I have now seen IT ALL!!!!

[Dakotakid]

I have been working to revive a young dude's 1990 n/a Jetta diesel. It received a crate engine of some sort like 15 years ago. Must have been run like 10 years and then literally sat in a field in North Dakota for the last 5 years. Had some nasty hail damage out there in that field...but, whatever.

Believe it or not (I can't), it actually runs very well and has a TOP LINE cylinder head on it (never saw a Top Line in the flesh).

The Top Line camshaft is certainly not VW quality...but, it works for now and apparently did for at least 10 years. The hardened surface is pretty thin and the backside of the lobes is actually porous. But, it is a matter of David vs. Goliath.....VW solid cams were always a work of art...never seemed to degrade.

I have been working in cold, windy miserable weather on this car. I never really had the time to stand back and really "look-it-over" with any degree of comfort. I was literally freezing my anus off every time I worked on it.

Today, I discovered (gulp) that NONE of the three big bolts which attach the engine to the trans (vice-versa) are in the damned car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, NO.....they did not vibrate out. Whoever installed this engine was a total putzz moron esquire idiot. I mean, ALL the other bolts on this thing were like 27 times tighter that any sort of common sense. I had to use a lot of propane and chisels to get most of the bolts to release. The big bolts which attach the struts to the spindles were destroyed from being too tight. Working on this thing brought back EVERY cuss word I had EVER learned and uttered....and I invented a few new ones as well.

Back to the bolts: I did notice that this car has a mean engine-related vibration when you wind it out between shifts. And, I think I know WHY now!

Somehow, the cam belt did not manage to snap before I got involved with the car. Some sort of miracle....as I had NEVER seen one so WORN as this one.

So....my question to myself and maybe YOU is: what the hell has been keeping this engine and trans mated? I guess the input shaft and clutch disc and fatigued motor mounts? Wow. This is very much like jumping off a 100-foot cliff with no idea how you were going to survive the landing?

Yes, I believe I have seen it all now. I have rectified a LOT of stuff on this car. Aged a few years in the process.

My other question was: how the hell did this fuel tank not algae-up? The old filter was still flowing....so, I ran the snot out of the car expecting the filter to clog. Never did....so I put a new filter in place and did-away with the stupid recirculation loop (we have #1 diesel out here, dudes!).

[ORCoaster]

Well, the fact that it sat for years may have allowed corrosion to bond the two parts together.  But you say it was rebuilt 15 years ago.  Do you think those bolts were out all that time or did they get taken out when the car was parked in the hail field? 

As for the diesel not going bad, that doesn't surprise me.  It has the ability to sit for a long, long time and still do the job.  Only contamination of the tank or a loose cap allowing crud into the system would have introduced things that make the fuel go bad. 

If you were driving that thing and the transmission decided to let go from the engine you would have had your hands full.  Maybe because it is squeezed in there from four directions and only the front mount seems to have any movement it all stayed put.  Lesson to learn?  Don't drive it just because the engine runs.  I am more surprised you didn't have brake problems.  Those can freeze/rust tight and yes there is hydraulic pressure on them but not all parts more equally.  I found my Caddy was only pushing out the cylinders on the front side of the rear brakes so the second shoe never was moving to do any braking.  It stopped OK, but once I got both in the game I really felt the difference. 

Good to be helping others with their old VW's  Find one of those diesel-fired space heaters and take it to work with you.  My hands don't work well if they get cold.  Hand warmers, those gel things are great to have in butt freezing conditions too.  Tuck them on top of the hands in the gloves. 

[Dakotakid]

Well, late this afternoon, I got the two top bolts in and then went out and ran the living puppy pess out of it and.......the horrible vibration is GONE!!!!

The brakes you say? They woik cuz I put a new master cylinder, pads, shoes, and rear cylinders in it!!!! Machined the front discs as well. This master cylinder was expensive as heck because VW was moving up to/incorporating slightly larger components in it starting right at this time. 1990, a transitional year on parts. Some had larger rear brakes....some did not. The damned emerg. brake cables could go either way as well.

He is a good young guy so helping is much easier. I promise to teach him as much as I can. He has 5 kids so......I doan need to teach him much of anything about that sort of stuff.....maybe birth control...............