My "new" Gti body

[Fatmobile]

This project is about on the road. Snow and salt are almost (it's snowing now) off the roads.
I dropped the rear end and tank, scraped all the seam sealer from around the rust spots and sprayed it with SP-400. Pictures of the underside are posted on the vortex.
The tank is back in. I painted the tank shield and brake backing plates, along with some other small stuff.
I walked into a local machine shop with some small parts to glass bead and he was on the phone... I said I had some parts to glass bead and he said, " Go do it".
Since then he has been letting me use his fat glass beader any time I want. I pay him about $10 an hour for using it. What a lifesaver. Strut housings spring caps... the whole tank shield fit in it.
Unfortunately, the rusty rear beam wouldn't fit and I'm going to have figure out a way to sandblast it. I have most of the equipment together.
My insurance is due the 16th so I put this car on it. My rates dropped to about a 3rd of what they were last year. $220 for the Golf and Fatso, for 6 months of last year. This year it's $75 for this GTI and the Golf. Yee haw the TD Golf is legal again... I don't drive it much in the winter.
Since I don't have the rear end blasted, painted and put back together, I used the rear off broken Blue until it gets warm enough to blast and paint the one that came with it.
I'm just finishing up on wiring and inside stuff and wanted to mention the idea of putting the rad fan light in the instrument cluster... bad idea. When the car is going down the road, the fan turns and creates enough power to light the LED, even when there is no power to it. I'm going to use an incandesant bulb and put it somewhere that it doesn't shine in my face.
I'd like to figure out how to get a low coolant light to work. I haven't contemplated the circuit needed to turn on a light when the coolant level drops. When it's not conducting, the light turns on. That's an important light, I've melted one engine when all the coolant drained while going down the road. The temp gauge doesn't register well when there's no coolant flowing past it. I'll have to figure out how the A2 does it.

[libbybapa]

So what engine went into this? Is it the 1.7?

Andrew

[Fatmobile]

No the 1.7 isn't put together yet. I still don't have ARP rod bolts for it. Money and time is going into some other projects
This is an engine I rebuilt quite awhile ago and was looking for something to put it in.
It was my first 1.6. I got it from a Jetta, can't remember what was wrong with it but it wasn't running. My very first 1.5 died after/during the trip to AZ, I parked it by the road and went to the red water slide as I drove it past Flagstaff.
It has seen some rough times. The timing belt broke, so I got a head from Jack.
Coming back from a fest in WI, the coolant drained out and it stopped running... I got towed home.
So the head got bent straight and line bored. New seats and valves etc.
The block got bored and new pistons.
I'm not sure what happens to an engine that has the water drain out and runs until it dies... most likely the head gasket is the first to go. All the machine work should have taken care of any damage.
It's a 12mm headbolt block and was the 2nd complete VW diesel rebuild I've done.
I picked up a VNT 15 turbo and have some ideas on how to control it. I plan to use this car for VNT experimentation.

[Vincent Waldon]

Just had my Jetta gasser run dry on the highway (block heater blew out) and because it was new road there was no place to pull over safely so I had to go about 5 kms. Head gasket was fine, but the head itself warped to 0.014 (max on the gassers is 0.004) and two of the pistons took enough heat to warp the upper ring groove beyond salvageable. She was due for a rebuild anyways... poor thing.

Diesel might not run so hot if babied without coolant, but those aluminum heads are certainly sensitive beasts.

[libbybapa]

Of course, be sure to post your progress or even ideas regarding the VNT control. On that note, this coming weekend I should be back at working with my friend on his vnt quantum (after a long hiatus) and if we don't actually get it running this weekend, it will probably be running next weekend (knock on wood...).

Andrew

[Fatmobile]

My plan is to connect the throttle lever on the injection pump, to a vacuum motor.
A vaccum motor isn't electric or anything, it's one of the spaceships that move the vent flappers.
When I step on the diesel it will pull the rod on the vacuum motor and create a vacuum.
A vacuum line going directly to the turbo vane actuator should cause the vanes to open when the peddle is stepped on.
Vacuum motors come in all sizes so it will take some experimenting to see how big it needs to be to move the actuator the needed distance.
A vacuum solenoid can be used to release the vacuum and cause exhaust to bypass the turbo when things like overboost happen.
A check valve going from the vacuum line to open air would keep positive pressure out of the vacuum line so the throttle wouldn't be pushed open.

[jason]

I'd like to figure out how to get a low coolant light to work. I haven't contemplated the circuit needed to turn on a light when the coolant level drops. When it's not conducting, the light turns on. That's an important light, I've melted one engine when all the coolant drained while going down the road. The temp gauge doesn't register well when there's no coolant flowing past it. I'll have to figure out how the A2 does it.

I think the A2's basically have a continuity probe in the overflow tank that is hooked up to a light that comes on with low coolant. I am going to add one to my rabbit, but slightly different. I plan to have a pipe cross in the coolant line coming off of the head containing two insulated probes in one of the ports. The other three will be for coolant output from the head, input to the heater core, and input to the veg system. I just need to devise a way to insulate the two probes. I figure a relay that is normally open with power supplied (assuming the coolant can carry enough power to keep the relay open) should be able to close a circuit connected to a buzzer when there is no continuity/coolant. The other option is to get an overflow tank for an A2 that already has the probe and hook it to a relay and buzzer, this would also provide an earlier warning of coolant loss since it is located higher than the engine. I too have an interest coolant loss because my rabbit's engine got cooked when a hose bust in the middle of nowhere.

[Fatmobile]

So I pulled apart a temp gauge from a later model that had the coolant level sensor.
I deconstructed the circuit.... it snowed out, the ground is all sloppy, it's like living in the bottom of a cooler what else was I supposed to do? ha...
As I suspected it was an op amp circuit. It also turns on the flashing LED when the temp gets too high. I'll probably rig it into the cluster and have it turn on the extra blue light installed in the cluster but I'd like to make a few that will bolt to the back of an A1 cluster.
I've been collecting coolant resevoirs with the level senders every since my engine drained while going down the road. I've seen them in the '86 Golf and an A1 Jetta I had. The later Golf/Jettas had round resevoirs that don't fit swap right onto the Rabbit, I'm not sure when it changed to round ones.
Actually, I did go out and play today, under the dash. I got the manual rad fan lighted switch installed.... and working. Put a battery in to test some stuff and found out the momentary pushbutton switch I installed for the glowplugs is normally closed.... that means the glowplugs are on until I push the button. That wasn't the plan so back to Radio Shack.
All the automatic systems work these switches are just for manual backup.

[Vincent Waldon]

Yup I was going to add there's a bit of electronics between the coolant sensor and the relay... not quite enough continuity in coolant to drive a relay directly.

You could grab a spare gauge with the electronics built in at a junkyard or roll your own if you like soldering... google for "liquid level circuit" and you should find tons of simple designs using Radio Shack parts.

Having just experienced a head meltdown due to (sudden) lack of coolant I think it's a great idea...


Vince

[Fatmobile]

I almost took it for the maiden cruise today.
The fuel gauge wasn't working so I had to pull the rear seat and see if I plugged the sender in.... i didn't.
Temp sender needs replaced but the glow plug sender is working.
I have that Ford starter solenoid, triggered by the glow plug relay (or momentary switch) and wanted an easy way to disconnect it so I hooked up a way to pull the control wire. That'll keep the glowplugs from turning on when I don't want them too.
The tach works but is reading low.
I was surprised to see this car only has 33000 miles on it. At first I thought the odometer was messed up but saw service records that make it look correct.
I didn't get to take it to town because I noticed fuel leaking from one of the metal lines going from the tank to the engine bay. I took the TD to town and got a 25 foot roll of 5/16" metal fuel line. It's bent and mostly installed now, just need to attach it to the body and stick fuel lines on the ends.
Maybe tomorrow will be the big day.
Maybe tomorrow.

[Fatmobile]

Update:
I drove it about 50 miles but it has low oil pressure.
I replaced the seal in the bottom of the vacuum pump. Oil flows up through the center of the oil pump shaft to lubricate the vacuum pump/oil pump connection. If it's not restricted it can drain off the oil pressure.
The old seal was junk but changing it didn't help raise the pressure.
I removed the valve cover and vacuum pump, put a drill to the oil pump and watched cold 15/40 rotella gush from the 5th cam journal. Some oil flowed from around the cam at the 3rd and 4th journals too but none made it to the 1st or 2nd.
I plastigauged the cam journals. # 5 barely squished the plastigauge. 2 others were just a little too loose and 2 were just right.
So I pulled the head this weekend and today I took it back to the place that line bored it. I found the receipt.... it was dated 02. I rebuilt this engine 5 years ago. Didn't seem that long. The machine shop that did the work changed hands 1 1/2 years ago... and is 100 miles away.
I put insurance back on the Fatmobile and took a free ride down there.
With it sitting on their counter, I showed them the plastigauge stuck to the cam and told them about the oil gushing from the loose journals.
It was done so long ago, they weren't sure they did the work on it. I told them the machine used to bend it straight must have left marks on the head. He grabbed his bore light and shined it down one of the headbolt holes for a second... and didn't say anything. He didn't need to, I saw it on his face. They left their mark on it.
So I asked the big question. Are you going to charge me to line bore it again? He said he would give me a discount and I told him I couldn't in good concience pay him twice to do the job right. I'd take it somewhere and pay full price first... but they deserved a chance to fix their mistake. If I messed something up, I'd want a chance to fix it before they took it somewhere else to fix my mistake. I owed them that chance.
He knew from the marks that this was their work, the head still looks fresh and he could tell by wear on the cam journals that even though the work was done 5 years ago, it wasn't put into service until recently.
He agreed to fix it for free so I should have it back by Friday.
I have another head that needs line bored so if they do it right this time they'll get a chance to make more money off me.
Has anyone ever changed the oil pump shaft bushing that's pressed into the block? That's something I didn't know about 5 years ago and should probably change. Anyone have a part number?

[Fatmobile]

I got the head back and bolted on, tried the drill on the oil pump trick again and oil squeezed past the fresh bearing surfaces,... more like seeped,... no gushing like before.
Got it running and the oil pressure is 2 bar (28+ psi) @ about 1000rpm, when it's hot.... so that problem solved.
Here's a pic of the new seal in the bottom of the vacuum pump:


Oil flows up through the center of the oil pump shaft to lubricate the vacuum pump/oil pump connection. If it's not restricted it can drain off the oil pressure.

[vwnut2]

Just so I'm clear - was the oil pressure problem caused by the cam journals out of whack, or the vac pump seal, or both? I have terrible hot oil pressure on my 1.6TD newly rebuilt, around 25psi @ 3000 rpm hot (225F+) with 15w40 Amsoil. I didn't have the cam journals checked, or the vac pump seal done, so either or both could be the cause.

I assume they have to line bore the cam journals oversize, and use shell bearings? How much does this cost?

Thanks.

[Fatmobile]

Yes, the cam journals were too loose and oil was gushing from a couple of them,... 1 & 2 didn't show any oil coming from them. I think I found a reliable machinist for future head work.
I'd certainly let these guys line bore something for me again and will pay more attention to cam clearances.
The drill on the oil pump test worked great. The oil flow is obvious.

The vacuum pump seal was tried first and had no noticeable effect.

They shaved the caps so they sit lower, then line bore it to the right size. It did set the cam a little closer to the head, the valve adjustment shims were shorter. He said it was normally about $100.

[libbybapa]

Do you happen to have the part # for that seal? THX

Andrew