[T3] Abnormal Maintenance

Sat Jul 28 12:49:35 PDT 2018

I've done most of this . Once I heard sloshing in the doors and knew where
the drains were and cleared them and quite a bit of water drained out, it
was probably because both front door outer rubber wipers are shot and junk
got in.

 The fuel line grommet at the front engine tin is missing and on a FI
engine the way the fuel line fits there is always a slight angle , there
must be a better way. I replaced the tie rod ends since one was so bad I
had a lot of play and a loud clunk. Did the auto trans fluid quite a few
times and keep up with oil changes.

I haven't had the door panels off for a very long time maybe around 87 and
for years now the left window binds when I first try to roll it down I hear
a click . I think it's more or a regulator gear issue rather than the slide
yet I do have a spare set .

  My main concern is the brakes. Last time I did any fluid change was 99
when I replaced the rear wheel cylinders and the front hoses because the
right side was leaking . I bleed them so the fluid came out clear. I tried
to rebuild the rear cylinders yet one leaked so I replaced both. The brakes
work and I did replace the front disc pads last year and noticed the outer
seals were not in good shape. we don't have the salt here yet I see the
fluid is dark, so I drew most of it out and added new because it was a bit
low . All the steel lines are original as are the rear rubber lines and the
master and calipers . I think the bleeders will brake free since they don't
look rusty, I didn't have any trouble in 98/ 99 yet that's a while back.

 Point is it all needs work . When I replaced the front pads I was
concerned when I had to push the pistons in fluid is forced into the
reservoir which was low , normally if it's to the proper level you need to
draw some out . I did one at a time and two pumps each  the pedal was up
and hard as it should be.  Yet as old as most of this system is I'm not
sure if flushing it will do more harm than good . It can't hurt because at
least the old fluid will be out . I recall last time replacing the rear
wheel cylinders I could break the line at the cylinders yet I could see if
I forced the nut more than enough to break it lose the line might twist so
I moved the cylinders out just enough to hold the nut and turn the wheel
cylinder to replace them. Now I'm stuck waiting so long and to replace just
the 4 rubber hoses and hope the steel lines which all look fine on the
outside don't break . Then I look at the cost of just the 4 hoses and then
consider what else might fail replacing them and what little money I have
to do this . Lets just say I'm very close to 70 and just the rent for this
apartment is a bit more than half of what SS provides me. This is the only
mode of transport I have and I don't drive much yet above all brakes are
the most important part . I'm not sure where to even begin. I do have a
garage I can work in yet working on the floor with jack stands makes this
sort of work all that much more difficult . most of the years I had this
car I worked at a Ford dealership and when work was slow I was able to
raise the car on a hoist and it was easy to get at all the under car areas
. Seems my only option is buy the rubber hoses then a master and perhaps
new steel lines because I've never removed them from the master. Perhaps
I'll be lucky and bleeding will not cause an issue and none of the steel
lines will break and at least I'll have new rubber lines then I can deal
with the calipers , at least the pistons do not stick or bind and I can
just get by with new seals.

 From what I've read most people who own these cars don't have a hoist and
deal with floor jacks and jack stands. The last few times I was under this
car on jack stands I gave each bleeder a good dose of penetrating oil as
well as the steel line nuts . I wanted to try gravity bleeding and hope
that does the job because I don't have anyone to help pump the pedal . Just
doing the tie rod ends was a real job since there is so little room to work
yet I got them in. I've always hated brake work . My wife thinks I worry to
much and spending any money on a car is not something she cares to hear.

William

<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=icon>
Virus-free.
www.avast.com
<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=link>
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

On Sat, Jul 28, 2018 at 1:19 AM, Soren Jacobsen <snj at blef.org> wrote:

> On 07/21 12:21, Jim Adney wrote:
> > At the last Invasion I spent some time talking about what I'm gonna
> > call "Abnormal Maintenance." By this I just mean those things which
> > need to be done, but don't always come to mind when we think about
> > "Normal Maintence." I've made a faq on this, so if you can think of
> > things I've missed, let me know and I'll add them to my faq.
>
> Clean the gutters and drain holes inside the bottom of your doors.
> Failure to do so results in doors that rust out from the inside.
>
> Grease the bushings in your pedal cluster.  If you want to get crazy,
> add a grease fitting so you can make this part of your regular
> maintenance.
>
> Grease the needle bearing in your gland nut whenever you pull your
> engine.
>
> Clean out gunk from the channels at the bottom of your fenders.
>
> Clean out gunk from the top of your headlight bucket on the wheel well
> side.  While doing this, curse VW's lousy rust-prone design and
> contemplate solutions for keeping gunk from reaching that area in the
> first place.
>
> Clean out gunk from Squareback rear drain flaps.
>
> Lubricate lock cylinders.
>
> Sunroof owners: clean out your sunroof drain hoses, front and rear.
> Grease cables.
>
> Inspect, grease, and probably replace your shift rod bushing.  If you
> haven't ever done this, it's probably worn out.  Replacements don't last
> as long as the originals, so you'll be doing this again in a few years ;)
>
> Check your fuel line grommet at the front engine tin.
>
> Grease your ball joint and tie rod end boots.  Don't overdo it!
>
> Adjust your rear brakes (I'm terrible at remembering to do this).
>
> Check generator brushes and replace if worn.
>
> Check generator belt tension.
>
> Check end play in upper torsion arms.
> _______________________________________________
> VWType3.Org mailing list - type3 at vwtype3.org
> To unsubscribe or change subscription options, visit:
> http://lists.vwtype3.org/listinfo.cgi/type3-vwtype3.org
> If you need more help, contact: gregm at vwtype3.org
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.vwtype3.org/pipermail/type3-vwtype3.org/attachments/20180728/d68dfa3e/attachment.html>