blinking temp light and sloppy shifter

[albsure]

hello everyone,I have read lots of threads but this is my first post I recently purchased my first diesel, 91 jetta eco. the motor sounds good (180,000) miles interior is perfect, the body has 1 rust repair at the bottom of the windsheild about the size of a quarter. so over all not bad
for 1200.00 bucks. however! i smell coolant the temp light is blinking the gage says its hot, but reservoir ball is full. also the shifter is very sloopy. it doesn't seem to have much power but it gets up to speed and goes down the road great. i would really appreciate any help from you diesel demigods because with the cost of fuel/gas i will own this baby for ever, even if i had to rebuild it. again all thoughts are greatly welcomed.
THANK YOU

[Maarten]

Smell coolant-> check interior radiator (they leak a lot)

Coolant lamp-> Common error of the golf/rabbit/jetta, sensor is ok but light keeps blinking

Sloppy shifter-> replace shifterrods

Have fun with your new car

[albsure]

thnkx for the info Maarten, there is so much i want to learn about these diesel machines. while i am no stranger to turning wrenches or spanners i have for what ever reason over looked diesels. these forums and this car has definately widened my thinking.

is the interior radiator the same as the heater core?

[kynetx]

Blinking temp light could be due to a bad connection to the coolant leven sensor in the overflow tank. Check that first.

Sloppy shifters are common.  You can purchase rebuild kits with all the necessary bushings and whatnot.

[dieselweasel]

If the temp light is blinking and the gauge reads too hot, it's highly likely that the engine is overheating!  What temp does the gauge read?  You could verify the accuracy of the gauge by putting a thermometer in the reservoir.  Does the rad fan come on?  Are the upper and lower rad hoses hot when the engine is at operating temp.? (they should be)  Do you see any bubbles in the reservoir when the engine is running?  Is the rad clean and in good shape?  

As for the coolant smell, check the heater core.  As mentioned, replace the shift linkage bushings to tighten up the shifter.

[jtanguay]

I bought a 92 jetta 1.6TD and the fan ran for about a week, then stopped.  Hopefully its not your rad fan

[albsure]

jtanguay, dieselweasel, kynetx, thank you for your responses, i'll start checking things out right after work. some time during the course of the day i can try to find that bushing kit. i will definately let you know what i find and how i make out. thankyou again this is a great community.

[chrissev]

hello everyone,I have read lots of threads but this is my first post I recently purchased my first diesel, 91 jetta eco. the motor sounds good (180,000) miles interior is perfect, the body has 1 rust repair at the bottom of the windsheild about the size of a quarter. so over all not bad
for 1200.00 bucks. however! i smell coolant the temp light is blinking the gage says its hot, but reservoir ball is full. also the shifter is very sloopy. it doesn't seem to have much power but it gets up to speed and goes down the road great. i would really appreciate any help from you diesel demigods because with the cost of fuel/gas i will own this baby for ever, even if i had to rebuild it. again all thoughts are greatly welcomed.
THANK YOU

Re:  coolant light blinking.  I wouldn't drive it till you figure out what the problem is.  I have an 88 jetta TD and when I originally bought it, the coolant light blinked and the temp climbed up into the high zone whenever I idled in traffic or went up a hill.  I found that the temp sensor for the rad fan was covered in sludge and not turning on the fan so the engine actually was overheating.  I replaced the sensor to be safe (even though I probably could have just cleaned it).  So you want to find out what is causing the temp to climb like that and don't run the car with the temp sensor blinking as you can warp your cylinder head and or blow your head gasket quite easily.  If it is just the light blinking, the wires to the sensor in the coolant reservoir could be cut or loose.  If it is the light and also the temp gauge needle is climbing up into the danger zone then I think you might actually have an overheating engine and you need to figure out why.  The thermostat for that car is located in the base of the waterpump, accessible by removing two small bolts.  Might want to check that for proper functioning (or just replace it).  Also I think there is a restrictor in the top hose somewhere that often gets clogged so you might want to check that out and clean it out or remove it entirely.  Maybe also flush out the cooling system.  And check the temp sensor switch in the bottom of the rad that turns on the fan, and check that the fan actually runs (sometimes they don't).  Check all the wiring from the temp sensor to the fan and fan to battery as well.  Hopefully you find your problem.
Re:  the linkage being sloppy.  It is easy to replace basically everything.  You will probably find, if you look at your linkage, that everything is worn out and loose.  There is a ball joint at the base of the linkage that often gets really worn out.  I replaced it on my jetta (called the relay rod selector ball or something like that) and this tightened up the linkage a lot.  Also replaced the small plastic linkage piece that attaches to the transmission.  And all the larger connector rods.  And the bushings basically everywhere.  It is possible to tighten it up quite a bit this way.  

Good luck

Chris

[albsure]

thankx Chris, i agree i need to find the problem first. however the fans do work. they run for about 5 or 6 minutes after the car is off so i do believe that they are working properly. that leads me to assume that the sensors are ok. so i will replace the thermostat, check the top hose restrictor and then maybe check th temp with a thermometer.
do you have any idea what the temp range should ?
the guy a bought this from is trying to tell me that its the sensor for the gauge that is bad and it is not actually overheating, but the smell of coolant is too strong for there not to be something more to it.
thank you for your help.

[chrissev]

yup, I have that information.  The thermostat should start to open at 85 degrees celcius, and should be fully open at 100 degrees celcius.  The fan should come on at between 92-97 degrees celcius and turn off at between 84 to 91 degrees celcius.  So the coolant temp should be below 100 degrees most of the time.  It can be higher than 100 degrees provided the fan is running.  The sensor for the temp indicator in the car is located either on the fitting that comes out the front of the cylinder head and connects to the top hose, or at the side of the cylinder head on the fitting that comes out there and connects to the heater hose.  It is a one wire unit, I believe the wire is yellow and red.  When the wire from the temp indicator is grounded, the gauge in the car should read all the way up with the light flashing.  You can replace the sensor if you think that it could be faulty simply by unscrewing it and removing it from the fitting that it is screwed into.  To test it just check the resistance when it is cold.  It should have a lot of resistance when cold and this should decrease gradually as it is warmed up.