turbo diesel

[Ret.Bugtech]

Thanks to Rick I got that wire swapped out for a proper 50A fuse bar.

If you haven't already,I would stock up on a few of those fuses and put them in your glovebox . Those things will "pop' just about anytime they get a notion too. They might last 15min to lasting forever.

[Russ]

Rick was nice enough to give me a spare. At least now I know to check it the next time it won't start.

Today I put some Bilstein shocks and struts on with Neuspeed race springs. He threw them in with the car when I bought it. The stock suspension was pretty worn and the new springs lowered it quite a bit. Oh I found some new wheels too, some 15" BBSes. It rides better now and changed the whole look of the car.

[dubtech]

Looks good Russ.  Having had a car with a set of wheels similar to yours all I can say is have fun keeping them clean 

Oh, and you should look into one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VW-Jetta-syncro-Badge-JETTA-GTD-165853687MGX2-/280561671173?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4152c75c05

[Russ]

That's a pretty neat badge! Here's some proper pics of it with the new wheels.

[ASBug]

I think I saw you this morning!
Looks good!
KC

[certdubtech]

That's a mighty nice lookin' diesel, Russ.   

Wheels and springs look good.   

[Zen]

Got to see it in person at the meeting last night.  It sounds as good as it looks!

[Russ]

Thanks!

BTW, when I was searching online for some turbo diesel stuff, I came across this story. A few years ago, VW held a search for the highest mileage VW diesel in the US, and they found a winner: Syl Schmid of Blue Rock, Ohio. His car - a 1986 turbo diesel Jetta with over 562,000 miles. Still on the original drivetrain and muffler! He got to drive a new TDI Touareg V10 for six months. I guess you just can't kill these old diesels, despite my best efforts trying to bring this one home.

Pretty neat stuff: http://www.autoblog.com/2007/08/23/vw-finds-highest-mileage-diesel-in-ohio/

[Russ]

I just got new turn signal and wiper switches to go in, and a new radio. I'll be wiring that in with new speakers.

[Russ]

Haven't done much else to her except drive it. I did get my new turn signal and wiper switches, which is good. A few weeks ago I got pulled over for not using my turn signal and also having one of my tag lights out. He let me go with a warning, which was lucky since I hadn't registered/insured the car yet, and all of my paperwork on it was at home. That's all remedied now, the new turn signal switch fixed that, I replaced the bad bulb in the tag light and it's registered now too.

[Russ]

You might be wondering, how have I been so lucky driving my car around with nothing breaking for the past few weeks? Well tonight, my luck finally ran out. I've noticed it had a slow coolant leak so I've just been keeping it topped off. This morning I checked and there was absolutely no coolant in the reservoir, which means my slow leak turned into a fast leak.

After work, I inspected and found the lower radiator hose had a pretty big gash in it. Fortunately a couple of weeks ago I got all of the replacement hoses online and they were sitting on the bench ready to go, so I went to town replacing.

While I was down there, I changed the oil too. Used a Mahle filter and Rotella 15W40.

[Zen]

You might be wondering, how have I been so lucky driving my car around with nothing breaking for the past few weeks? Well tonight, my luck finally ran out.  . . . After work, I inspected and found the lower radiator hose had a pretty big gash in it. Fortunately a couple of weeks ago I got all of the replacement hoses online and they were sitting on the bench ready to go, so I went to town replacing.

No Russ . . . you were lucky!   You don't realize how lucky your were.  The leak could have been the heater core!   

[Russ]

Well if my heater core busts I know who to call

Now I have a new problem though. After patching it up last night I drove it around a little and it seemed fine. Drove it to work this morning (2.8 miles) and it was fine there as well. Got on the interstate today at lunch and my coolant light started flashing again, and the temp was going up...I got off at the next exit and took it home. Checked my reservoir and it's got plenty of antifreeze, I gave the hose on top a little squeeze and it felt dry. So I guess it's not pumping right or something. I just parked it for now.

[Zen]

Well if my heater core busts I know who to call

I like you Russ . . . but not that much!  lol

[Ret.Bugtech]

Well if my heater core busts I know who to call

Now I have a new problem though. After patching it up last night I drove it around a little and it seemed fine. Drove it to work this morning (2.8 miles) and it was fine there as well. Got on the interstate today at lunch and my coolant light started flashing again, and the temp was going up...I got off at the next exit and took it home. Checked my reservoir and it's got plenty of antifreeze, I gave the hose on top a little squeeze and it felt dry. So I guess it's not pumping right or something. I just parked it for now.

I'm not sure if this will work on your car but on earlier Jetta/rabbits we had to prime the upper hose if you had drain the rad. Just take the upper hose loose at the rad. and fill the hose. Coolant has to pass over the thermostat for it to work (bleeder hole).  This even happened with cars that had a reservoir sometimes.  Try it and see.  This same thing can happen to your cooling fan switch .No coolant it will not come on.