Club 80-90 Forums

If you accept that the t25 16td is nothing like modern diesels then this is a great choice .You will feel underpowered on the motorway and wish for an extra gear if yo expact to follow the masses but i really like cruising at 65.
I had a 2litre petrol that was great off the mark but was no faster on a run and cost me a small fortune in fuel and that was a relatively light commercial.
16tds can be a real mixed bag dependant on milage and history but a good engine with a full service will trogen on for years and many have aftermarket heads fitted .
A specialist near me recons they are stuffed at 140k but i beg to disagree.
Biggest worry really is the fact that they all get revved to bits due to gear ratios and pulling heavy vans around on long journeys in some cases up and down gradients they were not really designed for .So if you can find one track down an age related golf or passat 16td its likely to have experienced far less grief.
Alternativley and only if you are feeling flush a new 16td lump from vw will cost you £1350 pus vat and you can drive to your hearts content.(for a good while anyway!)
WW

Drive one and see if it suits how you like to drive

driven a 1.6 td hi top
2.0 Aircooled hi top
2.1 velle auto
2.1 panel syn
1.9 poptop camper

2.1syn gave the biggest grin
2.0 Aircooled the best noise
2.1 velle the fastest and most relaxed
1.9 gassed 40- 50 mpg cost in wallet
(depandant on price of gas at the time)

1.6 td was ok, but just ok.....
mark you, this was also the heaviest by far being a hi topped california

I have a 1.6 TD Westy Joker, only had it since January. As a daily driver I have no probs (except a very small water leak). It does lack a bit on hills, it is flat out at just over 70 MPH (I think speedo is in KM's) down hill and it won't carry it up the next incline, smokes a little on start up with the cold start. However it doesn't matter if it's 70MPH downhill, or 30MPH uphill with a crowd of eager followers , I have this stupid grin that is even bigger and more stupid than the one I wore years ago in my type2. I hope it helps you,its helped me I'm grinning now just thinking about it!

my 16td has done nearly 190000 miles , apart from new head injectors and the odd timing belt it has given faultless running for years now and has never failed the mot , brill motors I THINK the best vw ever made .

I THINK the best vw ever made

Well, let's not get carried away here

some motors make it to 200,000 without a new head, or the original one coming off after all. BUt then again, it wasn't designed to power a 2-ton truck, so -- poor thing.

winston wolf wrote:So if you can find one track down an age related golf or passat 16td its likely to have experienced far less grief.
Alternativley and only if you are feeling flush a new 16td lump from vw will cost you £1350 pus vat and you can drive to your hearts content.(for a good while anyway!)WW

Or a 1.9TD so I understand, unless I can afford a 1.9TDI conversion which I can't

HarryMann wrote:

I THINK the best vw ever made

Well, let's not get carried away here

some motors make it to 200,000 without a new head, or the original one coming off after all. BUt then again, it wasn't designed to power a 2-ton truck, so -- poor thing.

Im pretty convinced it was intended as VWs replacement for the Aircooled engine, given the amount of cars it was fitted to, or at least that had the same block. I find its a brilliant engine.

i have a 1.6D N/A and well at best its slow on the acceleration, but once its there its not to bad, on the motorway 65 tops will sit at 60 all day and return 36mpg. Driving it down here in Cornwall its doing 25-26 becasue its so hilly.

Oh and its a westy so its heavey allready, and LLE wheels 205x75 tyres adding to the drag a bit. best thing i have found with them is the ability to get to 20 mph and then leave it in 4th. want to stick a 1.9td lump and a 5 speed in it when i have money again.

Like has allready been said its a 1.6 at best 70hp pushing a 1.8 -2 tonne van not the best combanation ever. but it works.

Try one first i will say.

Jon

well having now driven my 1.6td I like it, flys up to 60mph and will go on past it but it does feel as though its really low geared. smokes a bit when its first started and under aceleration but soon goes.

They all do that smoke thing a bit until the engine's warmed up properly, has it got a revcounter... ?

HarryMann wrote:They all do that smoke thing a bit until the engine's warmed up properly, has it got a revcounter... ?

Nope, got a clock unfortunately, so smoke is nothing to worry about then?

Buy a cheap diesel rev counter and oil pressure guage of e-bay,it will be a wise investment

Our 1.6TD Westy took us to the south of France and Spain couple of times a year for the last four years without any problems apart from a litre of oil with every tank of diesel, the only place I wouldnt recommend taking one is the Alps or Pyrenees..............20mph and what sounds like a Harrier jump jet in the front

Was sorry to sell mine , but onwards and upwards

> And the whine/whistle of the turbo is great. I know its daft but it makes you feel good when theres 30 cars stuck behind you going up the hills in the country lanes. With the window down, elbow out and a bloody grert grin on yer face coz yer in yer VAN an them poor buggers dont know what they're missin.

So true..

Ade wrote:Buy a cheap diesel rev counter and oil pressure guage of e-bay,it will be a wise investment

How easy are they to fit Ade?

Well Ive been driving the transit in work for the past while, and I can safely say its the greatest load of crap ever in comparison to my JX engine! Its power band literally vanishes at 3000rpm, meaning getting from 50 to 70mph takes all feckin day, its rattly, noisy, slow, inefficient, and a real pig of an engine. My 1.6 engine revs its head off happily and puts out power right up to 4500rpm. And how in the name of god is a 2.4 litre engine only putting out 20 more horsepower than my 1.6 litre? Torque is not even much better!