Ken:

Good tips for a home-bound stubborn diesel.

Anybody have tips for starting a diesel that has stopped out on the road?
 This happened to me yesterday here in MA.  Temperature was -4F at 6:30am.
 I was only 4 miles from home on an Interstate in my Golf TDI.  The car had
been running about 10 minutes, but only for 3 minutes at 65mph.  Suddenly
started to hesitate and then lost power completely.  Had to pull over to
the shoulder.  I had nothing to create heat.  In fact, I realized that I
should be more worried about me than the car.  Fortunately I had a cell
phone and called my wife.  She arrived a half hour later with the EV.  In
the meantime, two State Troopers stopped to make sure I was OK (i.e. warm
enough).  The second one waited with me until my wife showed up.  I also
called VW Roadside assistance (the 2 year perk with new car purchases.)
 They showed up in the form of AAA eventually and towed the car to my
FLVWD.  They wanted to check to make sure it was not some other failure,
but things worked fine after they let it warm up in the garage.  No charge
for the tow or the check.

Guess I'll be careful where I fill up (I had lasted filled at a "gas"
station that does a little diesel business).  Also wondered if my "high"
speed contributed to the problem.  At 65mph, does the fuel move through the
fuel filter too fast to benefit from the warming system built into it?
 Maybe -4F is just too cold!

Maynard
'82 Westy Diesel "Reinhardt"
'93 EV GL "Klinger"
'00 Golf GLS TDI "WooHoo"

On Tuesday, January 18, 2000 10:09 PM, KENWILFY@AOL.COM
[SMTP:KENWILFY@AOL.COM] wrote:
> My buddy called me up today.  Seems his '86 Jetta Turbo Diesel decided it
was
> too cold to start and left him stranded at home.
> I went over this afternoon and here is what we did that got the engine
going.
> Put a lamp with a 100 watt light bulb under the hood.
> Put an electric grille under the base
> Within an hour of putting the grille under the motor (fit perfectly under
> there), she had cranked and was running.