No, would only go to the track to watch others run their cars. I don't want to blow up my DD. According to the TDI forums, a stock 2000 1.9 TDI in a Jetta 1/4mile 17.2 , curb weight 2974 lbs. The Fiero weighs between 2460 - 2789 lbs. I'd expect to see low 16's
Replaced some vacuum hoses today, one large and a few smaller ones. The vacuum leak caused the turbo wastegate & brakes to not operate correctly.
This was a quick 15 minitue swap, Now the engine / brakes / turbo work great !
01-30-17 My drivers side inner door handle broke a few days ago. While searching the forum, many were saying to remove the door panel to do this repair.
Found just by removing the black trim gave plenty of room to do the repair. Tools used, small phillips screwdriver, drill w/ small bit, rivet tool & rivets. Drilled out the rivet & removed the assembly, took 5 minutes.
The Doorman replacement handle did not have the bracket used to screw the trim on to. I drilled out the two rivets & rivited the braket to the new latch assembley.
I was worried when it happened, thought it would be a nightmare to fix. Turned out to be an easy repair.
[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 03-11-2024).]
Thanks, it used to take hours to do by hand, as I posted on another page, I'm now using a Ryobi 6" palm buffer/polisher, sure turns waxing the car a quick / easy job. It surprises me each time that it helped bring the paint back to life.
Thanks, it used to take hours to do by hand, as I posted on another page, I'm now using a Ryobi 6" palm buffer/polisher, sure turns waxing the car a quick / easy job. It surprises me each time that it helped bring the paint back to life.
I know I am bumping your thread out of nowhere but I was reading the whole build thread and this thread again because this is one of my favorite builds. I see you are polishing your paint often, have you ever tried using a sealant? I have had a few single stage paint jobs like this that fade out often and require buffing every few washes. I use a little sealant and it makes the shine last much longer. You only need to apply very small amount using a microfiber towel, wipe on, allow to haze lightly and wipe back off. Its best to go panel by panel, if you let it sit long it takes more effort to clean off, if this happens just damp your towel lightly with water and go over it again. I use a product by Klasse, I will post a link here. You might want to give it a try to see if it helps you.
Hmm, interesting, I will look into that. Thanks for the tip. Will post results when I get time to try it.
I was having problems with my Mera, it was faded so badly it looked like a chalkboard. There was zero shine. I sent it in for a paint correction detail and came out looking amazing. However, as with most paint jobs this faded it has areas that start to dull almost as fast as water hits it. So I have been working to get the shine to last the longest and the sealant absolutely helps.
Here is my car, if you wanted to see some of the before and after of the paint. I am still working on it, I hope to have it perfect soon.
I know I am bumping your thread out of nowhere but I was reading the whole build thread and this thread again because this is one of my favorite builds. I see you are polishing your paint often, have you ever tried using a sealant? I have had a few single stage paint jobs like this that fade out often and require buffing every few washes. I use a little sealant and it makes the shine last much longer. You only need to apply very small amount using a microfiber towel, wipe on, allow to haze lightly and wipe back off. Its best to go panel by panel
Okay, the paint needed polishing again, I decided to give this sealant a try.
Made the paint look pretty good. We will see if this last longer.
[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 11-06-2017).]
1. Noticed while cruising on flat road the tach was jumping 200 rpm every few seconds, thought the cruise control might be the problem, switch it off, found the same issue. Hooked the vag-com cable to laptop, did some diagnostics, turns out the torque converter was locking and unlocking creating the surging tach.
The problem wasn't bad enough to throw a code, but I knew that if I let it go, that I'd have bigger problems down the road.
Took the car to the local shop that knows the car well, they've seen this problem with other VW's, they recomened sending the valve body out to be rebuilt and tested. They said instead of throwing various parts at the problem, that it would be faster and cheaper to have the rebuild. I touched base with bmwguru, he agreed this was the best direction.
When I got the car back, the problem was gone, the trans worked like new. They replaced the ribbon cable when reinstalling the valve body.
2. A few days later, the steering felt a little stiff and when turning the wheel, it would creak pretty loudly. Took the car to a front end shop, they also know my car. After looking at it, they said the ball joints were shot. - Found that odd, as bmwguru installed Rodney Dickman 88 front 1" lowering ball joints in 2011. I called both bmwguru and Rodney, they both were surprised that they failed so soon.
I reordered replacement upper & lower Rodney Dickman 88 front 1" lowering ball joints, will have them installed soon. I may send the old ones to Rodney so he can see what failed. The car was scheduled to have these replaced the next day....
3. The next day, I was off work, when I started the car, there was a really bad vibration, and the computer threw 7 codes, all pointing to the transmission. I could feel the car was in limp mode. I took the car to the 1st shop that did the tranny work. The guy looked under the hood, could tell the engine was sitting different, the left side motor mount had moved.
When he replaced the valve body, he did loosen that mount. He knew they caused the new problem, told me he'd take care of the repair at no cost.
Turns out when the mount shifted, the wiring harness became unplugged from the transmission, with the mount in the correct position, and the cable reattached, the transmission is okay once again.
Still need to reschedule the ball joint replacement
[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 02-10-2018).]
It all sounds good and congrats on the experience. Hope you don't let VW "Fix" it because you'll have to fix the fix.
We have a TDI and love it. What's not to love about 300 ft-lb of torque and 50 mpg?
I would never think about going to a VW dealer, don't trust them. I found a local shop that specialties in foreign cars, they like the car and think the swap was a neat idea. They are a fairly large shop now, but never lost sight of taking care of customers like a small shop would do.
As I posted earlier, I've had a few VW diesels in the past, a 78 Rabbit 2 dr, 5 speed and an 85 Jetta diesel 2 dr, 5 speed. Both got 50+ mpg I loved those cars, I commuted daily 120 miles, they saved me so much in fuel cost. They needed very little work, a timing belt every 100k miles. I put over 250k miles on both of them. I bought the Jetta used, drove it for six years, then sold it for more than I bought it.
Edit : Had the new ball joints replaced, they installed them as directed by tack welding the bottom ball joints. The car rides fine now, no more creaking when turning.
Noticed a small antifreeze leak while on the lift, turned to be the hose that goes to the front overflow bottle, replaced bottle and hose.
[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 03-04-2018).]
Well, here we go again, had another turbo failure. The shaft that connects the hot side to the intake side broke. Was on the hwy when the car started smoking really bad. Was told later this was due the raw diesel going into the exhaust. When I pulled over on a side street, I shut the engine down, the smoke kept coming out the exhaust pipes for about 5 minute's. Had to have the car towed to the repair shop. The manufacturer had a one year 10,000 mile warranty, so it was not covered.
Here's the new one, the manufacturer came down a bit on the replacement cost.
I now have towing added on my insurance for just $5 extra.
This is an extremely interesting thread and 55 hwy MPG is extremely impressive economy. The best that we've seen so far is about 40 mpg on the Dukes w 5 speed but 50+ is on a different level. I find it strange that the automakers had to go with an expensive hybrid setup to get close to your mileage figure but a local outfit gets it done. Makes you wonder if the system really wants to build fuel efficient cars. THats a really good daily driver that you own.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
Needed to replace another coolant overflow bottle again, it developed a small pinhole leak. I think sun exposure - UV light, might be the cause, making the plastic brittle. You almost never see this happen to one that is hidden under a hood.
Trying to think of a way to protect the new one, maybe painting it, or covering it somehow. Anyone have any good idea's ?
[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 02-13-2019).]
Let me know if you want to try it. I am probably moving to Port Charlotte or North Port in a few weeks and can let you try it before buying it. I now use it on all of my exposed plastic and rubber on my cars.
I may have missed the post of info, but what amount of power does this engine have? (I looked up the 2000 Jetta on Wiki and they have a bunch of "TDI" engines ranging from 89 up to 148 hp)
Have you ever run a 1/4 mile? Curious as to performance.....
And I can imagine the Miata driver's facial expression when you told him it has a TDI.....(You shoulda got a pic!)
I may have missed the post of info, but what amount of power does this engine have? (I looked up the 2000 Jetta on Wiki and they have a bunch of "TDI" engines ranging from 89 up to 148 hp)
Have you ever run a 1/4 mile? Curious as to performance.....
And I can imagine the Miata driver's facial expression when you told him it has a TDI.....(You shoulda got a pic!)
Not sure of the hp & 1/4 performance. I'll send a message to Dave (bmwguru) to see if he has any info on both.
Have wondered about the 1/4 performance, never tried it, being it's a daily driver I don't want to blow it up.
[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 11-20-2019).]
Good to hear that your TDI Fiero, is running well. Things have changed a bit since this swap was done. Dave is no longer involved with swaps or Fiero work and he doesn't seem to show his own Fieros anymore. He built some fine Fieros in his time. Over the years we have seen many Fiero owners come and go on this forum and I guess we can add Dave to that list.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua: Good to hear that your TDI Fiero, is running well. Things have changed a bit since this swap was done. Dave is no longer involved with swaps or Fiero work.....
Hopefully he'll come back to Fiero project's at some point. I'm grateful to everyone that worked on the car.
Here's a quick update on the status of the car.
(Note: Had a few messages about the trunk lid, yes, it is open, the blue thing under the trunk is a roll of tape, was doing some work underneath. The wire is for the trickle charger)
[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 11-25-2020).]
It's March 2024, I took the TDI for a short drive.
It ran great, it's been awhile since I had it out. My sister needed to borrow my Hyundai daily driver for a few days. It didn't take long for that huge smile to appear on my face !
[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 03-08-2024).]
