More VW Diesel Knee-Slappers

Jerry McG · 2004-06-02T23:07:35+00:00

So, here we were waxing on the non-merits of Dr. Diesel's automotive curse(the diesel engine) when my memory banks of VW diesel horror stories weresuddenly jolted loose and dislodged. Apparently the ill-advised proponentsof the proposition that passenger car diesels should again wreak havoc onour senses and tranquility, let alone be forced upon Jeep owners, have slunkoff to plot their evil plans in secret. We're wise to the scam, but, Idigress....VW's infamous Rabbit diesel of the late '70's was if anything one of theautomotive worlds worst afterthoughts, bested only by GM's even more stupiddesigns. VW's cursed 4 cyl. diesel was nothing more than their already roughrunning, undersquare gasoline 4 banger, re-tooled with a different head,pistons and mechanical injection gear apparently derived from some form ofGerman tractor. Head gaskets leaked, cranks broke, blocks cracked internallyflooding the cooling systems with oil, crank woodruf keys worked loose,retarding the cam timing and slowly pressing the valves into the tops of thepistons, etc., etc.Worse was the car itself, which had an insufficiently strong structure tomanage the vibration stresses (no powertrain sub-frame). In the best casethe body shook like a wet dog with fleas at idle. Extreme cases becameroutine in '81 when the stroke was increased. Since the center powertrainmount was directly under the firewall, dashboards shook so badly theinstruments couldn't be read and the things started shaking themselves topieces. Body welds broke loose, suspension pieces came loose, you name it.Now, get ready for the fix....VW "engineers" designed a cast iron brick, suspended on a steel strap, whichwas to be bolted inside the front bumper. Such as the structure was, thecontraption drew the vibrations from the firewall area to the front bumper.Then, of course, the front license plates began to fall off, later thebumper mounts cracked and began to release the bumpers onto the highways andbyways of the USA....all this to...

Jun 02, 2004 129 Replies

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Jo Bo 22 years ago

Uh... I owned a 78 rabbit diesel, own a 99.5 jetta tdi diesel and too many to count in between and can tell you that all of them have averaged at least

45 mph while I owned them. The last was a 96 Passat wagon tdi and at 107k miles it had averaged 45mpg per gallon every tankfull! When my current jetta was driven mostly highway it always got over 50 mpg. Now with mostly in town it's 45 mpg. I once tried to buy a Charokee with the turbo diesel mitchabitchi (sp?) engine but the salesman at the local jeep dealer was too dumb to know what I was talking about. Must be a jeep thing... But the hybrids's rating are indeed totally unrealistic. But Honda and toyoto don't come up with the numbers, the EPA does.

JoBo

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L.W.(ßill) Hughes III 22 years ago

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Lee Ayrton 22 years ago

Close. Mitsubishi. From the folks who brought you the Zero.

Mitsubishi A6M Zero-Sen - Japan

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Dave Milne 22 years ago

Not close - its the VM Italian engine isn't it ?

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L.W.(ßill) Hughes III 22 years ago

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Dave Milne 22 years ago

That must be fun to drive ...

Dave Milne, Scotland '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

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L.W.(ßill) Hughes III 22 years ago

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Jerry McG 22 years ago

Plus, no one will be able to shoot you from behind due to the smokescreen.

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Peter Parker 22 years ago

I have to agree with Paul. Back in 1999 I visited the relatives over in Germany. The mostly all drive diesels, from VW, Audi to Mercedes. The fuel over there is so much better, you can't even notice your behind a diesel.

I own 5 vehicles:

94 YJ 193000 miles 94 Jetta 188000 miles 91 ECOdiesel 201000 miles 89 Golf 16V GTI 138000 miles and finally an 86 Golf Diesel 284000 miles.

Today I finished doing a cambelt, tensioner, v-belts, water pump, thermostat change on the 86. Last week I swapped out the coolant system on the YJ with all new hoses, clamps and a 3 core all metal radiator. Sweet... I also just bought a Banks Stinger cat back for the Jeep and that will go on when I get some more free time. I also want to do a body mount swap but I am still up in the are about the DayStar 1" body lift replacement kit.

They have them already but in South Africa I believe.

WOW!!! I don't think you can do that with a gasser. :-) Maybe one of those Japanese 1 million mile mobiles but that's about it. :)

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wkearney99 22 years ago

Which is a great idea. It's going to be a lot less expensive to add cleaner/scrubber hardware to a large production plant than it would be to add it onto individual vehicles.

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