VW Diesel as Inbord Drive

[niel12]

Hallo boys and Girls,

Long time no speak, I had a run in with some cancer problems which kept me quite busy but now I am back with a vengeance!

My cat has a VW Diesel engine with a z-drive and I am concerned about the reliability of the engine, has anyone experience with such an engine?

Thanks and fair winds!

Niel

[atoll]

Originally Posted by niel12

Hallo boys and Girls,

Long time no speak, I had a run in with some cancer problems which kept me quite busy but now I am back with a vengeance!

My cat has a VW Diesel engine with a z-drive and I am concerned about the reliability of the engine, has anyone experience with such an engine?

Thanks and fair winds!

Niel

they were quite popular with home builders in the 80's you can still get the marinization kits from Welcome to Lancing Marine

for the 1600 and 1800 vw golf diesel engines I belive

[HappyMdRSailor]

Neil !!!

Elated that you were able give that cancer the finger salute!!!

Know nothing about marinized versions, but the engines themselves were fairly robust...

[a64pilot]

From a former VW Diesel owner at least as an on the road engine it was most common for the engine to outlast the car, 300 to 400 thousand miles or more was common. I don't know about the marinization, but the engine is pretty bullet proof and parts can be found anywhere, just know how to change the timing belt, it's easy if you have access

[David M]

On that engine, if the timing belt breaks, are the valves and pistons destroyed? (interference engine) That could be a make or break in deciding whether or not to get this engine.

Edit: I just did some research and found that it is an interference engine. If the belt breaks then the pistons and valves are destroyed.

[a64pilot]

Pretty sure my old Diesel was a non-interference engine, don't know about the newer ones, mine was a mid eighties 1800?
I just looked it up, it seems the old 8 valve motors are non-interference, the more modern 16 valve are interference motors

[David M]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Pretty sure my old Diesel was a non-interference engine, don't know about the newer ones, mine was a mid eighties 1800?
I just looked it up, it seems the old 8 valve motors are non-interference, the more modern 16 valve are interference motors

Ok...as A64 says.

[Reiziger]

Originally Posted by niel12

Hallo boys and Girls,

Long time no speak, I had a run in with some cancer problems which kept me quite busy but now I am back with a vengeance!

My cat has a VW Diesel engine with a z-drive and I am concerned about the reliability of the engine, has anyone experience with such an engine?

Thanks and fair winds!

Niel

As of July 1, 2012 the Volkswagen Marine engines are marketed as the TDI series Mercury Diesel. All this is a result of an extensive collaboration between these parties.

Also, the service and support for existing Volkswagen Marine engines is provided by the dealer network of Mercury Diesel.

Link: Mercury Diesel

Cees

[a64pilot]

I believe at least the old VW Diesel was sort of a Hot Rod, maybe not brute power but I think it turned over 5000 RPM, pretty sure it had to be an indirect Diesel to do that, and want to believe there was at one time even a Volkswagen Marine division?

I used to pull a small trailer with my old Golf, this was back when 55 mph was the speed limit, I would set the cruise control at 65 going down a hill but on level ground all she could do was between 55 and 60, so It was pretty much always at full throttle, sold it at around 250,000 miles when I went to Germany and it still didn't burn a drop of oil. Only items that broke the whole time I owned it was a radiator hose and an alternator.
I'd love to have that car back

[bsurvey]

its an aluminum engine and will not hold up under salt water use. its also noisy and vibrates. better off with a 3 cylinder yanmar

[Cadence]

I can't comment on the VW but grats on beating the big C.

[Reiziger]

Originally Posted by bsurvey

its an aluminum engine and will not hold up under salt water use. its also noisy and vibrates. better off with a 3 cylinder yanmar

I don't know where you get your knowledge, all VW Diesel Marine Engines have a Grey Cast Iron Cylinder block and Crank Case. The heads are made of cast aluminium alloy.

Since when sea water comes in contact with an engine?

Volkswagen Marine Engines are super long lasting, trustworthy, marine engines.

Cees

[Cheechako]

The VW diesel in the cars was an amazingly great engine. I was on one boat with the marinized version once and it seemed awful rough at lower rpms. But basically I think they are a bulletproof base engine...

[Reiziger]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

The VW diesel in the cars was an amazingly great engine. I was on one boat with the marinized version once and it seemed awful rough at lower rpms. But basically I think they are a bulletproof base engine...

There is a huge difference between the "old" 1.6 and 1.9 engines, The 1.9 D and TD are "long stroke" engines and makes a lot less rpm's than 1.6 or 1,6TD engine.

The 1.6 where realy noice makers.

The new TDI's are super silent engines, but electronic controlled.

Cees

[roverhi]

VW Diesels were sold under the name Pathfinder for marine use. AFAIK they bought the engines from VW and converted them to marine use with the addition of heat exchanger, etc. They developed a poor reputation though don't know the reason why.

The people I sold my W32 to replaced the MD2 Volvo with a VW/Pathfinder. They did it somewhere in western SoPac and powered all the way back to Hawaii in the ITCZ rather than buck the trades to windward. Powered for something like 15-20 days straight. They made another trip to SoPac with the boat and then sold it to a guy who used the boat in a charter sail business. He had a deal with a Timeshare outfit and went out practically every day for a number of years. Engine is still running 20 or so years later though the boat is no longer used regularly.

As far as cars, our late 70s Rabbit diesel was a POS. Sold it with something like 24,000 miles because we didn't trust it. The engine blew up a year or so later with less than 40,000 miles and the car was junked.