I'd recommend not reading this post and just skipping to the end. The word to picture ratio is way off.
So I picked up a 89 TD Jetta for dirt cheap to use as a winter beater (bad idea) while my Golf is in for some major surgery.
This is it, don't be fooled
When I bought the car I wasn't sure if I would drive it or just part it out. It started up ok, but it idled at 2000 RPM due to some pump "adjustments". The body is junk but I looked underneath and there were only a few small holes to patch. All the brake lines looked good except the 2 on the rear beam. Good enough I thought.
I spent about $500 on parts to get it ready for safety. Rotors, pads, bearings that sort of boring stuff. I'm doing the bare minimum on this car since it only has to last me a few months.
I got it safetied no problem but the e-test ended up being a bit of a funny story. I drove it to a drive-in e-test place and asked if they had time to look at it (15 minutes to closing time). No problem he said. So he starts it up and it's idling at 2000 RPM and not puffing any smoke. He taps the throttle a few times and it's actually not smoking. I'm impressed and surprised. Now for those of you that don't know, in Ontario an E-test for a diesel consists of running the car at idle, looking at the exhaust and seeing if it smokes or not. That's it. For some reason this guy decides that it would be necessary to put the pedal to the metal. I forgot to mention that the car came with a governor mod. He completely filled the parking lot with a thick black smoke. I mean filled! He looked at me and just shook his head. I protested that it doesn't smoke at idle and that that is how it is suppose to be tested, not foot to the floor. I said any diesel will smoke if you do that! He said "I can't pass it. It's suppose to idle at 600 anyways". "800-900" I replied. "No 600". "Ok whatever, do you have a wrench and I'll fix it?" He looked at me kind of funny and said "you're a mechanic?" I replied "yes." "Is this your car or a customers?" "Mine." "Why didn't you say something, go wait inside." I'm a bit confused at this point but I head on inside anyways. 5 minutes later he walks up and hands me my E-test certificate. "That'll be $35."
I forget my reasoning but I didn't drive the car right away. I parked it in the neighbors driveway and kept driving my Golf. Then I got sick. It might have been H1N1, maybe not. However I do know it's the sickest I have ever been in my life. I took a week off work and literally just layed in bed. So a week passes and fantastic news, it's now winter and -20C and guess what, the car won't start. In my haste to get the car safetied I neglected to check the glowplugs. Idiot. So it's freezing cold and windy and I'm out there with a propane torch jammed in the intake, the block heater plugged in and my Golf boosting the Jetta. Crank-crank-crank-crank-crank.....crank-crank-crank-crank-crank. Nothing. I'm about ready to give up when I decide to take another look in the engine bay. Remember that voltage drop test DIY I made? Step #1, disconnect the stop solenoid... yep it wasn't plugged back in. So I plug it in, fire up the torch again and double cycle the glowplugs. I crank with my foot to the floor and in the most heavenly sound of the morning my diesel springs to life and revs up to 3000 RPM and then immediately straight back to 0. With renewed hope I cycle the glowplugs once more and give it a crank. It fires up and goes straight to redline (and beyond) and stays there. Crap! I rush to the engine bay and pull the propane torch out of the intake and put my hand there to starve the engine for air. I don't let it completely die and it happily goes to it's 2000 RPM idle. Phew, that was close. I guess when the engine started the first time it blew the flame out and while the glowplugs were cycling the engine was also filling up with propane.
So now that she's running I adjust the max fuel screw so that I have a nice 1100 RPM idle with the fast idle on. Perfect. Now to deal with the 3 flat tires. I leave the car idling and head to the garage to get the air compressor. I'm just about done filling up the last tire when the compressor abruptly shuts off. Dang it, there goes the breaker. So I head to the basement to flip the breaker. Of course the basement light is on the same breaker as the garage so it's black as night down there. I stumble around and eventually find the right one and on comes the lights. Good thing I've practiced this many times before. I head back out to the car only to see clouds of steam rising from the hood. Crap again. I rush over and shut the car off. I glanced at the temp gauge and it was well past the red. Coolant it pissing out everywhere. I'm so mad at this point that I almost set the car on fire. I go back inside and let things cool off.
When I go back out 10 minutes later I notice that the hose that connects the waterpump to the metal distribution pipe has blown a hole in itself. That's my least favorite hose in the whole car. I poke at it a bit with a screwdriver and try and get it to close up some. I fire the car up (started like it was a warm summer day
) and I pour in 4 liters of water. It's a steady stream coming out the bottom. What to do, what to do. It's still -20, I'm still a bit sick and I sure don't want to be laying on the cold ground soaked in coolant changing "that" hose. Gambling time. The shop is 20 minutes away from my house. I top up the cooling system, leave the rad cap off and grab a spare 4 liters of water hoping I can limp it to the shop. Not even close. I managed to get to the onramp for the highway which is 10 minutes from my house. The gauge is in the red again. I pop the hood and top up the cooling system. The car greedily consumes my entire 4L reserve. Now I'm in trouble. I'm far from home and far from the shop. A tow is going to cost me at least $100 I don't have. Not sure what to do I walk to the grocery store which is just around the corner. I aimlessly wonder the aisles debating what to do. The best idea I can come up with is to top it up again and try and get it as close as I can to the shop. At least the tow should be cheaper if I'm closer. I grab 8L of water and head on out again. The car takes another 4L and then she's right full. I hop on the highway and continue on my adventure. I'm staring at the temp gauge, wondering how far this "fix" will last. It's getting warmer, creeping towards the halfway mark. 10 more KM to go til I'm at the shop. The needle reaches the center, I'm getting worried now. But then, it stops. The needle stays dead center of the gauge. Great, now I have electrical problems too... What to do, what to do. I quickly quiz me, myself and I and the decision is unanimous, press on. Now I'm really worried but I get to the shop and the gauge is still dead center. I rush in and open up the shop and pull the car in. I shut it off and pop the hood. Well wouldn't you know it the coolant level is right where it should be. Apparently the hose managed to get itself rearranged enough that it stopped the leak. At least I don't have to do any electrical troubleshooting... I find a used hose in the shop get it all changed up.
Now time for the real issue, the glowplugs. I'm quickly reminded about how much I hate turbos as soon as the LDA gets in the way. All goes well though and turns out I have 2 burnt out plugs. I throw in some good used ones from my collection and everything's gravy.
So this is the point of the thread that you probably skipped over to, so here are the pictures
Oh how I love rust. The car is basically rust and bondo covered in shiny paint.
I installed one of these filters because they are my favorite. That and the other one was clogged up and filling the pump with air.
Hopefully I'll get this box of German joy installed soon
