[T3] Abnormal Maintenance

[Jim Adney]

Most of these sound like good things to do, except that I never recommend 
that people try to lube their ball joints or tie rod ends. My reasons are 
twofold:

For ball joints, ball joints up thru '71 have holes in the shafts that you can 
install zerk fittings in to lube them. The problem with this is that once that 
zerk is in there, someone will come along and fill the boot with grease. A 
short drive later the boot will be shredded and you need a new ball joint.

I have NEVER had to replace an original ball joint, except those that had 
zerk fittings fitted. The lesson is that if you leave them alone, they are really 
good quality and don't need extra care. The Bentley manual shows what you 
need to do to check them. If you check yours, you'll probably find that they 
are only half worn out.

For tie rod ends, there's no good way to lube them. Unless the boot is 
broken, they will be fine. Once the boot is broken there's no point in 
lubrication, you need to replace them.

I don't like the idea of poking a needle thru either boot to squirt in even a 
small amount of grease. I don't care how small the needle is, I suspect this 
will introduce a weak spot in the boot that will result in a torn boot and 
consequent replacement of the joint. Plus, it doesn't put grease where it is 
likely to be useful.  

More comments below. No comment means I agree.

On 28 Jul 2018 at 1:19, Soren Jacobsen wrote:

> 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.

Sure, every 30 or 40 years, lube the pedal cluster. (Early Beetles had a zerk 
there.)  

> 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.

Not sure where you mean here, but it's always good to get rid of 
accumulated gunk before it starts things to rust, .

> 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.

Not just Squares, all Type 3s.

> Lubricate lock cylinders.

Graphite only. The rest of the mechanism can use oil or grease.

> 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 ;)

My shift bushings have not failed. Is this really a problem? (But I only have 1 
MT car, and it hasn't seen much use in the past decade.)

> Check your fuel line grommet at the front engine tin.

Yeah, on FI engines, it's usually damaged or removed when larger fuel hose 
is used. With carbs, I think Hoover had a recommendation to use a lamp 
bushing with copper or steel tubing soldered into it, to keep the line from 
getting cut by the sharp edge of the tin.

> Adjust your rear brakes (I'm terrible at remembering to do this).
> 
> Check generator brushes and replace if worn.

If worn so they no longer stick up above the guide sleeve.

> Check generator belt tension.

I find that this never changes, unless it's adjusted too tight. Ours don't need 
to be as tight as those in other cars, because ours only drives the generator. 
On most cars, there are additional loads on this belt that require more 
tension to avoid slipping.

> Check end play in upper torsion arms.

Yes, definitely!

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