Got a new toy today, thought y'all would appreciate it

[Robert6401]

Well, I'm the very proud owner of a 1986 VW Jetta 1.6n/a - which I assume stands for naturally aspirated. If there's a turbo in there, I haven't found it yet, but this is my very first diesel car, so I'm still allowed to claim ignorance on all things VW.

I drove the car about 3 hours today, and it drives fine. It started immediately and didn't smoke at all. The block was ice cold before we cranked it. The first 4 gears work fine and reverse, but the 5th OD gear doesn't engage at all.

The brakes need some work, not really sure what is going on there, but they are very weak and you have to push the pedal all the way to the floor to get them to activate at all. I had to make sure I kept plenty of distance in front for stopping.

I cruised home at about 57mph in 4th gear. I could've gone a little faster in 4th, but I didn't want to rag it out.

There is a little oil in the "valley," or whatever its called on these cars, but I checked the oil level three times today and it didn't seem to change.

The A/C works, it's hard to tell how well since it is about 50 degrees today, but I could tell that it was colder than with just the fan on.

All-in-all, I feel like I got a great deal for $1000. Hopefully I will get it up on the rack soon and see what the underbelly looks like, get the oil changed, flush the radiator, and get that OD gear working

I do have one question for the guys that know these cars. The eng temp gauge is right in the middle of the cluster at the bottom. There are no colored indications, like red, yellow, green. There is a red light that flashes when I start the car and I am assuming is an idiot light for when the eng starts getting hot. Well, it started flashing at me at one point today, but the needle was in pointing to the left side of the gauge. Now, to me, the left side would be cold and the right side would be hot, but this is a german car after-all, so maybe it's backwards. I shut the car off when the light started flashing, checked the engine for signs of overheating and didn't see any. Started it back up and drove the rest of the way home with no problems. My question is, does that light also flash when the engine is cold? I have never seen one that did, but heck if I know.

Now, I know this thread is useless now without pictures, but my camera is in the wife's truck and I'm waiting for her to get home from the store. I will post pics as soon as she gets home.

[907DAVE]

The VW's I have experience with had a "cold temp" light that would stay on a few minutes after a cold start. These were all 2000 and up models though.

[Robert6401]

Here's a link to pics

1986 VW Jetta pictures by Robert6401 - Photobucket

[F-127]

Nice find, I wouldn't mind a little diesel car myself.

[Robert6401]

Thanks Thomas, I'm really excited about it. I got good mileage out of it without OD today, so I am looking forward to getting that fixed.