[El Scotto]

Todd,
How did airflow cause the black to appear?

 

[ToddA1]

Probably blew dirt and soot from the rain tray, into the interior. From the cowl, it goes up the A-pillars, to above the headliner. Factory used to stuff foam into the A-pillars, maybe for noise control.

I pull this foam out, being that it causes rust. I’ve only found it in US Rabbits, so maybe it’s a Westy thing…

-Todd

 

[mokoosh]

Planning a longer drive tomorrow and probably more of the same over the next month so I gave the wheels each a good grab and shake. Fronts were solid to my relief and tire wear is reasonable for the miles and conditions. Rears on the other hand had some bearing play. I don't think that I've had the drums open in about five years. Can't remember the last time I tightened the rear bearings either, so I rolled down to the shop area...

Not a hard job at all really. If you haven't checked your rear wheels for play lately, give em a tug. You could be a wrench turn away from better handling. The toughest part was getting the new covers started into the drum. Just needed the proper form of persuasion.

That may be the first time that I've ever actually replaced the covers. I always reused them, but they were getting pretty beat up and one was starting to leak.

 

[Butcher]

You got to have some freeplay. Tight is not right. Too loose is not right either.

 

[mokoosh]

You got to have some freeplay. Tight is not right. Too loose is not right either.

My philosophy is that if you grab the wheel and shake it, you should not feel noticeable bearing freeplay. If you've felt this before, you will recognize it. I might describe it as a wobble. Wheels should not wobble.

For tightening, I go an eighth to a quarter turn and then hand spin the drum to feel how loose it is. When it begins to be difficult to turn the drum by hand, then back it off an eighth. The drum should turn freely, but not loosely.

 

[Butcher]

I have no doubt that you know what you are doing but I had a Toyota Master Tech work next to me and he insisted that all bearings have a preload. Super smart guy but what an idiot.

So anytime I hear someone 'tighten' bearings, I just let people know, there has to be some play in it. If not, when that drum heats up, it's going to get real tight.

 

[mokoosh]

I have no doubt that you know what you are doing but I had a Toyota Master Tech work next to me and he insisted that all bearings have a preload. Super smart guy but what an idiot.

So anytime I hear someone 'tighten' bearings, I just let people know, there has to be some play in it. If not, when that drum heats up, it's going to get real tight.

I am still learning what I am doing, but my pile of experience (from whence I draw conclusions) is growing ever larger (and more cluttered). So I appreciate the opportunity to bounce my ideas off others and thank you for engaging with me on this one. You bring up a valid point.

Your story about the 'master tech' brings to mind the old adage: It's not the things you don't know that get you into trouble; It's the things that you know for sure that just aren't so.

 

[mokoosh]

Well, I had another VW adventure last night. Sorry, no photos this time. It was dark and raining, so I'll just have to describe it for you.

It was a dark and stormy night, I was driving home from work. Well, it was raining and starting to get dark.

Windshield wipers were working smooth and strong. I even thought to myself that they seemed at least as quick as ever. I was back and forth between the intermittent and low settings as it wasn't a hard rain, more of a semi steady sprinkle.

About ten miles from home I noticed that the wipers were slowing down on the return stroke. I also noticed that the wipers were doing a more than adequate job to the point of making some squeaking noises against the glass.

I thought "Wow, maybe the contact against the glass is so strong that it's actually slowing the wiper motor?" So, I turned them down to the intermittent setting. The slow return continued, but not for long. I was thinking: "There's certainly some resistance. Maybe the linkage needs regreased. Hope it doesn't over tax the motor and blow a fuse."

It was about that time that the wipers quit on the down stroke, right about in the middle of the windshield.

I realized that the water was beading up pretty well and I could still see well enough to drive, so I decided to continue on home before addressing the problem. I was pretty well convinced that I would find a blown fuse.

I figured that I could at least get the wipers to reset to park with a new fuse, but unless I figured out what went wrong with the linkage (if that's what it was) I probably wouldn't have reliable wipers the next morning, but maybe the rain would be over by then.

Got home. Pulled the fuse. It looked to be intact. I swapped it out anyway. Still no wipers.

So I popped the hood and pulled the fan cover. (Oh, I need to clean under here. There are pine needles and leaves from before I added the leaf guard in the hood.) I started trying to work the linkage off of the rotary arm of the wiper motor. That's when I saw it...

One of the three bolts that secures the motor to the mounting bracket had rattled itself loose and then backed out and up until it made contact with the rotary arm and jammed it.

Got out the 10mm open end wrench and turned the bolt back in. Probably should have taken it out and added some thread locker, but it was dark, raining and cold beer by the warm hearth was beckoning. Anyway, it still had the wave washer and I made sure it was good and tight this time.

I went back in the cab and hit the switch hoping that the motor hadn't burned itself up trying to get past the obstruction. To my joy, the motor jumped to life and parked.

I went inside to meet my well deserved beer with a smile on my face and a story to tell. That, my friends is why I love my Rabbit.

 

[mokoosh]

The Redding Civic Center/Turtle Bay would be such a good venue for a car show. I like the idea, but I have too many projects to organize such an event.

With ambient temperatures getting lower, I haven't seen my oil temp gauge go over 260F, even on the hill climb out of Redding.

I bet a stock oil cooler goes a long way towards reducing the effect of ambient temperature on the oil temperature. The sensor is directly above the cooler on the filter flange.

 

[ToddA1]

I’d do something…. 260° seems high, but I don’t have hills in NJ.

Last time (and probably only time) I saw high temps like that, I was in the mountains of PA, and more than 50% of my rad was covered in cardboard. I moved the cardboard and my oil temp dropped pretty quickly, as the coolant temp dropped.

This was just before Halloween and ambient was around 50°.

-Todd

 

[mokoosh]

I’d do something…. 260° seems high, but I don’t have hills in NJ.

Last time (and probably only time) I saw high temps like that, I was in the mountains of PA, and more than 50% of my rad was covered in cardboard. I moved the cardboard and my oil temp dropped pretty quickly, as the coolant temp dropped.

This was just before Halloween and ambient was around 50°.

-Todd

That's 260 Farenheit or 125 Celcius. 250 has the needle straight up and down on the gauge, so not that abnormal.

Coasting down the same long hill brought the gauge down to 200F. I am speculating that an oil cooler will (artificially) stabilize the gauge reading by averaging the reading with the coolant temp which is slower to react to hill climbs. In fact, I don't think that this sensor location for oil temp was ever offered in a stock application that did not include an oil cooler.

Planning to swap to an engine with an oil cooler this winter, so I should get to test my theory.

 

[ToddA1]

That's 260 Farenheit or 125 Celcius.

I'm aware…. if that were °C, you’d have been walking…
We’re in the U.S., and most of us aren’t using metric scaled gauges.

I don't think that this sensor location for oil temp was ever offered in a stock application that did not include an oil cooler.

I can guarantee every Rabbit GTI I’ve ever owned used that same sensor location, and none of them were factory equipped with any type of oil cooler/exchanger. I’ve also pulled those senders (mounted in the filter flange) and gauges from Cabbies, with no supplemental oil cooling. I’d imagine the Jetta GLI, would also be the same.

Now, if you’re referring to a diesel application you may be correct, but I’m unaware of any A1 diesels which came with an oil temp gauge. I will admit, I don’t know much about the A1 diesel models.

-Todd

 

[mokoosh]

We’re in the U.S., and most of us aren’t using metric scaled gauges.

These are German (branded) cars, stock oil temperature gauges were metric if I'm not mistaken, so I would guess that most of us are using Celcius. Also, your post didn't specify.

I can guarantee every Rabbit GTI I’ve ever owned used that same sensor location, and none of them were factory equipped with any type of oil cooler/exchanger

I'll defer to your more extensive experience with the early gasser models. Still, I have my theory and I will hang on to it loosely.

I believe that some GTIs did have an oil cooler, as I have heard the small diameter (mk1) three way hose referred to as a "GTI" hose when I was looking for one.

The oil cooler is easy to delete, perhaps the cars you owned had been deleted due to leaking. I have been warned that these coolers don't do much and aren't worth the trouble. I have seen several photos of coolant leaking out at the front bumper due to cooler failures. Yet, I am perversely looking forward to running one.

 

[ToddA1]

Do you use metric gauges? If so, it’s odd that you converted the reading, but as mentioned, we’re in the US and don’t typically speak in C.

From what I’ve seen stock gauges were in C or bar, but I always replace stock gauges. Visibility with the Cockpit style was never great, even with a LED.

I’ve been using VDO Vision, since their advent…. Backlit gauges are very easy to read. My replacement gauges are always in F or psi. If you’re a purist and like metric Cockpit, more power to you!

I’m curious to see how that OE style heat exchanger works, being that you have a baseline reading. I’ve mentioned it before, but I prefer a true oil cooler.

The cars I’ve owned never came with them, from my experience. It’s a later model thing.

-Todd

 

[Butcher]

+2 for Vision gauges. Metric is my preference.

My $.02....Get the larger heat exchanger from the Audi V6. You'll need a larger stand pipe but it should just bolt on. I see no down side to heat up and maintain the oil temperature sooner.

 

[ToddA1]

To run the OE exchanger, dont you need a different head flange, with an additional outlet?

Thinking more about it, the oil has nowhere to shed heat other through the thick cast parts or the thin oil pan. I’m curious to see if the coolant temp will rise accordingly, if it’s pulling heat from the oil. Obviously, there’s a large heat exchanger and a fan to help with that, but still curious.…

We need answers, so get on it!

-Todd

 

[rabbitnothopper]

while USA might not speak in celsius, it reads a lot easier to say 100*C is boiling water, and 150*C is too hot for your oil
just like talking about BAR vs PSI, 3BAR = 42PSI
while one has finer granularity than the other, accuracy between 0>0.5<1 is not too important

i do have a preference for metric measurements unless we're talking about FT/LBS or INCHES/FEET

at the end of the day doesnt matter what you use since it can be converted or replaced.


-- rear bearings --
we've all read what the "spec" says and adjusted it by feel
doing it 2, 3, 4 times it becomes much more obvious what it means and what is a good preload on the bearing

and its always hilarious to think, any regular joe with initiative can go replace 100% of their brakes then go driving on the highway at 80mph... regular joe has never done this before and doesnt know what they are doing.
... much like myself when i first started taking apart cars and repairing them...
thankfully for me no bad experiences with brakes
the worst was exploding the rear passenger line under the carpet of my 78, they run THROUGH the cabin under the seat. it popped at the front floor panel. it splayed open like a canadian bag of milk. it was at that point i decided to replace ALL the hard lines on my 78.

 

[Butcher]

I forgot which radiator I have but it's about as large as you can get without doing major work. Large enough to use the Passat dual fan unit. I've got room to spare and so far, Ive never seen it go over 1/3rd temp. Of course, that is with the factory gauge and I have no idea if that is accurate or not. I've added the thermal stress of the turbo and oil heater but I also dealt with the cooling issue way before it was a cooling issue.

I too have wondered why anyone is allowed to do anything on a two ton object and drive it down a public road. Professional or not, I understand, we are all new at some point in our lives. I'm surprised that my brake mistakes have not killed anyone......yet.

 

[mokoosh]

I too have wondered why anyone is allowed to do anything on a two ton object and drive it down a public road. Professional or not, I understand, we are all new at some point in our lives. I'm surprised that my brake mistakes have not killed anyone......yet.

I suppose that what I find more disturbing is to find out, from talking to folks and seeing their actions, just how little they understand about the safety features of the the two to four ton missiles that they pilot around like there is no risk involved.

People who have never taken any interest in how their car works don't understand when there is a performance issue with their car that could be a serious safety concern. In general, if the car will continue to function, they will continue to drive it. I call it blissful ignorance.

I think you should be required to speak intelligently about signs of problems with the braking system and front end vs. signs of an unhealthy drivetrain before you can be licensed to drive. So I think everyone should learn to bleed brakes at a minimum so that they have a basic understanding of the brake system. Just my take on it.

I could go a step further and say that automatic transmissions should be outlawed because they encourage people to drive that don't have the aptitude or attention span for the task. I am actually looking forward to cars driving themselves, because computer drivers will be easier to predict their behavior. Of course they will have to pry my steering wheel and shift knob from my cold dead hands. 😉

 

[ToddA1]

I think everyone should learn to bleed brakes at a minimum so that they have a basic understanding of the brake system. Just my take on it.

I’d love to see when that happens…. I’ve met grown men who didn’t know how to put air in their tires, let alone how to change a flat tire.

I was speaking to a woman at work, who knows how to drive stick. A friend’s teenage son asked if she could teach him. This teenager is going to school for auto mechanics. The manual trans is quickly being phased out.

-Todd