Author Topic: New owner of a 1985 turbo diesel Jetta (Read 4245 times)

Smkin85Turbo · « **on:** December 05, 2007, 09:03:01 pm »

Hello all!

This is my second diesel. My first was an 87 Isuzu diesel Pup. I already love the Jetta way more. I want to start cleaning it up and tuning it. Where can I find the best information for this year? Already I know that I will need to soon replace the timing belt. THe Jetta has 245,000 miles on it. It smoke on startup a little bit. After it reached operating temp it goes down. It does idle poorly. However I do not know how it should idle. Any sugestions or comments are appreciated. Thanks!

burn_your_money · « **Reply #1 on:** December 05, 2007, 10:04:22 pm »

What color is the smoke?

Smkin85Turbo · « **Reply #2 on:** December 06, 2007, 09:10:23 am »

The smoke is blue. After it warms up the smoke goes away. I think the turbo might be leaking some oil because it is wet around that area. How do I fix it?

jtanguay · « **Reply #3 on:** December 06, 2007, 09:24:28 am »

sounds like an injector to me. does it 'ping' while idling? shake real bad? could be a motor mount, and could also be a bad injector. could probably use a timing adjustment too...

get the bentley manual and some tools to time it.

burn_your_money · « **Reply #4 on:** December 06, 2007, 10:22:45 am »

Sounds like it could be the valve stem oil seals

Smkin85Turbo · « **Reply #5 on:** December 06, 2007, 11:08:37 am »

The good news is that the previous owner gave me the Bentley manaul. Let me tell you what, when the car idles it feels like the dash is going to come apart. Where can I get the tools to adjust the timing and is it something that I could do? I have expernce building engines but I have never timed a diesel before. Is there any writeups on step by step instructions for Newbies? Thanks!

Jetta Fan · « **Reply #6 on:** December 06, 2007, 11:32:00 am »

Just do a search on here and you'll find all kinds of tips and tricks and pretty much a step by step instructions on how to do it. And if you run into trouble, there's lots of nice foilks that have done it many times to help you out.

burn_your_money · « **Reply #7 on:** December 06, 2007, 06:17:07 pm »

Try rocking the engine by hand, you might have some broken motor mounts

bevboyy · « **Reply #8 on:** December 06, 2007, 07:33:14 pm »

If the idle smooths out after a minute, and smoke decreases greatly then it is a sticking injector. Run a couple bottles of GUNK diesel max. Should help. Make sure the cold start advance cable is still connected as well.

jtanguay · « **Reply #9 on:** December 06, 2007, 09:17:57 pm »

Quote from: "Smkin85Turbo"

The good news is that the previous owner gave me the Bentley manaul. Let me tell you what, when the car idles it feels like the dash is going to come apart. Where can I get the tools to adjust the timing and is it something that I could do? I have expernce building engines but I have never timed a diesel before. Is there any writeups on step by step instructions for Newbies? Thanks!

lol that sounds like my old '86 jetta with mech lifters. it seemed to get progressively worse so it might have been in need of valve adjustment.

Smkin85Turbo · « **Reply #10 on:** December 06, 2007, 09:19:27 pm »

Quote from: "bevboyy"

If the idle smooths out after a minute, and smoke decreases greatly then it is a sticking injector. Run a couple bottles of GUNK diesel max. Should help. Make sure the cold start advance cable is still connected as well.

It idle rough preaty much all the time. I will check for a broken motor mount in the morning. How do I check and make sure that the cable is still attached?

Smkin85Turbo · « **Reply #11 on:** December 07, 2007, 12:51:40 pm »

I checked the motor and tried to shake it and the bottom motor mount looked like it was still intact. Is there any other people with older model Jetta's in the Colorado Springs area? I am looking for help to replace the Timing belt. I will compensate accordingly. Thanks.