//// 1990 Jetta ... we don't go back that far ! ////

[Andyinchville1]

Hi All,

Have a chance to buy a 1990 Jetta Wofsburg edition Diesel 5 speed tomorrow AM and was trying to look up some info in the forum and it looks like this is a gen 2 car and the forum only goes back a far as gen 3.

Anyways, being that there a lot of diesel gurus on here what do you think about this car?

Pics I received show a nearly perfect body, 5 speed Wolfsburg edition per the owner.

Been stored for 7 years and just fired up the other day prior to showing to sell.

They will not allow test drives (due to no tags and insurance) but said OK to drive up and down the driveway.
I would like to drive it obviously but thats their rules about not driving on road until sold.

Is this "barnyard" find the equivalent of finding a Plymouth Superbird except in VW terms?

Anything to know specifically about these cars to look for ... I'm guessing timing belt for sure since it sat 7 years before starting so who knows hold old the belt is

I think it has nearly 400K miles.

What is something like this worth ? I may get it if it sounds mechanically good just because it is a vehicle I assume without alot of electronics for the end times !

Thanks in advance for any and all help on this.

Andrew

 

[Prairieview]

This "barn-find" (such a moronic term) is the equivalent of finding a clapped-out older diesel. Unless, of course, it has a superbird wing on it....then, the wing might be worth something.

Are you a rather skilled mechanic? At 400K miles, this probably needs pretty-much everything. There is no such thing as a free lunch. The old 1.6's oval their bores at about 125,000 miles and re-ringing is mostly pointless. The engine probably needs intermediate shaft bearings. The top of the oil pump shaft (which rotates the vacuum pump) is probably worn to a knife-blade edge and the vacuum pump has a lot of miles on it.

If the owner is using ether to light this off for potential customers, the pre-chambers are getting loosened up (as in later falling out) and the rings are getting softened. Can't imagine the fuel pump did not long-ago go varnish.

Brake system would need a total going through. The heater cores did not last forever....esp. sitting there with old old anti-freeze in the system. Were there mice in the vicinity?

Spindle bearings and cv joint work. Is there any corrosion in the trunk on the passenger-side shock tower (where salt and moisture builds up behind the fuel tank filler neck)?

At a bare minimum, you absolutely need to see this engine light-off from stone cold.....no pre-warm-up prior to your arrival. Get it as dirt-cheap as possible and I hope you are good with tools and common sense. Most parts are readily available even after all this time. The Mk. II unit bodies were quite substantial compared to the earlier bunnies with no sub-frame, etc.

Edit: the hydro-head camshafts generally received a very thin hardened surface compared to the older German cams in the solid-lifter engines. The camshafts visually looked like crap when new and only went downhill. The lobes generally start to chip even with good oil and intelligent use of the car. Good used hydro camshafts are very hard to find. The ramp on the solid cams was different so employing a solid cam is only good for about 10,000 miles.

 

[Lex4TDI4Life]

... it looks like this is a gen 2 car and the forum only goes back a far as gen 3.

TDIClub. TDI="Turbocharged Direct Injection." What you have there is a naturally aspirated diesel, not a TDI.

All pedantry aside, however, sounds like an interesting ride. Definitely wouldn't pay more than $1k unless the body is immaculate.

 

[BobnOH]

You might consider holding back part of the money until you test drive.

 

[[486]]

I'd buy it at $500
at $1k, nah
those 1.6 motors needed a tbelt at 10k, modern ones go 40, but the one on it is probably all cracked up and trash

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Not turbocharged, also indirect, not direct, injection. Louder, and much slower than an ALH and probably gets the same or worse fuel economy. I love old VW diesels but the evolution to TDIs really improved the breed. I'd consider an IDI VW diesel more as an oddity or fun car than a daily driver.

 

[oilhammer]

I still have my '91 (same as a '90). It is a great car, but it is not something I would want to drive every day. Not anymore, anyway. I drove it to 437k miles, it never left me sitting. Very reliable. Used very little oil until the very end when I finally decided to rebuild it when I went to change the original clutch.

I paid $11,682 for mine. I'd do it again if I could. Very little ever "broke" on it. The door panels have never been off. Every door latch, every window, trunk, hood, all 100% original and work perfectly. Paint still shines. It is slow.... 52hp. It will cruise at 80 so long as it is not too hot out. The A/C slows it down some, and will cause it to heat up at speeds over 70. Cooler weather is better. It LOVES the cold. It even started, unaided, after sitting outside overnight on a -15F morning in Michigan one year.... and it had over 400k miles on it at the time. Wife and I drove that all over the place, and it was our daily driver into the city every day until we got our first TDI in 1998.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

MK2s are really good looking cars. Oddly, I saw one this AM on my way to work. Lowered, 1.8T swap from the sound of it, stretched tires. Still looked good. Got a headlight flash (in my '99.5 Golf). If I could find a really clean one I'd still be interested in one.

 

[Poor King]

I'd buy it at $500
at $1k, nah
those 1.6 motors needed a tbelt at 10k, modern ones go 40, but the one on it is probably all cracked up and trash

Accurate reply. I bought my '91 for $500 and any mk2 at this day and age quickly becomes a project.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

Man, OilHammer, that pic takes me back - I did the "behind the wheel with approved instructor" part of my learner's permit in a white 90 or 91 Wolfsburg edition Jetta back in 91, and my road test for my full license a year later in the same car. Gasser and automatic of course, but I remember it being a really nice ride - peppy without being overpowering for a new driver, responsive yet forgiving.

10 years later I bought my MKIV, and "the rest is history"...

 

[MOGolf]

There is the "Other VW Group TD(I)s" forum here. We have covered older models.

A certain 85 Jetta painfully comes back to memory. I think there's still a mark on my garage floor where is tinkled its brake fluid from the rear brake line that rusted through while undergoing timing belt surgery at its opposite end.
https://forums.tdiclub.com/index.php?forums/other-vw-group-td-i-s.41/post-thread

 

[fatmobile]

The 1.6 leaves plenty of room for an upgrade later when it dies.
I'm still working on my MTDI Mk2 Golf project.
I like the MK2s.
Wires were thicker, no magic keys, lighter weight
and though you can't feel the road like the old Rabbits
They still give a good connection to the road not as heavy and floating as later cars.
Yeah, $500 max.
It's wolfsburg quality and the 90s had things like big bumper and a smoother clutch feel
stainless headlight adjuster screws, etc. Might have the AWY trany that is real slow geared.
Bigger rear drums.
And it's leggo compatible with many of both the Mk1 and MK3 stuff.
For example seats and stuff from the Mk1.
Suspension,from the Mk3.
Tranys from both.

 

[oilhammer]

I should note that "Wolfsburg Edition" is a trim package, and has zero to do with where the vehicle was built (plenty of Vanagons, which were all assembled in either Hannover, Germany or in Graz, Austria, never in Wolfsburg) were graced with such editions, as were plenty of Mexican assembled Jettas.

Most A2 Jettas sold here were assembled in Wolfsburg, but not all (very few, actually) were Wolfsburg Edition cars. The WE cars of that era had a round tag with a white and black affixed to their side. Cars that were merely assembled there got a black rectangle badge on the side of the front fender, and this was merely to cover the hole that was normally a side turn signal lamp in Europe but was at the time not used for US spec cars. Whereas the US-built Golfs of the same era had no hole there at all, so no tag was needed to cover anything.

My German assembled Jetta pictured above has the rectangular badge covering the hole. It is not a Wolfburg Edition. In fact, most late A2 Jettas in the fancier trim levels were called Carat (there were Vanagon Carats, too), and they just said 'Jetta Carat' on the trunk.

Mine is a GL, which in '91 was the lowest trim level you could get in a Jetta here. They axed the base version after 1989. I had one of those, too. It had the regular "twead" seats, no rear center armrest, no knee bolster and no door mounted shoulder belts. It also had the standard 13" wheels. There were other minor differences too.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Those are Corrado wheels in the photo, right?

 

[oilhammer]

No, those are the factory wheels. The wheels you are thinking of are very similar, but the holes are flush with the wheel disc, and do not have the black painted rings around them.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

Most A2 Jettas sold here were assembled in Wolfsburg, but not all (very few, actually) were Wolfsburg Edition cars. The WE cars of that era had a round tag with a white and black affixed to their side. Cars that were merely assembled there got a black rectangle badge on the side of the front fender, and this was merely to cover the hole that was normally a side turn signal lamp in Europe but was at the time not used for US spec cars. Whereas the US-built Golfs of the same era had no hole there at all, so no tag was needed to cover anything.

Hm, maybe the one I learned to drive in wasn't a Wolfsburg "edition" after all, but just Wolfsburg assembled. I definitely remember the little square/rectangular "castle" badges on the front fenders, but I can't remember any more whether there was a matching logo on the steering wheel or not...

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Looked like these at first glance.

 

[oilhammer]

That is a different wheel altogether.

 

[Andyinchville1]

Hi all,

Thanks for the input so far ...

I ended up getting the car for $700...

It seemed like such a nice car (body wise , interior , and under carriage were in great condition) and the engine started well when cold (not pre warmed .. no starter fluid).

The major cons with the vehicle ...

Needs a battery

Needs radiator leak fixed

Has water leak into interior into driver floorboard and left side of trunk (the car was under a covered location before, but with me (not having a garage) water got in during the last rain (no rotted flooring but I have to figure out the water leak before it causes issues

Weather striping looks good but obviously something is wrong somewhere since water is getting in... any common places to check out other than weather striping on these cars?

I'll have to figure out about a timing belt asap.

I am looking forward to actually trying to drive it more than 5 mph!

On a longer term note ...

I am seriously thinking of finding an alh engine and popping it in there ..

A swap like that has got to be good...I mean nearly doubling the hp with a stock alh ... wow crazy good ....especially since the car is so light compared to a mk Iv.

I know its probably not recommend but I may just get a new battery , fill the radiator up and take her for a brief spin ... I just have to see what 52 hp feels like. Ha..

If she blows on the maiden trip, I guess the alh was meant to be !

( truthfully I almost popped $900 for a set of te37s to save about 35 lbs weight but for $700 I got a rolling chassis and saved about 800 lbs! ... of course I still need an engine ... oh well maybe the little 1.6 will last awhile).

Andrew

 

[02NBTDI]

Does the car have a sunroof? Clogged drains if so equipped.
FCP Euro for the t belt kit.

Pictures of the Jetta??

 

[Andyinchville1]

Does the car have a sunroof? Clogged drains if so equipped.
FCP Euro for the t belt kit.

Pictures of the Jetta??

Hi

Thanks for the info ...

No sun roof and the weather stripping looks good .... I'm wondering if its like my car with a leak coming in around a wiring harness or something along those lines .... I'll have to open the car up to air it out / find potential leak points...

I have always had issues trying to put pics up and unfortunately it doesn't seem any easier with the new forum format...

I'd be nice to just have a button to press , select , and attach pics with auto sizing as needed ... I'll try to see if I can post pics tho ...

The lady says its wolfsburg edition but the only indication I have are 2 round badges on the fenders.... and seemingly nothing else indicating it as such ...

she and her family have owned it since new so I guess they'd know.

 

[02NBTDI]

Also a possibility the cowl drains are plugged up with debris since no sunroof. Check the bottom of the door panels for dampness too. Vapor barrier on the doors behind the door panels could be a possibility. Clogged door drains.

Round wolfsburg badges also!! Very cool!! One family owned is rare also. Not molested!!

Pictures if you can.... I have never been able to either so.....

 

[[486]]

I wouldn't bother with the full kit, just get the belt alone and give the tensioner a feel while the belt's off
not like an ALH where there's a bunch of idlers and a water pump
just cam, crank, injection pump, and tensioner
there is what looks like a serpentine pulley that runs on the back of the belt, but that is plain bearings like the cam and crank. Drives the oil pump.

 

[compu_85]

The tensioner is so cheap it'd be silly not to replace it while you're in there.

If the body is sound, $700 for a big bumper MK2 is a good deal IMHO. They're great little cars.

You'll probably find that the seals on the injection pump leak.