will it ever live again?
June 26th, 2005 @ 3.07 pm
last summer was frustrating to have nice weather and a broken down vw in the garage most of the time. i thought i had gotten things sorted out, and this summer would be different. last weekend i went down to Peek Performance and got a new tarboard, oil pressure switch, and also got some new oil. I pulled things apart and then put he engine back together last weekend, and with a jump start (dead battery for some wierd reason) I got it running, though slightly leaking. Today I’ve been completely pulling then engine out, and I’m not sure what to do about all the leaks (they seem to be growing, even though the engine hasn’t been started). I guess maybe next summer I will be able to enjoy my vw…. maybe. I’m not going to hold my breath.
Wowser, 7 Comments!
Leave a comment
NOTE: Line and paragraph breaks are automatically inserted, e-mail address is never displayed but is required, HTML is allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
today after tearing into the engine (ok, not into it, but the bolt on stuff…) i put teflon tape on two plugs that leaked some, resealed and retightened the oil cooler (i know this piece was leaking), adjusted the valves (they were all too tight), and added new oil. there had been new oil in the motor, but it was really dirty, even though it’d only been in the car idling for an hour or so. i’m putting it all back together now, and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Comment left by jeremy | June 27th, 2005 @ 12.00 pm
yesterday (monday) i finished putting the engine back together and jump started the car. it ran good for 45 minutes or so, but when i went to test the brightness of the headlights, the engine died. with the battery that weak, it had to be bad, so i went to wal*mart and got a new one. the engine started up without any effort, and today it still seemed fine. there’s still a couple slow drips i need to check, one is just in front of the oil drain plate, and the other is at the corner of the engine block under cylinder #3. Now I think I need to go and test drive the car some, but that’ll be another day. i’m not sure where either leak is originating from, so i’m gonna have to keep an eye on them for a bit, and maybe take action if they’re bad enough.
Comment left by jeremy | June 29th, 2005 @ 12.00 pm
No one knows how much I care for you. keep it in perspective. car does not equal your life. Live a little. Smile. breathe in fresh air.
Comment left by anonymous | July 5th, 2005 @ 12.00 pm
today is engine pull #3 for this summer… as of right now, i’m fairly sure the #3 cylinder is leaking around where it slips into the case, possibly due to the heads needing re-torquing. fixing the vw is very low on my priority list now as it never stays fixed more than a couple hundred miles. maybe i’ll get it back together for next summer.
Comment left by jeremy | July 10th, 2005 @ 12.00 pm
after pulling the engine out again (3rd time this summer) my dad made the correct diagnosis for the major oil leak: the oil cooler. I’m guessing it’s the seals in it as they are 30 years old, so I replaced them and tightened everything back down on it. I know the oil cooler was leaking because gravity says leaking oil goes down, and there was oil on a bottom point of the oil cooler (The oil cooler is the highest point the oil travels in the engine). Another piece of supporting evidence: the leak only started after the engine was warm, and the engine is internally valved such that the oil bypasses the oil cooler until the engine gets warm. Now I just hope the leak wasn’t thru a pinhole in the metal.
Well, this weekend I’m gonna try to get the engine back in and see what happens this time….
Comment left by jeremy | July 12th, 2005 @ 12.00 pm
I just realized I never stated the reason for tearing into the engine again! On the second saturday of June I headed towards Beverly’s house, but after ~10 miles the engine was smoking (literally!) due to the tarboard (cheap… very cheap piece) melting and then blocking the cooling fan, causing the engine to overheat and melt the tar more, causing more overheating. I was able to drive the car home (I stopped a couple times), but there was some damage done. Hopefully I’ve nearly gotten it all corrected now.
Comment left by jeremy | July 12th, 2005 @ 12.01 pm
Happy birthday to me! I love you, thanks for last night. :0)
Comment left by anonymous | July 19th, 2005 @ 12.00 pm