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After 2 years of trouble-free driving, my old VW diesel is developing problems faster than I can fix them. What gives? The things are all un-related (other than the fact that they are happening on the same car). First it was the the rear brakes (still broken), then a leaky oilpan gasket (fixed), then the starter bolts somehow became loose, causing the starter to almost fall out (fixed), now the vacuum pump suddenly isn't making much vacuum, so anything driven by vacuum won't work anymore....

grr....

crewsr wrote:
After 2 years of trouble-free driving, my old VW diesel is developing problems faster than I can fix them. What gives? The things are all un-related (other than the fact that they are happening on the same car). First it was the the rear brakes (still broken), then a leaky oilpan gasket (fixed), then the starter bolts somehow became loose, causing the starter to almost fall out (fixed), now the vacuum pump suddenly isn't making much vacuum, so anything driven by vacuum won't work anymore....

grr....

Your warranty just expired Twisted Evil

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 4:23 pm Post subject:

Aww shux... that warranty expired 24 years ago

8^;

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 5:00 pm Post subject:

made your last payment lat week?

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:03 pm Post subject:

crewsr wrote:
Aww shux... that warranty expired 24 years ago

8^;

24 years now there's your problem.Time for a new headache.

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:08 pm Post subject:

Would this be the same diesel Rabbit that was so notoriously unreliable that VW abandoned the name and introduced the "Golf" to dodge its reputation?

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:30 am Post subject:

Well, I figure if the car has made it this long and this far (140k), all the major stuff that is going to break already has and been replaced. I've got a vacuum rebuild kit coming, so we'll see how it goes. I have a hard time giving up a car that gets almost 50mpg, especially these days.

By the way, you've heard it wrong... It's alway been called 'Golf' except in the US, where supposedly the name "Golf" was un-marketable for a car at the time. After 10 years of production, the Rabbit moniker was dropped.

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:43 am Post subject:

If you are hanging on to it for economic reasons, the repairs and maintenance probably outweigh the fuel performance at this point.

If you are hanging on to it for sentimental reasons, you should expect a continual investment to keep it running and a large amount to restore it.

Silly Rabbit! Fix R 4, uh, something that rhymes with "_ids"

There is an alternative that may be feasible: buy another car of the same model and year, and use one of them as a parts car. I'm sure you can find one real cheap. I did that once, but only to harvest parts quickly before my HOA decided it had to go.

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:33 am Post subject:

crewsr^

most diesel vehicles get great gas milage don't they? Question

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:44 pm Post subject:

thriftyjack wrote:
crewsr^

most diesel vehicles get great gas milage don't they?

no. Your average garbage truck or bus doesn't get very good gas mileage Very Happy

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 7:03 pm Post subject:

Diesel Commuter Vehicles are nearly unsurpassed in fuel economy...my old Ford Tempo Diesel got somewhere in the neighborhood of 65 MPG with excellent acceleration. $Five Bucks a week. And I once drove it without a battery, they can go solely on vacuum.

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 12:16 am Post subject:

fear_nothing wrote:
thriftyjack wrote:
crewsr^

most diesel vehicles get great gas milage don't they?

no. Your average garbage truck or bus doesn't get very good gas mileage

Ha Ha! trucks and buses would get better gas milage with regular engines burning high test gas, eh? Very Happy

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 2:55 am Post subject:

It's not that bad really... I just wanted to vent a bit. Like I said, for the past two years it's been literally trouble free... just a few oil changes. I'm wondering if the 'Engine Cleaner/Degreaser' spray that I hosed the block down when I changed the oil pan gasket might have penetrated the into areas (like the vacuum pump, threadlocker on the starter bolts etc...) and might be causing some of this stuff to go awry. I do the work myself, so repair costs generally aren't an issue, other than my time.

And the savings in fuel costs could be considerable; my fancy car uses prem. and has me filling up ever 10 days (16 gals@~$3.25) versus every 2 weeks (10 gals@~3.00)... thats almost $100/month savings in fuel costs (not to mention the reduced ecological impact and the ability to run alternative fuels). Granted, these figures are scewed since I don't have other vehicles to compare with.

Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 4:36 am Post subject:

yup... could be the degreaser... it penetrates grease so it may wear on plastic/rubber and penetrate threads to loosen up thread locker... of course the thread locker may have just be old enough to let go and loosen up anyhow.

Guide Dog Joined: 08 Nov 2003 Posts: 8252 Location: MN

TOMaxwell wrote:
Diesel Commuter Vehicles are nearly unsurpassed in fuel economy...my old Ford Tempo Diesel got somewhere in the neighborhood of 65 MPG with excellent acceleration. $Five Bucks a week. And I once drove it without a battery, they can go solely on vacuum.

friend gets about 45Mpg in his Diesel Jetta, but he drives like an ass hole.