when you convert a mk2 gas car to diesel, be sure to locate a sending unit/fuel pickup for a DIESEL mk2.. they are MUCH DIFFERENT than the gas counterparts, and they make life SOO MUCH MORE SIMPLE...
i had tried converting a gasser lift pump/sending unit to work with the diesel fuel system, but it didnt work good, so i tried deleting the lift pump, but the piece of TYGON i used, did not respond well to diesel fuel. the ghetto-fabbed gasser pickup that i used, basically FELL THE **** APART when i took it out of the tank..
i really wish i would have snapped pics of the diesel pickup unit next to the gasser pickup unit.. they are night and day different..
the reason for the swap, was that my car would run out of fuel @ 3/4 of a tank.. basically giving me effectively a 4 gallon fuel tank.. another thing i didnt like about the later sending unit, was the fact that it stayed on FULL for a very long time, then raced to empty once the needle started moving.. with the early diesel sending unit, the gauge reacts much better. it only stays on FULL for a brief period, then descends to empty as it should. the fuel gauge in the Jetta now acts like the fuel gauge in my 86 GTI.. i never liked how the 92 sending unit made the gauge respond.. when my gauge reads FULL, i wanna know that my tank is FULL, not somewhere within 4 gallons of full..
anyways, those of you who might run into issues with your swap, and priming your pump, just remember that the gasser tank pickup needs modifying to work with a diesel, or else the lift pump needs to operate whenever the engine is on. if the lift pump is not pumping, it is just a HUGE air leak..
save yourself the headache, just install a diesel pickup assembly..
sadly, you need to modify the wiring, and the connector.. the late model gasser unit uses a 4 pin weatherpack connector. the early model diesel unit uses a TINY 2 pin connector, identical to the connector for the brake fluid level indicator.. you must adapt the 2 pin connector to the 4 pin weatherpack, or else cut the 4 pin weatherpack off, and solder on the new small 2 pin connector..
the diesel fuel pickup is WORTH IT THO!! ive been having fuel system issues since i swapped the car, and im feeling pretty confident that i just solved all those issues yesterday!
another thing i noticed, was that the air primed out of the fuel lines MUCH FASTER with the proper fuel pickup..
and the diesel unit DOES NOT have a screen in it. meaning that any crud that finds its way to the fuel tank, will eventually find its way to the fuel filter as well. there is no in-tank screen to clog up.. so, this may make my fuel filters last a few less miles, but i dont mind. atleast i should NEVER have to open up my fuel tank ever again!