Tomorrow morning I will be a TDI owner - Page 4 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

biopete · #46 03-15-2010, 01:27 AM

Aw man. This is funny. I was always wanting one of those wagons until i saw your posts here and discovered the 1987 TDT. Much more suited for my family and WVO and it was something I could afford.

You are gonna love the reliability of that thing an not having to worry about your wife's car. Those PDs you can run grease in too. Once you get tired of it working to good and need to tinker with something or gas goes up to 5.00 a gal again, a single tank Elsbett system would be cool. Blending 50/50 or 75% wvo / 25% diesel in summer would probably work great and save a lot of money in long run. TDIs are'nt as grease freindly as IDI. I think blending with diesel or kerosene is where its at for a happy medium. Thats what i'm gonna do to my Beetle soon.

Being new to the W124s, i'm now torn between the W124 and the and A4 TDIs. They both are really fun to drive but they feel so different. Right now my favorite is the 1990 300D for comfort and driveability over the 1987 TDT and 1998 Beetle and 1998 Jetta. And despite all the headaches of the ACC in MBs, a working system is a real treat and kind of helps you focus on the road more.

Now before you go thinking you may like to replace your TDT with a Passat Wagon let me tell you think again. My sister got a 2005 Passat wagon TdI. Its nice, like jetta but bit bigger and wood trim. No 3rd seat. 5 times more problematic. Front axles are weak point. At 45,000 both front axle boots broken. Replaced -- 20,000 later, torn boot again. Can't keep cv boots on those things. Only 30 to 35 mpg too. Handles nothing like W124

. Turbo just went out too at like 70,000 miles. The 1996 Passat wagons are different story. Good cars. Rare like 87 TDT.

DeliveryValve · #47 03-15-2010, 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by biopete

....

My sister got a 2005 Passat wagon TdI. Its nice, like jetta but bit bigger and wood trim. No 3rd seat. 5 times more problematic. Front axles are weak point. At 45,000 both front axle boots broken. Replaced -- 20,000 later, torn boot again. Can't keep cv boots on those things. Only 30 to 35 mpg too. Handles nothing like W124

. Turbo just went out too at like 70,000 miles....

The outer front boots are the ones that tear, the Passat's turning radius is so small that the wheels turn at an extreme angle. To keep them from tearing again, use only OE boots like Rein and try not to take turns so sharp.

The turbo's are a VNT. Usually the vanes get stuck. It is a good idea to "exercise" it by flooring the pedal for heavy acceleration and getting the RPMs above 4,000 on occasion.

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