MORE! I clicked this video immediately, and watched it with my 4 year old. I just hope that tired old water pump has a seat at the dining room table. 😉
I bet all it needs is a good wax job to get the color and shine back. Apply with an orbital waxer and a foam pad. I use the orbital on top of a towel to do the bulk of removal.
I have worked a lot on these engines. The timing can handle up to +-2 teeth without the valves becoming scrap. The most common problem I've seen after a belt change is that the pump sits 180 degrees wrong. And I strongly recommend that the owner refit the covers. A small stone that splashes up and it can be good night with the timing belt. Otherwise, these engines are incredibly durable (albeit not fast). 👍
I won't quite say "durable" but long-lived instead. They did like new rings sooner than most, but they didn't "go boom" or break anything expensive unless you lost the timing belt.
Its weird, but everywhere I go and there are these VW AUDI Engines prepaired, the timing belt is always uncovered. I wonder how can these run and not lose the belt...
One of the nice things about living in Kansas is that cars don't rust through like they do in the Northeast, or Michigan. My first car was a 1976 VW Rabbit, and it had rusted beyond being safe to drive in 1983, so while my Rabbit rotted to death in upstate NY in less than 8 years, this Jetta has lived for 40 years in Kansas and is mostly rust free. I'm really happy to see another 1st gen member of the VW Golf family running.
My 86 ranger is from Wichita and no drivers floorboard for l due to sitting for years before I got it with no drivers windproof but solid everywhere else cammed 2.3 in and she's a mint unit
Those mechanical diesels are also pretty immune to EMP and can run on straight cooking oil, pump diesel, bio-diesel, maybe even an oil/kerosene mixture. Long-term, probably not too good for the seals in the injector pump (actually, ULS pump diesel isn't good for those older mechanical pumps). Up to US 50mpg highway (probably around 45mpg on cooking oil) isn't bad. That's one of the engines to consider if you want to build a "zombie apocalypse" vehicle. I've said too much 🤐
Man those 1.6 liter 4 cylinder VW engines are amazing. I have a 1986 Golf mk2 with the same engine with about 700K km, they are very reliable if taken care.
I finally retired my '85 Jetta coupe 1.6l diesel.... only because the seat posts fell through the floor board. The engine still ran strong, and would easily purr along at 75mph on the highway... as long as you weren't running the headlights and windshield wipers at the same time.
Be careful, I had a 84 hatchback, be carful to disconnect the pcv vent tube to the air cleaner breather box. Worn engine would run out of control on it's engine oil when hot. A dangerous situation of self destruction on the highway!
As a lone wolf mechanic, I know exactly the frustration of needing someone to spot for you while you do something. Troubleshooting the lights of my trailer, I rigged up the company phone in the rear and made a video call from my own in the drivers seat to see what lit up and what didn't. 😂
Water cooled VWs and especially the diesels got me through high school and college. When fuel was cheap and the car got great mileage 10 bucks went a LOT of miles.
There`s some comfort in old diesels. Runs on everything, doesn`t require much work (well the fuel pump might need a replacement after 100k miles on consumable oil but still) good low end torque, great on fuel, runs forever as long as there`s compression, fuel and air. Good stuff.
Our Scout Master had a hatchback one of these. On a trip back from an outing it would only manage 53mph with a 30 mph headwind. It got great economy while doing it though 😄
Great video! I wore out an 83 Rabbit diesel and retimed the pump a couple times with "backyard mechanic" tools (still have them). I sure miss the rattle of that car's engine, and its fuel economy.
That old VW really looks like it could clean up really well. A super tune up, maybe some paint, super detailing and some under body stuff, it looks like it could go twenty more years, if the parts can be found.
Thank you! 1st start videos on TH-cam don’t usually detail the important things like checking/fixing timing, oil, fuel, etc. they just act like they cranked the key and tada, it ran, or they destroyed something that could have been saved. Thanks again.
I had a 1985 Golf, had over 300k miles on it, and it still ran great. I'd probably still be driving it but it turned into a rust bucket and became dangerous to drive. I do miss the simplicity of the old diesels.
if the sensor in the water reservoir is unplugged or the water level is too low the heat gauge light will flash and the needle goes to hot. in south africa the mk1 jetta was renamed to the Fox and was sold well into the nineties. the mk1 golf was sold till 2009.
I love the older VW diesels (even the newer ones with emissions are very reliable compared to other modern diesels.) I bought an 86 Golf diesel with the N/A 1.6 that had been sitting for years. Gave it some fresh fuel, bled the lines and had it running within 10 minutes with a new battery.
A friend has a VW diesel Sport Truck sitting under a lean to shed for a long time. Couple years maybe. Anyhow, I asked it it would run. With a battery and within a few minutes it was. Amazing little engine! Nice little diversionary video. Thanks.
I just pulled my 1983 isuzu pup diesel 5 speed out of the weeds after sitting 11 years a few weeks ago. It needed alot of Injection system clean up. It took about a gallon of automatic transmission fluid and 3 cans of Molly.D injection system cleaner to finally get the pump to spray the injectors. So the engine runs sitting on the ground.Now is to get it installed back in a truck. In that eleven years that has been sitting the prices about five times more than I paid for the vehicle. Inflation at work.
I’ve always liked that body style Jetta, but I’ve never had one. I’ve had dozens of diesel and gas Rabbits and Sciroccos. I knew you’d do some VW content soon since you’ve shown a few. I’m glad you are sharing what I grew up messing with.
Damn! One of my first rebuild projects was a 1984 VW Diesel Quantum. (Jetta's bigger brother.) It had been sitting under a tree for 9 years when I bought it back in '08, and had 156k miles. Needed a lot of work, including making new shifter bushings. (Unobtanium.) Drove it for almost four years before I sold it. Been rebuilding Diesel cars ever sence.
As someone who's very much into newer diesels with common rail direct injection and variable geometry turbines, I think this old VW sure looks and works amazing for its age
Old school vw mk1 , love my old vw 's. And I see that jetta also have the old Wolfsburg steering wheel on it. Here in south Africa, when I come across those Steering wheel and golf ball steering wheel , its coming home with me... 😂
Just sold my 1990 Jetta turbodiesel as a runner with 410,000 km on the clock. You can use an outboard fuel line with a bulb to prime the pump, injectors. Drove it out to Vancouver and back several years ago from Ontario. 80 mph+ across North Dakota, hours on end, no problem.
I have an 84 2 door rabbit sitting in my shop that I have been meaning to get around to restoring for the last 20 years. I can relate to the “aroma” they produce as I have owned several rabbits and mk2 golfs over the years.
I think to install back piece of timing belt cover on cranckshaft another timing belt reinstall will be needed. At least on later vw dieselt that is necessary.
This engine didn't have a sheet metal cover for the back side. I'm not sure it it was missing or this engine uses a different type of cover. The front cover is still in the trunk, however that can be installed by the owner without disturbing the timing belt.
Hey Jimbo, those bumpers sure look horrible on the Jetta. And look how much smaller it was then compared to the newest models out these days. Same for most other brands. Well, hope your neighbor is happy again and the Jetta can cruise on for many more years 🙂 Cheers 👍💪✌
I had one of these when they first Came out here in the UK in the early 80s. Its was an amazing, in all the time i owned it, it never ever did less than 50mpg. I regret ever selli g it. However, we still have have a 1981 Golf van with the same engine, its off tge road at present awaiting some bodywork welding, but the engine and drivetrain are still perfect.
A friend of mine has a late 70's VW Rabbit Diesel with that same engine. Very reliable but OMG was it slow. Good thing that the US speed limit was still 55 MPH (thanks Jimmy Carter), it just took a while to get to the legal limit. Happy Easter.
Love this. I'm a massive VW enthusiast of 18 yrs. I'm here for anything you cook up for this thing! But I'd love to see you play around with that 1.6 if you can get it running again! And no! Severe engine damage is not guaranteed! It absolutely can bend valves if it's off far enough, however one or 2 teeth is not likely to hurt anything. I'm saying all this real early in the video, but man what a gem! Let's gooooo!
My childhood revolved around those in the late 90s. We had an 83 & 84, as well as (4) of the vw pickups, back when a worn out one could be found for $500. Something about that 60ish hp diesel on a 12 hour road trip. ❤ pro tip, keep an extra alternator in the trunk (or at least a voltage regulator).
like ! had a 1985 turbo jetta. Loved that thing !!!! was struck by a lady in minivan 45 mph driver door while proceeding thru an intersection. I lived and thank Volkswagon for good crumple properties. I loved that car.
this video is proof of 2 key things: 1) old diesels rarely die, they just get a bit tired of poor maintenance 2) an good engineering mind can fix/create most things across most engineering disciplines
Reminds me a little of my first car, an 81 Rabbit diesel. I got it in 2003, drove for 4 years with the same engine that's in this Jetta. I used the socket trick to lock my injection pump when I replaced the head gasket. Was a good little car, I regret selling it.
I hope this is useful to someone reading this someday- The ALH engines in the Jetta/Golf MK4 diesels only need one of the injector lines cracked open to purge all of the air out. These days, I've gone all in EV's/EV conversions but I still love the sound of a tiny diesel engine!
I had two first gen diesel rabbits. First one had over 200K miles and cost me $300 in 1990(?). I used it for my daily driver work car for a couple of years until the timing belt broke. Off it went to the junk yard for a penny a pound. Second one had only 60,000 and was a gift from a friend who married a well off gent who gave her a new Toyota. I had done the maintenance on her VW without asking any payment beyond her excellent coffee, so I was well rewarded for that. I ran it for about ten years and eventually sold it for $1,300(!). Back then, diesel was sometime cheaper than regular gasoline. Distinctly not the case in the present Millennium. I got about 40 mpg winter and 50 mpg summer, all strictly city driving in the middle of the American Great Plains. I had a spare battery that I took indoors at work on really cold days. I must confess that I did use ethyl ether starter fluid when all else failed. Shameful, shameful and unforgivable. Love this YT channel!
I loved my old VW diesel, I have been looking for another one for a few years now. Most of the ones I am finding are rust buckets, and they are getting harder and harder to find.
That's the same engine I'm putting in a 1974 cj5 Jeep. It makes me think I should set up a hole in the Jeep bell housing for TDC. Thanks for the video, and reminding me. 👍
If the head was shaved the head gasket needs to be thicker. There are different thicknesses of head gasket. There are marked buy notches on the side of the gasket. Had a friend shave a head used the same gasket destroyed the engine.
@@Terran.Marine.2well, it's not quite like the fellow stated....the different gasket thicknesses were to offset the variances in the machining of the block at the factory. The diesel pistons stick up above the block, and ya use the proper gasket to keep them from hitting the head. The crank journals and deck height varied depending upon how much matching needed done to get them parallel.
@@robotcantina8957 I'm sure he's fine, or it woulda been calamitous...lol most motors used the "3" notch/hole gaskets and typically that's what was available at parts stores.
Those engines are bulletproof, as long as they have a bit of maintenance. Definitely not clean enough for our times but really reliable. In a really cold winter, my similar engine refused to start but eventually it did, throwing lots of blue smoke. Took it to the mechanic and he said the timing was off by a tooth. Seeing how that pulley is just sitting on a tapered pin, it makes sense now.
The old VW smell is real. A mix of headliner adhesive, burnt oil, aftershave, a hint of mildew. But it all winds up smelling like mechanical spice wafers. Pleasant indeed.
Funny, I just found the same cam lock and belt tensioner in my toolbox after seeing it in this video. I always found a craftsman socket to use to lock the injection pump. I haven’t used these tools in over 20 years.
YES! I love it! I love MK1 Jettas so much! And yeah, musty old VW smell, it really is a thing. I miss it greatly. Nothing lets you float gears quite like a VW 020 gearbox
We used to drive these (in 2 door Golf form) in Germany in the 80's, as Military Police patrol vehicles. I believe they were 1.4l, 4 spd, diesels. Mostly that same maroon color. I spend many 12hr night shifts rowing through that gear box patroling the O-6 housing area or the other various, outlaying bases. Our full-sized Whelen light bars used to hang about a foot off of the passenger side, because they were too big for the little VW's, and you didn't want to bang your melon on them every time you got in and out of these monsters. Off base you really never ran lights and siren. These couldn't really keep up with normal traffic, so emergency traffic was next to impossible. What memories! P.S. On a cold night you could set the heat to high and close all of the vents and cook a burrito in the glove box!
Omg! I had a rabbit! Mine was a 1984 baby VW rabbit ‘caddy truck’, the ‘pick-up’ truck rabbit. 4 cyl non turbo diesel, bosch ve rotary i injection pump. Ot had the factory OE ‘truck bed topper’ It was a gem. Ir really clean. I bought it from the org first owner for $900. It was rust free and baby blue color! The i interior was super clean, 5 speed manual trans. I did a WVO waste veggie oil conversion on it. It having the factory OE bed topper made a great place to Out the 35 gal WVO tank, just a diamond plate alumn aux fuel tank. It had a small oil heater in it that you could switch on and heat the WVO to a more suitable temp, and 2 FASS 95gph high flow ‘lift’ pumps that have water/ fuel seperators and a main filter that filters down to 1-2 micorns absolute. Basically you’d start the car on diesel snd het it up to operating temp, and while the WVO tank heats up to temp with the internal heater ,then flip a switch and switch over to straight WVO, when you wanted to switch back after driving you didn’t want to just shit it down, you wanted to ‘ purge the system, so there was another switch that was a smaller pump that Switched it back over to diesel and purged the lines, injection system and everything back to clean diesel. It worked great. Even in colorado. Id run a slight diesel dilution in the WVO to thin it down, and everything got filtered several times before being stored in a bulk tank, the 2 FASS systems filter down to 1-2 microns. I had that and built that back 12-14 years ago, it was a really clean vw rabbit truck. Rare by today. Most of them are rusted and eottwn, and they usually rust out on the shock towers. This one was clean after. And i only had $900 into it, i ended up trading it, which i regret. It screamed ‘liberal super gay’tree hugging hippy. Lmfao, but i was driving for free getting 50-60mpg! And every restaurant that had a deep frier had free fuel to give away!! It had a 1” tail pipe, i straight piped it and went to a full 2” for lower egts! I had a buddy with an exhaust shop so it wasn’t nothing to bed up a new exhaust to fir perfectly. Of course i made it roll coal! A few little screws turned on the bosch rotary ve pump and it instantly had another 25 hp! It needed a turbo. I was planning a newer model Jetta turbo setup and intercooler mounted on top of the motor with a scoop, kinda like your one you did! Robot cantina approved! I love watching this channel and the little junker car projects you do! You would of loved my little baby blue caddy rabbit! The coolest part was the teuck bed and the topper, Haha i also had 2 12” sony xplode subs back there, and it was the perfect place for my red-healer cattle dog to ride, she went everywhere. Its defiantly one of the ones i miss selling the most, but what i got in trade for it was hard to say no to, i traded it title for title to a guy for a super clean rust free straight ‘93 dodge w350 first gen cummins turbo diesel intercooled with a 5 speed manaul! The a/c still blew cold on r12!
Your neighbor is going to love the fact that you got the car running already. A small turbocharger on that diesel engine really brings that little thing to life. Top speed without a Turbocharger is 76 mph. I love that little diesel engine.. Rich rebuilds right here on TH-cam had one of those small diesel engines with a turbo, might be worth having your neighbor look at that video
The factory turbo models came with oil squirters under the pistons to cool them (according to the Bentley repair manual we had for my dad's 1980 Rabbit [Golf Mk1]). You probably want to add the oil squirters, should you add a turbo to an originally normally aspirated engine.
@@frederickevans4113 adding a low boost turbocharger to that factory system, he probably shouldn't have to add oil squirters to the bottom of the Pistons... I'm not talking crazy amount of boost I'm talking less than 8 lb to that factory diesel.. something he can do without lots of extra modifications. The idea is to add as much power with as little money and work needed.
That flashing red light on the temp gauge means low coolant. My neighbor's Vanagon has the same. Nice feature to have on a hooptie that's prone to water leaks.
Exactly the same setup on the 1.9 liter turbo diesel in my 1997 vw transporter. I currently have 2006 a 1.9 litre PD powered Transporter 5, which is probably the last evolution of this engine. The 2 litre direct common rail that is in all the newer VW's is a different engine AFAIK
Great simple engines! I would recommend also checking the static pump timing. Should be 0,90-1,00mm lift on the pump @ tdc Correct pump timing makes a big difference in startup, noise, smoke and power.
I’ve pulled these 1.6D’s out of fields, after having sat for 20 years. Sometimes I can get them started and running on the 20 year old diesel in the tank and drive them home on super sketchy tires. Incredibly simple engines, and they aren’t picky.
The holes in the injector pump pulley are for securing the pulley when you need to remove the injector pump and don’t want to lose the timing. You can fix the pulley in place while the pump is removed, but don’t forget to remove the bolts once the pump is back in.
My parents owned one of these so this was the first car that I drove with any regularity when I first got my license. We had the gasoline version. I have to give credit where credits due. I put a pretty strong beat down on that thing and it refused to break. Not that I was intentionally trying to break it but I was 17 and learning how to hoon around in a car.
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*Your Neighbors:* Look honey, that crazy man who talks to himself on camera is driving in circles in his backyard again 😂😅😂
What does that say about us? We're all sitting here watching him do it! 😆
Nah that’s typical Kansas behavior.
that's so useful, man I wish I had a teeny test track so I don't need to drive sketchy cars on the neighborhood streets
Not all that uncommon around here. He needs a tractor or 2 to fit in better.
@@willturnagain9853as a Kansan I can 100% certify this statement to be accurate
Resurrection of a Jetta, on Easter... 😂
Lol.
I didn't even think about that 😂😂
You can also think of it as an Easter Rabbit with a trunk.
AVW 🐇
Jetta is king? 😋
MORE! I clicked this video immediately, and watched it with my 4 year old.
I just hope that tired old water pump has a seat at the dining room table.
😉
Spend an afternoon with a buffer, and that old faded paint will look new again. 😊
I agree, That car really needs a good buff. Unfortunately it not my car and that can be something the owner can do.
ooh I LOVE buffing on old red paint!
I bet all it needs is a good wax job to get the color and shine back. Apply with an orbital waxer and a foam pad. I use the orbital on top of a towel to do the bulk of removal.
@@robotcantina8957 Just do the hood or the driver side door and fender. It will make him have to do the rest.
@@robotcantina8957 Gotta see a follow-up video even if it's not your car and not your wrenching!
I have worked a lot on these engines. The timing can handle up to +-2 teeth without the valves becoming scrap.
The most common problem I've seen after a belt change is that the pump sits 180 degrees wrong.
And I strongly recommend that the owner refit the covers. A small stone that splashes up and it can be good night with the timing belt.
Otherwise, these engines are incredibly durable (albeit not fast). 👍
I won't quite say "durable" but long-lived instead. They did like new rings sooner than most, but they didn't "go boom" or break anything expensive unless you lost the timing belt.
Its weird, but everywhere I go and there are these VW AUDI Engines prepaired, the timing belt is always uncovered. I wonder how can these run and not lose the belt...
This is literally 1984
Thanks for the video Jimbo
One of the nice things about living in Kansas is that cars don't rust through like they do in the Northeast, or Michigan. My first car was a 1976 VW Rabbit, and it had rusted beyond being safe to drive in 1983, so while my Rabbit rotted to death in upstate NY in less than 8 years, this Jetta has lived for 40 years in Kansas and is mostly rust free.
I'm really happy to see another 1st gen member of the VW Golf family running.
In Kansas, a tornado is more likely to take out old cars than rust. ;-)
Yeah, metro KC area salts like snowmagedon is coming. I don't drive my truck in the winter due to this.
My 86 ranger is from Wichita and no drivers floorboard for l due to sitting for years before I got it with no drivers windproof but solid everywhere else cammed 2.3 in and she's a mint unit
What a gem. A guy could really use one of those when fuel prices go up.
Those mechanical diesels are also pretty immune to EMP and can run on straight cooking oil, pump diesel, bio-diesel, maybe even an oil/kerosene mixture. Long-term, probably not too good for the seals in the injector pump (actually, ULS pump diesel isn't good for those older mechanical pumps).
Up to US 50mpg highway (probably around 45mpg on cooking oil) isn't bad.
That's one of the engines to consider if you want to build a "zombie apocalypse" vehicle. I've said too much 🤐
@@frederickevans4113 Some of those fuels like SVO require pre-heating but yeah- do that and they run on anything.
Man those 1.6 liter 4 cylinder VW engines are amazing. I have a 1986 Golf mk2 with the same engine with about 700K km, they are very reliable if taken care.
I finally retired my '85 Jetta coupe 1.6l diesel.... only because the seat posts fell through the floor board. The engine still ran strong, and would easily purr along at 75mph on the highway... as long as you weren't running the headlights and windshield wipers at the same time.
Jimbo saving one vintage car at a time. Happy Easter Jimbo. Have a wonderfully blessed day.
Be careful, I had a 84 hatchback, be carful to disconnect the pcv vent tube to the air cleaner breather box. Worn engine would run out of control on it's engine oil when hot. A dangerous situation of self destruction on the highway!
Yes, well known problem back then.😁
It is a manual so not really dangerous, just engine damage.
@@pilot554 even it was AT it would not be dangerous... just hit brakes. 50hp will not rip it apart
i LOVE the sound of that old diesel Engine!!
As a lone wolf mechanic, I know exactly the frustration of needing someone to spot for you while you do something. Troubleshooting the lights of my trailer, I rigged up the company phone in the rear and made a video call from my own in the drivers seat to see what lit up and what didn't. 😂
Water cooled VWs and especially the diesels got me through high school and college. When fuel was cheap and the car got great mileage 10 bucks went a LOT of miles.
There`s some comfort in old diesels. Runs on everything, doesn`t require much work (well the fuel pump might need a replacement after 100k miles on consumable oil but still) good low end torque, great on fuel, runs forever as long as there`s compression, fuel and air. Good stuff.
Good Morninh Jimbo, and Cantina Nerds.
Cantina Nerd checking in with my coffee 😎
Our Scout Master had a hatchback one of these. On a trip back from an outing it would only manage 53mph with a 30 mph headwind. It got great economy while doing it though 😄
Great video! I wore out an 83 Rabbit diesel and retimed the pump a couple times with "backyard mechanic" tools (still have them). I sure miss the rattle of that car's engine, and its fuel economy.
I really Love the Variety of this channel, nice work
My mother drove one! 53 horses, yehaaa. Very reliable. Thank you Jimbo!
I enjoyed this video a lot! Be sure to update us when the VW gets back on the road :)
Cool change of pace. We used to have a little diesel VW Rabbitt in the early 80s and got crazy good miliage. It was a fun little car.
That old VW really looks like it could clean up really well.
A super tune up, maybe some paint, super detailing and some under body stuff, it looks like it could go twenty more years, if the parts can be found.
My first dealer job was at VW and I still love them to this day!
The olfactory sense is a fantastic memory trigger. I always liked that era Volkswagen vehicles, they are rare, up north.
Thank you! 1st start videos on TH-cam don’t usually detail the important things like checking/fixing timing, oil, fuel, etc. they just act like they cranked the key and tada, it ran, or they destroyed something that could have been saved. Thanks again.
Love the small motor diesel content
Can confirm a quick buff will show all the imperfections in the paint - I'd keep it faded. Learned that the hard way on a red Polo 86c..
This wasn't your typical sort of video, but it was still interesting and enjoyable.
I'm not a VW person but I know a few and I think I know the vintage VW smell you're talking about. Old Mercedes have a smell too. Lol
Horsehair?
It is a good interior smell, doesn’t need anything additional
As a fellow volkswagen lunatic, can confirm. Its also a particular smell in jap 80s and 90s cars. 😅 deffo stronger in datsuns/ nissans 😂
Not sure about that vintage, but my '02 Jetta smells like melted crayons inside.
@@michaelblacktree you got it 👍
I had a 1985 Golf, had over 300k miles on it, and it still ran great. I'd probably still be driving it but it turned into a rust bucket and became dangerous to drive. I do miss the simplicity of the old diesels.
if the sensor in the water reservoir is unplugged or the water level is too low the heat gauge light will flash and the needle goes to hot. in south africa the mk1 jetta was renamed to the Fox and was sold well into the nineties. the mk1 golf was sold till 2009.
You and Thunderhead289 doing back to back VW "will it runs" heck ya!
I saw that video the other day. LOL I guess March is VW month.
I love the older VW diesels (even the newer ones with emissions are very reliable compared to other modern diesels.) I bought an 86 Golf diesel with the N/A 1.6 that had been sitting for years. Gave it some fresh fuel, bled the lines and had it running within 10 minutes with a new battery.
A friend has a VW diesel Sport Truck sitting under a lean to shed for a long time. Couple years maybe. Anyhow, I asked it it would run. With a battery and within a few minutes it was. Amazing little engine! Nice little diversionary video. Thanks.
I had a dream that Jimbo went off the rails one day and built a 1200 horsepower v10 insight. Maybe some day...
Fixed just in time for the neighbor to park it behind his barn for another 5 years!
I just pulled my 1983 isuzu pup diesel 5 speed out of the weeds after sitting 11 years a few weeks ago. It needed alot of Injection system clean up. It took about a gallon of automatic transmission fluid and 3 cans of Molly.D injection system cleaner to finally get the pump to spray the injectors. So the engine runs sitting on the ground.Now is to get it installed back in a truck. In that eleven years that has been sitting the prices about five times more than I paid for the vehicle. Inflation at work.
That 1984 diesel sounds pretty good!
Ol' Peg would be proud.
I’ve always liked that body style Jetta, but I’ve never had one. I’ve had dozens of diesel and gas Rabbits and Sciroccos.
I knew you’d do some VW content soon since you’ve shown a few. I’m glad you are sharing what I grew up messing with.
I hated them when they were new, now I like them a lot. Italdesign yo
Damn! One of my first rebuild projects was a 1984 VW Diesel Quantum. (Jetta's bigger brother.) It had been sitting under a tree for 9 years when I bought it back in '08, and had 156k miles. Needed a lot of work, including making new shifter bushings. (Unobtanium.) Drove it for almost four years before I sold it. Been rebuilding Diesel cars ever sence.
I wouldn't mind seeing more of this little car. I'd love to see a fuel economy test, I know they get like 40+mpg.
My Golf with the same engine never got less than 50, and this is just a Golf with an ass, so I would expect the same kind of mileage.
As someone who's very much into newer diesels with common rail direct injection and variable geometry turbines, I think this old VW sure looks and works amazing for its age
Common rails won’t be around half as long as this one has. They die fast and hard.
@@bobirving6052 Depends on the model. Some are very reliable like the JTD/Multijet line from FIAT
That Jetta is sweet, I bet the owner is stoked you got it running again!
Old school vw mk1 , love my old vw 's. And I see that jetta also have the old Wolfsburg steering wheel on it. Here in south Africa, when I come across those Steering wheel and golf ball steering wheel , its coming home with me... 😂
They don't make vehicle this good anymkr I can guarantee that my truck would not be running if I left it sitting for 40 years. Thanks for sharing!
Just sold my 1990 Jetta turbodiesel as a runner with 410,000 km on the clock. You can use an outboard fuel line with a bulb to prime the pump, injectors. Drove it out to Vancouver and back several years ago from Ontario. 80 mph+ across North Dakota, hours on end, no problem.
I have an 84 2 door rabbit sitting in my shop that I have been meaning to get around to restoring for the last 20 years. I can relate to the “aroma” they produce as I have owned several rabbits and mk2 golfs over the years.
I drove a 92 Jetta GTD when I lived in Germany. It was basically the Jetta GTI with a diesel. Very good transportation with great fuel economy.
I think to install back piece of timing belt cover on cranckshaft another timing belt reinstall will be needed. At least on later vw dieselt that is necessary.
This engine didn't have a sheet metal cover for the back side. I'm not sure it it was missing or this engine uses a different type of cover. The front cover is still in the trunk, however that can be installed by the owner without disturbing the timing belt.
I’m a simple man. I see robot cantina I click. I see diesel Jetta AND robot cantina, I click light speed.
Hey Jimbo, those bumpers sure look horrible on the Jetta. And look how much smaller it was then compared to the newest models out these days. Same for most other brands.
Well, hope your neighbor is happy again and the Jetta can cruise on for many more years 🙂
Cheers 👍💪✌
Luckily us europeans didnt have to suffer those huge safety bumpers😂
Your videos are genuinely what gets me through the week especially Sunday. Thank you
Thank you for what you do, again! This rendition of the VW Jetta was the best, in my opinion. So easy to work on and the parts were cheap.
I had one of these when they first Came out here in the UK in the early 80s. Its was an amazing, in all the time i owned it, it never ever did less than 50mpg. I regret ever selli g it. However, we still have have a 1981 Golf van with the same engine, its off tge road at present awaiting some bodywork welding, but the engine and drivetrain are still perfect.
A friend of mine has a late 70's VW Rabbit Diesel with that same engine. Very reliable but OMG was it slow. Good thing that the US speed limit was still 55 MPH (thanks Jimmy Carter), it just took a while to get to the legal limit. Happy Easter.
Those old NA diesel will run until eternity, which is a good thing because you will need every last second of eternity to get up to highway speeds. 😁
@@JCGver Yea, 0-60 was measured with a calendar. 0-70, we may never know!
Love this. I'm a massive VW enthusiast of 18 yrs. I'm here for anything you cook up for this thing! But I'd love to see you play around with that 1.6 if you can get it running again! And no! Severe engine damage is not guaranteed! It absolutely can bend valves if it's off far enough, however one or 2 teeth is not likely to hurt anything. I'm saying all this real early in the video, but man what a gem! Let's gooooo!
Tough to beat good old "Water Displacement"! 👍
My childhood revolved around those in the late 90s. We had an 83 & 84, as well as (4) of the vw pickups, back when a worn out one could be found for $500. Something about that 60ish hp diesel on a 12 hour road trip. ❤ pro tip, keep an extra alternator in the trunk (or at least a voltage regulator).
like ! had a 1985 turbo jetta. Loved that thing !!!! was struck by a lady in minivan 45 mph driver door while proceeding thru an intersection. I lived and thank Volkswagon for good crumple properties. I loved that car.
this video is proof of 2 key things: 1) old diesels rarely die, they just get a bit tired of poor maintenance 2) an good engineering mind can fix/create most things across most engineering disciplines
Great video. I was reminded of how important a good repair manual or two was for jobs like these back in the day, and now TH-cam videos.
Reminds me a little of my first car, an 81 Rabbit diesel. I got it in 2003, drove for 4 years with the same engine that's in this Jetta. I used the socket trick to lock my injection pump when I replaced the head gasket. Was a good little car, I regret selling it.
I enjoyed that video Jimbo! It's fun to have different content 😎
I hope we see a Jetta update in the future!
I hope this is useful to someone reading this someday- The ALH engines in the Jetta/Golf MK4 diesels only need one of the injector lines cracked open to purge all of the air out.
These days, I've gone all in EV's/EV conversions but I still love the sound of a tiny diesel engine!
I had two first gen diesel rabbits. First one had over 200K miles and cost me $300 in 1990(?). I used it for my daily driver work car for a couple of years until the timing belt broke. Off it went to the junk yard for a penny a pound. Second one had only 60,000 and was a gift from a friend who married a well off gent who gave her a new Toyota. I had done the maintenance on her VW without asking any payment beyond her excellent coffee, so I was well rewarded for that. I ran it for about ten years and eventually sold it for $1,300(!).
Back then, diesel was sometime cheaper than regular gasoline. Distinctly not the case in the present Millennium. I got about 40 mpg winter and 50 mpg summer, all strictly city driving in the middle of the American Great Plains. I had a spare battery that I took indoors at work on really cold days. I must confess that I did use ethyl ether starter fluid when all else failed. Shameful, shameful and unforgivable.
Love this YT channel!
I loved my old VW diesel, I have been looking for another one for a few years now. Most of the ones I am finding are rust buckets, and they are getting harder and harder to find.
That's the same engine I'm putting in a 1974 cj5 Jeep. It makes me think I should set up a hole in the Jeep bell housing for TDC. Thanks for the video, and reminding me. 👍
Love the old mechanical diesels. Stupid simple. Still runs with 25% of the engine missing.😛
My 89 jetta with over 400,000 still going strong love it.
If the head was shaved the head gasket needs to be thicker.
There are different thicknesses of head gasket. There are marked buy notches on the side of the gasket. Had a friend shave a head used the same gasket destroyed the engine.
Those valve tolerances must be super tight.😮
@@Terran.Marine.2well, it's not quite like the fellow stated....the different gasket thicknesses were to offset the variances in the machining of the block at the factory. The diesel pistons stick up above the block, and ya use the proper gasket to keep them from hitting the head. The crank journals and deck height varied depending upon how much matching needed done to get them parallel.
The owner of the car did the head gasket, I'm not sure what gasket he used, however I will let him know there may be an issue. thanks!
@@robotcantina8957 I'm sure he's fine, or it woulda been calamitous...lol most motors used the "3" notch/hole gaskets and typically that's what was available at parts stores.
Well, we had some 3 cylinder diesel fun, for at least a little while...
Those engines are bulletproof, as long as they have a bit of maintenance. Definitely not clean enough for our times but really reliable.
In a really cold winter, my similar engine refused to start but eventually it did, throwing lots of blue smoke. Took it to the mechanic and he said the timing was off by a tooth. Seeing how that pulley is just sitting on a tapered pin, it makes sense now.
Literally one of my favorite cars! Had one and loved it. 50-60mpg and comfy. Had rust issues so had to let it go
The old VW smell is real. A mix of headliner adhesive, burnt oil, aftershave, a hint of mildew. But it all winds up smelling like mechanical spice wafers. Pleasant indeed.
My first brand new car was an '84 Rabbit with the 1.7l gas engine. So different and yet so similar. It was a great car, I drove it for years.
Nice to watch this step by step diesel reviving procedure. Thanks.
Funny, I just found the same cam lock and belt tensioner in my toolbox after seeing it in this video. I always found a craftsman socket to use to lock the injection pump.
I haven’t used these tools in over 20 years.
YES! I love it! I love MK1 Jettas so much! And yeah, musty old VW smell, it really is a thing. I miss it greatly. Nothing lets you float gears quite like a VW 020 gearbox
We used to drive these (in 2 door Golf form) in Germany in the 80's, as Military Police patrol vehicles. I believe they were 1.4l, 4 spd, diesels. Mostly that same maroon color. I spend many 12hr night shifts rowing through that gear box patroling the O-6 housing area or the other various, outlaying bases. Our full-sized Whelen light bars used to hang about a foot off of the passenger side, because they were too big for the little VW's, and you didn't want to bang your melon on them every time you got in and out of these monsters. Off base you really never ran lights and siren. These couldn't really keep up with normal traffic, so emergency traffic was next to impossible. What memories!
P.S. On a cold night you could set the heat to high and close all of the vents and cook a burrito in the glove box!
Got to love that old diesel smell.
50mpg on 77 cent per gallon fuel. Those were the days. 😢
Lol... And the car wasn't expensive either... One days work to pay car costs for a month!
Omg! I had a rabbit! Mine was a 1984 baby VW rabbit ‘caddy truck’, the ‘pick-up’ truck rabbit. 4 cyl non turbo diesel, bosch ve rotary i injection pump.
Ot had the factory OE ‘truck bed topper’
It was a gem. Ir really clean. I bought it from the org first owner for $900. It was rust free and baby blue color! The i interior was super clean, 5 speed manual trans.
I did a WVO waste veggie oil conversion on it. It having the factory OE bed topper made a great place to
Out the 35 gal WVO tank, just a diamond plate alumn aux fuel tank. It had a small oil heater in it that you could switch on and heat the WVO to a more suitable temp, and 2 FASS 95gph high flow ‘lift’ pumps that have water/ fuel seperators and a main filter that filters down to 1-2 micorns absolute.
Basically you’d start the car on diesel snd het it up to operating temp, and while the WVO tank heats up to temp with the internal heater ,then flip a switch and switch over to straight WVO, when you wanted to switch back after driving you didn’t want to just shit it down, you wanted to ‘ purge the system, so there was another switch that was a smaller pump that Switched it back over to diesel and purged the lines, injection system and everything back to clean diesel. It worked great. Even in colorado. Id run a slight diesel dilution in the WVO to thin it down, and everything got filtered several times before being stored in a bulk tank, the 2 FASS systems filter down to 1-2 microns.
I had that and built that back 12-14 years ago, it was a really clean vw rabbit truck. Rare by today. Most of them are rusted and eottwn, and they usually rust out on the shock towers. This one was clean after. And i only had $900 into it, i ended up trading it, which i regret. It screamed ‘liberal super gay’tree hugging hippy. Lmfao, but i was driving for free getting 50-60mpg! And every restaurant that had a deep frier had free fuel to give away!! It had a 1” tail pipe, i straight piped it and went to a full 2” for lower egts! I had a buddy with an exhaust shop so it wasn’t nothing to bed up a new exhaust to fir perfectly. Of course i made it roll coal! A few little screws turned on the bosch rotary ve pump and it instantly had another 25 hp!
It needed a turbo.
I was planning a newer model Jetta turbo setup and intercooler mounted on top of the motor with a scoop, kinda like your one you did! Robot cantina approved!
I love watching this channel and the little junker car projects you do! You would of loved my little baby blue caddy rabbit!
The coolest part was the teuck bed and the topper,
Haha i also had 2 12” sony xplode subs back there, and it was the perfect place for my red-healer cattle dog to ride, she went everywhere. Its defiantly one of the ones i miss selling the most, but what i got in trade for it was hard to say no to, i traded it title for title to a guy for a super clean rust free straight ‘93 dodge w350 first gen cummins turbo diesel intercooled with a 5 speed manaul! The a/c still blew cold on r12!
Your neighbor is going to love the fact that you got the car running already.
A small turbocharger on that diesel engine really brings that little thing to life. Top speed without a Turbocharger is 76 mph.
I love that little diesel engine.. Rich rebuilds right here on TH-cam had one of those small diesel engines with a turbo, might be worth having your neighbor look at that video
The factory turbo models came with oil squirters under the pistons to cool them (according to the Bentley repair manual we had for my dad's 1980 Rabbit [Golf Mk1]). You probably want to add the oil squirters, should you add a turbo to an originally normally aspirated engine.
@@frederickevans4113 adding a low boost turbocharger to that factory system, he probably shouldn't have to add oil squirters to the bottom of the Pistons... I'm not talking crazy amount of boost I'm talking less than 8 lb to that factory diesel.. something he can do without lots of extra modifications. The idea is to add as much power with as little money and work needed.
Great video for VW diesel owners. Those mechanical pumps are always causing problems
Another Sunday morning classic. Keep ·em coming Jimbo!
Charge that phone Mr Robot! Thanks for the content we get to enjoy each sunday!
That flashing red light on the temp gauge means low coolant. My neighbor's Vanagon has the same. Nice feature to have on a hooptie that's prone to water leaks.
I completely ignored the thumbnail!!!! Went to the channel and was like whoa baby this is the cantina!!!
Those are cool little cars I love anything mechanical diesel 😎
Exactly the same setup on the 1.9 liter turbo diesel in my 1997 vw transporter. I currently have 2006 a 1.9 litre PD powered Transporter 5, which is probably the last evolution of this engine. The 2 litre direct common rail that is in all the newer VW's is a different engine AFAIK
Great simple engines!
I would recommend also checking the static pump timing.
Should be 0,90-1,00mm lift on the pump @ tdc
Correct pump timing makes a big difference in startup, noise, smoke and power.
I’ve pulled these 1.6D’s out of fields, after having sat for 20 years. Sometimes I can get them started and running on the 20 year old diesel in the tank and drive them home on super sketchy tires.
Incredibly simple engines, and they aren’t picky.
The smell of a vintage VW, also know as "smell of leaking oil burning"
The holes in the injector pump pulley are for securing the pulley when you need to remove the injector pump and don’t want to lose the timing.
You can fix the pulley in place while the pump is removed, but don’t forget to remove the bolts once the pump is back in.
My parents owned one of these so this was the first car that I drove with any regularity when I first got my license. We had the gasoline version. I have to give credit where credits due. I put a pretty strong beat down on that thing and it refused to break. Not that I was intentionally trying to break it but I was 17 and learning how to hoon around in a car.
Im in awe of the trunk push button lol
Fun little detour. Thanks!
Lovely VW content Jimbo, thanks a lot. Those US spec headlights look kind of Audi ish almost from a European perspective. Interesting