1981 rabbit pickup with blown motor

I bought a rabbit pickup recently with a blown motor. Apparently the head is toast, cracks are big and into the intake and exhaust ports.

I have never driven the truck, as don't know how much of a dog it is compared to a stock ALH MKIV car, both of which my wife and I drive daily. We also tow our 1800 pound jetski trailer with the wifes ALH jetta. Tows it just fine.

I am probably going to just swap in a 1.9L non turbo engine do to cost and ease of swap. Will the little pickup be 0-60 in 10 seconds like a stock ALH MKIV car? or will it be super slow still? I COULD do a the AAZ 1.9L turbo diesel swap into the truck, but the engines are about $1000 more than the non turbo. I would be happy with stock MKIV ALH TDi straight line performance if I could get it from the 1.9L non turbo motor (1Y?).

Will the truck ever be able to tow 1800 pounds? Maybe with bigger brakes? is the frame strong enough? Can the tow ball on the bumper handle this or does it need a dedicated hitch like the jetta?

New to older Diesels... Not new to swaps, my vanagon is 1.8T powered and also tows the jet ski trailer (don't even notice it back there).

If you want to tow you need a turbo, no two ways about it.

If you're in the states, not sure where you're getting the 1Y. Not an engine offered here - not sure if it was even offered in Canada. I think its Euro only. I would go with a turbo diesel of some kind for sure.

And to answer your question, no, it won't be as quick as your ALH. It may *feel* about the same, due to the lower weight of the pickup vs. the mk4, but the hp is going to be less for sure. We have some slight modifications to our 1.6TD and it may be 75hp from the 68hp it came with from the factory. Feels pretty peppy. Not sure I'd tow with it though.

Rabbit pickup? Stock with a diesel......slow, but will get you there. I know, I can't count on my digits how many I have owned.
1.6 turbo ok. 1.9 turbo, expensive..here anyway.
Do your self a favor, look for a wrecked Passat or jetta tdi and do a conversion....not rocket surgery, and you will have a truck that is fun to drive and will get better mileage than 1.6 or 1.9 in any flavor, and have some performance.

Just so you know, my pickup is quicker than my alh, and I am only running 110 hp.
160 hp motor for pickup is on the stand waiting....

I ended up just getting a 1.9 idi motor right now. Conversion is straight bolt in. Some of the electrical stuff on new motor will need to be sorted out though... How can u tell if glow plugs are slow or fast?

All recently purchased glow plugs are fast.

I didn't buy them, they came in motor. Trying to decide if I need a new relay or not?

The AAZ (1.9) engine only had "fast" plugs... slow plugs were phased out in the mid-80s.

They will be compatible with whatever relay your truck chassis has... if it's got a slow relay you'll just have to wait a little longer to till the yellow light goes out.

I was under the impression if the engine has fast plugs (sounds like it does) and the chassis has a slow relay (1981 was slow...) that the plugs will burn out very quickly, from being on too long? Is this not the case? If it is, it sounds like my 1981 truck just needs the fast relay swapped in...?

If you have good quality modern plugs (Bosch Duraterms) then they won't get roasted with a slow relay. Cheaper plugs don't have internal temperature control so yes, they will get damaged eventually.

Ideally you want to find a late turbo relay - it has the best overall behavior in terms of afterglow, etc.

Stock AAZ glow plugs.. and more recent Bosch Duraterms... are designed to run for several minutes after the engine starts ("afterglow")... so a few extra seconds when they start won't bother them at all.

1.6L motor is on floor now. Still trying to figure out how to use serpentine belt setup, my non ac bracket is missing tensioner and slotted alternators are big money...

Anyone have a bracket and tensioner arm and wheel for sale? I think from aaz, 1z, or ahu might work. I know the 1y (which is what I have) is pretty much aaz without turbo...

Any reason to go with 1.9 clutch over 1.6 clutch? Does anyone know if 1.9 flywheel will work with 1.6 starter and bell housing?

I just realized you are in the bay area. I have an ahu for sale, and two 1.6 diesels in good running condition. If you want to convert to tdi, let me know.

Little late lol. If you have any advice for the clutch or how to find tdc after you took flywheel off and didn't mark it, that'd be helpful... My crank timing gear looks damaged, need one of those. I also need an alternator bracket with tensioner assembly...

Well-you already bought an engine but the 1.6 na engine was 52 hp stock. I know my AAZ is 75 hp stock. Some turn the boost up some by adjusting the threaded rod for the wastgate on the turbo and adding an intercooler helps as well to cool the incoming air. But I have to say there is a HUGE difference on the 1.6 na in my truck vs the AAZ in my car. The car I have towed-more then I likely should have in May (a Harley ultra classic on an aluminum motorcycle trailer) 4 hours to get it back home for my brother. It died in my yard and my wife had the mini-van at his place and we didn't want to wait that long. Towed it fine except I had to watch the oil temps. If I kept the exhaust temp under 700 then the oil would stay around 250.

The truck is 0-60 in more like 10 miles. It is VERY slow compared to the other engine. But it is so simple to work on and run that I hate to change money for something that only seats two people anyways so it isn't going to need to pass people as much in city traffic hauling the family.

As to the clutch. I bought a 210 mm clutch that had the right mark on it already for the AAZ and have a 5 spd tranny added to it.

I bet your aaz has way more torque than the 1.6, regardless of horsepower...

I need to know if I've locked my 1.9L injection pump at TDC so I can put the belt on. Does this look right?:

Also is this little triangle / circle mark TDC on the flywheel?:

Got the engine in the truck and started it. Found out the injection pump throttle shaft oring is bad and is leaking fuel everywhere.

I took the top cover of the pump off, and forgot to mark the line on the shaft before getting it loose. How does one line this up after the fact?

Definitely been learning a lot these past weeks haha!

kuleinc said:

How does one line this up after the fact?

Click to expand...

Pretty much gotta be trial and error, unfortunately, and you'll want to have a helper standing by the ignition key as you experiment, since she may want to run away a bit while you're dialing it in.

How will I know I got it right?

When the throttle operates properly: the engine accelerates smoothly and evenly as the throttle is applied and drops back down to idle without hanging when the throttle is released.