The Truth About Pathfinder

[liveanimalsoc]

ok so hear it is...me and my girl friend bought a boat that has a phathfinder diesel in it..and i've asked every body i could about the engine and the manufacture..well if you have one in your boat hears the truth about it...Pathfinder is the lest bit helpful if your not willing to join ther club and do major kissing up every time you call.. because thers no web site to order parts and if you dont rub off the right way your going to git cut off from all the valubul info thay have on your engine..bummer! so after gitting permanitly blocked from ther phone and email for having questions... the rumors about theis being bad motors started setting in and 9 grand for a new yanmar started looking like the only option..see the problum is that marine mecs..dont no them and have never been able to git parts from the local chanlerys..but car mecs that have worked on old rabbit diesels will tell you all day that theis are good motors that can be prone to over heating..this is because thies are volkswaggen rabbit diesels.. 1.5 leater non turbo diesels with bowman heat exchangers bulted on..thay put a different intake on it..and have the exclusive with k&n for the filter..but k&n filters can be cleened..the bad news is if you dont like to git your hands durty then spend 10 grand on a new motor..if your a little inclined to work on your own boat the good news is yess parts r every were!!! rabbits were sold in every country and new injectors are 40$ hole heads r 500$ in my opinion this is the most affordable motor ever! i am totaly stoked... on volkswaggen.. pathfinder sucks! (partsplaceinc.com) is your new best friend...git a catalog! and git ready to know your motor...thay support you and have all moter related parts...all the wet exhaust stuff is home made and crappy and dose not exsplane well when your at the marine supply place so do reserch..and re do it..git the volks waggen manuel for a 1978 - 1984 rabbit diesel..dont let pathfinder try to confuse you by telling you its an industreal motor.. thay went threw a lot of troble to hide the real identifying marks that let you no what you have..every thing on the front cover wount tell you the moddle... and thers no #'s on the hoses eather..the numbers you nees to identify the engine r supose to be some were by the injector pump...i still cant locate then. i think ther behind the mounting plate..but magicly all the parts match and the spechelized timing tools fit! thay removed the flywheel timing pointer to put that fancy teath counting magnetic rpm sensor..you no ive come to this site a lot for advice on rigging and all kinds of stuff and ther alot of na sayers hear.. and in life in general..but im telling you... you can do it!!!!! all of it!! just dont be an idiot think befor you act.. and for gods sake dont listen to people that say you cant because ther juging you with ther limitations.... with that said ther is one thing i will say..."changing crusty threw hulls in the water if stupid..im sure the boat needs paint any way..its not that much if you clear all your crap out of the way for them.. locate and even help crack em..." when its out of the water!...i can elaberate on any of this.. just e mail me...
i know my spelling sucks the truth is in the message!
Paul

[daddle]

Paul - Yes, your spelling is atroshus. But your story is fun to read. Thanks for the tips, and the story. Good luck with the engine.

[downunder]

Cummins diesel recentely announced they wer working with and didtributing VW marine diesels.

[Minggat]

...uuuhhh... welcome to the forum...?

You might try typing it all in Word, doing a spell check and then copy/pasting. That's one "sucky speller" to another.

When you have a truth in a message, the presentation can overshadow what you want to get across. A less than optimal depiction of yourself can downplay your own credibility and take the message with it.

Good Luck. Hope you can shut down the Pathfinder often and enjoy the sail.

[never monday]

Paul,
no offense, but I speak redneck and that was painful to read. Can you list out some highlights? :LOL:

[S/V Alchemy]

What is a nine-year-old doing with a Pathfinder?

Seriously, sir, it's 2011. Spell check functions have been a feature of word processing programs for over 30 years. It's true; I looked it up: Spell checker - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Open Office is free to download if you don't care to deal with Microsoft. I know I don't. Open Office also has a spell checker. They all do. Dictionaries, too, are still in print.

Speaking of caring, if you don't care enough to master your native tongue, or, and I'm being what I think of as generous here, if you have some defect or deficit in your ability to write in English, I have trouble subjecting myself to reading about your problems, because when I read your blocky, misspelled and punctuation and capitalization-light prose, all I hear is the sound of a violin concert given by meth-addled baboons.

Then I think "if he doesn't care about clear communication, how will he enter an anchorage?"

Bad, bad thoughts ensue.

[nhschneider]

I purchased an Islander Freeport 36 that came equipped with a Pathfinder diesel in it. When I had questions about the engine, I contacted the dealer in Canada (I've forgotten their name but I'm certain it's the same company that Paul is referring to) and willingly joined their 'club'. The investment was relatively small and the service I received was nothing short of excellent. I felt it was a good value.

The engine served us well as it was quiet and economical. We cruised the Sea of Cortez and bashed back to San Diego - the engine never hesitated. Furthermore, I think that engine has to have about the highest horsepower to weight ratio of any modern marine engine.

I also owned a Volkswagen Rabbit that had the diesel engine in it. My wife and I bought it new, put over 200,000 miles on it and then used it as a service vehicle for our company. Hard to imagine operating a vehicle with a lower cost-per-mile expense when were were getting almost 50 mpg.

Finally, when I went to repower my current boat, I looked into Volkswagen marine diesels, however, the dealer who represented them refused to give me a quote on one. It seems that Volkswagen was requiring dealers to get approval to make a warranty service call before they dispatched a technician.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Paul.

You’re speling is atroshus; but spell-check won’t help:

Eye halve a spelling checker
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marks four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
Eye am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh.
My checker tolled me sew.

[s/v 'Faith']

Paul:

Spelling? "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Pathfinder = VW diesel got it... will stow in the memory bank.

Thanks for the head's up.

[rolandgilbert99]

I owned a boat years ago with Pathfinder 50 (1984) and it always stopped working at the wrong time, on the Delaware with no wind and strong current, approaching a service dock in Atlantic City, (kaboom!) and other situations like that. I could not rely on the engine then. This would not be a choice of mine if I had to re-engine a boat.

[Shoalcove]

I just replaced a Pathfinder that drove me nuts! When it ran there was no engine sweeter but at 30 yrs old it was becoming more and more unreliable. My mechanical skills are limited... We reached our tipping point and put in a new Yanmar. Wonderful. I will say that the folks at Pathfinder were a godsend to us. We joined their club and saved our money many times over. They were very helpful and the only supplier I ever met that rushed a part ($$$!) to us with the invoice in the box rather than delay us longer waiting for our cheque! Very nice folks IMHO.

[Sailmonkey]

Dude..........paragraphs and punctuation. Forget the spelling, it's eaiser than the jumble of words

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by rolandgilbert99

I owned a boat years ago with Pathfinder 50 (1984) and it always stopped working at the wrong time, on the Delaware with no wind and strong current, approaching a service dock in Atlantic City, (kaboom!) and other situations like that. I could not rely on the engine then. This would not be a choice of mine if I had to re-engine a boat.

My Pithfarter only quit working once. Now I have a Yanmar.

And I found out that there are, at least, 3 different water pumps that will bolt up.


.

[liveanimalsoc]

Thank you for all advice about typing in to word. I am not too familiar with computers. I've been swinging a hammer and pulling a tape for a while though, so I can read a tape and cut on the line! But my sweet girlfriend is going to help me out!

[Minggat]

that's a very gracious response to a lot of criticism, and a much improved bit of thought put into words.

Happy sailing.