Need some ideas from ya fellers

[8v-of-fury]

You make a good point lucas, I was lookin at it today while doin a severe$ PITA oil change and it doesn't have that much to drop.. maye if i lived in CALI or somewhere where road care is even on the list of what taxes go towards... Ontario is not for lowered cars

I think I will go for a good suspension as well, what have you decided on?

[8v-of-fury]

I dedeucted that the vacuum pump is probably to blame on the no brakes situation.. Pulling the line from the booster does not result in the "POP" from the vacuum in the booster. The vacuum in the line is not much at all when i put my finger over it while the engine is running.. Which kinda gives me hope that I will not have to replace the booster. lol hopefully anyway.

As for suspension, stock height with some good struts and springs ought to do it up real nice eh? Bilsteins are a tad expensive at something like $200 a piece 

Even if I were to cut springs, it would only be the old rotten ones that would be coming off anyway.. so for fun basically.. not to be driven around on lol

Maybe I will try and get my hands on some mk2 springs and cut them down to mk1 ride height so I can get some stiffer springs without sacrificing ride height, and risk slamming off the bump stops...

[rabbitman]

Yeah the vac pump should pull a pretty good vacuum, although I had a problem once where the vac pump worked good but the brakes were a joke. I pulled the booster and looked in it and messed around blew it up to 120psi blabla and when I put it back together it worked fine .

[8v-of-fury]

I had planned to do an oil change and a coolant flush the other day. I got one done as it was too cold to be messing around with fully flushing the coolant, and i didn't have any running water available to fill it back up with the flushing additive... Never in my life have I had an oil change take so long and give me so many problems.. lol. First the filter was practically welded on to the flange.. and i couldn't find my filter wrench so I had to settle for a punch and a hammer. lol so after a nice long fight with that I went to get the drain plug out.. sure enough the PO striped the HELL out of it. GREAT! so i get out my vice-grips.. no luck, only making it worse! starting to go numb as I had already been outside prior to deciding to do this. what to do what to do? PIPE WRENCH! Fantastic invention! The harder you pull the tighter it wraps itself around whatever you have it around! LOVE IT. Got the bolt out, new MANN filter on, 4L of new 15w-40 oil in (some people i have heard say this is to thick) and 500ml of Bardahl Oil Treatment. let the oil settle and make its way back to the pan.. and then fired it up. Woohoo, no leaks. So happy at this point, as it was cold as crap out. Get in and get warmed up as i let it sit there and idle. Had it warmed up prior to doing the change, so the oil would flow easily.

I have a question, what is the temperature ranges for a 15w-40 (or was it 15w-50??) diesel motor oil? I think the little green book that came with the Jetta shows it as being used down to around -15 Celsius. It has not hurt starting in anyway, still cranks over very quickly and fires on the second chug of the starter.. Starts better then my 1.7 gasser so it seems to me that 15w is not to heavy for winter starting at -5 or -10 C. However what would be the best warm up routine, let it warm up for a few minutes with the high idle on (91 pump has this awesome feature), and then be on my way? keeping the revs low and not putting it under to much load? seems to be the quickest way to warm up my 1.7..

I will be pulling the vac pump off the 91 engine sometime this week and hopefully getting it in to the 81 engine fairly shortly so i can have some real brakes.. I've been driving it around the last couple days, just around the area.. small road in the middle of nowhere.. and even with absolutely no power brakes the car can still be stopped fairly well, with the gears of course lol.

Rabbitman you blew the booster up to 120psi?? what would this tell you? that it id for sure working ant not leaking? lol I am still not exactly sure how they work.. to be honest.. suck in a very small amount of air.. and all of the sudden braking is night and day? i do not get it..

I didn't go through with the cutting of the springs, as I was looking at them and they are definitely all shot. The two fronts coils sit very very close together.. meaning the springs barely have any lift on them anymore.. so new springs and struts all around are for sure.. Seeing as i will be adding new springs to the list.. Should I be getting new Mk1 springs for it? or new Mk2 springs and cut them down to begin with? or some good used mk2 springs.. from somebody who just went to coils and will be very likely to get rid of them for close to nothing? Also I know Lucas (theman53) has a thread going about what struts to use to get a quality ride that isn't going to be shot after 15k

What are your thoughts and opinions Sirs. 

[rabbitman]

I pumped the booster up thinking it was junk so it couldn't hurt anything anyways, and I don't know how they work so I figured "it might wiggle something it there and make it work" . The brakes have worked good ever since .

It I was gonna buy new springs I'd get mk1 ones, cutting the mk2 springs isn't perfected so you might just end up wasting your money. I wish I knew what the rate/strength and all that was so I could see how close to stock mk1 they are.

[jtanguay]

vac problems - check the hoses. they develop hairline cracks that are a little hard to distinguish... pray that it is not the vac pump itself. if it is, i would recommend just getting an electric one unless you can use a repair kit...
power issues - low torque means you're static timing is good. now you need to fiddle with the dynamic timing advance. joy!

[rabbitman]

vac problems - check the hoses. they develop hairline cracks that are a little hard to distinguish... pray that it is not the vac pump itself. if it is, i would recommend just getting an electric one unless you can use a repair kit...
power issues - low torque means you're static timing is good. now you need to fiddle with the dynamic timing advance. joy!

Replacement diaphrams are easy to get, if it's the vane type a junkyard one would work fine .

[8v-of-fury]

I have a vane one from the 91 parts engine i have.. and from what i have read it "should" replace the diaphragm one in the 81 engine.. lets hope eh. An electric one? Do explain. Expensive? I can't imagine so really.. that would be kinda neat.. but if the vane one i have on the other engine will work.. why not right? lol

Dynamic timing advance.. oooh a term i have not yet delved in to! Please enlighten me on this Jon

I will most likely just go with some good brand struts.. and fresh mk1 springs from a reputable name as well. Should make it ride like a million bucks

[maxfax]

I have the vane type in my 81 from an 86..  Fit right in..  I can't remember though if I used the tube to the booster from the 81 or the 86..  I feel it works better than the diaphragm one ever did, even when it was rebuilt..   Remember that you either need to swap the plate or plug the hose going into the side of the block..

[8v-of-fury]

GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS

Ok so I sprang a leak!! I was running the car, getting it up to temp and just goofing around with it. Warmed it up with some short low rpm trips up and down the road.. good to go! Line it up and get the stopwatch out. Ready Set GO! 1st gear screaming fighting for traction on the wet road, 2nd gear roaring up the speedo, 3rd gear closing in on 60mph.. ride 3rd out to not loose shift times and have no power in 4th.. TWENTY ONE SECONDS... it felt a lot quicker.. anyway i have it back in the driveway just farting around with some stuff inside, when i notice smoke coming from the engine bay.. Oh Dear! I pop the hood, and notice that (i have the crank vent hose just venting to atmosphere to prevent any possible way of this thing running away on its own oil..) there was a good amount of oil running down the back of the intake main, good thing i had it disconnected HUH!? Not only that, but the plug on the last injector had sprung a huge leak and was spraying diesel EVERYWHERE... right in to the open intake manifold (as i was somewhat foolishly not running a filter or cover.. yeah yeah i know lol)... two lucky lucky lucky incidents that could have been a runaway to destruction! SHIZZA!

SO, I have new questions what size are the lines in between the injectors? I wish to find some appropriate clear line to put in their spot.. but that raises the question.. how to plug the end one?

I have an idea as to why there was excessive oil residue from the crank case vent.. I noticed when running my parts engine on the stand.. that I had the vacuum line to the booster just sucking air (before knowing that excessive air in the crank will start to puke oil out of every orifice) and upon revving it up, it would puke oil out of the dipstick.. and probably a little bit in to the intake.. So what i am thinking is the "leak" that may be causing me to have zero braking assistance, may be in fact so bad that it is allowing a ton of blowby.. and oil to leave the valve cover. I have a cam baffle in there from the 91 engine, so the oil puking should be at minimum no?

Brett! Would a normal plug that one would use to block off a vacuum port on the intake or such similar things work? with a hose clamp on it? I would assume using the tube that is still on the 91 pump would be ok.. as it is already there.. and goes to the same location on the 91 anyhow.. Good to know it swaps in i have heard speculation that they do not swap due to different oil shafts.. or something?

[maxfax]

SO, I have new questions what size are the lines in between the injectors? I wish to find some appropriate clear line to put in their spot.. but that raises the question.. how to plug the end one?

I think 3.5 mm, someone will chime in for sure.. To plug the last one, cut a short piece of line, stick it on the injector..  Stick a BB in the line..  I've seen that from the factory on some non vw diesels...

Brett! Would a normal plug that one would use to block off a vacuum port on the intake or such similar things work? with a hose clamp on it? I would assume using the tube that is still on the 91 pump would be ok.. as it is already there.. and goes to the same location on the 91 anyhow.. Good to know it swaps in i have heard speculation that they do not swap due to different oil shafts.. or something?

I have heard speculations that the oil pump shafts changed in the early 90's.. possibly 92ish.. Could just be a difference between a 1.6 and an AAZ too.. Do a visual comparison to be sure...

 A standard ole vac plug would probably work for a while, but most of them are not oil compatible, meaning eventually it'll deteriorate.. Swapping that little plate isn't too bad..  Or for the cheap and lazy such as myself I cut the old hose off and clamped a bolt in it...

[burn_your_money]

It sounds like you may have excessive return line pressure, worn injectors or just crappy old hoses if the injector line blew off. Maybe even all 3

[8v-of-fury]

I think 3.5 mm, someone will chime in for sure.. To plug the last one, cut a short piece of line, stick it on the injector..  Stick a BB in the line..  I've seen that from the factory on some non vw diesels...

O RLY!?


 That sounds a tad on the pathetic side with the BB 3.5mm does seem like it would be small enough for sure. What about T-ing that last injector back in to the return line? Would this mess with stuff? or is just not done because it does not need to be done?

I have heard speculations that the oil pump shafts changed in the early 90's.. possibly 92ish.. Could just be a difference between a 1.6 and an AAZ too.. Do a visual comparison to be sure...

 A standard ole vac plug would probably work for a while, but most of them are not oil compatible, meaning eventually it'll deteriorate.. Swapping that little plate isn't too bad..  Or for the cheap and lazy such as myself I cut the old hose off and clamped a bolt in it...

Yeah someone looked it up for me, and they only saw two part numbers for the 1.6.. Rotary, and Diaphragm.. and the rotary superseded the diaphragm's part #.. soo Hopefully it works out brakes are a thing most of us take for granted i think. lol

I like your way of doing it, cutting it off and bolting it closed works for a lot of other uses on cars with vacuum hoses! why not here right? Thanks

It sounds like you may have excessive return line pressure, worn injectors or just crappy old hoses if the injector line blew off. Maybe even all 3

Well it didn't so much as "blow off".. it had a pinhole-ish size hole in the side of the plug that was surprisingly shooting a thin stream of diesel right up in to my open intake manifold.. quite scary in fact.. 

I'm headed outside to pull (im an idiot for not seeing it sooner!) the return lines, vacuum pump and INJECTORS from the newer much less mile engine.. and put them in the other one! DOhh

[maxfax]

I think you mentioned about wanting to use something clear?  3/16" motorcycle/chainsaw fuel line works dandy for normal applications..   Hot WVO flowing though it tend to make it leak though..  The clear vinyl tubing sold at most hardwars works for a while but tends to get hard and not seal after a while..  It's much worse with hot wvo...

That sounds a tad on the pathetic side with the BB

How about a check ball, or ball bearing then??  But one that is BB sized... 

One other thing to keep in mind..  Be careful with the connector on top of the rotary pump..  It's actually a check valve made of some now nicely aged plastic...  And I sure you know how aged plastic like to go poof upon the slightest abuse..

[8v-of-fury]

Rotary pump, removed and ready to be transplanted. Also removed the injectors and return lines Does anybody have any good local places to get heat shields? I phoned VW and asked there parts guy.. I was astounded to hear him ring off 5 figures..........  

No freaking way, he musta had the wrong part.. everywhere else is like $1.. or around there. I dunno.. can't be what I'm looking for, if it is holy crap. I tried my local parts place, and no go sadly. Where to get them from?

3/16!? Damn I had some in my hand.. Snowmobile fuel line, with a reddish tinge.. looks kinda cool. Take that, put it on there, with a nice little red zip tie on each injector barb.. looks ok and is practical lol

Yes Sir! I know all to well what old plastic is like, lol.

I posted those pics with a tape measure.. in case somebody else had pics of the bottom of a Diaphragm pump looks to be about 2.5" in depth in to the block from the mating surface,