Hello All:
I am considering buying a 1986 Golf Diesel and had a few general questions. I have owned a bunch of VWs in the past (and present), including an '80 rabbit Diesel, and an '81 Pickup Diesel.
My first questions is about starting in cold weather. Both of my older, A1 Chassis Diesels had issues with this, especially the Pickup. (It got to the point where the pickup wouldn't start without starting fluid...) Did VW improve upon cold weather starting when they started building the second generation (A2) Golfs? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Did VW improve on cold weather starting? Not really. It's a diesel, and it will still be a chore to start in cold weather. What I do is use a block heater. The car starts first turn like it does in the summer. Without the block heater it is possible to get it going but it runs really rough and puts out a lot of smoke until it warms up. Below -10 or so it won't start at all without the block heater. This is an 88 Turbo diesel. I am assuming your golf is NA. An 86 NA Golf has essentially the same motor as an 81 rabbit (the little 1.6). Not much changed until 1993 when they started putting the 1.9 diesels in all the cars. So in answer to your question, yes, it will be hard to start when it is cold. Diesels are indirect injection, compression-ignition engines with no spark plugs, and they rely on the temperature of the compressed air to spontaneously ignite the atomized fuel. If it is cold outside, the compressed air will be at a much lower temperature and while ignition may occur, it will be spotty and weak until the engine warms up. That means a lot of misfiring and vibration, and black smoke from the exhaust. It's a diesel. That's the way they are. I have heard the TDIs are much better for starting in the cold weather.
My second question is about reliability, specifically head-gaskets. The early cars were notorious for blowing head gaskets, even without being overheated first. Has this problem gone away or improved?
since the 1.6 in the 86 golf is pretty much the same engine as in the 81 rabbit diesel (actually, I believe it is the exact same engine), it will behave like the rabbit diesel engine behaved. The head gasket will blow at the front, and the oil will run down the block. They do this at around 250,000km and will last another 50,000 or so before you really need to replace the gasket. This is a great improvement over the old 1.5 diesels which would barely turn 100,000km before blowing their head gaskets, and often wouldn't even get that far. Fortunately it is a day's job to replace the gasket if you have the right tools and they usually run fine for 100s of thousands of kilometers more after you do it. Turbos are notorious for blowing head gaskets, especially when people defeat the wastegates on the turbos to give themselves more boost. An NA 1.6 should be able to keep its gasket for at least 200,000km. But they all eventually blow them. That's just the way they are.
I ask these quaetions because, if I buy the Golf Diesel, it will be my "winter car", and I do a lot of "weekend traveling" and don't want to break down along the highway...
they seldom break...once you get them started. I remember having to push my old 1979 diesel rabbit down the hill outside of my house in January to get it going. I just let out the clutch in second gear and let the engine pop and bang itself into life. Much better than using the starter.
Topic: Newbie Questions (Read 2085 times)
