turbo diesel

[Russ]

This is my new car, a 1986 turbo diesel Jetta. I bought it from my friend in Nashville, who picked it up off Craigslist some time ago. It had a little flood damage from the 2010 Nashville floods, but it's in remarkable shape. He's put in a new starter, battery, timing belt, accessory belts, cam seal, clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, main seal, and coolant sensors. The turbo makes enough boost and it accelerates surprisingly well over a regular diesel car. And I should know, I had one of those too. The interior is in great shape with the only flood evidence on the bottom of the door panels. The injector pump is leaking a little on the low pressure side, so it drips diesel fuel when it sits. The suspension is a bit tired, but he's also thrown in a set of Bilstein shocks and struts with Neuspeed sport springs for it as well. The body is straight with no rust except for a little bit in the trunk.

Now for the bad news, on the way home from Nashville it busted the heater core hose and dumped all my coolant out and overheated. This was near South Pittsburg. I couldn't get a tow that night so it stayed at the gas station until the next morning. It's at home now, and awaiting my buddy Sal to come get it and fix it up. It starts up and idles okay, but with all the white smoke coming from the tailpipe I am afraid the head gasket may be blown or at least leaking.

I have a replacement hose on order and it should be here Friday, after which I'll put it on, fill it up with coolant and see how it does. My fingers are crossed that it isn't too bad, I can't wait to get it fixed up and on the road.

Other than that I don't have many plans for it, the whole idea was to get a cheap, reliable car to drive back and forth to work and around town. I've missed having my '89 diesel Jetta, and I think this one will be a nice replacement.

[Ret.Bugtech]

Russ , I would bet you took care of the head gasket.  Be sure to have the head checked for not being level.  Being a Turbo , I would say you have a different thickness of the head gasket than the non-turbo .Do your home work.  Nice looking car. You don't see that many factory Turbos from that period. I use to service a '83-84 Rabbit with factory Turbo. That little Booger would fly.

[Russ]

Wow, I bought a car the Godfather likes didn't think that would happen.

It actually starts up and idles okay. Sal had me put my hand over the radiator cap and feel for "puffing", which I didn't feel anything. So that may be a good sign.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwHz_pEY7A8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwHz_pEY7A8</a>

All that white smoke out the tailpipe looks bad though.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihWlNbV-N0M" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihWlNbV-N0M</a>

Either way, it's gonna get fixed up and hopefully soon.

[travisyoung]

I have been getting parts from haus auto parts online, they are real cheap and have been reliable so far  http://www.hansautoparts.com/191711173BRelayShaft.aspx

[Ret.Bugtech]

Wow, I bought a car the Godfather likes didn't think that would happen.

It actually starts up and idles okay. Sal had me put my hand over the radiator cap and feel for "puffing", which I didn't feel anything. So that may be a good sign.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwHz_pEY7A8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwHz_pEY7A8</a>

All that white smoke out the tailpipe looks bad though.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihWlNbV-N0M" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihWlNbV-N0M</a>

Either way, it's gonna get fixed up and hopefully soon.

I have seen blown gaskets without " puffing  " out the rad. cap. Keep a close watch on your oil and if it starts looking like coffee with cream, Blown gasket. Same deal with your coolant.   You could get someone to do a "leak down" test on each cly and a pressure test on your cooling system. We use to do that at my shop.  Believe it or not I like diesel cars.  Weird isn't it

[Russ]

I still very much suspect a blown or leaking head gasket. I won't try to drive it until it gets looked at. New heater hose should be here tomorrow.

I'm glad you like it, I'm in love with it.

[certdubtech]

Shew... so that's what the new ride looks like. 

Pretty nice lookin' Russ.   Looks as if they took care of it. 

I too was shocked by the Godfather's acceptance.   

[dubtech]

Good looking car Russ.

[Ret.Bugtech]

Shew... so that's what the new ride looks like. 

Pretty nice lookin' Russ.   Looks as if they took care of it. 

I too was shocked by the Godfather's acceptance.   

I have always like diesel engines.  When I was in the Navy I was surrounded by Diesel engines, I mean BIG diesel engines that you had to use a ladders and catwalks to get to the top of the engines. Stuff like Naval Yard stand-by power units with 2'x 6' bore/stroke and bigger that you started with 4-71 and 6-71 two stroke GM engines running a big air compressor .  Fun to do,  watch and listen to.  Now they are even bigger.

[Russ]

I got tired of waiting on my mechanic to come pick it up, so I called AAA lol. Technically it wasn't a roadside emergency, but I told them I wanted my car towed and they really didn't care about specifics. Less than 30 minutes later, a tow truck was at my house.

Now it's at Sal's and I don't know when he will start on it, but at least it's in his way now.

[Russ]

Also while I'm waiting I'm shopping for a new stereo. Everything nowadays seems to be 'fast and furious' style with lots of weird designs and crazy LEDs. I wish I could find something simple and, well '80s-ish to match the car.

[ASBug]

I saw some for sale on the vortex the other day...
I'll see if I can find the link...
KC

[Russ]

Turns out I did not blow the head gasket. The injection pump was stuck, so it wasn't getting enough fuel. It's fixed for now, and I was able to drive it to the cruise-in tonight.

It may need an IP rebuild down the line, but for now I'm just going to drive it.

[ASBug]

Radio:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5540462-Fs-Ome-raido.-No-code.-30.-Shipped
Get travis to get the code, and then you can rock the mix tapes you still have
KC

[Russ]

Haha. That's not all that different from the factory tape player it's got now. I ordered a Kenwood KDC-MP745U the other day.