VWDiesel.net The IDI, TDI, and mTDI source.

General Information => General => Topic started by: vanbcguy on March 13, 2015, 06:30:52 pm

Title: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: vanbcguy on March 13, 2015, 06:30:52 pm
Doesn't seem like we have an active thread like this around here, so here goes! Post whatever little thing you got up to that doesn't warrant it's own thread.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: vanbcguy on March 13, 2015, 06:34:37 pm
My speedometer started randomly dropping while I was driving the other day and then completely went dead for several minutes this morning. I had to extend my wiring when I swapped to an 02A, so figured that was probably the cause. Removed everything I did previously and started from scratch, works fine now!

I had to yank my AWIC to get at that so I also dealt with a seeping fitting on the bottom of it that I've been avoiding dealing with. Hopefully no more leaks...

Finally since I think I have my oil leaks all figured out now I gave the engine bay a degreaser soak and a bath. Puuuurdy...

Now I'm off for a road trip down to Seattle. Fun fun!
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on March 13, 2015, 09:09:53 pm
Last weekend it was new ball joints and leak chasing.  One on the coolant the other oil.  Today I noticed another small wet dot under the car up under the area it was dripping from before.  But on chasing down the possible leak area I wrote it off to the little bit of moisture from the hood.  Well, I am hoping so. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Dakotakid on March 17, 2015, 03:09:13 pm
Well, I fed my car large amounts of full throttle (to keep those rings against those walls) while I drove around with Brian Williams and listened intently to his stories about his time in the war zone..........
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: dontdoemyourself on March 18, 2015, 12:41:48 am
Well, it was yesterday, but I checked into a scraping noise on my AAZ  in my Vanagon.. I went ahead and tried to fire it up, and it took forever.. ( think I backed my residual fuel screw out too far) then once it fired I pin pointed the noise.. I over tightened my timing belt and bent the stud it mounts to..  Weekend project #765. I may have adjusted my timing a little too far to the advanced side, .038" or ~.95mm.. I'll go back to .87-.89 when I redo it.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: air-cooled or diesel on March 18, 2015, 11:26:40 am
i have 4 im switching work on right now, 2 mk2's the one i adjusted my brakes(booster), installed booster, bled brakes, parked her for a bit, the other mk2 im registering today and will put her on the road for the 1st time in a few years, minor svc, swapped out really old v-rated tires for road worthy my 14" spares. i now need 2 14"rims/spares. oh i had to buy a vac pump oring and put in and a little work and she fired up,
the other is a mk3tdi, having a little prob with a timing issue, have to get 2 parts and i can re-try.some one after i timed it went into the timing; now i cannt spot my tdc notch i had marked, headache.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: vanbcguy on March 18, 2015, 08:27:15 pm
Sold my old 14" wheels... Turned down my fuel screw a tad as I've been leaving some fairly heavy clouds even when I don't want to.  Adjusted my idle upwards a tad to try and smooth out vibrations a bit... Stared at my pump and tried to convince myself to open it up to gov mod it, but decided to leave that for another day.

Oh and I took my "other" Bosch system in for service... my Bosch Benvenuto B30 espresso machine!  Yes, Bosch is just as bad as they are with their injection pumps - no service information is available anywhere, you can't get parts, only authorized service centers can do anything with it...
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: air-cooled or diesel on March 19, 2015, 09:53:36 am
cannt go without coffee whether or not im working on my cars, gl fixing it, bosch brewed coffee, i just buy mr.coffee or a $17 black&decker, and coffee no headaches
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: vanbcguy on March 19, 2015, 10:21:18 am
I never would have bought the thing new but I acquired it for free.... Though I have had to pay for service a couple of times now.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: air-cooled or diesel on March 26, 2015, 10:51:32 am
i have ins&reg for my other mk2 backup, some work, get all lights working, align, and other little stuff and she ll roll. only prob to motor is basically toast, i ll see if it ll hold together and keep on running, have to break her in.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: air-cooled or diesel on March 26, 2015, 03:09:23 pm
i had forgot all this other work, im going to tear down the front of motor, replace wp, keep coolant, retime.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: vanbcguy on March 26, 2015, 07:22:34 pm
Got my gov mod done on my mTDI finally.  Wow, with the big cam in there it has NO trouble burying the tach needle.  I gotta look at my VNT boost map; I have it pulling off above 5K right now and this engine is still ready and willing to play in the upper ranges. :)
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Dennis Froelich on March 27, 2015, 09:23:47 am
Got my 96 GTI TDI out of the garage and drove it.....  ;)
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on March 27, 2015, 07:11:29 pm
Yep, drove to and from work, need to check for rear bearing slop this weekend I get a shake at 35 now.  Already did the front end.  Might be tires too.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: air-cooled or diesel on April 05, 2015, 07:30:53 pm
had tore down front of 1 engine, new water pump and a good thermo, helps a lot.
, very little smoke now, i ll hit that hill again when i come back north and go up and down a few more times ;)
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: the caveman on April 12, 2015, 10:24:07 am
My latest is a 97 mk3 GLX with a 98 AHU. Since it's a GLX ,it came with leather(HA!) seats. I hate leather( or pleather); burns your butt when hot, freezes when cold. Since I bought it, I have been looking for a late mk3 Wolfsburg with a white interior to swap. I decided not to look online anywhere outside Montreal because shipping would be ridiculous. Finally after 4 years,last week I saw a guy driving one 2 blocks from my house. Politely cut him off and asked if he wanted to make an easy $250. A week later I have nice white bolstered seats made in a nice material pattern. Didn"t do the rears because mine split, and the Wolfsburg didn't. I need the split backrest often enough and who care s about the backseat passengers anyways. Even my girlfriend likes them better. Now if there was an easy way to delete my sunroof
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on April 12, 2015, 02:24:34 pm
Plywood and Liquid Nails seems to do the job on most openings that size around here.  Give it an extra wide bead on the forward edge.  I have actually seen an ad for a VW at one time that the person had taken body putty to the seam and just coated over it.  I couldn't believe what I was looking at.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: vanbcguy on April 13, 2015, 06:19:55 pm
Put Jezebel's summer shoes on...  205/50R15 Yokohama S.Drives

(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7632/17137888892_7d2e1e938d_c.jpg)
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Dennis Froelich on April 14, 2015, 11:04:31 am
Very nice Bryn. Would love a Mk3 Golf 2 door in Steel Blue!! Especially a TD powered one!!
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: air-cooled or diesel on April 21, 2015, 06:55:55 pm
so i just completed orders for a/c parts. the 1 a/c was broke open for a very long time. so for 2 cars i have seal&valve kits, 1 compressor, exp valve, and 2 dryers. for the one i just need to referbesh the seals, change dryer, and some tweeking, recharge, and it should be fine. the other gets some parts, i ll get it flushed, new oil in used comperssor, oil in sys, new seals, exp valve, etc, and seal her up and see how it goes when i get a charge in it.   only thing im looking around for the low side line to the compressor, cannt find it at any of the usual places, any one have one?perchance?
had almost forgot, my clear fuel line came, oh what fun, i ll change it over 1st chance. :P
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on April 21, 2015, 11:29:00 pm
When it comes to putting the clear line on remember that you push it on and then pull it back just a tad so it bites on the nipples.  Man that sounds rough and rude.  But I forgot that little tip and when I was working on the outbolt of my car this weekend I forgot the extra set on that line and when I pulled into the parking lot at work I was pouring diesel all over the lot. That pump sure cranks out the volume to keep itself cool doesn't it.

So now I have a cup or so of fuel that I will park over for the rest of the week and everyone will tell me I have a leak and I should be fixing that.  Yeah, I done did dat.  So, get out the kitty litter I guess.  Then throw it in the garden planter to keep the slugs at bay.

push on pull back a bit.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: sowyer1987 on April 22, 2015, 06:28:07 am
This Sunday I replace the alternator in my mk4 and yesterday I did the oil change full synthetic and I fix a radiator hose that started to leak


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: air-cooled or diesel on April 22, 2015, 08:36:44 am
is there anything else i need to know to install the dryers? i usually get a guy to do it, and know its done right, but to do it myself im going to hook it up last after the rest of the system is sealed, keep 1 end on dryer hook up 1 end and snug and then the other end, i quite forget during a/c class, like 25 yrs ago, any special instructions on installing a dryer.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: air-cooled or diesel on April 22, 2015, 03:40:12 pm


(http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo200/dnatdtdipics/alb2/HPIM0910_zpsqh6d5bv9.jpg)
and the tear-downs complete; running good now, purring along good
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: vanbcguy on May 21, 2015, 12:49:58 pm
Replaced my passenger side rear wheel bearing... Been meaning to do them for a long time.  Ran out of time to do the driver's side, will hopefully get to it this week.  My old bearings weren't looking so hot, they weren't quite TOAST yet but the inner race definitely didn't look so good.  Rollers were all dark in the center too.  50% of the whining noise is gone from the back, hopefully the other side takes care of the other 50%...
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: air-cooled or diesel on May 21, 2015, 03:29:53 pm
ive got this neat bonnet for greasing bearings,(front too), a couple of pumps on the gun and you have grease thru the bearing,(and yes i like to put my own grease in such things as front bearings). other wise it can take a good 10mins of constant hand greasing to get grease in small outter bearing, the big inner can take 20min or more by hand, and tiresome at that point too. this way i can have rear drum off, grease, clean up, and reassemble, only takes a few mins.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: vanbcguy on May 22, 2015, 03:41:28 pm
ive got this neat bonnet for greasing bearings,(front too), a couple of pumps on the gun and you have grease thru the bearing,(and yes i like to put my own grease in such things as front bearings). other wise it can take a good 10mins of constant hand greasing to get grease in small outter bearing, the big inner can take 20min or more by hand, and tiresome at that point too. this way i can have rear drum off, grease, clean up, and reassemble, only takes a few mins.

Yup, I have one of those too. Just bought it recently actually... I did my trailer with it for the first time last week, MUCH MUCH easier to deal with for sure.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: vanbcguy on May 26, 2015, 11:58:19 pm
Finally did my other wheel bearing. The outer one was DEFINITELY cooked, scores on all the rollers and almost a ridge on the race. Sweet sweet silence now, I've been living with a whine from back there for far too long.

Also dealt with a rattle I've had coming from my right rear shock practically forever. Hadn't actually looked at the shock mount since I had new Bilsteins installed by a shop I trust about 25,000 km ago. Well there's been this clunking noise coming from the back there... I had the rear axle bushings replaced right before I had to do my engine swap so I was really stumped as to what the hell was going on. I finally popped the caps off the tops of the shocks last week and discovered the top nut on the klunking side was baaaarely threaded on. Tried tightening it up but didn't have the right tools. Got myself some low profile Allen wrenches, removed the nut, turns out the lower one was not tightened down AT ALL. I don't know what the hell whoever was working on my car was doing there, I had no real issue tightening it up properly. Reinstalled, went for a test drive, NO MORE CLUNK. Man I wish I did that years ago.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: vanbcguy on June 03, 2015, 11:22:56 pm
Hooked up my Auto Meter 35 PSI boost gauge and discovered my old gauge was reading 30% high. Even better I calibrated my VNT controller using the old gauge. My peak boost had been nearly 10 PSI less than I thought it was! Explains some things around the calibration settings I had to use for my pressure sensors. Also means more fun in the future!
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on September 19, 2015, 11:43:41 pm
Finally got time enough to crawl under the front end to see if axles were loose again and giving me that wobble at very low speeds.  Nope not this time.  Checked the hubs and the were not rockin like last time.  OK then, lets look at the tires.  Well now what are these buldges in the sidewalls all about.

I figured that even though the tires might get me through the winter I would rather not find out on some very wet road that the tread was indeed going to hydroplane if the water got deep and the speed was up.  So I swapped out the 13 inch tires for the 14's on Snowflake rims.  The M+S tires have plenty of tread.  In taking off the rear tires I also notice that I never did get around to checking on the adjustment on those bearings so that was some good work there.  I found that the passenger side one was a bit rusty looking and kind of dry so that got a new big bearing and new race tapped in and all new grease and it quieted down. 

Took it for a roll and no more shake of the steering wheel and it is solid on the road, no more fighting it to keep it in one lane.  So next spring I guess I get to buy new tires.  I think I will spend some coin and get something that will last more than 4 years and 25,000 miles as well.  40 dollars a piece for a tire gives that kind of trouble.  Glad I can now rest easy on those long commutes to the office. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: rykx1970 on September 27, 2015, 01:32:41 pm
I've wrapped my badge
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/27/02b302d279af54bddf2e188129514630.jpg)


Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on September 27, 2015, 01:43:04 pm
Today I looked high and low for the much talked about computer software and devices that turn themselves on and off depending on whether or not you are hooked up to an EPA testing device. 

Sadly I must report that no such items can be found on a 1981 Rabbit. 

So Please stop telling me my vehicle is polluting the world while I enjoy great mileage.  I know how to read a dial gauge and I know how to time the IP.  I just choose to go for mileage not emissions.  Wouldn't you?
 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: vanbcguy on September 29, 2015, 12:48:55 am
Wrecking yard rumble!
I'm on vacation right now. All the self serve yards in Vancouver are GONE (as in all the cars were shredded) so there's no hope there, but there were a few B3s in the Kelowna yards. Yanked 40 lbs of ABS stuff, window regulator, various switches and some other bits. Other than that just drove...
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: libbydiesel on September 29, 2015, 01:48:01 am
I just choose to go for mileage not emissions.  Wouldn't you?

I try to go for both.  On my '79 I run a bit of 'extra boost', the pump is turned down below the smoke level, and I have really enjoyed the quietness and un-stinkiness of the exhaust after I fit a universal diesel cat.  Better performance than a stock 1.6TD, no smoke, quieter than any muffler I've used and the exhaust is far less noxious.  Fuel economy is not noticeably affected. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: air-cooled or diesel on December 15, 2016, 04:55:41 am
havent seen this topic in sometime, gotten buried, no one works on their cars on a daily basis anymore? :P
so anyway in the last few weeks i got my mk3 going, at first had some problems to iron,tweek out, took some time, had to get use to using vag-com.




 folding it almost flat, well needed some attention here, before too much rust catches on,,.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on December 15, 2016, 10:41:41 pm
I drive my mk2 to school and found out one of my brake lines are leaking...
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on December 17, 2016, 07:45:56 pm
After Reading AirCooled post I wondered if that was done on his phone app.

Today I decided to get the starter off the Rabbit and see what is going on with the non engagement issue.  Seems the inner part of the solenoid that pulls pushes the gear into the flywheel was rubbing on the outer part of the case.  Some sort of gummy stuff needed to come off and some graphite lube went on.

Then I decided to let it idle some at the curb and reroute the temp sensors I have for the Waste Oil system to see if the cooling system is working as it should.  Seemed a little low to me and i just put a new thermostat in it so wasn't sure what was going on.  In the course of the investigation I heard the fan on the radiator cycle twice.  Hmm, it is only 40 degrees out here and I hardly ever hear that thing go on.  I opened the cap on the reservoir and raced the engine.  Nothing spraying in there.  Revved it a couple of times with no result,  Checked the belt on the alternator and water pump, all good and tight.  So I think my next post will be about changing the water pump.  Perhaps the impeller is not doing its job as intended.

Other than that it was sunny and not raining so I opened all the windows, hatch and sunroof.  Time to dry out some of that wetness from weeks of dragging water into it on my feet or the leak at the back hatch button. 

Good to have wrenches in hand again, and the carpet kept the stones out of my shoulders. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on January 15, 2017, 07:41:21 pm
Working between the cold and dry and the incoming rain for the week I pulled the water pump off as I no longer had any return water coming into the upper reservoir.  I inspected the pump and it has the metal impeller and all is solid inside.  Nothing appears damaged that would cause loss of coolant flow.  So now I will just put a couple new O rings on it and test the new thermostat and refill and hope I don't get an air lock of some sort.  I never had the no flow problem in the past and not sure why I have it now. 

Anyway, got to get greasy today.  And a lot of Vitamin D. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Rabbit79 on January 17, 2017, 12:31:01 pm
Today I have to figure out why my heater fan is blowing the fuse. It's been getting down to around 15 below zero every night for the past week (currently -5 as I type) and life without a fan isn't going to cut it. Built a fire out in the shop this morning and time to go to work.  :D
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on January 17, 2017, 07:42:00 pm
Rabbit79  I had a fan motor that was poorly lubricated and would cause the electrical side to work to  hard to make it spin.  With temps at -5 and lower your fan may be frozen up.  Look for resistance problems on the wires too.  Any sort of additional resistance at connections and such will increase electrical load as well.

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Rabbit79 on January 17, 2017, 11:19:06 pm
It's actually a brand new fan. I just put it in this past summer. I've also wired around the fuse box many years ago because it had fried that pin in the connector on the  fuse box, right in the very corner of the connector where they always go bad. It ended up that I didn't get to it today, because just as I was about to head out to the shop my girlfriend complained that she didn't have enough hot water for her shower, so I had to dig into the water heater.... ended up being a bad lower element. Fixing stuff never ends it seems. I'll have to dig into it tomorrow.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Rabbit79 on January 19, 2017, 12:55:43 pm
You may have been right, ORCoaster, but we may never know because it has fixed itself somehow. As far as being frozen up, we had another cold spell about 2 weeks before this last one and it worked fine all through that, so who knows. I did notice the rain tray was packed full of snow, maybe a chunk of ice got down in there and caused some mischief. While I don't mind when a problem fixes itself, bad thing about that is they usually turn up again right when you don't need them to. By the way it's up to a balmy 28 degrees today.... feels like a veritable heat wave out there.  hehe
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: marvyn31 on February 21, 2017, 05:17:15 am
Replaced the pads and installed a new passenger side mirror.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on February 21, 2017, 01:40:35 pm
Today I am watching the rain run off the car and feeling good about none of it seeping in the back hatch anymore.  Fixing the key hole weather o rings was the ticket.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on February 21, 2017, 10:19:51 pm
Solved a random engine cut out issue on my mk2. Discovered some of the shoddy wiring from the previous owner was grounding out on the transmission case. I taped off the wire and no more issues :D
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: marvyn31 on March 15, 2017, 02:41:41 am
Installed my new springs and bilstein (http://4wheelonline.com/BilsteinShocks.4997) shocks on my mk2. Then drove a bit to test them. I must say that ride quality is much firmer now.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: vanbcguy on March 15, 2017, 03:18:42 am
Started sorting my engine swap for my B3...

Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: vanbcguy on March 17, 2017, 01:28:21 pm
Discovered that my B3 has an AAZ specific radiator - it's a unique size used only by the AAZ meaning the fan shroud is also AAZ specific. I've had some overheating issues with my AAZ on long extended grades (basically have to drive it by the temperature gauge) so I want a new one for my AHU swap. The TDI doesn't put as much heat in to the cooling system as the IDIs do, but 20+ year old radiators on a stock car that gets too hot are probably clogged up.

Happily when I visited my favorite source for VW OEM parts (VM Autohaus) it turns out they actually have one of those radiators in stock - OEM VW. That'll do eh?

Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: vanbcguy on March 27, 2017, 12:58:45 am
Yanked the engine from my Jetta finally, then called the scrapper to haul away the carcass... Been a long journey - this is the car that caused me to sign up on this very forum!

She carried me 100,000 km, pretty much all driving for fun. Lots of road trips, lots of adventures. So long and farewell!

(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170327/e03a0cbfe4fa87e7352c37432088aedf.jpg)

Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: marvyn31 on May 14, 2017, 11:27:17 pm
Did the front brakes, and installed my new battery.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on May 16, 2017, 10:14:04 pm
Today I checked on the results and success of smearing a whole lot of Bag Balm on the wing window seals.  It rained about 1.2 inches overnight and I figured that would be a fair test to see if that stopped the leaking.  Or at least slow down the beast.

I have been battling this wing window problem for a while and thought I had it just about cured.  But with the relentless rain this year, yeah 150% for the year already, and forecast for more tonight.  So I thought I would just bite the cost and get some new ones.  Well I only found one place online that has the seals for opening windows and I really choke on 200 for the pair.  I was in the poke around mode for home spun remedies and I found one in a general sense when it comes to restoring rubber flexibility.

The suggestion was to put petroleum jelly on them, you know Vaseline, do it repeatedly over the course of a month and the rubber swells back up.  I thought what do I have to loose?  Other than making my VW smell like down on the farm.  I had really dry, brittle seals to the point that they almost felt like cloth.  I put one good coat on the seals, inside and out. 

I must say I was impressed.  Water was beading up this morning on them and they actually felt and looked like rubber.  And the best part was that the leak that would send a pool of water to the inside of the car?  There were a few drops, not even enough to drip down to the carpet by rolling down the door. 

Not sure if the car smells like a cows udder but that might go away in time.  I will get a second coat on these come the weekend and hope to see even better looking seals after that.  I might run around the whole car, I have a fair sized can of the Bag Balm. 

Just another tip for those trying to keep the old car looking new.  I wonder how it works on tires?   

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Mciver on May 26, 2017, 01:34:39 am
I've wrapped my badge
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/27/02b302d279af54bddf2e188129514630.jpg)


Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

I was thinking of doing that too. How did it turn out?
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: TylerDurden on May 29, 2017, 10:25:48 pm
10-20 bux... or a few cents in plastic...

(https://dl.dropbox.com/s/2v814kw1i01ijgd/20170529_120751.jpg)

(https://dl.dropbox.com/s/28oz8wecwwxkmba/20170529_120706.jpg)

(https://dl.dropbox.com/s/7v7wjaliu8itdca/Autodesk_Fusion_360_2017-05-29_15-48-46.png)
Download stl file to make your own: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/n83snkug952cgzt/retaining%20ring2%20v6.stl
(If you prefer to buy the MK2-MK3 OEM: P/N 165941621)



And there was that film on the inside of the headlamps...

Before:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/s/dhnol8th1d0s8bc/20170512_193146.jpg)

After a rinse with a couple ounces of glass cleaner:
(https://dl.dropbox.com/s/8u3u9v7n60twd0b/20170512_200005.jpg)
Still a bit of buckshot on the outside, but miles better than before.








Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on October 21, 2017, 11:04:40 pm
I opened the drivers door of the Caddy only to notice a new puddle of water down next to the accel pedal.  Dang it, Got a leak and that 2.7 inches of rain we just had found a way in the cab.  I think I sourced it to a poor seal on the door plastic.  Will have to wait a couple days, and another 2 inches of rain to be able to fix it. 
The sun will shine and dry it out on the door.  Will need a shop vac on the floor.

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on November 01, 2017, 10:06:07 am
Swapped to the winter tires on the MK2 to see if the terrible steering wheel shake on the highway would go away. Checked the rear polo bearings for problems . No issues yet :) The tires were indeed out of balance and causing issues. No more shake on the highway.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on November 01, 2017, 08:04:03 pm
sgtlrd, I had a weight come off one of the front rims one time and it drove me nuts trying to figure out the shake.  One good reason to keep a spare set of tires around.  I put the winter ones on and like you, no more shimmy shake.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on December 29, 2017, 10:37:19 pm
Today I figured out that the vac hose to the booster was cracked so I fixed it so it holds a vacuum.  Now I might actually have power brakes again.

I bumped my accel lever two notches CCW to the shaft.  Needed to use the index mark on the shaft so cleaning needed first.  I was running with my foot to the floor at 60 and couldn't figure out why I didn't have more travel.  I read on another post to get idle and top end correct you need to adjust the lever position as well as the fuel screw and idle stop. 

Now I have power to spare.  Well, in a 1.6 enough to climb the long extended hills with out being passed doing 45 -50 now.

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on January 04, 2018, 12:18:01 am
I replaced the 4 year old Walmart battery after -10 Fahrenheit temperatures killed it. Also switched to synthetic 5w-40 so I can start the damn thing when it drops to the negatives.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on January 15, 2018, 04:52:32 pm
Strut mount replacement before it snows in a few days. Amazingly the Febi mount lasted over 100,000 miles.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Gehlert on January 21, 2018, 10:10:04 am
Changed the car battery today. It actually died on me yesterday. No surprise though, I haven't done this in years.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Dakotakid on January 26, 2018, 06:09:56 pm
I'm willing to bet you have almost nothing left of your alt. regulator brushes. Better pull it and see before you are back to walking.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on April 30, 2018, 10:22:31 pm
Finally installed my g60 valve cover. Holy moly it stopped all oil leaks after I spread a bit of grey silicon on the back of the gasket ;)
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on April 30, 2018, 10:57:12 pm
Thurs and Fri were spent pulling passenger axle, hub, front bearing and tie rod end replacement.  Getting the grease off the rotor and pads was a trick but I have brakes again.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Rabbit79 on May 15, 2018, 10:33:09 am
Today I finally put a vane style vacuum pump on the old Rabbit...... For whatever reason the old pump started burning through diaphragms. Sometimes I'd get 3 months out of a diaphragm, sometimes they'd barely last a week. Even replaced that pump with a used one and it was even worse, so I went back to my original. Pretty easy switch-over. The hardest part was manufacturing a blank off plate for where the oil hose came out of the block. I just took a piece of 1/4 inch plate I had laying around, cut it to shape, drilled the holes, and painted it. Took longer for the paint to dry than anything else. Hopefully I will now have years of trouble free vacuum assisted braking in my future.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on May 16, 2018, 12:49:27 am
What no gasket between block and plate?  Going to be weepy I fear.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Rabbit79 on May 19, 2018, 06:20:26 pm
What no gasket between block and plate?  Going to be weepy I fear.
Oh there's a gasket there, and said gasket is gooped up with Ultra Blue. Should be no problems.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on May 26, 2018, 11:41:28 pm
Looked at my golf today and shed a single tear since it has been demoted to project car status since purchasing a newer car.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on May 27, 2018, 02:51:38 pm
I hope you used the tear to moisten a cloth and started waxing it.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on June 09, 2018, 04:30:52 pm
Yesterday I was able to swap out the old IP in the NA 1.6 with a newer TD pump and a set of 155 bar injectors. I am slowing getting to the point where I will just have to drive something else and put the manifolds on and exhaust purchased.

But in swapping the pump I first verified that the TD pump would indeed spit fuel out the back by turning it with a drill and socket on the front nut.  Then I capped the in and out lines.  I put it on the workbench for about a month before getting to it yesterday.  So the pump had fuel in and thru it.

I pulled the current working pump off the Caddy and didn't exactly get it back on the next day.  But the day after.  So I hook up all the lines and leave the top injector nuts loose enough that I can see fuel coming out after I crank on.  Proper process for dry lines and injectors right?  Well I figured I might run into trouble with the battery so I also connected my Jump N Carry pack for good measure. 

I hit the key and accelerator and give it about three good cranks.  I get out and sure enough I have wet injector tops.  So button those nuts down and let's hear what this thing sounds like.  Several cranks and the batteries are loosing it.  Not even a pop or a puff of smoke.  OK, I go get the battery charger and stick that on as well.  I hit the boost on the charger and the engine is chugging away but no joy on the start part. 

I cycled through several cooling minutes to keep the starter happy but never did get the engine to go.  In the process I forgot to turn the charger off the boost cycle and it got hot enough to turn off.  Thermal protection works, good to know but not now eh?  That piece of equipment went in the deep freeze for a few minutes and I was back in business.  But still not getting anything to top of the injectors or out the back now. 

Anyone figure out why?   

Well I finally did.  Seems that when I pulled the line off the inlet on the old pump I forgot to plug it.  The way it was jacked up caused the filter to drain.  So yeah I thought I had enough in the pump to pull more in and keep it running but not so.  I hooked up a fuel line to the top of the IP and started a vacuum top the point that I had fuel coming out that fitting.  I put it all together and left the #3 nut loose as a double check.

Jumped inside and hit the key for one crank and varoom!  Off it goes.  I had to turn it off and reattach the #3 nut.  It came right back up and was a bit shaky for a few revs but otherwise it was good to go.  I took it around town and found that it lacks a wee bit of power heading up the steeper, and longer hills but that is why I want the turbo on in the first place.

In looking around on this site last night I was able to find an explanation from Giles why they went to 155 bar injectors for the turbos.  The engineers didn't want to have the higher cylinder pressures kicking off the weaker 130 bar ones and getting a second injection late.  So what did they design the TDI injectors to do? 


I also found a line by Giles that reminded me of a mod/ tuning tip I used on the Rabbit.  Increasing the internal pressure or at least knowing it was near the 43 lbs it should be.  That allows proper advance later as the pump winds up on upshift.  I need to check this TD pump for that pressure or for when the advance kicks in.  The Rabbit runs much nicer so it must be capable of coming up sooner.  Not a bad thing actually.  Coming up at 2400 rpm is so much better than 3100 for upshifting.


Felt like a noob not being sure both filter and pump were up with fuel prior to start on this one.  Just glad I figured it out before more time was spent cranking on an empty pump.

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on July 03, 2018, 11:53:28 pm
Finally got around to doing the head gasket on my 85 golf. My god... I hope I dont have to do another anytime soon
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on July 04, 2018, 10:30:44 pm
Today was a struggle with the ignition switch and a replacement of the inside CV boot on the drivers side.  I am currently driving 100 miles a day on a road nick named the Brama Hwy.  So many turns, bumps, rough road and dips.  Definitely good training for an autocross.  But it is taking a toll on the Caddy. 

Ignition wires into the back of the switch are loose even after crimping a little and bending out the tab that keeps them in.  All seem a bit sloppy and a real pain to start.  I have to reach under the steering wheel column and push on the back of the switch to get it to send voltage to the starter solenoid.  Took the switch, a new one, apart and contacts are black and scorched.  Poor contacts, eating each other away at this point.  Time to think on solutions.

Happy 4th just the same.  At least the axle was a non problem for the most part. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on July 15, 2018, 10:11:34 pm
Finally drove the 85 golf after finishing up the "minor" details of the timing belt and full coolant hose replacement
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on August 12, 2018, 11:48:04 pm
After sitting for nearly 6 weeks without running I started the Caddy.  Not a problem with the battery or addition of switched starter relay now.  Ignition switch problem worked around. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: trangctv on September 05, 2018, 12:48:08 am
nothing special. Just driver :D
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on September 05, 2018, 10:53:35 pm
Took the Caddy for a 100 mile trip to get to work today.  Ran much better with the new lubed axles, and yesterdays oil change. Purred right along at 60-65 in fifth with EGTs at the 6-800 mark.  Still no turbo in it yet.  Might need to get cracking on that project before the rains come down.

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: fatmobile on September 05, 2018, 11:29:48 pm
I got the roof pushed back out.
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1899/44435734072_0ee11326dd_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2aGCKC5)patinasmashroof (https://flic.kr/p/2aGCKC5) by vwfatmobile (https://www.flickr.com/photos/147103123@N05/), on Flickr

(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1883/29547595327_177a9c2226_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/M229EK)patinasmashroof2 (https://flic.kr/p/M229EK) by vwfatmobile (https://www.flickr.com/photos/147103123@N05/), on Flickr

Last weekend someone climbed the ladder on the RV parked next to me and jumped down on my roof.
 At about 5:00AM. Hell of a way to get woke up.
Security got him when he jumped off another RV. Even though he bit one of them.

I removed the roof rack (It's from a '93 Subaru legacy wagon).
 Got inside and pushed the roof back up with my feet.
 It looks pretty good but I get the feeling it wouldn't take much for it to pop back down.
 That would freak me out if I hit a bump and the roof popped back down.

 What it used to look like:
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1849/42675913190_6b465eb78f_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2828dbJ)rabbitroofrack (https://flic.kr/p/2828dbJ) by vwfatmobile (https://www.flickr.com/photos/147103123@N05/), on Flickr
 Anyone have a used Subaru parts connection? I loved that roof rack. :'(
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on September 11, 2018, 08:34:31 pm
Spent the day chasing electrical gremlins. Turns out a wire to my reverse lights broke off at the fuse box. Also discovered the relay to my rear wiper died after the capacitor exploded. Found the power wire to the aftermarket radio decided to fray after rubbing against the fuse box for 6 years. Fixed that too. Now I have a working car again :)
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Cawthorne on November 01, 2018, 09:03:37 am
I refilled my bad boy with some oil earlier today. Also cleaned it up a little bit under the hood while I was around that area.
Title: What did you do to your car today
Post by: JacintoPlova on February 06, 2019, 05:05:13 pm
9 of regular gas. i did some awesome stuff yesterday. tell you later. And what is mechaphelia?
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on February 06, 2019, 05:16:50 pm
Mechaphelia =  The overwhelming need to have an emotional or sexual relationship with a car is referred to as mechanophilia or mechaphilia. And it’s actually more popular than you’d imagine.

We live in such a weird world.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on July 14, 2019, 11:24:59 pm
I can't believe that in this town where log trucks and diesels outnumber sports cars 10 to 1 there are no, nada, none, places that will service a set of fuel injectors.  I get responses like, just buy new ones they are cheap, to we send all ours to Eugene or Portland.

What a waste, and not exactly helpful for a Home Fixer.  So out of desperation I thought I would just build a pop tester from a hydraulic jack.  Then I hit the pause button.  Wait a minute, I have two spare fuel pumps sitting around doing nothing.  Time to make a four port pop tester. 


I put the bracket in the vice, bolted up a pump and proceeded to wire it with a 9 volt battery, some hoses and then I found my adapter set for my socket set.  I needed to put the 1/4 inch drive I use in my drill driver in a regular drill chuck and then upsize that 1/4 inch to a 3/8ths and slap on the 19 mm socket to drive the front end. 

I found it works just dandy but now I need containment around the injectors.  I tried a simple baggie so I could see the stream coming off each one.  The first few squirts on some of them was straight stream that cut right through the thin plastic.  So I am fabricating some plastic jars around them.  They will just hang off the nut in top of the injectors. 

I have about 4 sets of 4 injectors that I want to rebuild so this multi port apparatus is going to make it faster than doing them one by one. 

Anyone else have such a setup?
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Dakotakid on July 15, 2019, 12:41:18 pm
Yes, I feel CERTAIN Woody Allen has at least one of these!

What are you trying to accomplish? A new Rube Goldberg landmark?

The whole idea of rebuilding injectors is to very carefully set the pressure by shimming them up AND making sure the internals are perfectly flat. I take my internals down to 3000 grit on a precision block.

Re-tap (release) the pause button on the bottle jack or simply buy a chinko tester for a little over $100.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on July 15, 2019, 10:24:18 pm
Rube aint got nuttin on me!

What was I trying to accomplish?  Good straight forward question, glad you asked. 

I was looking to set the pressure on a set of 130 and 155 bar injectors from the multitude of spares I have laying around.  I agree that getting the proper pressure balance across a set really makes a difference in how it idles and runs.  But I didn't have that equipment so I decided to go an alternative method.

I can still see the type of spray that is coming out the end, so is it properly misting or straight streaming and going to bore into the piston?  That is a visual accounting for proper operation is it not?  Then there is the fact that I can turn the pump at various speeds and note if there is any difference at higher or lower RPM.  I can also time the amount of the operation on a set and come back and measure with one of those small syringes for volume.  I can figure out a fair balance between the sets that way.  I tried a comparison with two of the 130 and two of the 155 bar injectors and can definitely note a difference in volume in a one minute run.


So I am not trying to be old school with the pressure thing.  I am trying to do something different and to me it makes sense.  And little in this world makes sense to me now. 

Mostly I was trying to figure out which of the injectors I have are worth using.  Which ones are not atomizing correctly and which ones might get better if I cleaned them up. 

After going through about 6 of the worst ones I only saw one nozzle that was sent to the trash can.  All others cleaned up well enough with a wire brush and a small grinding wheel.  Just kidding, only cloth and paper used.  Solvent works wonders. 

I will pull a set off the Rabbit and see if the 130 bar set I have now will make it run any better.  It is a bit blue on the hard pulls.  Might actually be valve stem seals.  Oil pressure is kinda high, 100 psi
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Owain@malonetuning on July 17, 2019, 07:23:47 pm
cascade german uses DFIS mostly, they should be fine to work with them, give cascade (boraparts) a call if not.  Given how the canadian peso is doing it might be worth sending them up to Giles too
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on October 06, 2019, 03:45:13 pm
Yesterday I put those LED lights on the VW Pickup.  Nice addition, 4 functions, driving, turn, low and highbeams all in one assembly.  Now I just need to clip into the parking light wires for the driving and turn parts. 

Found I have a small diesel leak that is dropping fluid on the hoses at the waterpump.  Popped a hole in the one going to the oil cooler.  Was able to trim back the hose and still use it.  Need to replace the O ring on the back head.  In car repair perhaps.  Just need to keep pressure on that little piece in front of the internal secondary pump. 

 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on February 16, 2020, 11:04:52 pm
So I went to add to this thread and I get the message that it has not been updated for at least 120 days. 

Surely the truth as the internet never lies to you.

I do find it odd that no one posts what they do to their vehicles.  I spent this weekend tweaking the fine stuff.  Half turns to the LDA spring tension to cut back the black smoke on heavy boost to try and get better mileage out of the beast.  Yah Beast, Screamer of one no less.

Well at least it has enough power to pull a load uphill without crawling in second to do it.

Other items fiddled with were the heater blower motor.  That was screaming like crazy in all speeds and had to go.  It still chirps some so I will order a new motor ASAP.  Can't do without a defroster here on the coast.  To much moisture on the windows on the cold mornings. 

Found the short of the EGT gauge wires.  Now I just need to deal with it in a better way.  Engine vibration causes it to become dysfunctional at idle.

Mostly did cleaning and looking for leaks. Finding none I closed the hood until next time.  Which I am hoping is sometime into the spring when I can get to sanding and painting it like I wanted to 2 years ago.  Ahh VW's, such is their ability to suck your time and return a noisy ride filled with the smell of unburnt diesel and enjoyment.
 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Dennis Froelich on February 17, 2020, 02:35:43 pm
Went to the garage and said to both of my Rabbits... You will be running again in the future!!
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on February 17, 2020, 10:06:07 pm
Promises, Promises.  They know you are only daydreaming.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Dennis Froelich on February 18, 2020, 12:46:35 pm
HA HA!! ;)

They eventually will.... ;D
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: libbydiesel on February 19, 2020, 11:41:36 am
Yesterday I got another 2002 Jetta TDI.  This one is a sedan with a bit of body damage and some dog chew damage to the steering wheel, one of the seat belts and the shifter button.  It is reasonably respectable in appearance and runs/drives really well aside from a few small things that need attention.  Price was good.  Short-term plan is to let my daughter drive it while I finish up the Mk3 mTDI install into her '85 Vanagon Adventurewagen.  I'll then keep it as a spare car until I get around to parting it out, installing the engine into an '84 pop-top Vanagon that I have, and keeping the automatic trans as a spare for my 2002 wagon. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: libbydiesel on February 22, 2020, 04:12:11 pm
So far today I've worked on the aforementioned '02 Jetta.  I pressure washed the engine.  It smells like diesel but I do not see any leaks.  I replaced the jumpers between the injectors with tygon so I can get a better visual.  I fixed the center armrest (was quite floppy), fixed the driver's side door switch, used VAG-COM to check codes as both the check engine light and the airbag light were on.  I saved the file and cleared the codes.  The codes did not return.  I fixed the front bumper where it had been assembled to the body incorrectly - looks better now.  The DRL's operate correctly and high beams work correctly but when switched to low beam, the lights go out.  Bulbs are fine or the DRL's wouldn't work.  I swapped headlight switches with my '02 wagon.  Still no low beams.  Ordered a new turn signal/ cruise control switch.  Did a decent test drive.  It is cold and raining and the car is not under cover so I think that's all for today.  Before turning the keys over to my daughter, I would like the low beams to work properly and I would like to perform an automatic trans fluid change and a differential fluid change.  I'd also like to get a couple of dents pulled out but I don't want to do that in the rain.  I might get to the diff fluid today if I can muster the courage but I will need to wait on the trans filter to do the ATF service.   
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: libbydiesel on February 22, 2020, 07:34:01 pm
I got the diff fluid changed as well.  I feel a good sense of accomplishment today.  The car runs great.  If it were any nicer I'd feel really bad about parting it out in the future.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on March 05, 2020, 10:44:10 pm
Today I went out to correct my shifter linkage and found that the turn signals also didn't work. 

The little snap ring on the gear shift linkage was not snapped down tight and the spring that keeps you from going into reverse instead of first as a wee bit weak.  Always found myself going backwards at the lights and stop signs. 

I had a heater core problem a while back and that moisture in the cab found its way on the contacts of several relays on the fuse box.  Not having turn signals or hazard lights had me going to the fuse box for poor contacts for fuses and relays.  Cleaned up several.  I need to keep that moisture problem in mind as the climate here is very wet and the floor board mat gets emptied every so often from water off the shoes.

Also started the spring checks of fluid levels and found low oil and Antifreeze.  Going to have to watch that too. 

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: libbydiesel on March 08, 2020, 03:01:25 am
I fixed the automatic function of the interior lights on my 'new' '02 jetta.  It was a poor connection in the wire coming from the CCM to the interior lights.  The connector was at the bottom of the A-pillar on the driver's side. 

I fixed the trunk release mechanism so it works with the key fob. 

I replaced the turn signal switch in order to fix the fact that the low beam headlights did not work.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on March 08, 2020, 04:23:22 pm
Yesterday I received a console with two gauges and a clock for the LX pick up.  I will paint it black as it is red now and see about swapping some of the current gauges I have going to new positions.  Clock is long and needs to stay in the console but I really want to have the boost and EGT up on the dash under the radio.  I took out the cubby hole box and have a flat panel in there with two gauges and a power point take off.

I may need to fabricate a second place for three gauges.  I really don't like the idiot lights and lines with no reference.  Give me real numbers so I can tell hot, how much pressure and so on.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on March 15, 2020, 11:56:30 am
Replacing the heater core today on my 85 mk2 after it decided to blow up ;)
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on March 15, 2020, 02:28:35 pm
BLOW UP?  or blow out?  Doesn't seem like it would have a lot of pressure building up to blow up.  Matter of opinion on the destruction.  I have found that after the core went out on mine a bit ago I have poor connections on the relays and fuses.  So watch for corrosion building from having the floorboard soaking wet. 

I recently received a console for the VW Caddy that is actually made for it so it anchors to the metal part of the dash.  I moved my gauges around some and now have a clock that works again.  I still have the need for three other gauges I would like to run but need to figure out where they would go.  I don't really like the on the dash option and I don't know of a pod for the door pillar either. 

I also acquired newer armrests and chrome handles so I will attempt to get them in today.  Depends on the rain clouds and my ability to wire the lights on the gauges.  I spent a lot of time under sinks doing plumbing repairs yesterday and am not as nimble as I was once before in life.  Things hurt today where they didn't before.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on March 21, 2020, 02:25:09 pm
I really wish it would warm up enough for me to do some bodywork on my Rabbit.  The GTI fender flare on the rear drivers side needs to be reattached to the body.  Someone's son backed into it when he came to visit for Christmas.  Nice gift buddy!
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on March 25, 2020, 11:45:27 pm
I didn't do anything on MY VWs today but when I was trying to find out why a ladies water heater would not give her hot water I walked into her garage to check the breaker panel and there was this classic aqua colored 1970's VW Beetle. 

I said Wow and she informed me that it belonged to her former husband.

He finished the restore just 4 months prior to passing on.  What a shame not to be able to enjoy all the hard work.  I didn't ask what she planned to do with it.

She talked about a son in law so maybe it will be handed down in time.  But for now she should be driving it when the weather is nice.

 Oh, maybe she does not know how to drive a stick.  Forgot about that.

It was just so nice to see it.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on April 05, 2020, 08:09:48 am
First time driving my mk2 since October. Turned the key and started right up :)
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on April 11, 2020, 09:41:04 am
Replacing the rear coil springs on my MK2 today. On the variable MOOG heavy duty springs the top 4 coils have worn out making the car sit considerable lower. No more MOOG springs for me. I purchased a set of TRW cc225 SPRINGS as they are a company VW uses for OEM parts.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on April 15, 2020, 10:41:51 pm
Got the fender flares on.  Now I need some mud flaps. 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fe0pvc0xd615uup/2020-04-15%2017.07.09.jpg?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/fe0pvc0xd615uup/2020-04-15%2017.07.09.jpg?dl=0)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/btkx5d787u0ginn/img_20200415_170652412.jpg?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/btkx5d787u0ginn/img_20200415_170652412.jpg?dl=0)
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Dennis Froelich on April 16, 2020, 10:37:34 am
Looks very good sir!! Nice truck!! Love the wheels also!!
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on April 16, 2020, 09:13:14 pm
Wheels off a Mini Cooper.  Lady moved to town a year ago and had those with studs in them.  I took the time to remove the studs and with a 1/4 inch spacer on the fronts they don't rub the struts at all.  16 inch rims.  I bet I have 2.5 times the footprint compared to the standard 13 inch 155's I had on there. 

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Dennis Froelich on April 17, 2020, 12:15:37 pm
Looks great sir!! More meat on the road never hurt anything.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on April 18, 2020, 12:00:39 am
Even with the turbo install I won't be spinning the front wheels on this thing.  But when it comes to stopping in a hurry it does that super fine.

I do find that the wider tires catch more of the crappy road surfaces however.  I was looking to raise the front end a couple of inches to even it out with the rear but that will have to wait until the new struts need replacement.  Which may be earlier than later due to the bigger tires. 

The ride is so much better than the 14" Snowflake rims I have on the Rabbit 2 door.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on April 19, 2020, 07:30:49 pm
Washed and Waxed canopy that was painted last year but not protected from the weather very well. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on August 01, 2020, 09:41:02 am
Undercoated the rear wheel arches recently on the ol' 85 Golf as the original had peeled off and bare metal was exposed
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on September 06, 2020, 11:06:58 pm
Swapped passenger side axle on the Pickup for a new one.  Old one had a torn boot and I didn't have that outside one in my spare parts bin.  Decided since it threw all the grease out of the outer joint and was grinding some I would just do the new axle instead.  50 bucks well spent.

Getting the original off was a pain.  Three of those bolts were stripped out and there is no way to get anything on them to grip the head and turn it.  My vice grips have lost all their points on the very tips.  Had to use the chisel and hit them on a tangent to get them to move.  But with the oil line from the turbo and the K rail suspension support in the way it made for a very narrow place to swing and hit.  Many trips to the grinder to keep the chisel sharp enough to cut into those heads.  But I got er!   4 hours to swap an axle, Glad I had the time.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: dontdoemyourself on September 06, 2020, 11:53:34 pm
Dude; EZ outs for the stripped 12pt square square! Every Napa should have them. As for what I did to my cars today. Put the RV gasser engine going in my 85 Jetta on the stand and swapped oil pans.. had a vanagon diesel pan on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on September 07, 2020, 10:24:31 pm
Hmm why didn't I think of that?  Maybe next time?  I sure there will be one on the drivers side shortly.  That is how it always seems to go.  Thanks for the reminder.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on October 18, 2020, 09:22:17 am
Replaced the exhaust doughnut gasket on the manifold. Had to chip away chunks of scaled rust before the replacement gasket would fit properly.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on February 01, 2021, 10:02:44 pm
Well drove in a nice snowstorm this evening in the old 85 Golf. All was well until the visibility dropped to 0 and the road dropped a 1 1/2 feet (apparently someone was riding in a ditch). I mean it still drives in a straight line but Ill have to survey the damage when there isn't a foot of snow on the ground
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on February 06, 2021, 04:30:30 pm
Well after nearly a year and a half I finally got things working as VW should have designed the diesel Caddy back in 1978 or so.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9ey1mtd35msgjmn/IMG_20210206_120816463.jpg?dl=0

I bought this gasser tach and tried unsuccessfully to make it work for a diesel.  I didn't have the right values for the capacitors and I just lost interest in the project.  But recently I saw another tach come up on Craigslist and bought it and more parts to make the conversion.  After some back and forth with Libby here I got them both to go as diesel tachs.

So I worked under the threat of more rain this morning and finished all the interior work I was trying to do.  I bought some MK1 speakers for the front dash, a new wood-look panel and I found these really cool marine momentary switches and used one as my starter button.  I also have the radio on a DPDT switch that allows me to have tunes when I am working on the car without having the key around. 

So the entire dash is here:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/jqw2yfu1ldrg285/img_20210206_120828213.jpg?dl=0


And the major hand buster speakers:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bvtrw88ipbacnjv/img_20210206_120931911.jpg?dl=0

So the only remaining question is what to do with that extra tach now?  I will continue to snap up any I see on CL and convert them.  I bought enough parts to do 8 more. 

Happy Day on the Coast here.  Oh, I will need to pull that cluster and spin the mileage up a few thousand as mine is sitting at 138K not what that one is at. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: libbydiesel on February 07, 2021, 12:20:16 am
Looks good!
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on February 08, 2021, 09:34:37 pm
Today I came home from work to discover someone bought me a new Caddy, a Square back, and a trailer.

My wife says I can keep them as they won't take up any parking spots on the street.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w5gxtx3b7d4e6fo/4614863391348628071.jpg?dl=0
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Dennis Froelich on February 09, 2021, 09:10:36 am
Don't think they will take up too much space!!
Very cool!!

Have quite a few toys myself...
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Rabbit79 on March 27, 2021, 11:02:36 am
New clutch time. I also put in polyurethane motor mounts as my front and rear mounts were both toast. I opted for the polyurethane because the rubber ones wear out so fast, and I have some critical clearance issues between my alternator fan and lower radiator hose (it has a larger than stock radiator), and when that front mount goes gunnybag the alternator fan gets uncomfortably close to the radiator hose. Hopefully they will last a lot longer.The down side I've noticed so far is that you feel a lot more vibration with the polyurethane.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on March 27, 2021, 07:35:54 pm
Hmm, more vibration from a car that already is excessively shaky.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: rabbitman on March 29, 2021, 06:10:00 pm
New clutch time. I also put in polyurethane motor mounts as my front and rear mounts were both toast. I opted for the polyurethane because the rubber ones wear out so fast, and I have some critical clearance issues between my alternator fan and lower radiator hose (it has a larger than stock radiator), and when that front mount goes gunnybag the alternator fan gets uncomfortably close to the radiator hose. Hopefully they will last a lot longer.The down side I've noticed so far is that you feel a lot more vibration with the polyurethane.

I put poly mounts front and rear years ago, the rear made it vibrate terribly so I ran it with poly only in the front for a long time. I may have put the rubber back in the front too, I can't remember anymore
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on March 30, 2021, 11:39:22 pm
On the short drive home I noticed a bumping noise coming from somewhere.  I drove across some nice bumps and edges that were poking up in the road trying to figure out if the wheels were loose or maybe the exhaust banging around under there. 

Got home and put a lug wrench on all wheels, nope not that.   

Crawled under the front end and noticed grease on my K-rail suspension stiffener.  Hmm, stuck my head up a bit farther.  HOLY SMOKES!!!  the CV axle bolts are coming undone.  Spent the next 40 minutes putting the tight on them.  Hope that quiets it down.

Caught it just in time, two were about 6 mm out, that is just about gone in my opinion. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Rabbit79 on March 31, 2021, 07:25:52 pm
Good thing you caught it. I suspect an axle flopping around could create quite a bit of mischief.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on March 31, 2021, 10:30:33 pm
Thankfully I caught at the bumping stage.  Every once in a while I would hear something under the car go bump.  The axle was not the entire story, however.

I drove to work this morning and on a couple of places where the manholes are higher than the street level I got more bumping noises.  I pulled in the alley that accesses our back lot and in the confines of that narrow space the street is very rough and I could hear something on the passenger side again. 

Once I got home this evening I found the brake caliper was loose on the passenger side.  Two quick bolts to tighten and I am hoping for a quiet ride to work in the morning. 

Pays to pay attention when something just doesn't sound as it should. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on May 03, 2021, 10:34:14 pm
Over the weekend I decided to set the timing on the IP to 105 mm and while I was at it I replaced one of the little hoses that was leaking where it went into the IP.  I was hoping for better mileage now that I am not running two 155 and two 130 bar injectors in the block.  PO did me no favors there. 

I had my truck up on a lift last week trying to replace the throw-out bearing but didn't have my small screwdriver set with me and couldn't get the C-clips off the shaft and make it all come apart.  I put a new fill of 90W in the axle and it seems to have made it quiet down a lot. 

I worked in the driveway where the slope has the rear of the truck lower than the nose.  I went to park it in the street where the slope is reversed and I barely got the truck in the spot and it stalled out.  Then I couldn't get it started again.  I attacked it the next day and what did I find?

I ran it out of fuel!  Haven't done something like that in at least 10 years now.  Time to use up the fuel and drop the tank I think.  I should have tried to drain the five gallons I put in that I had handy in the shed but I needed the truck running for work this week.  Now that I know that at 300 or so miles I am getting light on fuel I will just drop it then.  Which will probably be July the way I rack up the miles every month. 

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on May 17, 2021, 04:03:10 pm
Finished the MK3 steering knuckle and caliper swap on the old Golf. Prepared to exit the driveway and heard a loud pop and the steering wheel could spin to the right almost indefinitely. Checked the steering shaft and it was still attached. Guess the Chinese meyles manual steering rack called it quits after 150,000 miles..... Turns out Manual steering racks are back-ordered almost everywhere right now. Looks like I'm throwing in a used one until that wears out.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: rabbitman on May 18, 2021, 05:08:24 pm
Ordered parts is what I did today. I bought an '80 Diesel Rabbit with a 1.5 and it runs and drives but needs some attention. The engine is floppy, injector pump leaks a bit, the dash is terribly cracked, it has surface rust all over and rust holes in the A pillars. The glass is not cracked though. My wife saw it on craigslist and decided she wanted to drive something that doesn't burn much fuel. I said "ok"
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on May 18, 2021, 11:01:05 pm
Rabbitman, I have 1.5 L parts in the shed if you need anything.  PM and we can work it out. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: rabbitman on June 01, 2021, 12:57:50 pm
Rabbitman, I have 1.5 L parts in the shed if you need anything.  PM and we can work it out. 


Thanks, I'll keep it in mind!
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on July 12, 2021, 11:31:55 am
After a 2 month backorder the steering rack finally showed up for my MK2 just in time for a week of rain :D
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on July 12, 2021, 11:53:47 pm
Murphy's Law in action
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on July 13, 2021, 07:00:21 pm
It just keeps getting better... The FEBI new steering rack has a shaft that is machined too small and the steering shaft fits too loose.. Made my own sleeve and used JB Weld as a last resort...
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on July 13, 2021, 10:25:37 pm
Bad Luck runs in groups of three.  So from now on, you should be good to go. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on November 21, 2021, 11:19:02 pm
Swapped in Passat B3 rear springs into the Mk2 Golf... It made a stupid high lift in the back and absolutely no suspension travel. I compared the stock coils, to the worn out moog cargo coils to the passat B3 coils. The Moog cargo coils were actually quite a bit shorter. Ill take an educated guess and cut somewhere in between the height of the cargo coils and the stock springs unless someone has a better solution
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on December 18, 2021, 10:48:56 pm
Today it stopped raining long enough to let the driveway dry a little and I found the two leaks in my coolant system.  One at the radiator I put in a month or so back.  The other on the inside heater core I put in over a year ago.  Hose clamps needed a bit more of a twist to tighten. 

I decided after reading some on the adjustment of the turbopump to have another go at adjusting mine.  The first thing done was to take it apart and take a Sharpie and color the pin on all sides and put it back together.  Then I drove it a bit and took it apart again.  I could then see where the little pin was tracking against the cone.  Some talk about the dots on the washers on the diaphragm as a guide.  I had to take that apart too and line the washers up with the point on the cone that was the greatest angle.  One was 180 degrees off and the top one was like 90 degrees off.  Now I know the dots are the max slope of the cone.

I had about a 4-5 mm mark almost all the way up to the top of the cone.  So it was basically running in fuel dump mode from idle all the way up to 4500.  I decided to move the big spring screw up to the top of its travel and then did the screw at the top in a similar manner.  I was trying to get the pin to track from the bottom of the cone to the top.  I put it back together and took a short drive.

It ran but not as I expected.  Not a lot of kick at 10 lbs boost and that was much different before.  So I looked at the scratch mark again and at least I had more travel going on but still not much more than 10 mm worth and it was still up too high on the cone.  So more loosening of the top screw to get more travel.  Then for more fuel at boost, I turned down the big spring screw so it was not applying as much pressure against the air pressure of the boost. 

Another drive.  Hmm, now we seem to have good acceleration and it climbs a steady hill and the EGT's don't jump up 300 degrees.  So less wasted fuel and better response.  Tore it apart another time.  Marked the cone again and twisted the big spring down another half a turn.  Travel on the cone by the pin was nearly the full length this time.  Just a couple of mm's off the very bottom so I  gave one more turn less tension on the top screw. 

Test drive does more like I expect so I will try like this for a tank and see if I can load the bed with tools and crap and climb up the hill I live on and not have it stall out. 

Being able to see where the actual pin travel on the cone is an invaluable tool in deciding what direction the tension of the two screws needs to go.  If I was just going to guess at making a change I would have been all wrong as the initial setup was what was messed up on mine in the first place.  I bought the pump from someone that moved those settings around prior to me moving those settings around.  So anyone thinking about adjusting their turbopump needs to pull it apart and rub a blue or black Sharpie pen on the cone first. 


Once that was done I put the mudflaps I bought from another on this forum on the front wheels.  I have wider than stock tires on and they throw road grime up the sides way too much for my taste.  Causes me to wash it all the time. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on January 01, 2022, 08:21:13 pm
Finally another day with no rain.  This is getting old and wet. 


I couldn't see my speedo and tach when driving at night.  No lights in the cluster box.  I took it all the way out and tested the bulbs and all were good.

I tried to get continuity from the plug-in tabs and came up with a zero.  I looked closely at the traces and found the negative run had a break in it.  Used a small piece of stiff wire across the break and soldered it on. Gotta be quick with the soldering pencil on that stuff.  I am back in business.

While I had the dash apart I put on a new black with red stripe cover as my wood look one had broken the tabs off at the bottom and was rattling all the time on the rough roads we have here. 

I also spent some time with the little speaker on the drivers' side.  It shouldn't short out against the frame anymore.     Gotta have tunes!
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: scrounger on January 06, 2022, 01:16:33 am
Great job tuning your boost enriching.  coaster.

Have you checked your mileage yet?

I found a port on the bottom of the pressure chamber. I am going to try putting a vacuum pump on  this lower port and see if I can measure the travel that way. Take out the top stop and see if I can measure travel. Boost and vacuum should be equal.

Weather has been too cold to do more than just drive mine.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on January 07, 2022, 01:09:14 am
Scrounger, isn't that "port" you found at the bottom of the bowl just the vent to the atmosphere?  I don't' think you will measure anything with a gauge there.  Maybe I am not dialed in right on what it is you are referring to as a port.

Not driven enough to figure miles per gallon as most of my driving is short to work in town.  I do take notice of the boost gauge and EGT gauge both being lower.  I can do better climbing the hills in third now and am not bogging the engine.  So I claim improvement for now. Watch my in-town mileage be some heart-stopping 19 MPG or something. 

It is nice to have a vehicle you don't NEED to fill up all the time.  One of the main reasons I own the Caddy!  Sometimes when I am filling up the attendant, yeah here in OR you can't fill yer own, will ask what kind of mileage I get with that little truck.  I keep a book of all the times I fill up and I generally have it in hand about the time the question comes up.  I will reply with something like, well the last time I put fuel in this little monster was three months ago and I put close to 300 miles on the tank.  You just put 12 or so gallons in it so you do the math.  I say close to 25 and those were in-town miles.  Maybe the next time I fill with 12 gallons I will be on the other side of 400? 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: scrounger on January 07, 2022, 09:23:34 am
Yes it looks like a vent, with a rubber nipple on it. I am hoping to put a vacuum on it and measure the depth of the diaphragm from the top as I measure  the vacuum.
It is on my list. Too much winter right now.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on January 07, 2022, 11:55:58 pm
OK, I think I have a better idea of what you are up to.  You would maybe disassemble the top. Mark the sides of the pin with something like a Sharpe pen and then reassemble.  Then by applying a vacuum to the vent it would pull the pin-up and down and you would get an indication of the full length of travel.  I am not so sure the actual boost you can create will mimic the vacuum you can apply however If you just drive it a bit to full boost you will get a mark on it under actual conditions.

Ok, I had a laugh at myself this morning I should share with you.  I was driving about a mile down the road today and looked at the fuel gauge and noticed it had moved just a tiny bit off the Full mark.  I thought, hmm I usually get about 60 miles before that happens.  I wonder if that number is still good?  I looked over at the odometer and it said 8.9 and was not moving.  What the What I thought.  Then I noticed the speedometer was not showing me moving either.  What is that all about?

Well, it finally dawned on me that I never reattached the cable in the back of the cluster after I had it apart.  So I have been driving all week with it disconnected. I drive with my left hand covering the speedometer most of the time and I use the tach in place of the OEM clock to do almost all my speed checks.  I move with traffic and RPMs are more important to me than speed. 

So I will head to the station tomorrow and probably put in a couple of gallons of fuel and try this again for another week.  What can I say, other than lack of focus and attention to detail?  Especially the driving for a week and not even noticing the speedometer was at zero. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: scrounger on January 08, 2022, 12:58:22 am
Thanks for the advice on checking the boost enrichment circuit.  You know your ideas work. Hopefully the tuning on my jetta will be close.

Yeah
I was at the grocery store last week and the guy loading my  car says "Every time you come in I wonder how I can fit it all in your trunk."  Yet if fits with room to spare.  We get enough food for a month or more.

I  told him about the age, diesel motor, economy, he gets excited and says "I should get one of these." Then I mention the manual shift transmission. Could see the confusion.

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on January 11, 2022, 08:22:58 pm
I find it very funny that the best anti-theft device I have in my cars, all of them is a manual transmission.  Even the wife drives them, insisted on it when we bought her a 2003 Matrix.  That is the new car in the drive. 

I still have to lock the doors and the canopies on the trucks as some low life decided my Jump and Carry, hydraulic jacks, and speakers behind the seat all need to be his one afternoon. 

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on January 11, 2022, 08:34:55 pm
The old 85 golf fired right up even at 3 degrees Fahrenheit. The fact that it still starts on the first turn of the key is nothing short of a miracle
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: skyrling540 on January 13, 2022, 03:49:33 am
Hello, today I was driving and on the road about 40 km from home I caught a slipper, unfortunately it was not pleasant because it was at night and it was quite cold, unfortunately it's good that although I had a spare wheel
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: scrounger on January 13, 2022, 09:52:12 am
"Slipper" is a new term to me in this context  The only usage that I can think of is a house shoe or a type of clutch.

Thanks for the education.

The good news is that it was only slipping on the bottom.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on January 30, 2022, 10:50:08 am
Took the 85 Golf out in the middle of a typical New England winter storm. Was the only 2WD vehicle on the road and the only vehicle for most of the trip
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on February 12, 2022, 12:37:10 am
Today I replaced the water pump and that valve that shuts off the hot water to the heater core.  I suspected a plastic impeller pump that had gone south so I purchased a new one.  In taking apart the old one I see a metal impeller that is solid on the shaft.  So why did I have water barely pumping into the reservoir at an RPM of about 2 K? 

I put it all back together, new pump on, and low and behold I have a steady stream of coolant at idle.  Hmm, did I miss checking the tension of the belt?  Oh well, at 140 K I can't say I needed a new pump but I now have one.  It had the 40 mm hub on it.  Saving the old one for posterity, or if someone says they need it. 

The heater valve wouldn't shut off completely so I put on a new one.  Hope that takes the heat away in the summer.  I don't need my toes cooking in the heat of the summer.

At least it was sunny and nice in the driveway today.  Having a bit of a drought with nearly three weeks of little to no rain. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: scrounger on February 12, 2022, 11:10:56 am
Learned something OC
A shut off valve. Is that something that was added? Is the water pump driven off of the timing belt?

Guess I need to break out Bentleys.

We were in the season of ice and snow the last few days it has been the season of mud Today is frozen mud ruts. Gonna pass on driving on it.

Thanks for the vw winter update.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on February 12, 2022, 09:54:25 pm
Scrounger,  all of the heater systems have a valve that closes the flow of hot coolant to the heater core.  Some people delete them and then they have hot cores all the time.  It is located inline at the firewall near the brake booster on my cars. 

I wasn't sure if it was the poor adjustment of the cable that was causing the core to stay hot all the time or a bad valve.  Once I got it off I could still blow through it when it was supposed to be completely shut off.  The cable adjustment may have been off as well so I will have to watch that as I drive on warm days.   

On my engine, the crankshaft pulley drives both the alternator and the water pump. No A/C on this old Caddy but I may need to think about adding it.
 

Temp was 68 today,  I really can't believe it is February out there.  But they say it will go away come Monday.  East winds will stop and that is what has been giving the coast a blast of heat for the last couple of weeks.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on April 17, 2022, 07:49:29 pm
Found a coolant leak at the fan sensor, and tightened it.

Tore off the dash to get to the heater controls and reattached the hot and cold cable.

Pulled the cold start cable and reattached the front to the outside of the cable by crimping it back on.

Lost the little clip that holds the cold start cable to the IP about 20 times before I finally got it on using a different pair of pliers.

Adjusted the top screw on the LDA to get some fuel off the first part of the boost cycle.  Seemed like it was too much, but no black smoke.

Tore into another TD pump I bought for a short song last week to get to the bottom and free up the vane pump.  Looks good inside other than some rust on one part. 

Drank some coffee and tried to keep my feet warm.  Not bad out at 50 and very cloudy but hey at least it isn't raining.

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: scrounger on April 17, 2022, 08:41:35 pm
In March had my first on-the-road-stoppage in the 12 years that I have owned mine.

It had been starting a bit slower but ran fine maybe with a bit less boost but okay. Had been doing that for maybe a month.

Was on the road and it gradually started losing power at low rpm. Wouldn't idle without foot feed.  Still running quiet, normal temp and oil pressure. About 10 miles from home was in 3rd gear and it wasn't making enough power to pull it. I immediately thought about a blockage in the fuel system but the fuel filter was only a few months old

Pushed the clutch in and pulled over dead stick.

Pulled the hood release and hmmm there were air bubbles in the clear section of fuel line.  For fuel line I had been using some 1/4" refrigerator ice maker line for the last 11 years. The end hooked to the motor pump had cracked around where I had used a miniature hose clamp.

Looked in my tool box and didn't have my wire cutters as I had pulled them out for another project. I didn't have my pocket knife and didn't think my Glock would help. Luckily the the next guy coming down the road, stopped and I used his knife to trim off an inch of the line and luckily it primed itself enough just as the battery was dying.  Has been running fine since. 

I got some new fuel line, both the yellow translucent and some black but have not installed it.
Has been 50-70 recently but today we got 3" of snow.

Hope that everyone's diesels are still running.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on April 17, 2022, 10:03:25 pm
I am surprised that line lasted 11 years.  I don't think it is fuel rated, but maybe people's water is so bad in places it needs to be about equal in its' ability to withstand petrol. 

Throw a few spare tools in a towel and wrap it up like a burrito and store it someplace.  Never travel without a basic set and a knife. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on May 01, 2022, 10:13:52 pm
Today I walked into the shed where I had started to take apart the IP I bought a few weeks back.  I had it in pieces that I thought were in an orderly arrangement.  That was supposed to help me put it back together correctly.  I had to take the vane pump into the house and get it cleaned up in there and that was several weeks ago.

Funny how sleep makes you forget things.  Like how to reassemble the pump.  I decided to skip that task until I could review the pictures on this site and reset my pea brain.

I took the time to clean a couple of Briggs and Stratton pistons I removed from and engine the day before instead.  The twin-cylinder beast sheared the two rods for some reason and that was the reason for the no-start condition.  I ordered some up this morning and will have a project in a couple of weeks.  Luckily the case was still in good shape and the crank too.  Those rods being light aluminum must be a sacrifice piece for the engine. 


Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: sean86 on August 25, 2022, 03:07:52 am
The fuel pump broke yesterday.  Unfortunate eh, I don't know why it died so quickly, it was unfortunate
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on August 29, 2022, 09:44:38 pm
A slipper?  As in something that goes on your foot? 

You will have to explain this word and its meaning to us.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on September 02, 2022, 09:40:23 pm
I was able to find a little time today to put two new locking handles on the Gem Top canopy on the Pickup.  I broke one of the plastic pieces that slide back and forth to lock the liftgate a while back.  I tried to source another and even thought of making one as they are just a wedge with a piece cut out to catch a latch.

But I decided to buy a couple of those Bauer handles and drill some holes in the canopy and have twice the locking power to keep my tools safe from those who would like to have them.  Not that they couldn't just break a window out but generally they want to be discrete in their task.

Drilling the canopy went well but I did have to do the last enlargement with file work.  I don't own a big enough drill bit for metal.  All my stuff is for wood.  Once I had them on I tried to lock them with the tailgate closed and found that I needed to swap the keepers to make the clearance I needed between the nut that locks them on and the tailgate.  But overall a good upgrade.  30 bucks shipped on Amazon.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on November 13, 2022, 09:37:34 pm
The rain pulled back yesterday and it was cold but sunny and damp in the driveway today. 

I had an issue come up with the cold weather and I did what I could to try and get the engine started but no dice.   

I pulled down the glow plug relay and unplugged and plugged it together and saw the yellow light come on but at times I had to hold it still or it would go out. 

Then I hit the starter but it was not firing off.  OK, that probably means there is a blown fuse on the firewall or a bad connection in the wire to the plugs themselves.  Put a meter on the #4 plug.  12 VDC is not a problem.

Hmm, so maybe a bad plug or two?  Time was getting short and I already exhausted my jump and carry down to the yellow zone so I just took the other truck to work.

I threw a battery charger on as I knew I would need to do that eventually.
Today I find that #4 and #2 plugs are DOA.  So I swapped them out and I have to say getting that #2 out without pulling the IP is a royal PITA,  Or in my case hands.  I ran my left one through a table saw several years ago and have all the digits but they don't have the streangth or coordination I really needed to get that nut on the tip once it is in the hole. 

So I have individual wires to each plug and that came in handy.  I kept the wire connected and was able to use a wrench, a little this way, turn it over, a little that way, repeat.  I finally got the GP in, the wire rethreaded and all the other stuff put on that I took off.

Injector line for #1 cylinder, the cold start cable and all the little hoses to injector 1.  But hey I didn't have to time the thing when I was done but overall.  I would  have better doing that.  Just my experience. 

It did fire right up and was a tad smokey at first from all the fuel I had poured into it the day before I guess.  But it runs much better now.  The two cylinders don't have to heat up before they start working full performance.  Maybe I can pull away from the drive going uphill in the morning instead of having to circle the block to the light.  One can only hope. 

Later
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on November 15, 2022, 05:27:24 pm
I added a gallon of gasoline to the tank and swapped the snowtires onto the 85 golf today. Were going to see freezing temps and snow tonight :)
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Rabbit79 on November 24, 2022, 11:58:01 am
OR Coaster I see you guys have been getting some cold weather on the coast. It's been bitterly cold over here on the east side as well. Day time highs of like 15 or so and down to 0 at night. I keep the old v-dub plugged in at home so it starts fine in the morning but when I park it at work there is no place to plug in, and I noticed she was getting pretty hard to start in the afternoon. Checked and sure enough #2 glow plug was dead. 1 dead one is all it takes in cold weather. I went ahead and changed all 4 since I was in there. And yes 1 and 2 are a royal problem but I manage to get them with just taking the injector lines off.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on November 24, 2022, 04:54:44 pm
Yeah, removing the injector lines is mandatory, I think.  Getting clearance for the plug out to the IP is a bit of a squeeze with that cold start cable in the way of #2 but it can be done.  I just choose to get it out of the way.  That is my moto for most everything I work on.  Clear the decks and working area of stuff that can hang you up at the worst possible time.

I went ahead and bought two more plugs as I think like you, all 4 will be dying about the same time.  I also picked up a starter relay for a Ford pickup and I will pimp the plugs and get rid of the big drain of current to and from the GP relay.  I did it on my other Rabbit and the short reach from the battery to the plugs is plenty strong enough to get them to glow properly.

Just spent a little time wrenching on the IP fuel adjustments.  Throttle hang at about 2500 on upshifts.  I took out some of the main fuel with the screw in the back then had to reposition the throttle lever a notch to get enough adjustment to get a 1000 RPM idle.  Smooth now with all the accessories on like defroster, lights and the things I don't normally need until it gets cold and wet outside.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on December 03, 2022, 07:24:18 pm
Yesterday it was only in the low 40s and no rain.  I spent about two hours under the hood wiring up some fuses and a Ford starter relay to pimp those GPs.  All seems to work.  Popped a 20 amp fuse on a set of two of them wired together.  Bumped it to a 30 and all is well.  Used 12 gauge wire so I hope it holds.  I will watch the insulation on them to be sure I am not heating the wires. 

I didn't think those plugs pulled more than 10 amps but I guess they can.  Maybe 12? 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on December 16, 2022, 08:48:44 pm
Pulled the head to install an MlS head gasket.  Found it was for the 1.9L and won't fit.  Ordered another and I will take the other back to NAPA in the morning.  So, it sits up on stands while I wait.  Going to be raining next week so I don't think I will get it together any time soon.

So much for a one-day project.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: RustyCaddy on December 20, 2022, 11:48:14 pm
Lucas(?) used a 1.9 liter gasket on a mechanical 1.6liter head and block.  If that was the fitment issue you experienced, he cut a viton plug to fit the cut out in the gasket where the 2nd oil return line normally runs for a hydraulic motor and he never mentioned that failing, IIRC
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on December 21, 2022, 08:57:34 pm
The 1.9-liter gasket was a bit weird for fitment as the water return holes were way different than the 1.6-liter single hole I have.  I found a 1.8-liter gasket is the way to go, I think, as I have not received it as of yet.  but it does look like I will have to either block a hole off to the side of the main water return or it may not even matter.

What I did find out today since I had luck in obtaining one of those rubber valve gaskets is that my issue with oil loss at the cover may have been related to the fact that several of the studs that were in the head were only finger tight.  So it didn't matter if I cranked down the tension on the nuts holding the cover.  There was still no bind to the head itself with the loose studs.  The gasket kit I bought came with replacement studs and I used them and I think all will be fine now. 

So anyone seeing oil under the valve cover should check to see if the studs are tight on the block. 

Dodging the rain these days so perhaps I will be able to get a fold out canopy from work and get the mechanical things done over the weekend.
's
I had to pull the instrument cluster out of my Ford to fix the odometer and I found that the little gear that goes on the motor that drives the digits round and round was between 89 and 34 dollars.  That's right, a little piece of plastic no bigger than the last digit on your pinky finger was that much money.  I did find the correct one for 13.5 on Amazon, I ordered two to get the free shipping and have a spare in case I lose the one. 

Trying times here on the coast.  But managing just the same.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on March 19, 2023, 10:09:20 pm
Welp, I can't believe we have had just one new post so far this month. 

I also can't believe I have been struggling with the weather since Dec to get the head fixed on the PU.  But fixed it is!  This week I took delivery on a rebuilt head from Parts Place Inc.  They left a couple of studs off the piece so I had to take mine and put them on to make it work.  So much for quality workmanship. 

One thing I had to fight with, there were many, but for the first time ever I could not get all the coolant I took out back in.  I generally spill some and so I end up with extra being added once it gets warmed up and then cools down.  This time I couldn't fit somewhere close to 2 quarts of it in before I started it.  Then once I did start it I could not see any coolant returning to the reservoir, and then I saw it was getting hot.  This was like 3 mins of running.  I figured I had an air pocket around the impeller and I was not circulating any coolant. 

So I pulled the thermostat housing off again and drained it.  Then I slowly poured it all back in.  If I had the coolant up to near the top of the reservoir I could get tiny bubbles of air to show coming out of the return line.  I was surprised that nearly all the bucket went in this time.  So I fired it up and like normal there was a sudden depleation of the amount in the reservoir.  So I added the last of the bucket and went for the spare gallon of mix.  Just like normal. 

So what gives?  Why didn't I get that result the first time I filled it?  It just doesn't make sense to me and I have not had that happen before.  I also don't want it to happen again. 

Ideas anyone? 

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Dennis Froelich on March 20, 2023, 08:57:40 am
I always take off the upper coolant(radiator) hose off and fill the engine up with coolant that way. Have never had a problem with air pockets.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on March 21, 2023, 10:20:10 pm
I never had a problem until now either.  So I am scratching my head and wondering why?  Especially after I did the same process again and got successful results.  Luck of the draw I guess. 

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on June 03, 2023, 07:55:04 pm
Today I replaced the 40 year old injection lines that were leaking at the pump connection in 2 spots and at 1 injector. Took a few minutes to get all of the air out of the lines but it ran beautifully until the radiator with 300k miles started to leak. Good thing I have a new radiator ready to go
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on June 04, 2023, 11:16:29 pm
Today I looked across at my VW pickup on jack stands while I was washing my wife's Toyota. 

Will Parts Place ever send me my replacement head?  The rotors are starting to rust on it.  It has been that long now.

And I had a chance to purchase an entire engine for the price of the head I bought and passed it up as they said they would take care of the bad head under warranty.  I expect an exchange over the course of a couple of weeks.  It has been a couple of months now and nothing but crickets and excuses from them.

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Dennis Froelich on June 05, 2023, 11:16:37 am
Call and raise hell with them!! Pretty sad Dale!! Ain't worth the powder to blow them up...

Now I know I will never get anything from them.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on June 05, 2023, 09:45:20 pm
I can call, the salesman I need or want to talk to is busy, he will call me back.  Then no call, because he is busy...

The thing is they have the old head I sent them, they have my full purchase price, I spent nearly 100 bucks on sending the old head to them.  Roughly they have 900 of my dollars and are only willing to refund the purchase price.  Not such a good deal.  They may string me along by saying two to three more weeks. 

I don't think I can get my value back without just waiting it out.  Crappy deal I know but it is as it is now.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: jimfoo on June 09, 2023, 11:08:36 pm
I looked out the window at mine and thought, damn, I need to finally clean the garage so I can get it in and work on it. 2 problems, I had a wiring fire behind the dash which melted a whole bunch of wires together, and something squeals and somewhat grabs randomly when I push my clutch in. Less pressing issues are figuring out why I am starting to get so much blow by, and getting something like a provent or knock off.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on September 30, 2023, 11:15:01 pm
Today I started to sand on some of the surface rust spots to prep them for paint to stop the rust this winter.

I was working on the driver's side windshield wiper and noticed it was pitted and the metal washer would never seal that.  So I rounded up two garden hose washers and put them on between the car body and the washer and they fit perfectly.  The inside diameter was just tight enough to snug up to the shaft of the wiper.  The outside diameter was right on the edge of the metal washer.  Almost like it was designed that way.

I hope that cuts off any water thinking about coming into the interior this winter.  I was seeing some at the end of the season last year but I really never could find where it was coming in without pulling the dash.  Who wants to do that?

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: srgtlord on November 13, 2023, 11:40:44 am
Replaced the starter in the 85 golf in the streets of Boston using the spare tire jack and 2 wrenches. Nothing lasts like it should anymore. I replaced the original worn out IDI manual transmission starter with a 2000 TDI automatic starter that was supposedly genuine bosch rebuilt just about 10 years ago. That one lasted 1 year and I sent it back under warranty. The one that failed lasted just about 5 years before failing catastrophically internally. Could hear the parts rattling around when I took it off. Slapped another bosch rebuilt unit back on and away I went. I guess because the automatic starters spin faster and with more torque it fails quicker? At least I will never have to replace the starter bushing that sit in the transmission ever again :)
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: pzookey on November 14, 2023, 12:31:47 pm
I drove it home with a bad battery and finished the drive in the pitch black of night after the alternator belt broke on Sunday. Just bought this 91 Jetta for the son to drive to and from work. Only thing I could find that was running. I have to go through the brakes as they got flaky on the drive home, replace the battery, the alternator belt and test the alternator.  I have to look into why the power steering belt is off and would rather do that prior to trying a new one. Hopefully it will be safe to drive by the weekend.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: pzookey on November 15, 2023, 04:51:06 pm
Well after a good charge the battery load test turned out fine. Not exactly the right battery but even after 2 load tests it cranked the diesel over. Of course this means the alternator is shot. The dim headlights just kept getting dimmer. Trying to locate the right alternator and get it ordered. This weekend is time to go through the brakes. Parking brake does not hold at all and after 30 minutes driving home the first night the pedal got real soft and spongy. I am assuming a sticky caliper causing the fluid to get too hot[/img][/img]
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on November 15, 2023, 10:11:58 pm
So you are attempting to drive a car with a poorly performing electrical system and poorly working brakes.

I would say you are living on the wrong side of the edge.  Especially now when heat and defrosters are key to getting windows you can see out of.  At least around here. 

I hope you get it sorted out soon. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: pzookey on November 17, 2023, 10:01:23 am
The car is parked until the electrical and brakes are corrected. During the initial test drive the brakes showed no issues and although the battery was weak everything seemed to function. The drive from where I bought it to home is when it got dark and everything reared its ugly head. I am guessing at a bad brake hose or caliper causing the brake fluid to heat up but will inspect everything closely this weekend. It was 40 minutes into the drive when the brakes acted up. The brakes in the drive way work fine again.  It got dark 15 minutes into the drive and that is when the headlights appeared dim and getting dimmer. On a warm fall night in the south, defrosters and heat are not a necessity. Come a cold winter morning they will be. So as far as attempting to drive an unsafe car, no that was not the intention. Getting to within a mile of the house on dark country roads with no traffic, yes I kept going to get it home. It will sit until the issues are sorted. Parts are on the way for the charging system and the brakes will get a close inspection tomorrow.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on November 17, 2023, 10:31:57 pm
Sounds like you have it figured out. 

If I had brakes that acted up like that I would be pulling them off and inspecting them carefully.  Sometimes it is just lack of use that causes something to work and then not work. Like calipers that pinch tight to stop but then bind that way and don't release.  I have had that happen. 

I would surely be replacing all the fluid and sucking it through the system. 

We will be getting cold here in the next several days so defrosters on.  It is so damp along the coast it only needs to get to the 40s and windows are foggy.

Today I took delivery on a new KO3 turbo cartridge so I might be in the shed putting that back together and up on the shelf a my spare again.  Only cost me 88 bucks for the whole piece.  Not that I needed that much but the shaft was toast and that was the best way to get a new one.  So I have spare, spare parts.  Don't we all?

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: pzookey on December 19, 2023, 06:44:30 am
New rear brake shoes, wheel cylinders, parking brake cables all installed and adjusted. The second new alternator worked and everything looks good. Car charges as it should, stops as it should and runs down the road decently. Some new front rotors, Calipers and brake hoses will be going on this weekend, not because they have failed but as a preventative measure. A good flushing through with new brake fluid will help too. My step son is learning how to do these things so he can continue to take care of the repairs on what is to be his new car. I need to do some research on shifter parts as the shifter is kind of sloppy. The car shows 395000 miles on the odometer but it was a toad for an RV most of its life. Flat towing will run the miles up quickly even though nothing is running. Still has the tow bar attachment on the front.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on December 19, 2023, 11:46:27 pm
Did you service the proportional valve in any way?  Cleaned or rebuilt? 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on December 21, 2023, 10:53:08 pm
Pulled the battery as I needed to Jump N Carry it this morning.  Took battery to store, man tests and says 94% good. Return home, clean ground to frame connection.  Fires right up. 

How many times do we have to do that?  Well, if it is a VW, and you are having electrical gremlins dancing on your hood.  Clean the grounds and ring a bell.  Tah Dah, both go away. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Rabbit79 on December 25, 2023, 01:25:13 pm
I usually spray some of that battery terminal sealer stuff on the grounds. Seems to protect them from the elements.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on December 25, 2023, 05:44:53 pm
I wanted to coat them in POR after I cleaned them.  Seal them up for a good long time. 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: pzookey on January 24, 2024, 01:13:49 pm
Nope the proportioning valve appears to be working properly so I did not mess with it.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on January 24, 2024, 11:04:06 pm
My brakes seem low on the pedal too and I have put two different Proportioning valves on and I still don't like the feel of the brakes.  Maybe in my case, it is MC problems.
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: RabbitJockey on January 26, 2024, 04:54:12 pm
it can be hard to find a good master cylinder for an american made mk1. Are you driving the car? maybe it the master cylinder just isn't full bled?
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on January 26, 2024, 10:36:18 pm
I don't drive it like I used to because I am enamored with the Hybrid Maverick right now.  But yes it is/was my daily driver.  I can't think that there is still air in the MC, I bench-bled it before I put it on a couple of years ago and I have pumped and pulled over two quarts of brake fluid through it in the last couple of months doing the proportional valve swapping. 

It could be a bad MC.  Many get rebuilt poorly so I may put a gauge on the ports and see what I get for pressure and if it holds.  I can pump up the pedal and when I stand on it after that it will slowly sink to the floor.  That is a sign of poor seals in the MC if I remember my mechanic learning correctly. 

Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: RabbitJockey on January 27, 2024, 09:10:38 am
yeah that sounds like a bad master to me
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: RustyCaddy on January 27, 2024, 11:48:48 am
You have likely seen them but if not there are a few MCs on The Samba classifieds that appear to be NOS but they are a little pricey these days (what isn't?). Not mine or anyone I know
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Dennis Froelich on January 27, 2024, 11:56:53 am
I second RustyCaddys response!! Excellent source of OEM parts!!
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: ORCoaster on January 27, 2024, 09:02:41 pm
So now I need to add that one to the list of places to go.  I already spend too much time on Marketplace and CL as it is. 

Maybe if the selection is better just drop those other two? 
Title: Re: What did you do to your car today?
Post by: Dennis Froelich on January 28, 2024, 08:58:28 am
Well worth the time Dale! I check Samba watercooled parts every day for hard to find parts.