Just picked up a '91 Jetta Diesel - ECOdiesel?

[BumblingB]

Just picked UP A '91 Jetta ECOdiesel. I've read all over the internet that there was only 750 of these made in '91. I find that hard to believe. Anyway, it is supposed to be a detuned Turbodiesel. Standard injector pump on a turbodiesel, reported to get better mileage than the standard turbos too. We'll see.

First tank netted 40.09mpg. I hadn't checked ANYTHING yet when I did those 400+ miles. This evening I topped off the oil (scary low!) and some other fluids as well as bumped up the tire pressure from 33 to 44. I also went ahead and slightly tightened up the timing belt as I could turn it 90 degrees (BAD!! ) Now it turns at the correct 45 degrees. I'll be driving it 400 miles tomorrow so tomorrow night I'll have a few tanks to enter here as I'll be topping off in the morning before I go. Oh, I also added Seafoam . This weekend I "might" change the oil and will be changing the timing belt soon.

Now for the reason I said "might". A while back my WVO Jetta died. I had thought the injector pump went out due to me not filtering/dewatering my WVO enough. Turned out the timing belt slipped and fried a few things. I didn't break open the motor yet to see what. What I will probably do this weekend and my 4day Turkey day weekend is a motor swap. A few months ago I picked up a VERY low mileage engine & tranny. It also had the alternator & injector pump attached too. This should be an easy swap (I hop eI didn't jinx myself ) I'm dying to go back to getting about 150mpg of diesel. I WILL be putting a new timing belt/tensioner on the replacement motor. I really loved that car even though it was a slug, I learned patience driving that. I also forced patience on everyone following me even though I did the speed limit, it just took a week to get there.

[Erdrick]

Yeah, diesel maintenance schedules aren't something to be taken lightly... When they say every 60k miles, you do it within that timeframe. Go over, and you can blow up your entire car... alright, you probably won't blow up the WHOLE car, but you get the idea.

If you haven't already, I suggest you go to www.tdiclub.com The information there is invaluable. Some real hardcore guys that really love their VW diesels.

How much did you pay for your car and what kind of miles were on it?

Anyway, enjoy the car.

[Danronian]

Vdubs scare me. Major props to anyone who dares to mess with them!

I'd like an old one someday as a project, since I think the style of the old Rabbits is amazing, but not for a daily driver...that's for sure.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Originally Posted by Danronian

I'd like an old one someday as a project, since I think the style of the old Rabbits is amazing, but not for a daily driver...that's for sure.

Psshh... I can't think of much else I would use as a DD.

It's an eco if the pump doesn't have an LDA, otherwise it's probably a TD swap of some sort. Or, it could be from Canada originally, IIRC they were relatively common up there. http://www.vwdiesel.net/phpBB/ and http://vwdieselparts.com/forum/ are the best two IDI forums imo.

[Lug_Nut]

The IDI engines are a bit of an unknown to those of us that frequent Fred's TDIClub.com. Even that other, later "almost TDI" from VW, the AAZ code, 1.9 liter turbo diesel from the Canadian market mid 90s is motor incognita to us.
You are more than welcome there, but don't expect the breadth and depth of information on the IDI as we incessantly babble on with minutiae on the TDI.

[BumblingB]

Erdrick- Yep, been to TDIclub etc.IMO their world revolves around the TDI (as it should, it is the website addy ) I've found some other sites that cater to the pre-TDI VW diesels and there seems to be a wealth of info there - vwdieselparts.

Danronian- Not afraid of them at all as daily drivers, AS LONG AS I HAVE TWO! One to fall back on - just in case.......

omgwtfbyobbq- It's an ECO, no doubt about it. It's got all the pieces, dual fans etc. I need to do a Carfax on it, but as of right now everything about it points to it being a local car. My other - the '86 - has been a local car since new with my dad even knowing the original owner.

Lug_Nut- you hit the nail on the head - why I've never posted there though I do think I signed up, I think I did. Some, not all, not even most, TDI owners have a bit of smugness about them when it comes to the older VW diesels.

I do an assortment of one & two day classes where I normally do an icebreaker of asking how far people drive to work and then I tell them I do 46 miles one way. It's great at getting people to come out of their shell and super at putting them in a relaxed mode. A few weeks ago in one of my classes I had a girl (these are adults, mid 20's normally) that said she doesn't care about mileage cause she has a hybrid. I almost fell out!! I then asked if she saw the South Park episode on hybrids, she said she doesn't watch TV. The young guys knew exactly what I was talking about. The absolute super-duper diehard TDI guys have that same hybrid smugness - once again, not all have it .

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Just outa curiosity, what happened to the pump on the FCO Jetta?

[BumblingB]

FCO? Actually the pump on the ECO may be leaking. I need to tighten the valve cover and then spray the engine off and see what is leaking. May just be a hose on an injector - I'm hoping.

Didn't start the engine swap in the '86 this weekend as planned. First I had to clean my garage - took MUCH longer than expected. Next I had to start wiring for power. I built the garage a year ago but have yet to get past the breaker box I had put in and the ONE outlet I half-heartedly wired in a few months ago. Tomorrow I will finally partially complete getting the garage wired. I will have the front half wired for power and lights set up. The front half of the garage is for working on cars while the back half is my wood shop. (garage is 50' long)

And since this thread is almost worthless without a picture.....now you can visualize another Jetta that looks like any other Jetta. I will be swapping wheels soon. Just picket up a set of MKIII Jetta aluminum 14" rims to put on this so I can swap these out to put on the VegieVW once I get it going.

Originally Posted by omgwtfbyobbq

Just outa curiosity, what happened to the pump on the FCO Jetta?

[omgwtfbyobbq]

OIC. the t-belt slipped. I should probably read the entire post before commenting in the future.

[BumblingB]

It's been almost 2 months I've had the car and it's gone 4500 miles!! I wish I could say trouble free. A/C went out, but I'm not too worried about it. When I replaced the injector pump seals I screwed up and it was broke for about a week, my fault as I forgot how I pulled it apart RIGHT after I disassembled it though it did need minor tweeks. Now it's running great and seems to get fantastic mileage though I haven't filled yet.

Ripped the veg system out of my other car and will hopefully get it installed this weekend as I've got a stockpile of excess oil and I want to use it. Right now, I feel as though the veg oil is a fuel additive. Of course people could fight this one constantly. Should bring my mileage up to about 160 mpg on diesel. Maybe more. I never kept real close track of it on my last car, just how much I generally used, which seemed to average 160 mpg. We'll see as next time I'll keep perfect logs.