Hey volks,
It seems to me that some of you are confusing TDI's with TD's.
My '98 Jetta has a 1.9 TDI (turbo direct injection) diesel.
My '82 Vanagon has a 1.6 TD (turbo diesel) diesel. :-)
While I might find that 1.6 in a boneyard for $1000, I doubt that I'd find the 1.9 in a boneyard for the same price unless the guy who ran the boneyard was also a "bonehead".  The two engines have almost nothing in common save the block design and the fact that they're turbo'ed oil burners.  People who routinely talk about tweaking the 1.9 TDI for more power must be independently wealthy, and willing to risk blowing up a fine piece of German engineering.  Mind you Canadians were lucky enough to see 1.9 TD's, which were larger displacement versions of the 1.6, but once again (and I'm sure I'll be corrected on this if I'm wrong) the 1.9 TD bears little resemblance (sic?) to the 1.9 TDI other than displacement.  
Yours,
Mark Thoma

 

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