lacolocho wrote:...Anybody have any idea what kind of motors were in those?
I've never even heard of a diesel Chevette
Chevrolet used an Isuzu 1.8 diesel engine in these. They also sold the Isuzu P'up based "Luv" with the Isuzu 2.2 diesel as well.
I'm sure someone snatched this econobox fast. As disposible as these cars were, with the very fine Isuzu engine it could achieve remarkable fuel efficiency.
I know a man here in Seattle who owns one. He says that it drives quite nicely, the same as many other econo-boxes. His has an automatic trans, and I think that he gets a little over 40MPG in mixed driving.
moose60 wrote:These were also known as the Isuzu I-Mark.
An I-Mark of this vintage is a very rare bird, especially with a diesel engine. With diesel it would have had to come after 1982. I can't say for certain that I have ever seen the gen 1 T-body I-Mark in person. The gen 2 I-Mark / Spectrum was far more plentiful, especially in my neck of the woods.
moose60 wrote:I know a man here in Seattle who owns one. He says that it drives quite nicely, the same as many other econo-boxes. His has an automatic trans, and I think that he gets a little over 40MPG in mixed driving.
That is impressive, especially with the automatic trans. VW always claimed that if your Rabbit was getting less than 44 mpg mixed driving there was a problem.
moose60 wrote:Sounds like someone got a deal down in P-Town.
984 Isuzu I-Mark 4-door sedan with 133k miles. 1.8 liter diesel (non-turbo), automatic transmission. Runs and drives well decent shape though the heater core is leaking (spells like coolant). Wait until summer and you'll have a car that's priced like a motor-scooter with mileage that's not too far off - about 45MPG on biodiesel. Compares favorably to Volkswagen Rabbit / Jetta / Golf and the other small Japanese diesels like the Corolla and Stanza.
I wonder why his "Location" changes. Sometimes it's North Seattle, other times it's like above.
AFAIK, the diesel Chevette and the diesel I-Mark have nothing in common (except, perhaps, the diesel engine).
I hadn't heard that VW made that claim, but my two Gen1 Rabbit diesels were very consistent at 43-45 MPG. The only time one of them dropped below 41 was when it had all that bore taper. It was quite hard to start by that time too.
His location changes because he will sometimes sell a car from his shop on Aurora Ave N, or his home, which is on Mercer Island. He said that the car wound up at his house because he actually likes driving it.
I was just guessing about the I-Mark/Chevette linkage (twins separated at birth? apparently not) based on LUV/PUP experience.
I have heard similar things about the early VW diesels. I think that I'd heard under 40MPG, don't buy it, cause it's dead.
asavage wrote:An easy assumption to make, but in the case of the Chevette, it wasn't "badge-engineered" like the P'UP/LUV.
I wondered about that as well. Isn't the link between the two via the Isuzu Gemini? The P'up diesel is another small truck that you can't easily buy anymore.
That Chevette looks so much better than an I-Mark. Too bad they changed the body style.
Exactly so. A Rabbit diesel that gets less than 40 is on its last legs.
That's a bit of oversimplification. There's so many other things that could be making it get less than 40mpg. Fuel leak, bad injectors, IP modded to give extra fuel, etc.
lacolocho wrote:Fuel leak, bad injectors, IP modded to give extra fuel, etc.
While I'll agree with you on the fuel leak, if the injectors are so bad, or the IP's been modified to the extent that it's not returning >40 MPG, I'll stand by my statement.
on the VW diesels there's a really simple adjustment on the outside of the IP that a lot of people do to get more power. It's really simple to turn back as well.
It's a really simple adjustment to hole pistons and blow head gaskets. You do get more power -- for a very short time. Ever see a pyrometer reading on one of those? I have. And, if you've got a (non-leaking) diesel Gen1 Rabbit that's getting less than 40 MPG, it's on its last legs.
