TDI Cruising Speed & Long Term Endurance

Joined
Jul 30, 2000
Location
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
I have been doing my daily 130 mile round-trip commute to work each day in my 2001 Golf GL TDI (Bettie Page)since I purchased her in August 2000. Bettie (she looks great in black!)now has 45,000+ miles on her and continues to run smooth, cool, quiet and sexy. Except for an occasional blast past 100 mph for fun, I usually commute between 85-90 mph (the state police seem to give us commuters a pass on I-10). The engine seems very smooth, even up to 95 mph, but I do worry that I might be pushing her too hard over the long term. I use synthetic oil and adhere (strictly)to her maintenance schedule. Am I just being a girly-man or can I continue to burn up the bayoubahn. Any thoughts from long time owners would be appreciated?
 

Grady

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2000
Location
NW Oregon
TDI
'01 Jetta
Way back in JUL '00 SkyPup posted some info about the VW Marine Engines. I'm not sure if this link to a topic from a search will work.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=001121&p=

Here is the first part of the post:
The VW TDI Marine engine is the same engine as the automotive version, however to meet marine certification it must pass a test whereby it is run at wide open throttle for 300 hours straight. There is a provision for idling for 15 minutes ever 10 hours during the test.
This marine certification test is WAY MORE TORTUROUS than any known highway certification that I am aware of. VERY VERY FEW automotive engines will run WOT for 300 hours straight without total failure.

In case the link doesn't work, this posting is in the Fuels and Lubricants Forum, titled:
VW's 1.9L TurboDiesel Marine Engine
 

garrettp

Former Chip-Monk
Joined
May 23, 2000
Location
Oconto, WI
TDI
2000 JEDI
Turbeaux Cajun, with proper maintenance and oilchanges and oil, i would not worry too much about it. i ahve made a few trips out west with doing near 100 constant for 36 hours (there and back) infact i averaged 93mph the eintire trip with fuel and potty breaks (averaged 44mpg too
).

with 45k miles though i would check your intake and maybe get it cleaned and then do the CCV and Epsilonian device. this will keep it running clean and strong for as long as you can take good care of her(?).
 

RabbitGTI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 20, 1997
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
B4 Passat Sedan
It's a VW. That means feed it fresh fluids and hammer the pi$$ out of it. DRIVE it and don't worry. I've got buddies with 250k miles on Rabbit GTIs that are redlined daily and have been autocrossed hundreds of time. They still have good compression, get good mileage and run great.
 

mittzlepick

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2001
Location
union maine
TDI
2004 jetta wagon (365k)2001 wagon tire burner 6spd 2003 wagon(417k)
I drove 120,000 miles on my 1984 rabbit it had 80 when i bought it. my driving style on the hoghway was floor it and watch the temp needle.the guy who bought the motor said he never had one that started so easy. 197,00 when it left me. by the way when I drive the passat I drive 80-90 on the highway and I intend to do that until 2018 when I hand it down to my yet to be born child.
 

TooSlick

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 2, 1999
Location
Dixie
TDI
Audi 100S
Due to the high gearing the average piston speeds in a TDI are quite low, compared to almost any other four cylinder engine. At 80 mph the engine is turning less than 3000 rpms in fifth gear. By contrast the 2.0L gas engine is turning approx 3800 rpms @ 80 mph in fifth gear and the 1.8L gas turbo is turning about 3400 rpms.

Based on the oil analysis results I've seen to date, the bearing wear in these engines is extremely low, so I believe they will last quite a long time. I'd say the weak point in the design is the turbo (particularly the ones on the A4 engines), so I'd try not to abuse it by running the car hard while it is warming up. At the end of a long hard drive it is also a good idea to drive the car easily for a few miles to allow the turbo to cool down before shutting off the engine.

The other thing I'd try to do is to keep the engine oil soot levels to a minimum, which will reduce polishing (erosive) wear throughout the engine (think of it as a form of sandblasting). The soot level when the oil is changed should be <3.0% if at all possible ....If you can't achieve this, then shorten the oil change interval or add an effective by-pass filter.

TS
 

TDIMeister

Phd of TDIClub Enthusiast, Moderator at Large
Joined
May 1, 1999
Location
Canada
TDI
TDI
We're talking about cars designed to run all day on the Autobahn in their native land. Nothing to worry about it. Keep up the maintenance, use good fuel and learn a few of the tricks-of-the-trade of TDI ownership and enjoy a long relationship with Bettie Page
 

K5ING

Mega-Miler
Joined
Apr 18, 2001
Location
Krum, TX
TDI
Silver 2001 Golf GL TDI 5-speed
There's a guy in Dallas, Ed Wallace, who has a weekly automotive radio show that I was listening to last weekend. This guy is tops when it comes to automotive knowledge and history. Someone called him and asked about the Jetta TDI. He said it was a no-brainer. "That engine will last you over 500K miles. What more do you want?" was his reply.

I drive mine about 450 miles PER 8 HOUR DAY (yesterday I did 650 over 13 hours) at speeds averaging 70mph +/- 5mph and haven't had a thing go wrong over 52K miles so far. It wants to be driven fast on the highway and gives you terrific mileage to boot. "What more do you want?".


Jeff (52.6K miles since 5/1/01 and climbing!)
 

blugg

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 5, 1999
Location
Bisbee, AZ USA
TDI
Jetta, 99.5, black
K5ING: Jeez. At first I thought you meant 450 miles per week. Then I looked at your purchase date (5/1/01) and the mileage since then (52.6K) and went into the kitchen and poured myself a drink.

Now here's my question. If you drive 450 miles in an 8 hour day may I assume you are doing this in the course of your employment? If this tentative hypothesis is correct, how do you get any work done?

Wait a minute. 450 divided by 8 = 56.25 miles per hour. So if you drive 70 you are only in the saddle 6.42 hours per day. So you perform work one hour and fifteen minutes per day.

I got it. You rob banks. Rob a bank, haul ass. Rob another, haul ass. Etc.
Based on personal experience (ex det. sgt. in Cal.) it takes about eight minutes to rob a bank (once inside. Employees get nervous, drop things, pee pants, etc., all of which takes time)so you could do a few and be home for supper at a reasonable time.

I am impressed. I've had mine 2.5 years and have 35k miles. Maybe I don't even need a car.

So how's the reliability? Be a ***** to toss a MAF in the middle of a high speed chase.

[ December 07, 2001: Message edited by: blugg ]</p>
 

Old Navy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 15, 2001
Location
Ozark Hill's in Missouri, USA
TDI
None now, .
BLUGG, you just made my day. It's cool and rainy here causing all the aches and pains that doesn't allow for sleep then I read your post and my my day seems brighter.
Thanks again and don't be a stranger here.
 

blugg

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 5, 1999
Location
Bisbee, AZ USA
TDI
Jetta, 99.5, black
wreasons:

Thanks. Perhaps my job in life is to make people laugh.

Wrote a humour column for the local newsblatt for two years featuring such characters as Lobo Slibowitz (modeled after a real Greenwich Village drop-out named Wolfe O-Meara), Starflower Lieberman (the quintessential aging hippy reeking of pachouli oil), and Karl-Hans Nikelov the Russian wetback. Here on the Mexican border a Mexican UDA would have been a touchy subject.

What, exactly, is that after market oil drain plug
and what does it do that the OEM plug doesn't do?
 
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