VWDiesel.net The IDI, TDI, and mTDI source.
General Information => General => Topic started by: JGVWDiesel on May 19, 2010, 12:36:13 pm
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Hey all, I'm new to the forums as well as new to Volkswagen diesels! I picked myself up an 86' mk2 1.6 N/A for $440 bucks. The engine started up pretty much right away (after getting the battery charged) and it drives well. It's got a lot of issues ranging from small to medium! I came here to get some insight on how and what to fix! :)
So, I guess here's the problems I'm having:
E-brake - it clicks all the way up but does nothing.
Clutch pedal - Engages/disengages very very high up.
Sunroof is leaky.
Dash lights don't work at all.
It smokes a fair bit at WOT but not much at all anywhere else.
Shifter is loose in its place (it moves around a lot, it looked like the bushings near the firewall?)
Struts/shocks in rear are pretty much shot (I think this is straight forward to replace?)
I look forward to insight and help! Thanks a lot :)
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Hello, welcome aboard.
E-brake - it clicks all the way up but does nothing. - It can be adjusted by removing the e-brake cover. Likely a cable is snapped though
Clutch pedal - Engages/disengages very very high up. Being a 86 I'm fairly confident that it should have a manually adjusted clutch cable. Go in the engine bay and find the clutch cable. Grab it and pull up. It should move about 1/4 of an inch off it's seat on the transmission. Adjust accordingly.
Sunroof is leaky. Either clogged vents or a bad seal.
Dash lights don't work at all. Are you sure the dimmer switch is not turned down all the way? The lights are faint and you can't see them in any light. If not the bulbs are probably all burnt out
It smokes a fair bit at WOT but not much at all anywhere else. Perfect
Shifter is loose in its place (it moves around a lot, it looked like the bushings near the firewall?) Buy a shifter bushing repair kit and replace all the bushings.
Struts/shocks in rear are pretty much shot (I think this is straight forward to replace?) Pretty straight forward. You do not need a spring compressor for the rears. Your body weight will be enough to compress the spring. You probably will need a helper to get the nuts on though. DO NOT attempt the fronts without a spring compressor. You could kill yourself.
You should look into buying a bentley manual. Ebay is a good source or amazon.ca sells them for about $40 shipped.
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Thanks much for the informative reply! I will definitely look into all of that. I'm going to pick up the rear shocks this weekend and put those in since they're pretty much non-existent feeling! I think for the sunroof i'm going to let it dry really good then put clear silicone on the top to seal it off because I'm not too concerned about using it at all. Shifter bushings sounds perfect.
Now, as for the dash lights, the previous owner has it mostly apart in there. I mean, everything is in place, but under the dash I seen some panels hanging with a lot of relays or fuses in them and quite a few empty spots. I'll take some pictures and post them, maybe that will help to better diagnose whether it's bulbs or simply things are missing?
I think I'll definitely look at getting a bentley service manual, however, they're a bit on the pricey side!
Thanks!
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A Bentley will cost you a mere small fraction of what hiring a mechanic to do your work will cost.
If you manage to make some sort of ignorant (I didn't say "stupid") mistake, the cost of the Bentley will be an EVEN smaller fraction of that bill. Go buy the damn book!
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Yeah, I completely agree with you. I'm searching for a locally used one for cheaper.
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Nothing beats a comprehensive paper manual like the Bentley, but this on-line version is pretty good in a pinch:
http://www.dubscene.net/eva2/index.html (http://www.dubscene.net/eva2/index.html)
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Thanks, that will be good for quick reference but I'm definitely going to get a Bentley manual. Quick questions, would replacing the shifter/shifter linkage bushings help with 1st and 3rd gear? I find it's a bit hard to distinguish between 1st and 3rd sometimes (even though I can actually get going in 3rd without too much issue!)
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Yes it will help.
There is a shifter alignment tool you need. Check the bentley ;)
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Alright, I definitely need to get a bentley manual this weekend. This weekend I'm hoping to replace the rear struts and get a bentley manual. I'd also really like to get my dash lights going or else its going to be risky driving at night. I have a few pics of what it looks like under the steering wheel (the previous owner must have been messing around quite a bit under there.) does anything seem obviously out of place or missing here? (http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Jared360/05202010675.jpg)
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Jared360/05202010677.jpg)
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Like "Burn" said, sounds like you need an alignment, at a minumum. Also, pull the boot off your shifter in the car and see if the bushing right in front of the lever is bad. It should hold the back of the rod firmly and not let it flop around. It's another one of those orange bushings , just like in the front of the rod. If that one's bad, it's a real PITA....
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Everything seems reasonably normal under your dash. You have a strange style of wiring that VW only used for 2 years I think. I'm not very familiar with it.
That big metalic strip is your glow plug fuse. It is normally found on the firewall but in your case...
The cluster lights get their power through the headlight switch. It's off the grey/blue wire. If the climate control light and cig lighter work then it's not a power supply problem. It is bad bulbs. They are on the same circuit. Again, I think. I'm not very familiar with that style of wiring harness.
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Thanks a ton, I'll take a look at those and see what I get. Also, I tried testing the dimmer switch to see if it was working. I pulled the light switch/dimmer switch part out and tested resistance between the top two blades and got infinite resistance. So, I tried jumpering them with a piece of wire and put it back in, still didn't turn on the dash lights. I'm going to go look into what you just said and see where I get. Thanks
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There's a few blue wires under there, so I'm not sure. When you say climate control do you mean AC? I don't have AC in this. I know my blower works as it blows air around. I also don't have a cigarette lighter.
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Also, what would I need for the rear end? Is it struts/shocks/cartridge? I'm a bit confused. I've heard a couple different things from different people. One said It's just shocks I would need, another said it's struts, and one said sometimes there's just a cartridge for an existing strut.
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On the rears it's just shocks. The fronts have Struts and those can have inserts or not. I don't think the rears come with inserts.
Have a look at the mounting bolt for the shocks (the bottom one). If it is super rusty you should consider buying 2 new ones along with 2 new nuts.
It's also a good idea to replace the strut bushings while you are in there.
The wire is grey with a blue stripe. I think. The link to the bentley should have the wiring diagram and you can check it there.
I meant the lights for the HVAC controls. It should light up green with the lights on. You do have the headlights on for these tests right?
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Ah, ok. Shocks it is this weekend then! I do have the headlights on, yes. The HVAC controls do not light up, either.
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I would look at fuses then I would look at trying a spare headlight switch.
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I discovered that my driving lights also don't work, and after fiddling with the fuses relays, some more lights in the dash have come and gone (they've mostly come back - the temp gauge, gas gauge, oil light, battery.) Should I still be trying to figure out what's going on with the headlight and dimmer switch? I definitely need the driving lights or else I could get pulled over for not having them on during night.
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all of your dash lights should be (they were from the factory) on the same circuit. If some work, the problem with the rest of them is at the bulb or close to bulb wires level. That wiring harness means it's an american built mk2. Not too many of those, just 85s and most of 86.
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does anything seem obviously out of place or missing here? (http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Jared360/05202010675.jpg)
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Jared360/05202010677.jpg)
in the 1st pic, where do the orange and red wires (the ones that look like they're attached to the clutch and brake pedals) go to?
2nd pic, to the left of the tag (hanging from the top center) there is a connector hanging there empty, check that, as well as to the right of the tag, above the glow plug fuse and the thick blue and yellow wires there is a green or turquoise colored wire that looks cut, try to figure that out as well.
to have empty fuse and relay spots is normal, they use one block and add/omit relays/fuses depending on what accessories and options came installed on the vehicle.
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I ended up taking 12v power from the #7th fuse and put it into parking lights/tail lights etc (because I didn't have those either.) I originally tried to get 12v to the dash lights and the tail lights but it blew the fuse so I just put it into tail lights. However, for some odd reason, my dash lights have come on (slowly, 1 at a time at random intervals in the day). Very odd.
Next thing on my list is to do the shifter bushings. Any tips or tricks for doing this?
thanks
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http://www.4crawler.com/Diesel/ForSale/ShiftLinkage.shtml (http://www.4crawler.com/Diesel/ForSale/ShiftLinkage.shtml)
Spend the dollar to have him print the destructions for you if you go this route. Shouldn't have to ever replace it.
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I just want to replace the bushings, don't want to spend the dollar on that linkage kit. Thanks, though.
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So, I guess here's the problems I'm having:
E-brake - it clicks all the way up but does nothing.
Clutch pedal - Engages/disengages very very high up.
Sunroof is leaky.
Dash lights don't work at all.
It smokes a fair bit at WOT but not much at all anywhere else.
Shifter is loose in its place (it moves around a lot, it looked like the bushings near the firewall?)
Struts/shocks in rear are pretty much shot (I think this is straight forward to replace?)
sounds like a typical vw to me...
my '86 na diesel golf was a stepping stone for me.. it was my first vw diesel.. i then moved on to turbos. But for $440.. you can't go wrong. Good luck with and enjoy it!
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I figured I'd post up some pictures of the engine bay! Spot anything out of place or out of adjustment? I'd like to know :D There appears to be no fuel leaking around the injectors or the pump, so that is a good sign.
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Jared360/05312010690.jpg)
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Jared360/05312010689.jpg)
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Jared360/05312010692-1.jpg)
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Jared360/05312010693.jpg)
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bump for if anyone spots something unusual :)
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I see something strange. You appear to have no battery.
Other then that everything looks normalish. The switches for the upshift light has been removed. It's not important though.
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When I took those pictures I had a battery charging up to test it's condition :P
Curious, how does the upshift light work exactly? Like what conditions?
thanks for taking a look though!
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Curious, how does the upshift light work exactly? Like what conditions?
Usually it doesn't ;D
I have no idea though. Look for ashleyroe's build thread. I think she fixed hers up.
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alright thanks! I want to do the injection pump timing, but the rental of the tools from vm autohaus (vw shop nearby, they're very good) would cost me a bit more than I'm looking to put in. I'm trying to be as low cost as I can on this as the body on this vehicle won't go too much longer.
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Engines are easy to swap and it doesn't effect the timing :)
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yeah, thats my plan. ill eventually find a nice rust free golf or jetta and drop my engine in if their engine isnt any good.
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Question, the idle stop screw is the screw at the far end of the injection pump (looking from the front of the car) correct? I loosened the nut and turned the screw back but it didn't affect the idle at all. If anything, it gave more dead space for when engaging the throttle to it actually responding. Is this normal??
(Reasoning for the idle stop screw messing around is I'm just trying to adjust the idle by ear to see if it might be a bit too high or something.)
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Oh yeah, I also did a can of diesel purge through the engine. Let me know how you think the engine sounds in relation to it's KM.
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Jared360/th_06042010077.jpg) (http://s83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Jared360/?action=view¤t=06042010077.mp4)
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Update...
The rust on the golf has progressed to an unsafe level now. I'm not going to drive it anymore, and I think I'm going to pull the engine, tranmission, and other things that I will need to keep and scrap the body. $400 for 9 months of cheap service was pretty good to me.
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sounds like she runs well. Sad the body has died. why not patch it up real quick with some cutting wheels, sheet metal, tar and rivets :P
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well, I was thinking about it but the rust is pretty bad and it would take a lot of work to try and patch it. It had been previously tarred before all under the floor pans. Currently, the driver side and passenger side under and behind the seats floor is literally hanging down 1/2 - 1" or so, meaning it could tear down at anytime and I'm worried if I tried to repair it that I may not find good metal to rivet or weld for quite some time.
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Yeah, page 5 or so of my build documents the nasty rust issue well. I fixed all of my VW floor pans...some better than others. Until the Jetta I usually made a sheet metal sandwich and screwed, bolted, rivoted, and welded it all up so that the new stuff was above and below the rust. It will get you by for a long time. It just looks bad.
Here is a pic of my old jetta's floor.
(http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/83/l_19de9affa2864483b4e9a77acd3270bf.jpg)
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definetely an option, since I don't care about how the thing looks its just so cheap to run and fun to drive. thanks ill look at your topic!
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I'll get some pics up after the rain has subsided of just how severe the rust is, but I think my only option is to just tear out the carpet and seats and start cutting out all the bad metal and weld in new patches or possibly more.
I haven't done riveting before, just done a bunch of welding on my cars. Anyone care to share a bit on riveting benefits?
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Rivots are quick. Well, that is about the end of the benefits.
Weld is definately better, but takes tons of time. That is what I did. I don't have a bunch of cool tools like a brake or roller or shear so it takes forever to get it close and weld. I basically have 1/2 of both sides of the floor in my jetta new. I would have done all of it but couldn't find floor pans and making every piece really started to suck.
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they are a uni-body design, so the floor does flex with the car around corners. Riveting will work, but it may flex and undo it self. Nut and bolts would work very well to have this subdued, with red loctite.
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the other thing I was considering was finding a good body to swap my engine and tranny into, I can't imagine this would be that hard.
Is it a problem swapping it into an MK3??
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a 1.6 NA would be disgustingly slow in a Fatty mk3 lol. Find another good bodied mk2 (85-92) direct swap in to either a gas or diesel. Take you literally a day if your mechanically inclined.