AAZ TD Syncro Tristar

[MsTaboo]

I'm looking at a rig that had a 1.6 diesel that was rebuilt with a 1.9 AAZ TD long block. The rig seems to run good, has nice pep, some smoke on hard acceleration. The engine does rattle quite a bit, fairly normal right?
Engine was built by a pro shop.
I have never owned a diesel so I'm a bit worried. Are they more difficult than gassers to work on?
The rest of the rig is nice, needs some TLC to make nicer.

With the price of diesel getting higher, it doesn't seem to make as much difference in the better diesel milage. But, what kind of milage might I expect?

p.s. I'm on the road, hard to do a good search. Thanks for any info or advice about these engines.

Edit: Changed the name of the thread.
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Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

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[cyrus #1]

The AAZ is a pure mechanical injection engine. Basic maintenance is no more difficult than any gas engine. More advanced procedures such as timing belts, setting injection timing, etc. require specialty tools.

I have a diesel vanagon with the factory 1.6NA engine. It typically returns 26-28 mpg under normal driving. I suspect a turbo engine would do slightly better as it will spend less time floored. This also depends on many things like gearing and tire size.
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1982 Westy TDI
2005 Jetta Wagon TDI
2005 Touareg V8

[MsTaboo]

Thanks cyrus,
Was hoping for more feed back. I'm really liking this vehicle, but I'm a diesel virgin and nervous.

Is there a good manual for these engines available?
_________________
Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

The information age has morphed into the age of disinformation and willful ignorance. Agnotology!
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[hans j]

I'm a fan of diesels. I don't know much about the AAZ though, try Andrew Libby. He can probably tell you everything you need to know! Also there should be a Bentley manual for it from what ever car came stock with them, Mk3 Jetta/Golf?
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1986 Canadian Syncro Westy TDI - 1989 Syncro Single Cab - 2001 Audi S4 - 1981 VW Caddy ABA - 1980 VW Caddy EV - 1973 VW T-181

[furrylittleotter]

Forgive my cynicism, but you pose the question like that Diesel could possibly be any worse than a 25 year old Wasserboxer.

As far as your lack of diesel experience I have read some fantastic writeups on the forum from VERY knowledgable guys that would be happy to support you.

I mean if they can make one run backwards, surely they can help you make yours run forwards.

It sounds like a fun project to me! Go for it.

Neil2

[Zeitgeist 13]

My Passat B4 Bentley manual covers the AAZ and 1Z. The AAZ strikes me as an interesting hybrid of the 1.6TD and 1Z/AHU; kind of the best of both
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[?Waldo?]

The AAZ is basically a bored and stroked 1.6TD. I think it's a fine engine. IMO, it's a significant upgrade over a 1.9 WBX or 2.1 WBX. AAZs are decent in stock form and fairly easy to upgrade in performance. They don't get as good fuel economy as the 1.9TDIs, but all else equal, overall power is similar. Diesels are noisier and have more vibration than gas engines. The mechanical diesels like the AAZ are not more work to maintain than a similar gas engine. The AAZs most common serious issue is failure of the crank nose/sprocket interface. This failure mode is avoided most easily by having the crank nose machined to the 1Z/AHU D-shape and using the later sprocket along with the one-way alternator pulley.

[CdnVWJunkie]

Another nice couple of features of the AAZ, or any IDI for that matter, is they are more content to rev for long durations than the later DIs- meaning upgraded gearing is optional whereas with the TDI it's more of a necessity.

Also, with the precups they're also more friendly with alternative fuel blends.

From my experience the IDIs are more susceptible to cold weather starts than DIs but the blocks have frost plugs so adding a coolant heater is an easy upgrade.

[MsTaboo]

Thanks for the info and chin-ups!
We bought it. Runs pretty good so far. Over Snoqualmie Pass in fourth gear!
Need to up the idle rpms, rattles bad just sitting unless I place my foot lightly on accelerator. Clutch is a little jerky.
Pictures to come when we get home. 12 road trip ahead.
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Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

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[OddN]

The AAZ is a pretty straightforward engine to work on. Even the cambelt/injection timing isnt difficult, you just need the right tools (which by the way are easily available and not particularly expensive).

It is a great upgrade from the 1,6 TD, a little more horsepower and more torque, without the redused rpm range of a modern TDI.

I run mine (syncro Multivan, AAZ, 205R-16wheels) with a fuel consumption of 28-30 mpg all year. A lot better than my previous syncro DJ (112hp) that averaged 18-22mpg.

Like Andy says, only weakness is crank nose. Just check the crank pulley. If it wobbles, dont drive. A cambelt failure on these engines means head/valve damage.
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1991 VW Multivan syncro 1,9 TD

[?Waldo?]

Congrats on the purchase. www.vwdiesel.net is a good place to get info specifically about the AAZ. Here are instruction on joining:

http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=30622.0

[MsTaboo]

Thanks Andrew, I'll look into that.
After sleeping in late to recover from the road trip gave the rig a quick cleaning to get the road salt off. Luckily we're some above freezing temps.
It was -20C last week.
So here's the engine:

And here is what it's pushing:

_________________
Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

The information age has morphed into the age of disinformation and willful ignorance. Agnotology!
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[Zeitgeist 13]

wow...really
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[ragnarhairybreeks]

You bought it from my neighbour across the road. I had a chance to look at it, very nice van.

Alistair
_________________
'86 7 passenger syncro, converted to westy pop top, project still in progress
'82 westy, diesel converted to gas in '94, now gone...
https://shufti.blog/
Old address still works...
http://shufti.wordpress.com

[MsTaboo]

Thanks, the body is in excellent condition but I have some real worries about the condition of the engine. It has a brand new AAZ long block but the older 1.6 TD hardware. Has a loud diesel "nailing" The lady who had the engine upgraded spent some serious money only to be constantly spending more money to have problems resolved, quit the truck in frustration. Kind of sad. You really need to be able to work on these older vehicles yourself.
I plan to educate myself about the engine before anymore long drives.

Alistair, you live in a beautiful area! Do you know Thomas? PM me.
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Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

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[Syncroincity]

Holy. Crap.

I think we were all expecting a clapped-out '82 Westy or something...


Very loud diesel clatter can be caused by over-advanced pump timing. Mine was painfully loud when I first set it, a few bumps of the pump away from the head got it quieted down nicely.
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'86 Syncro CHC Top AAZ Turbodiesel
'04 Passat Variant 4Mo 5MT

Vanagon Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=466866&highlight=

[outwesty]

[?Waldo?]

Very nice. The pump is a 1.6TD pump and the alt/belt drive are also from a 1.6. The upside is that the crank nose issue I mentioned before is not really an issue with the v-belt drive. The injection pump is both better and worse than a stock AAZ pump. The upside is it has better boost fuel enrichment, the downside is it pumps less fuel off-boost unless someone opened it up and swapped the camplate. Thosee injection lines are JX specific (stock 1.6TD Vanagon ONLY) and so need to be imported from Europe. They had to be bent to fit as the AAZ block is a 1/2" taller. You are also missing the anti-vibration clamp that goes over the 4 lines (probably removed in the line-bending process and hard to fit afterward) and so the odds are good that one will crack and leave you stranded... Get a spare set of lines to keep in the travelling spares AND install anti-vibration clamps.

[MsTaboo]

Thanks for the insights Andrew. I'm beginning to think it might be worthwhile to replace the pump and injectors with AAZ specific parts.
I have lots of learning ahead and don't want to ask a lot of stupid questions yet.

First things first. A fresh oil change and new coolant. I don't believe the existing coolant can handle our low temps. Have in a heated garage for now.
Seems like the heater core is shot also, getting coolant smell inside.
_________________
Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

The information age has morphed into the age of disinformation and willful ignorance. Agnotology!
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[fairweather]

Dayam! Nice rig...

I have a 1.6TD in my rabbit truck and it is very loud but runs well with plenty of power. Get a set of timing tools and once you've done it once it's pretty easy then you can mess with that to see if it changes the noise factor.

vwdiesel.net has all you would need for info.