with my foot to the floor and it started right up.... but the oil pressure light didn't go out so I shut it off.
The oil pressure sensor was hooked up so I removed the sensor and had him start it, with my thumb over the hole. Out of habit, he revved it after starting and yeah, there was plenty of oil pressure... black oil everywhere. Couldn't hold it back with my thumb.
It sounded great and the oil light eventually went out. I cleaned up the alternator plug connections and the battery light went out.
No brakes at all, but it runs.
He said we'd sell it and split the profit.
Pull the whole engine? Check I-shaft bearings and clutch while I'm doing a timing belt/P-side motor mount/injection pump seal change?
Or just swap on a new timing belt/motor mount/pump seals in situ?
I've been pulling the whole engine/trany lately to deal with all the stuff that can only be done with the engine or trany out. That just leaves mechanical things that can be done with the engine in, a somewhat reliable condition since any mechanical work that needs done won't have engine removal added to the bill. About as reliable as it gets without an engine rebuild. Probably how I'll do it again this time.
It is a real smooth runner.... made my day to hear it run.
Now just need to get it tuned up and stopping.
On a side note, I'm working on my tiltisserie (sp). It bolts to the bumper mounts and allows me to lift a Rabbit and roll it up on it's side... so I can deal with the underside bodywork.
Where my camera cable plugs in has a loose connection. I'm getting an adapter so I can bypass the bad cable connection and plug the flash card into the PCMCIA slot in the laptop a friend gave me. Then I'll be able to post pictures again.
