vibration of diesel engine

I recently purchased a 82 Rabbit Diesel pickup. The engine start easlily and does not smoke or leak oil. It has 111K miles. I have never owned a diesel engine so I don't have anything to compare it with but I was hoping someone can advise me on just how much vibration from the engine should be transmitted through the vehicle. It seems to me to be too much. And I was wondering if possibly I may need motor mounts or that the exhaust system is touching the body of the pickup somewhere. What are your thoughts?

I don't have anything definative for you, but I'm in the same position, more or less. I've owned 48 cars, but the Rabbit I bought for my daughter not long ago is the first diesel I've owned. It needed a head gasket when I bought it, and I did that, and it now runs not too badly. For the first few start-ups it smoked terribly, but that has now abated. At start-up it vibrates quite a bit, but once warmed up it isn't too bad. Not like a well-tuned gas engine, but not bad. To tell the truth, I'm disappointed in this board. Other boards I've belonged to are much more helpful. The Alfa Owners' Board, for instance, will provide ten answers for almost any question. This one supplies almost no help. I have no idea why that should be, but the fact that the only answer you have received is from someone who is a new owner is indicative of something.

There aren't too many Rabbit owner's left these days, & I doub't they spend every spare minute here. GWB, I would definitely check the front engine mount (at the timing belt) as they are prone to collapse. You can place a jack & piece of wood under the oil pan & can lift the engine & see if the mount has collapsed. Replacing is difficult as the timing belt has to come off & the mount must be sawed or pressed out of the holder.

Welcome to the world of rabbits...

First off, VWVortex.com is the place you want to go for more details... As nice as Automotiveforums is, it is a site built and based on ricers... not VDUBs at all... we just happen to have a catagory. As for the motor mounts... it may not be the motor mounts on either side... it could be the torque bump stop down under the radiator... that keeps the motor from torquing forward and rattling the whole car... that could be blown out and you can't see it, seeing as how it is in a metal ring. Try replacing that. Or checking to see how squishy the tranny mount it. It will be a square mount under the tranny square rubber block. Over time, oil can leak on them and they brake down and get soft. It should be pretty hard and not easily squeezed.

That said, here goes... Diesels YES do vibrate alot, that is their nature... They do not combust the same way gasoline engines do, by igniting the fuel with a spark... gas engines suck in the fuel and air together on the down stroke, compress it on the up stroke, fire a spark, and boom the down stroke pushes the crank, and the next up stroke pushes out the exhaust. over and over... diesels suck in the air only on the down and compress it ALOT on the up. In case you didn't know... compressed air gets VERY hot and deisel fuel is has a very low flash point. now that the air is compressed, the injectors mist in the fuel and the hot air makes it combust... then the down push stroke and the up exhaust. and so on... this action makes for a harder, rougher idle. But try the anti-torque stop first... if that is dead man, your dash will rattle and the car will sound like it is falling apart.

Good luck. Let me know how it goes.