[T3] Cylinder Performance

[Jim Adney]

On 18 Jun 2011 at 11:10, Adriel Rowley wrote:

> Good to know about the brush, but I used a wheel, which if I understand
> correctly, is fine to do.  Why could I not clean it?

It doesn't matter whether the brush is round or straight, hand or 
powered. If it has metal bristles it will leave metal tracks on the 
porcelain.

> I use a wire wheel as it cleans the spark plug, rather than having it 
> take up landfill space. ;)  Is there a better way to clean them?

Blasting with glass beads is probably the best, but you have to make 
SURE to get ALL the beads out when you're done.

> > > Checked four, and was clean as it was when I put it in less than 25
> > > miles ago (unknown hours though).  Therefor, figured number three must
> > > be getting too much fuel,

> my meter cannot measure wire resistance for some reason.  

You may be on the wrong range.

> Overflow is good, however water could have been in the tank.  Here in
> the land of Socialism and wacko tree huggers, they put corn in the fuel.
> I get a great magazine called "Skinned Knuckles", and one of the 
> articles was discussing how the ethanol absorbs water, then gets 
> saturated to the point where the fuel then has water in it.  This can 
> happen as the fuel cap sealing ring is dried out and also in a moist 
> climate being by the coast.  The fuel was over a year old, but no 
> longer drain fuel as there is no way to dispose of it other than adding 
> it to the drained oil to be recycled.  The time I did that, they 
> wondered why the oil smelled so bad but I just laughed and left; could 
> have been an issue. I did have an improvement in performance when I put 
> fresh fuel in.  I did take Bob's advice and put in fuel dryer/cleaner, 
> but have not driven it since, though thinking I will today (been paying
> bills long distance).

I am both a Socialist and a "tree hugger." There's only one 
environment and every bit of it we destroy is one less piece that we 
can pass on to our successors. 

Alcohol certainly makes gas more hydroscopic, but "fuel dryer" is 
also alcohol, nothing more. It just gives the gas somewhat more 
capacity to take water into solution. Water that's in solution is not 
much of a problem; water that's free, floating along the bottom of 
our tank, can cause big problems.

I've never had a problem with old gas. I've had cars that have sat 
for years and started up right away, once I put a good battery in 
them.

> What should I do in the future to prevent the fuel getting moister in 
> it? 

Moisture absorption is a separate problem and is made worse if the 
tank is only partly full. Changing air pressure & temperature causes 
air to "breathe" in and out of the air space every day. At night, if 
the temp falls to the dew point, dew will also form inside that air 
space and some of it will drip into the gas and fall to the bottom of 
the tank where it will accumulate over time. The best way to deal 
with this is to store the car with the tank full of gas, minimizing 
the amount of air space above it.  

> > Your injectors should all be BOSCH with yellow bodies and part number
> > ending in 007.
> >
> They are 007, as I checked when I get them.  If they are not, I would have
> tossed them (no one wanted the L-Jetronic injectors).  Might have some 
> early black bodies, I.I.R.C..

The black body (001) injectors are also fine, but most of them have 
started leaking externally by now.


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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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