[T3] TWO Successful Repairs!!!

[Keith Park]

Good to hear the old 73 is finally getting some much needed attention!  Isnt
it a great feeling to have finally figured out and
Fixed a long term problem?  My A2 golf ran crappy when started hot for
nearly 15 years, tried a lot of things, finally discovered the main air
Flapper wasn’t closing fully at idle, needed a clean and lube, was silk
smooth after that!

Keith

Topnotch Restorations
topnotch at nycap.rr.com
http://www.topnotchresto.com
71 Squareback  “Hothe”
65 Notchback  “El Baja Rojo”
93 RX7  “Redstur”
13 Subaru Outback "Blendin"

-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org <type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org> On
Behalf Of Jim Adney
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2023 5:15 PM
To: Type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: [T3] TWO Successful Repairs!!!

TWO Successful Repairs on my old, rusty, '73 FI/AT Square

Problem #1:

Ever since I bought this car in 1990, with about 29,000 miles on it, it has
had a problem with the second-to-third gear AT upshift. It seemed to work
perfectly thru all other shifts, but 2-3 it slipped for a second, something
another mechanic called "flare", which describes it pretty well, because the
engine RPM would always spin up as the AT slipped.

So, over the last 33 years, I've looked at lots of things, trying to fix
this. I checked the ATF level; I checked the tightness of the bands; I even
pulled the valve body out and disassembled it, looking for bad seals or
burrs on something. Nothing helped.

One thing I noticed about this car was that the vacuum hose to the vacuum
modulator looped over the #1 air runner before diving down out of the engine
and to the modulator on the AT. This seemed odd, but the hose appeared to be
original, so I figured it was done that way at the factory, perhaps to creat
a trap for oil, to keep it from draining down to the modulator end of the
hose.

But William has the "same" car, and he recently confirmed that his hose
didn't have that loop. So I replaced that hose with a shorter, more direct
hose: no upward loop.

Now that 2-to-3 "flare" is almost completely gone. I can make it happen,
just a bit, if I do just the wrong thing with the throttle, but most of the
time there's no noticable flare. Problem #1 fixed, finally, after 33 years.
;-)

Problem #2:

Within the last year, this car has started to lose "driveability." By that,
I mean that it would start and run okay at first, but then it would get
balky and finally I had to stop a few times and just let something cool off
before it would drive again. It kind of felt like it was running way too
rich. Last time I ran an errand a couple miles west of home, it took me 3
stops to get home. Totally useless!

I decided to pull out the fuel pressure regulator and drill the small vent
hole that I've recommended for all our FI cars. That's an easy concept, but
not an easy thing to do, simply because it's hard to get to. So I did it at
the same time as I replaced the vacuum modulator hose, above.

Well, the driveability problem is GONE. It seems pretty clear that the
regulator needs a vent. it's possibe that the adjuster threads were a
sufficient vent when it was new, but it's also possible that the regulator
diaphram has a very small leak that lets gasoline into that side, where it
evaporates/boils and overwhelms whatever venting the adjuster threads
provide.

I just got home from a test drive, and checked the regulator for any wetness
there. There was none, but everything there was quite hot, so I wouldn't
expect to find liquid gas at that temperature. I should check it again, when
the engine is cool, but I'm not sure if that will tell me anything. It's
always possible that it leaks more when hot than when cold. AND, it's still
possible that there's NO gasoline leak; it may simply be that chamber
heating up and pressurizing as the air inside expands.

And I noticed one more thing: Now, the engine dies within a few seconds
after shutting off the fuel pump. It used to run for 10s of seconds.

Oh, and at the same time, I replaced the PCV hoses from the two cylinder
heads. Only '72-3 have those, but the OE red hoses were rock hard and
cracked. I used some of my yellow fuel proof Tygon; I hope that survives the
heat. Since those hoses run under slight vacuum and have very flexible
walls, I'll probably have to put a stretched spring inside to keep them
open. I need to look for something like a stainless steel doorspring that's
the right OD.

I should be able to sell kits to do this, if anyone's interested.

One final thing: While I was jacking up the car, I noticed that the plates
that hold the rear swing arms and torsion bars in place are almost
completely rusted out. They need to be replaced. I should have some better
ones here somewhere. The hard part may be getting the 4 bolts out without
breaking them.

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

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