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Old 21-01-2022, 11:55   #31
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Re: VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

Thanks for that tip Coltrek.
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Old 21-01-2022, 12:00   #32
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Re: VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

You mentioned removing the Bosch diesel injectors: On my 1984 VW rabbit diesel I used a deepwell 1-1/16in socket (instead of the 27mm special tool) it fit very well. When setting the timing, the dial indicator, special lock pin and cam-lock tool kit from 'Parts Place' were well worth the money.



It is very difficult to replace the toothed timing belt, after struggling for an hour my neighbor (he had huge wrists and hands) just 'stretched it on', so it can be done. It is an 'interference engine' if that toothed timing belt snaps it will destroy the valve train, do not hesitate to replace it.



Good luck with your project.
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Old 23-01-2022, 03:57   #33
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Re: VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

Do any of you know how many Pathfinder 50 marine engines (the marinized VW Rabbit 1.5l/1.6l engine) were produced? Anyone want to venture a guess?

And is anyone willing to to estimate the number of these engines that remain in service? Impossible to know?
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Old 03-02-2022, 05:13   #34
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Re: VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

My copy of the Bentley manual just arrived, so now I'm in a better position to compare the original VW Rabbit 1.6l litre engine with the marinized version that I have.

Coolant capacity in the VW Rabbit version is 6.9 litres (7.3 US qts, 6.1 imperial qts).Do any of you know what the coolant capacity in the marinized version is, with the expansion tank and Bowman heat exchanger?
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Old 03-02-2022, 05:29   #35
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Re: VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

The capacity of the coolant is pretty irrelevant. You need to concern yourself with the concentration of the coolant/antifreeze rather. Being marine, I would err on the higher side, because of electrolysis and possibly very low outside ambient temperatures issues. If it were not for those two problems , and the lubrication of the water pump, you could run with plain water, and in a tight spot plain water is every bit as good for cooling.

From a electrolysis point of view distiled water or desalinated water would be better. Some tap water has too much minerals etc in it.
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Old 03-02-2022, 09:40   #36
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Re: VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

I don’t know the coolant capacity of my engine. I have a clear plastic reservoir fitted and just put in enough coolant to keep it half full😀😀.

I note you are referring to your engine as a 1.6 litre block. Have you confirmed this? Mine was a 1.5 litre block until I rebuilt it with the 1.6. Not sure what difference it makes, other than the 1.6 is newer and supposedly 5 more hp. If you phone Parts Plus with the serial number they can tell you the size.

One other part to get, if not already fitted, is a black plastic baffle cover that fits over the rocker arm under valve cover. Without this aftermarket add on you can get a lot of oil going up the breather tube to the air intake manifold and fouling your air cleaner and blue smoke etc. It’s cheap and Parts Plus have it in their catalog.
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Old 14-02-2022, 04:26   #37
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Re: VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

Thanks osprey877 and others for your useful advice. I will confirm whether the engine is 1.5 or 1.6 litre. Also, the air filter is filthy black so I will check out adding the black plastic baffle.
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Old 14-02-2022, 04:27   #38
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Re: VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

Success re getting the VW Pathfinder Marine diesel going !

I want to thank all of you on this forum who offered advice and useful information, Sailing GRIT and NorthCoastJoe in particular.

With the help of one of my neighbours, Paul, we got the engine going last night, with ambient air temperatures of about 4 deg. C and 10 seconds on the glow plugs. Here’s a video of the start-up.

I had trouble with a slow crank at first, which neighbour Paul determined to be the result of not enough juice going to the starter solenoid and ground. I was using lighter gauge wiring that came with the engine (and the alternator disconnected). (+) connect to the starter solenoid and (-) to ground first on engine block and then the starter. Paul replaced the cabling/wiring with heavy gauge stuff connected to two batteries and a heavy duty battery charger, and we cleaned off all the grub and hints of rust from connection points. In addition we used a fuel line with a squeeze bulb to get fuel into the Bosch injector pump, and we bled the injector lines at the top of the injectors. The pump took a good ½ litre of fuel.

Presto! That did the trick!
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Old 15-02-2022, 04:57   #39
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VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

Nice work! My sister and I shared a VW Rabbit diesel when we were growing up that rusted out with the engine still running great at 250k miles (about 8000 hours I estimate). And it’s not like we babied it. As a non turbo the car was pretty sluggish so we had to rev it pretty hard for any sort of acceleration
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Old 07-03-2022, 14:09   #40
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Re: VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

This is a question for any of you who have ever changed the timing belt on a VW Pathfinder Marine diesel.

In the VW Rabbit 1.6 l version of this engine, and one of the things you need to do when changing the timing belt, is to remove the plug from the TDC marker hole on the clutch bell housing. You have to check that the TDC mark on the flywheel is aligned with the pointer on the bell housing (see Fig. 1.6 appended). The TDC marker hole is directly below the coolant temp flange/sender on this version of the engine.

However, with the marinized bell housing there are two ways to view the flywheel in the bell housing. One is to remove the tachometer sensor and the other is to peer into the smaller hole just below it (see appended photos). The only thing I see that resembles a TDC mark on the flywheel is the notch visible through the smaller hole (see appended).

However, I see no pointer on the bell housing that this notch might line up with.

I hope I’ve explained this properly.

It’s a bit of a mystery to me. Do people doing timing belt changes with the marinized version even bother looking at the flywheel?

Your thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
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Old 07-03-2022, 14:59   #41
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Re: VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

The special timing tools from 'Parts Place' include a cam-lock plate. My recollection (on a 1984 rabbit diesel) is that the slot on the back of the cam will not 'eat' the cam lock unless you are right at TDC. To clarify, pull off the valve cover and rotate the engine, you will see the cam lobes activating the valves, rotate the engine until #1 piston very close to TDC firing position, try to put in the cam lock, wiggle back and forth about one degree until the cam lock 'drops in'. Also, a round pin should now lock the injection pump. All of this guarantees you are at TDC. If you use this method you will not need to see the flywheel just make match marks on the crankshaft pulley and the engine before pulling off the timing belt. Now you can get back to #1 TDC at anytime by looking at the front of the engine.


Hope that helps.
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Old 07-03-2022, 15:16   #42
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Re: VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

Thank you for that prompt reply, hirondeller. Yes, that is very helpful. I have the timing belt kit (including tools) arriving from Parts Place Inc. this week, I hope. We'll get at that timing belt change as soon as it arrives.
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Old 07-03-2022, 16:30   #43
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Re: VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

As long as the timing belt is on, and the engine is correctly timed, hirondeller is correct.



If your timing is off for any reason - say you swapped to ARP headbolts and cleaned carbon build-up off the pistons while you were at it - youll need to find the mark on the flywheel. Mine appears through the small hole, not the tach sensor, and has an 'O' next to it, which stands for 'Oben,' or 'at the top.' Its a two person job, and I assure you that Pathfinder put the correct mark there. With the crank pulley off, use the bolt layout described in the Pathfinder manual to determine which bolt hole in the toothed gear on the crank should be at 12:00 when TDC. With a long wrench, starting a degree or two before 12:00, rotate very very slowly. Only one mark will align when you hit 12:00. Go past the mark to be sure you've found the right one, and then make a full turn on the crank to get back to correct mark. Bear in mind to always only and ever rotate the crank in the correct direction, never backwards. If the alignment mark on the housing is hard to see, there may be some debris obscuring it; it certainly should be there. The above assumes your engine is stock, and/or was repaired correctly, with timing marks in the correct place(s).



Its hard to tell from your photo, but that could be it; however there are other marks on the flywheel that can cause confusion. Pathfinder also typically marked the IP and cam pulleys at TDC with nail polish. Pink on my engine - but no glitter... these are helpful in determining if you're in the general area to find tdc.


Also, while these are interference engines, because the valve faces are parallel to the piston faces, timing belt breakage tends to not do as much damage as on engines where the valves are at an angle.



Good luck!


- Ryan
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Old 07-03-2022, 16:42   #44
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Re: VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

That, too, Ryan is very useful. Thank you. Two person operation...okay. I've found a few YouTube videos of guys doing VW Rabbit 1.6 l diesel timing solo. Thanks for that caution.

And as for the elusive Pathfinder manual, who's got one of them they can share, in pdf format???
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Old 07-03-2022, 17:01   #45
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Re: VW Pathfinder 50 marine diesel questions

Im sure you can do it solo, but having someone help and sharing a beer afterwards is waaaaaaaaaay better than going at it alone!


There is a manual that was posted in this thread:
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ts-232084.html


Aside from the alternator and seawater pump bits, its the same for the 1.5L


- Ryan
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