Oil change, better v-belt setup and door seals. MK1 content

[burn_your_money]

B_Y_M   Tinker? 

True, very true. Although there was a time when I absolutely hated doing anything but drive my car. I didn't even want to change the oil (for obvious reasons).

I did notice that the back of the belt is starting to glaze a bit. I'm not too surprised. I had thought that I read that belts weren't suppose to be bent backwards. We'll see how long it lasts. The belt is technically finished anyways.

I also noticed that my diff has a lot of play in it. Turns out that clicking noise isn't a CV Hopefully it hangs in there

[8v-of-fury]

Can you not then just find the right size belt from some other belt drive application?

I have seen pretty much every trans I have had my hands on has wobbly cups on the trans.. I often wonder how they don't leak! LOL.

[tyb525]

Mine have just a little play in them too, no leaks or noise though. I wondered if that was common at all...

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

I have seen belt tensioners on tractors and lawnmowers that apply tension on the back of the belt, doesn't mean it's right I guess.

different kind of belt.

yep. aka industrial belts, lawn mower belts etc which are designed to drive higher loads, and are toothless (unlike automotive belts).

[burn_your_money]

I have 4 manual trannys sitting on the floor and 3 of them have very tight diffs, the 4th has a lot of slop. The one on my mom's car is coming close to 1/4" up and down movement and something is clicking when I turn both right or left after the car has been driven for a long time and warmed up.

[Rising]

Excellent tips tyler! I'm now determined to seal out that terrible wind noise. I like the reuse of the old tensioner too. As someone pointed out, it definitely speeds up the tensioning process and certainly gives you extra purchase on the wp pulley. I always find I have to get an extra person to hold something when I tigthen my belt. Seems like I need three arms

But I have to agree with you. The slack that is allowed between these belts really has to allow some slippage to occur. I've been paranoid about that actually since I first got the car. . .

[RabbitJockey]

my automatic also had loose cups, i put new axles on it cause i thought thats what the noise was.  never leaked or had problems tho.

[ORCoaster]

Shot these under the car earlier today.  One of the pad on the floor in the shop, the other in hand to see thickness.  Very dense ground up rubber that is reconstructed into a roll about 3 ft wide and 50 feet long.  Two more of install, very boring and not much to see.  1/4 inch of rubber squeezed between the mount and the frame.  Excite me!

Either I magically hit the right combination of places to put my engine in its mounts or this final isolater is the ticket.  I don't even get the rear view mirror shakes anymore.  

[tyb525]

Do you still torque to the torque spec? How much does the rubber compress? Do you think this would stress the bolts too much, due to the entire mount being able to flex slightly now?

[ORCoaster]

I didn't torque to spec,  I just tighten them till I figured they were not going to come loose on me.  I considered the work that this part does and just didn't leave them sloppy loose. 

The rubber does squeeze down about 1/4 of the over all thickness.  This is not any kind of standard rubber you will have laying around unless you lay hardwood floors for a living or install metal stairs.  I had to special order it from the factory in McMinville, OR for my home improvement project years ago.  They sent it to Home Depot for me to pick up.  HD does have the thinner version in stock and if you bought one foot of it you would have a lifetime of it.  Comes on a four foot wide roll.  I used a piece that was probably 2 inches by 4 inches.  That would be 72 pieces in a 4 sq foot section (1 x 4). 

I doubt the bolts are stressed at all as they are only out from where they are normally by at most an 1/8 of an inch.  The picture doesn't really show how close the frame and mount are together.  The rubber is out past the mount and is sort of ballooning out the bottom.

The mount does not flex at all tight to the frame as normal just free of vibration transfer. 

I bet we would get similar results with a doubled up piece of bike inner tube.

What did the OP use?  Some sort of pump rubber?     

[tyb525]

Good to know, it looks like a good idea. I'm familiar with that rubber, I remodel houses for a living. I think I saw someone selling a piece of rubber specifically for that purpose

[burn_your_money]

Update:

Belt is still fine
I have bad CVs but I definitely had bad diff bearings
I need to align my motor as it shakes again