New Owner of a 1981 4door VW Rabbit Diesel**47.5MPG**Baseline

[Cobb]

Do you have a link to the article? I believe there are 2 engines used. The article Im thinking of is about the Dasher, which is like the rabbit but it had round vs square head lights. It has the 1.3l engine and was advertised in an article to get 60mpg, but took a minute to get to highway speeds.

[Christ]

The 81 Rabbit has a 1.5 with 11mm head bolts and a 10mm pump. You can check that its an early 1.5 because there's a stamping on the block that shows "15D" and omits the dot. Later revisions got the dot, although that may only apply to 1.6 engines.

[Cobb]

I dont know, Il lhave to brush up on my vw history. It was my understanding all the earlier ones were 4 speeds and at that below 82 model year they had no od.The later ones past 82 had od in a 4 speed except for the convertible and the gti had the 5 speed.

Im thinking this maybe a franken vw that did not get the expected mpg for the original owner. Still a nice car to own even if true, but not the mpg monster it was thought to be.

Id pay up to 2 grand for a car like this if it was near me.

[bigchelis]

Thank you all for the help. My next project is removing the assisted brakes now

"Cobb --you can only remove the fins to the vacuum pump to disable it. You need it in place to spin the oil pump as its driven by the intermediate shaft. I guess you could get a dizzy from a gas one and hack off the top of it and clamp it in place?"


I have been giving it some though here. The MC issues are all worked out, thats the easy part.

The Oil Pump issue with the intermediate shaft. I saw PartsGeek sells these for non-powered brakes on VW rabbits and they carry the non-power brake MC too.

I wonder if this replacement might work?

77 1977 Volkswagen Rabbit Oil Pump - Engine Mechanical - Schadek - PartsGeek


I filted by 1977 Rabbit 1.5L Diesel and these populated. Heck, the MC for non-assisted brakes are there too.

[Cobb]

Am I missing something here? That looks like a replacement oil pump. The silver shaft is what the vacuum pump plugs into and the intermediate shaft spins it. See you need a right angle plug where vacuum pump goes.

Id just google it. Im sure someone has done this already.

[ECONORAM]

Originally Posted by bigchelis

I love simplicity in most things in life.

How can I make this gutted down car even more simple?

---The next big thing I am thinking about which likely will be done soon is the exaust.

I need a lighter and maybe convert the whole systems to a 2.5in tubing.

Unless you have a turbo, a 2.5in exhaust is really big for that engine. My 4.7L only uses a 3inch single. As I stated earlier, Techtonics has a 2inch, and I think Leistritz has (or at least had) a 1 7/8inch.

Originally Posted by Christ

If you Google "Vince Waldon glow plug" you'll see a powerful mod for them that makes them function much better and gives you manual control over them should you choose to have it. It involves using a solenoid and 4 pieces of larger gauge wire with a direct battery feed.

Had not heard of that. Very interesting idea.

The car is light enough you may be okay without the vacuum power brakes. I wouldn't see it weighing that much. You might try it first with just the vacuum line pulled to see if you are willing to drive full time like that...

[edit] Thanks Aerohead, I didn't know a diesel Rabbit would even go 80mph!

[Christ]

Originally Posted by ECONORAM

Unless you have a turbo, a 2.5in exhaust is really big for that engine. My 4.7L only uses a 3inch single. As I stated earlier, Techtonics has a 2inch, and I think Leistritz has (or at least had) a 1 7/8inch.


Had not heard of that. Very interesting idea.

The car is light enough you may be okay without the vacuum power brakes. I wouldn't see it weighing that much. You might try it first with just the vacuum line pulled to see if you are willing to drive full time like that...

[edit] Thanks Aerohead, I didn't know a diesel Rabbit would even go 80mph!

I wish people would stop recommending this all the time... its not even close to the same thing as a manual brake swap. If you remove the vacuum line on his car and don't plug it at the pump, its gonna blow oil everywhere on the next drive. Then he's also going to be fighting against the vacuum booster because he's gonna be trying to push all its volume of air through the little hole where the vacuum normally is, as well as fighting a rather large and fairly strong spring designed to keep the diaphragm from activating the brakes when there is higher than normal vacuum in the booster... its not even close.

[Christ]

And no, that oil pump won't do you any good. What you need is the oil pump drive unit. On engines WO vac pump, its just a gear in a housing. You're better off just removing the vanes or diaphragm from your vac pump. If its a vane pump they just slide out after you take the (3 bolt) cover off, then you bolt the cover back on and don't worry about it any more. Be use to plug the line to prevent contaminants from entering the engine there.

If you're going to replace the oil pump, a unit from a newer VE pump TDi is supposedly a bolt in upgrade.

[bigchelis]

Thanks again folks

Since I put the 2.5in exaust from header back with huge 3in Magnaflow muffler the Rabbit sounds like it packs alot of heat


I been driving the past 315 Miles since last Friday like I stole the car. Fast and with little regard for fuel economy. I just filled up and used up 6.5g of fuel for an average of 48 MPG


I am so amazed I was able to still get 48mpg out of it driving it aggresively that I am working on fixing the nut behind the wheel for this next tank.


bigC

[Christ]

I'll be the first to let you know that 'drive it like you stole it' is actually a viable fuel economy driving style for diesel mechanical cars. You want to accelerate with it basically between 1900-2500 rpm and the pedal dangerously close to touching the road. The governor takes care of the rest, get to high gear s soon as possible this way and cruise at whatever speed. The rest is responsible use of the brake and learning your cars handling characteristics so you aren't slowing excessively for curves etc.