Looking at a couple VW Diesels....

[ps2fixer]

So I have been on a search for a small truck to get atleast as good of mileage as my camry gets (~27mpg average) and switch to driving it full time. Came across a couple of reads about the VW Diesel Rabbit Pickups known as a Caddy overseas. Very interesting to see people getting 40-50mpg with them being a truck and all. Seached for one in my area and found 2 about 200 miles away for $2500 with the current owner not knowing much about them. Both are 1981s with issues and toppers (rare like the trucks).

First one can be started, but has a bad brake line. The owner drove it ~35 miles home and said there was preasure in the coolent system. He thinks the head gasket is blown (common issue for these). Other than that the truck is solid. Truck has around 100k miles, but owner thinks odometer isn't working which is fairly common for these as well.

The Second one hasn't been attempted to be started and is "loosely bolted in". Owner also says the floor is soft but says strut towers are good. Truck has around 200k miles and looks solid in the photos.


Now to get to the point of my post, I'm planning to drive down there on Friday to look at them and probably buy them both, but was wondering what I should keep a good eye out for on these trucks / engines. Here is a quick list i'm going to check when I get there.

• Double check strut towers on both, looked at photos to see how they break to get an idea where to check.
• Check for rust as always since the truck is a unibody style
• Check oil in coolent / coolent in oil - hope the owner just don't know much about cars and the presure build up he talks about is just from normal operation.
• Check over the non-runner, hoping the engine is good in it, but no one knows why it isn't bolted in good.... weird
• Check MFG Date, of my research early 81s had 11mm head bolts and the later 81s had 12mm head bolts (12mm being good)
• Ofcourse the normal stuff to go over when looking at something to buy, fluid levels, known maintence history, body damage, etc.

If I do end up buying them, I'll be looking to fix up the running one asap and start driving it to work every day (75 miles/day should add up fast in savings!). The other I think I'll work on fixing it up, replace the areas with rust, fresh paint, get it running (if engine is good), etc. Then switch to driving it and either sell the one I drove every day or keep it around as a backup and switch what one I drive every other year or something.


If the headgasket does end up being bad, what else should I look into replacing at the same time? Here is a quick list that comes to mind.

• Headgasket of course
• Intake and exhaust gaskets
• valve cover gasket
• if head bolts are 11mm upgrade to "racing studs" to reduce the failure rate of the new head gasket
• thermostat
• timing belt + tensioner
• water pump
• any rubber hoses that are going bad, or just replace them all
• brake lines

Ball park guess for cost of parts is around $300-400 + unexpected issues + the specialty tools for the timing belt change. Seems to be a fair cost even if the second truck was purely for parts. Good running Caddys appear to value around 3000-4500 depending how good it looks.


Any input or experence with this engine/truck would be great.

Thanks!

[JasonG]

Dressing the truck out like BamZipPow should make for some great MPGs.

Maybe "loosely bolted in" means just a broken motor mount ?

You may be able to find a wrecked/rusted 1999.5-2003 Golf/jetta and move the TDI into the one with the blown motor. I've seen wrecked ones for <$2000
This will greatly increase your towing capacity as well.

Check where the floor pan meets the door sill, its a common rust spot.

[JasonG]

Have you seen this one ? With topper in Seattle. Engine looks good and has TB done this month.
1982 Volkswagen VW Caddy diesel pickup pick up truck

[ps2fixer]

Great info, I will make sure to look over that area for rust.

For the listing, one little problem... according to google: 2,293 miles, 1 day 14 hours drive time.

Not to bash the current owner, but I don't think they know much about working on cars in general since they didn't know about the head gasket issue until they drove home with it. They are basically clueless about the engine in the second, and any question about size of engine etc is ignored/missed in the replies. Might end up being a steal with 1 truck with a bad brake line and the other with bad motor mounts and a rusted floor pan.


For the Golf/Jetta engine TDI swap out, I wouldn't mind the extra power, but looking at what others have done it kind of kills the point of buying the tiny truck, max MPG. Around 35mpg isn't bad for the hp output. The truck will mainly be for the travel to work (37 miles each way), but once in a while I need to haul something small, or tow something that this truck should do fine (at slower speeds) .


If I do get the truck, I'm hoping to beef up the front end some to add some strength and I watched some crash tests of the golf and it don't do a lot till the A arms of the front tires start taking the blow. Besides that I would like to do a couple aero mods, belly pan and possibly some sort of aero topper. Nothing super extreme, but would love to be 50mpg average all the time and hit 60-65 peaks for a fairly low goal.


Here are a couple of videos to compare the vw golf (same front end as caddy) to my 92 Camry, mind you that the Camry is a much larger car (mid size) ~2200lb vs 2932lb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRbwTutw-Hk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxb8TVcQQGE

[TedV]

Besides the rusty strut towers, look for rust in floor close to shifter tunnel. They will rust under the undercoating. Motor mounts could be broken or missing mounting bolts, or body under radiator or any place the mounts attach to car could be rusted. Vent windows in the door tend to fall out when the glue gives up. Check the fuse box. It is up and to the left of the clutch pedal. The cable for the radio antennae goes thru the chassis right above it into the left front wheel well. Seal goes bad, water comes in, rusts floor and moisture corrodes the fuse box. Rain tray at bottom of windshield/rear of hood will rust if drains are clogged.

Look at the cylinder head around the injectors. If they were ever removed or installed wrong the heads can crack or break there. Leaky injectors will cause internal problems you can not see until the motor is taken apart. Liquid diesel from dribbling injectors can cause pits to the seating area of the injector heat shield, also melt pistons, put holes thru head to the coolant. That is worst case, most likely just head gasket blown. Could also be bad radiator cap That year is solid lifter and to adjust vlaves you use shims. Metal fuel tanks tend to rust from the inside out. Thankfully diesels have fuel filter before the pump. Gas has no protection to the fuel pump. The engine code is stamped in a flat spot in the block by the head gasket between cylinder 3 and 4. Motor will probably be too gunked up to be able to read it.

I have a modified 1.6 turbo diesel running 21psi boost. I get 47 cruising with a close ratio GTI gearbox. I am a bit confused by the 35mpg comment. That’s what a friend’s 82 Scirocco gas got on the highway. If a TDi is getting 35mpg something is severely wrong. Leaking fuel, wrong transmission ratios, wrong tune, way over fueled, built for 200plus Hp, something?? The Jetta and Passat TDI up to 98 are the easiest to swap. Blocks changed for the 99.5 making motor mounts harder to fabricate. There are kits to put late model motors in the Mk1 Rabbit/Scirocco. 1.9 TDi is more efficient than the 1.6 IDI and will make more power on the same amount of fuel. A stock TDi gives the same HP as the 83/84 rabbit GTI with lots more torque but can be a rather involved, costly swap. Properly tuned the 1.6 will do you well. If you do need to put a later motor in, 85+ have hydraulic lifters and you can get a 1.9 non TDi that runs the mechanical pump.

There’s the high spots…Hope I didn’t repeat too much you already know. If you do buy the trucks, do yourself a favor and purchase a Bentley manual for wrench turning info. Money well spent to do it right the first time. VWdiesel.net/forum has more IDI info than TDIclub.

About strengthening the front. It is what it is. I believe every generation VW crashed better than the one before.

[ps2fixer]

Great info, exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for .

The only rust spots I knew of was the floor boards and the strut towers, I'll have a print of this thread with key points highlighted when I check it out .

Anyway, the 35mpg comment is more from performance based sites doing the swap, I read so much about them I could be throwing the wrong number, but it seems to me it was quite a bit lower than stock. Maybe they beat the snot out of it, or have a higher boost, driving around 80mph on the expressway probably would kill the mpg.

I trust the people here more, so if I do get the trucks I'll make sure to keep an eye out for a wrecked car with the 1.9 TDI for cheap . I do plan to buy the Bentley service manual. While looking up about the timing belts and such I came across a few posts about the cam pulley bolt torque, Bentley manual says 33ft/lbs and the people on the thread said 45ft/lbs to be on the safe side. I guess someone on that site has done a lot of head work with the root cause being the 33ft/lbs spec. Ever hear anything about that?


For beefing up the front end, I was thinking mainly adding some support bars back to the main body from the front (could hold a belly pan too) and maybe remake the bumper to something a bit stronger. Seen the effects of pipe bumpers when hitting a tree at around 60, driver and passenger had no seat belts and walked away with no issues. Truck wasn't so good though, broken frame, broke front axle (4x4) in half and of course the body damage in the front. Engine was still good . This was a 1973 ford frame with a station wagon front end converted into a truck cab with a 350 or 455 olds v8 and a hand built overly heavy box. I'm not super worried about the crash damage since I probably wont be going over 55mph and I drive in the country. The biggest threat out here are deer. One got my Camry on the highway at 70mph, car turned into a ramp and the deer reflected off the bent hood. After a ~$100 radiator, swapping some parts off a parts car, and a little welding, it is good as new with a wrong colored hood . Anyway back on topic, first plans are to get one running and drive it .

[TedV]

Also while doing t-belt. replace cam seal. inspect crank and intermediate shaft seal. if they leak it can ruin the belt = bent valves and other engine damage. Dont get T-belt too tight or intermediate shaft bearings will fail. Too loose you risk timing problems and utlimately head/motor damge.

either pop test the injectors or replace them along with the heat shield seals. see cliffs notes above what leaking injectors will cause.

I use a torque wrench that has been tested and verified. I treat them like the precision equipment they are and for the most part follow the specs from VW. Slightly tighter is better than slightly loose usually. Stretched, broken bolts and pulled out threads do suck just as bad as a part that falls off tho. From memory I think I do the 33ft lbs with a light coating of anti seize. Some folks like to use blue loctite. Mine have always been tight and slightly stuck on. Split the difference and call it 39?? lol. I will try to check the TDi spec against the IDI spec on that bolt tonight. Axle nut torque on Mk1 VW I go beyond what the book calls for on road race and autocross aplications to prevent wheel bearing failure. I also prefer to use german made parts for longevity.

yes, 80mph will make my 98 TDi get around 46mpg. towing a motorcycle at that speed is still 38mpg. Not driving like an A--hat I get 48-49 with it being chipped and non stock injectors.

[tjts1]

Originally Posted by JasonG

Have you seen this one ? With topper in Seattle. Engine looks good and has TB done this month.
1982 Volkswagen VW Caddy diesel pickup pick up truck

The money people expect for these old rust buckets is ridiculous.

[Varn]

I have been getting over 50mpg with my Jetta with the 1.6 diesel. most miles are fully loaded.

If the vehicles are in the rust belt, the bodies may be worn out.

Be sure you have a way to plug in the block heater if you expect it to start in the winter.

[ps2fixer]

Originally Posted by tjts1

The money people expect for these old rust buckets is ridiculous.

I fail to see the major rust on the truck in that listing, it probably was repainted so the little photos don't show well, but they do hold a value around $3500-6000 depending how good they are. Ones that need work are around $1000-2000 of what I have seen.

Originally Posted by Varn

I have been getting over 50mpg with my Jetta with the 1.6 diesel. most miles are fully loaded.

If the vehicles are in the rust belt, the bodies may be worn out.

Be sure you have a way to plug in the block heater if you expect it to start in the winter.

I'm very largely into the rust belt (mid Michigan), the trucks I am going to look at are in OH, so they hold their bodies much better compared to here. The cold starts in the winter was a huge concern to me since my dad's truck was pretty hard to start in really cold weather (single digit or lower). His is a 7.3L though and the compression is much lower at 17.5:1 compared to the specs I have seen on the VWs being around 22.5:1 or 23.5:1. I watched several "cold starts" on youtube with these, every single one fires up pretty easy in a short time. I don't really have a good setup for a block heater, so if it gets too hard to start in the winter, I could just drive my car during them months.


Thanks for the input so far, hope these trucks turn out to be a solid deal . Going on the trip tomorrow.