83 Rabbit 1.6 Diesel (Broken Timing Belt)

[blacknight47]

I recently purchased 1983 Rabbit 1.6 Diesel. Supposedly broke timing belt at 25mph. What might i run into for damage as i read online its an interference motor? And what would be the estimated costs to fix this depending on min damage to the max? Any help much appreciated.

[82vdub]

Welcome to the forum. There's several recent posts about this issue and it's something that's hard to say what it will cost. It may cost just the price for gaskets and belts, fluids etc, or it could cost a whole rebuild up to $3000. It all depends on what you find when you take the head off. Block may need service and that's where some money could be spent. You can buy rebuilt heads from Jack (the owner of this forum) for about $500. It really depends.

[zman]

I have heard some lucky stories of broken belts and no damage so if it is all together you may just want to put a belt on Timing it of course and see if it runs, If it runs terrible then double check the timing again and do a compression test to see if it has low compression. That way you know before you tear down the motor.

[TylerDurden]

Of course, whenever a timing belt is installed: turn the motor over manually a few times to ensure nothing internal is hitting, before trying to run it.

[blacknight47]

I think im gonna have the head removed and rebuilt. it wil check for damage and give me more reliability. id hate to install a new belt and have issues but itcould be installed and rotated by hand see if its mechanically sound. long blocl for this motor only 1300 bucks probably gonna spend that much just to get this thing running

[fj40dave]

Can you turn the motor over by hand at this point, or is it locked up?

Where are you located?

[blacknight47]

Im not sure if it will turn or not considering its not in time could cause more damage. im stationed at nas pensacola florida.

[blacknight47]

I just bought it from a guy for 500 and its 20 minutes from where i live and it will probably hit a shop before dragging it home i dont have necessary space or tools to work on it nor alot od knowledge on diesels

[fj40dave]

http://naspensacola-mwr.com/leisure/autohobby.htm

When I was in the Navy (NAS Whidbey) I could use the Auto Hobby shop to do some things.....they were resourceful, but a little restrictive (or, anal-retentive) on the facility....but the price was right, and you can learn a lot!

Oh....and Jack (the guy that has the parts link at the top)....he's SUPER resourceful!
I bought some stuff, and had some machine shop work done before I contacted him for some parts....OOPS! Coulda saved some $$$$!

[blacknight47]

Yeah i already made plans to hit the hobby shop just need to get it running first. it needs new motor mounts and tie rods too but its driveable.

[blacknight47]

When pulling a motor on these is it easier to pull engine and transmission at same time or not? any mods to increase fuel efficiency?

[bscutt]

In my opinion it's easiest to drop the engine and transmission together out the bottom. You need to remove the axles (8mm triple square tool for where the axles bolt to the transmission and a 30mm impact socket for the axle nuts). Then disconnect everything else and you can drop it out the bottom. Some on this forum have pulled them out the top and even pulled the engine out separately but for me, pulling the whole deal makes it easiest to work on everything.


If you have access to a lift what I do is disconnect everything, lift the car up a bit before unbolting the motor mounts, stack up two pallets on the floor. Then lower the car back to where the engine is resting on the pallets lightly, remove the mount bolts, and lift the car up. Then you can just pull out the pallets. You will have to chock up the engine on the pallets of course.

[TylerDurden]

Removing Engine:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=8291

[blacknight47]

Is it possible to update to 5spd ? Also guy who sold it to me said the diaphram in the brake vacuum would stretch or rupture. is this due to bad brake calipers i dont want to keep replacing as he did? i keep asking questions sorry i just want to keep it here and those im discussing it with

[bscutt]

Yes upgrade to 5 speed is possible and not hard. Find a good 5 speed candidate like an FF or FN code, while engine is out swap the tranny and replace the clutch. You will need a 5 speed shifter setup to get all the gear positions to line up correctly since the rods and levers are different from the 4 speed. You really want to find a transmission with the right gear ratios for the diesel, 90mm axle flanges, and the small style backup light switch - the large ones go bad often and are expensive. The 7A I had in my 80 Rabbit was like that and I have another spare 7A in my garage for emergencies but the switches are $30 and up vs about $7 for the small style.

As for the vacuum pump diaphragm, there's a procedure to go through when replacing it that sets it up properly so it does not get tensioned incorrectly and fatigue. The diaphragm rupturing has nothing to do with calipers

You need to get yourself a Bentley manual for the Rabbit - it has a ton of valuable info. You should be able to find a used one on ebay or Amazon, just make sure you get the diesel version and for the years that cover your model year.