Just got a vintage diesel Golf

Yes. The diesels get much better fuel economy. Note that it will get worse (and your tailpipe emissions will go up) when the new fuel comes on the market: apparently, older engines perform worse with the newer fuel, which is one of the arguments against the low sulphur changeover: it may actually make things worse for a period.

Where is the oil leak? Get that sorted.

Keep on top of your maintenance. Oil changes, oil filters, air filters, belt changes, and the like are all super critical on diesels. Note that the fuel pump is _also_ timed on these things: timing is ultra critical to making the diesel work. Watch your smoke: it tells you a lot about the condition of your engine.

If your engine starts to wear, fix it right away: a diesel with failing compression simply doesn't work.

A

Is that so? I never noticed any difference when we switched to low sulphur diesel. K-value (particle content) was allways low and continued to be low after the switch to low sulphur. Allso, I haven't seen any change in economy when I was driving in Sweden with my 1991 Golf diesel on CityDiesel (below 2 ppm sulphur, 50ppm is standard at the moment in Europe). Particle content is the only parameter checked during the mandatory annual vehicle check.

Remco

Glad to hear empirical evidence contrary to the claims I've read!

I've never heard of lower economy with ULSD (Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel). The main problem with ULSD is that it has less lubricicity so injection pumps and parts wear out quickly unless something is added to make the fuel 'slippery' again. Hopefully this will already be added to the fuel, but I'll be using an additive myself anyway, just in case.

How much did you get it for. I was looking at a couple myself and there's 4 or 5 in my area right now that look good. with fairly low mileage.

cheers,

-Dru

A2s are the bomb, they are bullet proof. Here's my 3 super critical. Find out if a timing belt was put in recently. I hate to mess with a great running diesel. But you may need to change your timing belt for peace of mind. It does crash valves when it breaks. Change you tranny fluid to the correct type. The trans holds exactly 2 quarts. GL4 80 wt. Only GL4, ONLY GL4. ONLY GL4. If you must top it off only. If you take the plug out to the edge easy, and fluid starts running out , put it back on , its good, A2s are filled over the bottom of the hole a half a quart. .53 for you number guys. because VW wouldn't move the hole to the proper level when they went to 5 speeds. If no fluid comes out ,top it off to the bottom of the hole , put the plug back in and add 1/2 quart through the speedometer cable hole. This is critical for your 5th gear. but 5th is easy to change. Also another super critical is the oil baffle that goes under the valve cover. its about 15-20 bucks. It will stop an overspeed if you never had one. Nothing else is super critical, to stop damage or destruction of your prized possession. Your final fuel pump timing is semi-critical in the sense, that your car may not start cold. or smoke. I assume it runs great, leave it alone unless you do the t -belt. Change your fuel filter when you get a chance. The stiff clutch pedal may be a rusted clutch cable. Look at it where it comes out the housing. Water from driving hits it there. They change easy too and are about 17- 29 bucks, manual adjustable. I don't like the auto adjust because they freeze up and cost more The kids may of put a high pressure pressure plate in it if the cables alright. The Bentley

85-92 golf manual is impressive. and expensive. 42.95 at parts place for all vws. Get a free catalog from them, There,s a lot of diesel info in it ,weather you use it or not. 1-248-373-5950 because they have decent prices, cool pictures, in the catalog, A lot of A2 stuff. and when you search for parts you get some idea what they are supposed to cost. Your gas gauge isn't supposed to move off of full for at least 100 miles. That's the best part. my tired old 85 gets 40 mpg at best. After I did a bunch of work to get it up there. I get 35 with the air on all the time. They're supposed to get more. The bad thing is you aint getting any hot chicks in it and proms gonna be a bust too. If you didn't laugh at that there's something wrong... See Ya. "DruG" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com...

Some of the major brands do add a lubricity additive to the diesel fuel, together with anti-foam agents. I know that Shell adds both to the diesel here in the Netherlands. If you have an old diesel like the A1 or A2, adding some vegetable oil to each tank allso helps lubricating the pump and the injectors. ATF oil works as well. Don't do this with the TDI's and especially not with the PD-TDI's.

Remco

I used to use ATF but somebody said that while it has excellent detergent (cleaning) abilities, it doesn't add much lubricicity. I don't know if that's true (seems slippery to me), but I've also discovered that diesel with a red dye added is not legal for street use (it's off-road or heating oil) in the U.S. and you can get a big fine if the authorities find red fuel in your tank. ATF makes your fuel red, which could be some cause for confusion. :-O

Same overhere with the red diesel fuel, but the colour is only in the fuel to make a quick determination. They put chemical markers in red diesel which they can check in a lab.

Remco

Just 1/2 gal of B100 mixed in your tank will add excellent lubrication

I'd love to run B2 or B5, but it's not available locally. :( I would even be willing to buy a 55gal drum and store it in my garage.