mod jitters on my Jetta

[ejust]

Im new to the diesel world but something about my '86 TD Jetta i love. 45mpg (19.1km/L?) is a good start. Longevity is another. As we head toward winter, i do dread it a bit as i dont know what to expect starting as it gets cold here in Wisconsin. My car will sit at work for over 11 hrs before it gets started at 2am to go home. Tips for the cold would be great!

My post here is that ive noticed threads on mods. Ive gotta headache trying to comprehend some of it since im new to the oil burner world. Id like to play with the pump and increase the power on the car a bit without getting carried away. i dont need 6k for rpms. Extra zip around the 2-4k r's would be nice. Doesnt really seem to pull good till well over 3200.  I really dont want to screw up my milage as thats half the reason why i bought the car (the other half is to learn about them - diesels)  Tips in plain english (terms an idiot would understand <--me since im new LOL) would be nice. Call it a learning session. Thanks for your help!! Diesel Dawg (cadet)

[web]

There's not a lot you can do to improve power before the turbo has spooled (which I'm guessing is holding it back below 3,200).

You could increase fuel delivery to just before it starts to smoke, in hopes of making it spool up sooner. Slight adjustments to pump timing may also help, as will a fresh air filter. Other than that, probably all you can do is fit a smaller turbo to make it spool sooner.

Once the turbo is spinning hard, there's a lot more you can do without increasing revs (intercooling, extra boost, etc).

One reason why some of us increase max rpm is simply another way to "fix" the turbo spool problem. Shift the powerband from 2-4k to 3-5k and you're in full boost all the time! That makes a large difference without many further mods and is probably the cheapest way to work around the "hole" between 2-3k.

Marcel

[Rat407]

Im new to the diesel world but something about my '86 TD Jetta i love. 45mpg (19.1km/L?) is a good start. Longevity is another. As we head toward winter, i do dread it a bit as i dont know what to expect starting as it gets cold here in Wisconsin. My car will sit at work for over 11 hrs before it gets started at 2am to go home. Tips for the cold would be great!

 

For cold starting, make sure all your electrical connections are clean and make good contact, neg battery terminal to body and to engine. Pos terminal to battery and starter. Also make sure you have a good strong battery, along making sure ALL your glow plugs are working properly. The diesel in your area should be winterized so that shouldn't be a problem. If your not sure on when the fuel filter was changed now would be a good time to change it. Several fill it up with ATF when they put a new filter on, this cleans up and lubricates the injection pump.   Switching over to synthetic oil in the engine and tranny help as well.  The only other area's would be a block heater and that is if you can plug it in at work. It never hurts to have it anyway especially in the cold climate your in. Way colder than mine down here in NC.

[AntonUK]

Wouldnt you be under boosting in situations where there is smoke? So if your in the low revs and you floor it, the car feels sluggish with low boost but it does not smoke doesnt this indicate that your still burning all the fuel? Whereas if you smoked a lot then that would probably indicate under boosting. I dont really get too much lag Im getting good boost as i get over 2k by the time Im on 3k Im boosting max.

Intercooling is a good idea even on low boost cars Iv noticed a good increase in fuel economy with an IC Im sure it will help any forced induction cars.