A couple ECOdiesel questions :)

[Corlebra]

I've finally gotten my car back on the road again, but after finally being able to drive it some things have came up that have concerned me;

first off, i've hooked up a boost gauge so i could 'tune' my manual boost controller.. irrelevant, however i've noticed at highways speeds i'm running between 3-8psi at just cruising speeds of 65-75mph.. is this normal? what has me concerned is the motor is not a TD engine, came from an NA MK1 Rabbit and all i've done is replaced the headgasket and installed some fresh seals. Seems to be holding well, but how well is it going to last on a 2, 3, or even 4 hour drive at highway speeds?

next up, after replacing the headgasket there's supposedly a retorque phase after 600 miles. The gasket i bought said on the package (a Goetz/felpro gasket) "no need to retorque", which i'd rather not retorque it seeing as the entire torquing process scared the hell out of me.. i can't believe nothing broke. Should I bite my tongue and retorque or should it be fine?

and lastly, the transmission... this thing has the worst ratios i've ever driven. First tops out at under 20mph and the turbo runs out of breath by 15mph... all the gears are super short and i really don't like driving it on the highway. In 5th gear@ 70mph this thing is just screaming along, sounds about 3,800revs.. Now, i have access to a trans from an 88GLI and a few other transmission but i don't have any codes right now. what's going to be my best bet to keep the revs down a bit? since the engine doesn't rev nearly as high as a 16v, would i be in the same boat i am now? what codes/ratios are best for highway speeds?

any help will be much appreciated

[Dakotakid]

For diesel transmissions, I like the ACH (mostly found in '85 Golfs and Jetta diesels originally) or the slightly different (3rd and 4th gear) AGS (from '86 models). Both of these have the 3.89 final.

The Eco trans has a 4.25 final, but the gears are actually the same as the ACH. Yes, they put out more revs but I think VW used the ratio to help lose the turbo lag. I've got a pristine '92 Eco which resides in a 40 foot container and never sees the sun. Someday, I will need it.

You could probably run a gas ACN trans with the low-ended K14 and do rather well as long as your engine, turbo, and pump are healthy. The ACN has the identical gears as the above mentioned Eco trans and the ACH....but, with a 3.67 final. You will experience the phenomena known as turbo lag if you go this route.

Myself, I run at higher elevations and am content with ACH's and AGS's behind my n/a's and turbo'ed cars. Other folks have different opinions and gravitate toward the gas trans. But, I know what works well for me.

[Fatmobile]

That's about right as far as boost on the highway,.. 8 seems a little high but can be reached by stepping on it just little at high MPH.
More boost (all other conditions staying the same) means lower combustion temps
I thought ACH was the same highway gear as an AGS but the one I tried recently I've tried had me reving too high on the highway.
I like my AGSs.

[damac]

I got an acn on my 85 jetta td with a t3 turbo, all stock settings. At 70mph and close to 3000 rpms with stock tires on our freeways and a steady pedal I'm not showing much boost at all. I don't want to get tickets so don't get a chance to open the car up much but if I mash it I get a delay of a couple seconds and then keep my foot in it and it will start to pull a bit and then the boost gets up to 10+

I also have to attack steeper hills especially if I have passengers and hold the pedal down in order to keep my momentum and stay at 65mph speed limit. At these times I am seeing the boost peaks and just have to hold on because the car isn't able to pull any better than that for whatever reason.

1st gear is practically useless, 2nd is like my 1st gear most of the time, I can actually lug that up some steep hills and am able to floor it and pull out of it. And it continues with 3rd and 4th. 4th gear I have screamed the car if needed to get on the freeway and it pulls pretty good but I'm always scared to redline it so find I shift to fifth on flat roads as 5th gear will get me there eventually withou the pull of the lower gears.

[the man 53]

My car just blew up but I have an AGS that got a 3.67 R&P. I did a lot of engine work to make it run better, but with the stock K24 I could see 15psi in 1st and full 22psi in all other gears if trying. I made a 3" downpipe and can say that it spools better than most smaller turbos. The stock 1-5/8 pipe is too restrictive for the T3 and K24 turbos. I also went with 3" straigt pipe all the way no mufflers. It fits barely, but in my opinion it is worth it. All I didnt' like is the drone that was there under load of a long hill in 5th before spool.
I think for a stock application that you want lots of pull then an AGS would probably be great. I would like to find an ACN for mine, but wouldn't use it until the AGS I had built gives it up. The AGS with the 3.67 ring gear looses a bit in the 3rd and 4th gears and I think I would like the ACN better.

Here are your options. http://www.scirocco.org/gears/

[Corlebra]

alrighty. good info everyone. I'll head out to a local VW shop/parts car hoarder and see what i can find for transmissions. Reluctantly, I took the car on a long voyage this weekend, all the way to Milwaukee Wisconsin and ended up driving over 500 miles. problems that occured ranged from a self-losening alternator pulley (ghetto rigged t-belt tensioner lol), broken wire on alternator, shift linkage coming lose and not allowing 2nd or 4th gear usage, and complete loss of heat in 22* weather... wasn't a good time to say the least.

I've fixed most of the problems tonight. I thought the heatercore finally gave way, but after tonight it appears i've got very hot air coming from the floor vents, warm air from the defrost vent, and freezing cold air from the middle vents... hmmm. the hell is this about? is there a way to get heat to all vents simultaneously w/o removing the entire dash?

[Fatmobile]

Sounds like the foam came off the doors inside your heater box.

You don't have to pull the whole dash, maybe just the center console and remove the heater box cover behind it.
There are pics on the vortex.
Cover the doors with foil tape or something that can handle the heat.

I did one in about 30 minutes but it wasn't a '91