need advice from vw gurus

[dan63077]

i have a chance to buy a 85 jetta 1.6 diesel with problems, it has no power on hills and wont stay up to hiway speeds previous owner has changed timing belt and all fuel lines to try to correct but still does it. it sounds fuel or timing related. but seems he addressed both problems already. po says he has changed timing belts on these diesels before. any help would be appreciated.

[Vincent Waldon]

I always advise anyone buying any older car (gasser or diesel) to have the compression tested... it will speak volumes about the internal health of the engine and could save you from a car that will need a (reasonably expensive) rebuild.

The other question to ask the PO is if he's ever had the timing adjusted... many people replace the belt on schedule but timing is very critical as well, particularly for power.


Vince

[dan63077]

i forgot to mention this is a 500 dollar car and i am a very good gas mechanic just little experience with diesels and i do have a diesel compression gauge. what should the compression be a on a 1.6 diesel. what would be the worst case scenario for no power in a diesel, injector pump? or worse?

[Vincent Waldon]

Here's the official word on compression tests... note the warning *not* to do a wet test on a diesel, and you'll need to install new heat shields when you're done.

http://www.oneilcastro.com/A2Bentley/GE01/ch3.2.1.html

Diesels are all about compression and fuel, at the right time... lots of factors contribute to each of these, and poor power can range in cost from from improper timing (free to fix) all the way up to terrible compression (several thousand bucks, worst case... diesel pistons are quite a bit more expensive than gas) with injection pump problems somewhere in the middle. Could be injectors, could be clogged fuel filter, could be head gasket, could be.... !! Compression test will tell you one of the expensive things it isn't, hopefully !!

So, worst-case, your $500 car needs a rebuild... being a good gas guy you can easily do the work yourself but the parts may hurt a bit if you have to overbore... high mileage diesels tend to wear the bores egg-shaped over time.

Me ? No rebuild would stand in the way of renovating another fun little car and enjoying the delicious rattle and smell !!

Good luck... let us know how it turns out.


Vince

[dan63077]

thank you for your help, that link is very helpful.

[Vincent Waldon]

No problem... anything for the newest potential member of the diesel brethren !!!


Vince

[Fatmobile]

Have someone floor the accelerator and see if the lever on the pump is making it all the way to it's stop.
Check for color of smoke exiting tailpipe, see how it starts.
It's possible internal pump pressure is lame, try hagar's cold start lever test.

[dieselsnowmobile]

Hey! Stay away from that car, I saw the ad first. LOL. I had the chance to buy a $250 car in the same area with a leaky pump but since I work two jobs, I could not get there fast enough to buy it. Now that gas prices are going up, these diesels are showing up all over the place since they can sell for a pretty penny. Ebay now has 16 listings for pre-1993 VW diesels, one of which is a really clean Dasher.

[hagar]

for 500 US dollars ?

hagar would BUY.

hagar.

[hagar]

To buy or not to buy ----That's the question.---Shakespeare and hagar. why ---why did hagar say buy ? --- simple this time. EH ? ---- you are a GOOD gasser mechanic ? EH ? so you know how to kick the Tyres --EH ? --well then the only thing left is the DIESEL ? --EH ?

The DIESEL ? --you have to be programmed ---totally different from gasser.
You found this forum --Right ? --right. ---so ? dive in and see how much FUN these little critters can really be.---Be warned , it is ADDICTIVE.

hagar.

[dan63077]

so whats the adictive part for you hagar, i know i need a car that i can drive 150 miles a day, and what i like about diesels is there fuel economy and there longevity. also like the idea of biodiesel or wvo. i plan for everything i own to be a diesel eventually as money allows. so here' s a question between vw diesels and mercedes which is easier to maintain and to get parts for without spending an arm and two legs.... any reply would be most appreciated.... thanks

[libbybapa]

Older than 1990, the Mercedes is less expensive than a similar year/condition VW. They are better built cars. The older Mercedes 3.0L TD engine is simply bomb proof. Cast iron head... They are also more powerful. The downside is that they get about 1/2 the miles per gallon. The parts are a little bit more expensive for the Mercedes and routine items like oil, injector nozzles, etc. you need to buy more because the engine is bigger. There are also more luxury items added to the Mercedes that often tend to fail (vacuum door locks, power seats, power windows, vacuum/thermostatic climate control, hydropneumatic suspension, etc.).

As a side note, last night I drove home an '82 300TDT (Tubo Diesel Wagon) that is the most pristine older Mercedes I've seen firsthand. It has some suspension and climate control issues, but is otherwise unbelievably clean and original. I got it for $4500.

Andrew

[stopping]

I am no guru but I would but a car like that for that price if it still had a steel body, good transmission or a good motor but not necessarily all those things!

[Asymtave]

Andrew,

You stole that car! Poking around on EBay I see that an 82 Diesel wagon with 124K just went for $13.5K.

Personally I just drove home an 85 300SD super super clean with 180K miles. Definitely 2 opposite ends of the spectrum from People's Car to Engineered Like No Other. There is probably 10 times the content in the Mercedes versus the VW.

I can see where parts $$ can add up on the Mercedes just because there are so many more parts. Still, I can't wait to tear into it and get it tweaked perfect. From the service records and what I can see it might have the original injectors and who knows when the valves were last adjusted?

Eric