Rich's '91 80Q M-TDI

[PRY4SNO]

Unplanned car repairs are a great excuse for buying new tools.

Agreed! Not that we really need an excuse...

[oil_me]

I'm going into my third winter with this car. I put Firestone Winterforce tires on this time and they have excellent dry road manners up to 70mph. I've used Nokias for years but they're pricey. The Firestones have a heavier casing than the Altimax Artics I have on the Jetta. They seem less sloppy and are quieter as well. The after-glow timer for the glow plugs is working great. I've stopped pursuing the mileage quest since I ran out of fuel 2x on the way to work. I fell short of a 900 mile tank. I had been pushing every one to the very bottom of reserve. I set the IP timing back to .90mm because I just have to mess with it and it's been a while.

[chaloux]

900 miles for how many gallons? That's pretty damn good regardless! Sick looking winter mode too!

[oil_me]

That tank was 878 and 17.8 gal. Summer months were best for mileage.

[chaloux]

Yeah these engines really like to run hot. The warmup kills fe. And winter fuel. I run Power Service all winter to help boost cetane and help starts. I run 250ml per tank, or about double what the bottle recommends.

And 50mpg with quattro is amazing. Congrats!

[PRY4SNO]

And 50mpg with quattro is amazing. Congrats!

[oil_me]

Yeah these engines really like to run hot. The warmup kills fe. And winter fuel. I run Power Service all winter to help boost cetane and help starts. I run 250ml per tank, or about double what the bottle recommends.

And 50mpg with quattro is amazing. Congrats!

I use Power Service x2 amount as well every tank + 5 oz of 2-stroke oil to keep the 12mm plunger happy.

[scubagli]

Lol I can't believe that paint is still hanging on those wheels....

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[oil_me]

Lol I can't believe that paint is still hanging on those wheels....

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Each wheel is a numbered piece; it's a fair representation of the early period of the artist. That's what I was told anyway.

[scubagli]

Lol, I didn't even clean them before I spray bombed them...by the way I saw you getting off the thurway in saugerties a couple weeks ago, car looked great.

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[oil_me]

I need an Audi trunk script if anyone has an extra.

[scubagli]

I think I've got some Rich.

[oil_me]

Good, that makes it simple.

[oil_me]

The Glacier Blue has been on the road for 4 years and 44,000 miles last week. It runs excellent, starts crisp on the first revolution every time. The last 3 tanks were over 50 mpg; zero oil consumption @ 5k oil changes. The body is at 212k and has remained rust free, the solid Delrin+Acetron CA bushings are a little noisy sometimes; the tire wear is even. The bushings and the manual rack have a stiff, firm, but quick, steering feel I will never give up. I still hear and feel some driveline noise with the solid SF bushings, etc. I'm used to it. The stock muffler’s now on; the Stebro is back on the ’89 black 80. This car has been very reliable, 800 miles per tank every fill up. Today was 16.54 gal. for 824 miles = 49.93mpg that included some city driving.
Rich

[scubagli]

Rich these badges are still sitting here, give me a buzz...

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[dana]

awesome rich, crazy MPG. I just go my odometer working again, first tank was about 46mpg, I think I got about 49 on a roadtrip once using google to track my mileage.

I will have plenty of chance to check it on my 6000 mile roadtrip that starts this weekend!

[chaloux]

Yeah that mileage is pheromonal. I'm buying if you sell

[oil_me]

awesome rich, crazy MPG. I just go my odometer working again, first tank was about 46mpg, I think I got about 49 on a roadtrip once using google to track my mileage.

I will have plenty of chance to check it on my 6000 mile roadtrip that starts this weekend!

Best of luck + good fortune on your trip. Your heroic effort in that car will be rewarded. I hope to make it out there one year.

[oil_me]

The right front wheel bearing has lifted its voice above the regular background noise to gain my full attention. I was pretending it was the cold weather, noisy snow tires, solid everything bushings, etc. for about week now. I got down to it this afternoon.

I ordered some wheel bearing removal tools because my local machine shop has disappeared since I last looked. We will see how it works out later in the week. I changed the oil yesterday; engine has now 50k.

[DE80q]

That sucks having a bearing go out. My dad picked up the press tool from harbor freight and it works great for these 75mm bearings.

[oil_me]

I turned 55 in February and retired 2 months ago after 32 years working for the State of New York. I definitely now have more time on my hands to finish projects. This morning I installed an AAZ K14 turbo rebuilt with a billet compressor wheel. It pulls very smoothly to the 20psi MBC setting. The car runs perfect every start, has 55k on it since its 2012 creation. I am now running195/60-15s for the first time and they are not too heavy for the manual rack. I used 185/60-15s previously. No difference in steering effort; car handles much better. I’m using a set of really straight Speediness from dean16v. I drive the car daily still, mostly just to different hiking trailheads here in the Catskills. The black Shady 80 is coming back into driving circulation and eventually will get a 1.6TD or the ALH motor way down the line. The fuel mileage hit a new high of 51.8 mpg yesterday; 15.8 gallons in 819 miles. I adjusted the pump timing back to .905mm which makes it less noisy. The car has 225,000 now. I’m ordering a CQ master cylinder to match the G60s finally. Anybody know if I need to adjust the pushrod or should it bolt right in?

[PRY4SNO]

Can't help on the MC but congrats on the retirement! I bet it's a liberating feeling waking up on your own terms on a daily basis.

Looking forward to seeing more updates on your various projects. They're always so simple, yet creative.

[oil_me]

So I put 50,000 miles on this car in 5 years driving on poor Upstate NY roads and have now have found time to address some suspension changes that were long overdue. All struts were disassembled, control arms, solid subframe bushings, front tie rods, trans/rear diff mounts removed. Here’s what I found. All four 034 diff/trans mounts rear had separated and collapsed. Delrin CA bushings were still functional but getting pretty loose.The left top motor mount nut was loose allowing some engine vibration/movement. Tie rod ends were very stiff, right front ball joint had play. Right rear tie rod bolt was loose at the subframe. One subframe bolt head broke off because it welded itself to the upper aluminum subframe mount. I dropped the SF and grabbed the mount with the stud sticking out of it with large slip joint pliers and just unscrewed it from the body.(Whew) The Mount Savers I installed were perfect; all mounts were completely intact. I knew my initial spring choice was too stiff for my current needs. Everything went back together well. I used a 10 ton press for the front CAs mounts and a 3 ton arbor press for the rears. Removed newly rebuilt turbo leaking oil from poor welds on drain tube and fixed(?) it with epoxy. I also improved the airbox intake connection. What fun it was torquing the control arm bolts with the car on the ground. The car gets aligned on Wednesday but driving it around the yard feels like a completely different animal; no clunks, it sits lower and is extremely quiet. I might put the radio back in it. lol
Parts:
4 x OEM Transmission mounts
2 x front tie rods
2 x front ball joints
Left front swaybar link
Power Flex front and rear subframe bushings
OEM front and rear control arm bushings
powder coated strut tops
stock front springs
coupe rear springs
3 liters G 050 for gearbox
3 liters 75w90 for rear diff.

[oil_me]

Update: it’s been 7 years and the car has 65k since the swap. Last spring I lost 5th gear after a highway run(TDI gearbox). It came back after a few months of limited use then went away again. The speedometer had also died over the previous winter and I determined it was the sensor ring. I finally got around to it in March. I pulled the drive flange and found the sensor ring had disintegrated into pieces. There was all kinds of metal debris stuck to the remains of the magnets. I’m now sure the two failures are related. I cleaned it out, put on a new seal and filled with fresh G052. I also reinstalled the original 30k cylinder head I bent a valve in about 6 years ago. It was redone by Franko6 with a proper 3-way valve job, port matched exhaust, Stage 3 cam, ARP head studs. I put it all back together, it fired up perfectly, revs nasty. The aftermarket head I purchased new back then had a defect in the rear outlet machining that caused a small coolant leak from the whole time I used it. I discovered later these Spanish heads had numerous problems and would probably, eventually fail for other reasons as well. Fifth gear returned after 1 day of driving. It was a little vague at first, now shifts perfectly. The next upgrade planned is a GT2052w turbo to take advantage of the new breathing. The second week in June showed 53.4 mpg. The car runs, drives and handles better than it ever has.

[DE80q]

Geez, thats a lot of little things going on! I'm glad to hear you got it all worked out though. 53mpg is amazing! I was overly excited to see close to 30mpg out of my 20vt haha.