94' Jetta Gl problem

Hey guys im new to these forums.

Anyways i recently purchased a 1994 jetta gl with the standard transmission, 1.9 turbo diesel engine(great gas mileage btw) :grinno:

I actually have 2 questions/ problems.

1st.
Anyways the car has 190,000miles and runs fairly well for the most part.
The car gets about 700-800km (depending on how i drive it) to a fifty litre tank, which by my understanding is quite good. However, today it finally decided to get cold up here in alberta,canada. It was about -14 degree's celcius and my car wasnt plugged in. I figured i didnt have to worry about it since my dad's 93' passat started up fine as he left for work in the morning without being plugged in. So i go to warm my jetta up, and she cranks over, but doesnt fire. Advance was pulled out and i cycled the glow plugs twice , but it just didnt want to start. So needless to say i wasnt very pleased by that as i figured my car should of started.
For the record the oil and filter was recently changed, about 2 weeks ago to be exact

So any idea's on that?

2nd.

The car burns oil, alot of it. In about 4 days, or about 100 km...The car burned about 1/4 L of oil. Which is enough to bug the piss out of me since i have to keep topping it off. I havent had the chance to really get into the car to check it out . I do believe it is leaking ever so slightly as when i pull up to a stop light i can smell burning oil , though its not leaking enough to hit the ground so im not to worried about that.

Im thinking the piston rings are to blame as the car burns oil. and doesnt start very good in the cold. These being similar syptoms of shot piston rings. But there could be a number of things being the reason to this.
So i was just wondering your guy's take on that


Thanks in advance for the help!

It would more likely be the valve seals on the head than the piston rings. Bad rings give low compression. Have your compression tested, don't forget that you can't use a tester for gas engines. Get some engine degreaser and clean up the engine really well. Check for leaks on the engine seals (behind timing belt and in bell housing). Poor compression could be causing your starting problems as well. My guess is that a valve job will take care of your problem.