AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!
well it was just the thermostat... I checked it with boiling water... and guess what! at boiling point, the thermostat opens a little... i bought a 160F one at crappy tire because it's only temporary and will be exposed to summer temps anyway... that thermostat opens WAY more than the OEM one.
way to go for german quality :roll:
lesson of the day: don't trust a thermostat to work just because you paid so much... :roll:
so reporting back... i drove the crap out of the car (but not too hard... kept smoke down) and i drove pretty fast too down the highway... temp gauge sits at a little more than 1/4.
well i'm very very happy that i didn't have to change my water pump. it almost looks like i need to remove the crank pulley to get at one bolt for the pump... and removing the a/c compressor is easy... but lining the bolt holes up for re-install is a PITA!
so there you have it! now lets hope i didn't do too much damage from running at nearly 100C on some *rare* occassions :oops: she still runs alright!
nice. no more pulley squeak?
got back last night from a short camping trip with 8 or 9 buses. there was a splitty there for a couple hours but mostly bay windows and one 94 eurovan.
i hope to keep moving on the rabbit and get some meaningful work done (it could use some bodywork attention...been driven a few winters now)........but its going to be hard not to focus on the bus now that camping weather is here! :shock:
funny enough the water pump only squeaks with the belt off... makes no noise when engine is running (possibly because the motor is that loud...)
the squeak is more of that rubber on rubber type sound... and is more of a feel... as if it could use some oiling or something...
i even checked the impeller for being loose, and she's tight!
i'm really glad that the issue is fixed, although i should have chose a hotter t-stat... this one is a little on the cold side (i thought i might as well get colder just in case something is screwed)
but at this point anything is better than overheating... my a/c works really good too! puts a nice draw on the car! :lol:
