Used engine buying

Well I got the car for $1200 with a roof bike rack and extra set of tires! Runs and drives pretty well just one issue...rough idle. If I give it any throttle even enough to go to 980 rpm it goes away, could this be injector nozzles that need to be cleaned, or perhaps injection pump quanity adjustment? Still learning diesel stuff but just wanted to see if my hunches were correct. It's got no turbo/power/smoke issues just rough idle.

oracleglassarts said:

Well I got the car for $1200 with a roof bike rack and extra set of tires! Runs and drives pretty well just one issue...rough idle. If I give it any throttle even enough to go to 980 rpm it goes away, could this be injector nozzles that need to be cleaned, or perhaps injection pump quanity adjustment? Still learning diesel stuff but just wanted to see if my hunches were correct. It's got no turbo/power/smoke issues just rough idle.

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It could be nozzle issue, aka dirty injectors, but it could be something else too.

You'll need to get out the VAGCOM and have a look see at some of the basic things. IQ and injection timing etc.

Looking forward to some pictures of your cars.

Steve

Checked the rack and confirmed it's a swap to manual rack. Little tough after driving my second gen 4 banger s10 the last month, but nothing crazy. I'm really enjoying the new car, everything works down to every last switch, setting, and feature. It's even got the lower engine cover! Thorough maintenance records as well. The transaction was perfect, go Craigslist!!! On a sad note I think my other tdi is gone for good. I parked it in a lot I thought was owned by our landlord and it got towed while I was picking up the new one. I basically spent my whole paycheck to get the new car so it's gonna sit in impound for two weeks now...with a blown engine I don't think it'll be worth it

Were these cars offered with manual steering? Are you sure the hoses weren't disconnected and looped?

Bad luck about getting impounded....

-Todd

No their is no manual rack option, it's a swap. I'm sure it's swapped, I googled pictures of Jetta racks both in and out of the car and checked mine though. No lines or fittings at all and even more confirmation of a swap is an ill fitting boot that covers the u joint where the column meets the rack.
This car is a blast, screw that old one it limp moded in 4th under hard and half or more of the accessories were burnt out or broke. This ones got wisconsin rust, but inside it's mint. K2 seats and a mk1 scirocco wheel and everything works, I'm getting to test the heat out when I get off work at 5 am.
Bright side of the other one getting towed is that I'm basically giving it to another enthusiast off Craigslist for the impound fee and I get to take my wheels and newer tires and the lock knob I'm missing

I believe there was a manual steering option on the Canadian market so the parts probably aren't too hard to get.

I think its cheaper to put in a manual rack than replace the pump and high pressure line. Might be why it was done.

Mk3 cars used Mk2 racks, in fact I don't think there's any difference between a Mk2 power rack and a Mk3/B3/B4 power rack. You can tell by the part number, if it begins with 191 then it's a Mk2 part.

That doesn't mean that all Mk3/B3/B4 power racks are Mk2 but since these cars are all an evolution of what's basically the same platform by extension the parts come from the same bin at VW. After all, why re-engineer something when you don't need to.

Yes, the rack might have come from Canada but it's more likely someone just found a junked Mk2 with a manual rack and installed that one. As for the US there was never a Mk3 sold here without PS. In Canada the Golf CL with the 1.8L might have come without PS.

Steve