diesels
 

yes that's about right. i will guess 76 or 77 on the first rabbit diesel. they were known to be peppy and could get nearly 50 mpg with the stick. often they had head problems at around 100,000 miles. some went a lot more than that before problems but i am guessing that people didnt give them proper care. they had a lot of mechanical similarities to the gas engine cars as in block and lower end. head s were different and they used bosch mechanical pumps pretty much like the benz.

gm got in the act about this time too and built the v6 diesel put in mid sized cars such as the nova types. they offered little isuzu diesels in chevettes, ditto inthe small pickups (luv). dodge too, little mitsu diesel in the small ram 50. big dodges came with mitsu diesels, 6 cyl. scouts came with nissan diesels, and of course the gm 5.7 v8. ford did the 6.9 starting around 78 or so maybe 79. the us diesels had ridiculously cheap injection pumps that were mounted in the distributor hole and featured plastic internals that failed around 70,ooo miles. at this time mb was selling about 80% diesels here, lots of 240S AND 300s. thats why there are so many of them for us diesel geeks to play with... they never wore out.

oh yeah, there were peugot diesels too. they drove very nice but werent nearly the car a mb is.

others too i am sure i only listed half to 2/3 of them.

My earth shaking idea is to use some of the energy lost to heat in braking to instead power an electric supercharger. This would eliminate the starting and stopping of the engine problem but would mimic the essential advantage of the hybrid by capturing some of the forward momentum and using it to add power for the next acceleration. I've got some more ideas on this but I haven't patented them yet. :D :scholar:

Dream on, bucko, dream on... :juggle:

We drove a Grand Caravan out to Hilton Head and while the V-6 was adequate the transmission was terrible. They need to just scrap the Chrysler tranny. Glad I was renting and not owning

I've got a Grumman chev step van w/ a GMC 6.2 diesel. Understand it's supposed to be a lot better than the GMC 5.7. Anybody know? Seems pretty strong and reliable but I haven't put that many miles on it yet.

My dad had a mid 80s Peugeot turbo-diesel. I never worked on it, don't remember the model #, but we drove it to San Diego and back (from OlyWA) and it was one sweet running machine. Not sure why Peugeots quit selling in the U.S. -- must have been poor sales. No idea how it stacks up against Merc. 617 but I imagine it falls short.

I've heard that you need to replace hybrid batteries at around 100K at a cost of some $3 grand. Expensive overhaul...

I'm new to my Merc. turbo, about 6 months, but I've been told by more that one mechanic that turbos fry engine oil, giving it (the oil) less lifespan and effectiveness. Is this true? Turbos I've checked the dipstick on do seem to have dark and dirty oil.

I have never seen a Diesel operated for more than an hour on new oil that wasn't dark. The turbo is just another part to lubricate and dissipate heat. Needs a little larger filter and larger crankcase capacity. Turbo's carry more oil.

If you are leery of simple, reliable turbos on turbo designed engines then you have no hope of accepting hybrids. Most current hybrids get their biggest efficiency gain by recapturing some of the energy from braking(usually dissipated as heat) into electricity which is stored in a battery and used to accelerate. I don't know how efficient this is. I believe some of the hybrid technologies price a warranty that should cover that first battery change into the price. I to am leery of h ybrids but tell that to the prius freaks. There are some good antidoctal tales of prius with over 200K.

Huge gains. The diesel is the ultimate momentum engine. However I think using the model that has been used in gassers will not get you the optimum gain. Regenerative braking is definitely a plus. I would have to get out the combustion cycle equations and curves and remember most of the thermo I forgot.

6.2 gm
 

the 6.2 is a fairly good engine. it used to break out main bearing webs in pickup trucks with the 4.10 rear end but not on 3.73. dont know how that would translate in your grumman. the injection pumps are the weak point after the mb webs and they were junk from the factory. since yours is old it probably has had it changed already. also use only bosch glow plugs as the cheapies may break off and bend a rod. they are fairly reliable overall and get much better mileage than a gas engine specially around town. i used them to tow a 24' wilderness tt and got good results. with the 3.73 towing i used to run with my foot on the floor. they would run 65 all day, more if going downhill. (suburban) not much poop... took a while to get up to 65. at that time i had 5 kids in the nest and required a suburban. now that there is one left i have a dodge with cummins and six speed manual. a much higher quality engine.

the 6.2 is pretty good overall. take care of it and it will give you good service providing it isnt hurt already.

No kidding...eveyone should have the experience of a slow car so that they can appreciate their "faster" one.
I love seeing the brand new SUV gas guzzlers or guy in the E-Class (non-diesel ;)) floating in the left lane doing 8-10mph under the speed limit. Get out of the way so I can pass you with my rattle box! :D

MOst of those were probably modified and not designed for turbo's. Those scare me too. Diesels are high compression engines anyway. When designed well they can take a turbo just fine

Yeah people who refuse to get up to speed to merge onto the highway make me mad to. Usually it is an real old timer or someone who didn't learn to drive in the USA or a first world country. Someone should teach them how to drive before they get a license. I am a firm believer in making it more difficult to get and keep a license. It will never happen though. To powerful of constituents would not allow that to happen

driving
 

ditto on making it harder to get a license. in italy and germany they drive fast but pay attention. most americans come back and say "i would never drive there... they drive so fast!" i say...oh yeah...cool.

need small SUV or Wagon
 

Does anyone have an opinion on the Volkeswagon Passat diesel vehicles? I am getting ready to get rid of a royal PITA Volvo and replace. I need a small SUV or wagon. Any suggestions? This vehicle needs to be used, fuel efficient and around 15k or less.

See www.tdiclub.com. Read the FAQ. Note the late-'90s Passats with the 1.9l engine and 1,000 mile range vs. the recent Passat with the 2.0l PD engine with auto only. Lots there, with message boards devoted to each. Also note the classifieds.