new member with stupid questions

[RustyToy]

Hey, I guess i'm the new guy around here. I've just picked up an '85 Golf 1.6IDI to add to my diesel fleet and have a few questions.

1) Up untill today the temp guage and cooling fan worked flawlessly. For some unknown reason neither is working now. are the two tied in together somehow? the fan works fine when i turn on the AC, but not on its own. (of course, without a temp guage I'm not even sure it's coming up to temp)

2) coming off the vacuum pump there are 2 small lines and the one big one going to the vac booster for the brakes. 1 of the small lines is hooked to the motor for the HVAC to control where the air blows. Where is the other one supposed to go?

3) Glow plugs. The light has never worked untill today, now it doesn't go completely out all the time. sometimes it has a very faint glow to it.

Other than that it seems this car is a whole lot simpler than any of my other diesels. I'm hoping that it will be as reliable as the others as well. Throwing new lower ball joints on it this evening and hopefully have it in daily service by Monday.

[Quantum TD]

1) Pick up a new radiator fan switch. They're cheap and the best engine insurance out there. Also, pull the cap off the coolant reservoir (when cold). Start the car up and look into the tank. There should be a steady stream of coolant into the bottle. If not, the return hose could be clogged. There is a restrictor in the line right before the bottle. You can drill it out and completely remove it without any harm to the motor (provided you extract all the pieces.

Also, you can test the functioning of the fans (without the AC), by pulling the plug from the rad fan switch. Jumper the terminals of the RED wire to the RED WIRE WITH WHITE STRIPE. The fan should come on low. Now, jumper the RED wire to the OTHER wire (sometimes red with black stripe, sometimes red with brown stripe). The fans should come on high. If not, check the fuses in the cabin and the relay in the cabin (sometimes mounted to the ran shroud).

2) Nipples: there should only be one open small nipple, and it should connect to the hard plastic hose that is usually WHITE or YELLOW. Block off the other nipple if it's not blocked off. Later ECO diesels used the separate nipple to connect to the air box. This does not apply to your car.

3) Now you know the light works. Now, you just need to figure out why it does not work when you try to start the car. Even on a hot day, the light should come on for a few seconds. Check the relay.

As for staying on, it means you have water in the water separator. Under the car on the passenger side near the rear wheel is a small white (usually yellowed from age) box with a knob on it. Loosen the knob and let the fluid drain out. It should be a mix of water and diesel fuel. You may to actually pump/plunge the knob to get the fluid out (it works like a plunger once it's been unscrewed all the way).

If the light stays on after that, you may consider cutting the wires to the water level sensor. I'm not sure exactly what to do (since I've never done it), but it's a common delete. Be sure to NOT cut the wires to your fuel level sending unit. Use the search function and look for water separator.

Good luck.

[smoken u]

word of caution when draining the water seperator be carful with it, after aging they have a tendency to crack, so just be gentle with it lol

[RustyToy]

yeah, earlier today I had the cap off and was watching a steady stream of coolant flowing into the tank. So there's no blockage there.

Tested the function of the fan per your instructions, everything checks out fine.

while digging around in the dash running wires for speakers ( the car had a wooden box where the radio was supposed to be ) i found a push button switch. I followed the wires and it led to the fan and the AC cutoff.
I started the car and turned on he AC, fan came on. clicked the switch - fan goes off. so I've got some wiring to do. (undo)

Thanks for the info on the vacuum nipples. Thats good info to have. Much simpler than the 6 miles of vac lines on the M-B.

I pulled the dash out so i could put the odometer reset button back in place. (it was shoved all the way in) Now that I put it back in the temp guage seems to be working again. probably a bad connection at the plug.

I have doubts as to whether i'm getting it warm enough for the fan to kick on running it in the garage. It's got 3/4 tank of diesel/peanut oil that I need to run out of it. ( previous owner was blending fryer grease and diesel mixed.) i CANNOT stand that smell. I would much rather be smelling good old fashioned diesel.

When I was under the car earlier I had seen the water seperator but wasn't sure what it was. Now I do. thanks!

I do have another question for ya. What in the world is that switch under the accelerator pedal that looks like a dimmer switch on an old ford?

[smoken u]

switch?? mine had a black plastic stopper under the go pedal, lasted about 15 minutes in its place then it got chucked

[the caveman]

ed all the way in)
I have doubts as to whether i'm getting it warm enough for the fan to kick on running it in the garage. It's got 3/4 tank of diesel/peanut oil that I need to run out of it. ( previous owner was blending fryer grease and diesel mixed.) i CANNOT stand that smell. I would much rather be smelling good old fashioned diesel.

If every thing is working fine, the rad fan will not come on while idling from cold. You would have to hold it at about 2000 rpms for about 15-20 minutes for it to get hot enough. Not a bad idea to do to make sure the rad fan switch is working 100 %.

[RustyToy]

Yeah, come to find out the fan works just as it should. It just wasn't getting hot enough to make it come on. it also works just fine with the AC. as soon as you turn on the AC it kicks on. I'd say everything in that department is worked out.

I've actually decided to keep driving the Benz for a couple more weeks while I gather the needed parts to go through the front end. I'm just going to do the whole thing at once and be done with it. new tie rods,bushings,struts,strut mounts, tires, and alignment.

I don't need to drive the car so I would just as soon go through it one time and replace everything than to spend every weekend replacing another worn out part hoping to get rid of any handling issues. Get it over with and just enjoy the ride!

[Quantum TD]

Re. Dipper switch.

As noted, that's just a pedal-stop. Just unscrew it (like any other bolt) and toss it. Useless.

[Vincent Waldon]

What in the world is that switch under the accelerator pedal that looks like a dimmer switch on an old ford?

Actually, it turns off the A/C under full-throttle conditions.  Honest!