The past week in Car repair

[Calimus]

I discovered the reason the garage smells like gas all the time is the gas tank in the '88 Cabriolet is leaking somewhere above the rear seam...gonna call the VW dealer this week and see if I can talk them into honoring a 17-year-old recall on a 23-year-old car. If not I've got some soul searching to do, because that looks like a real pain in the butt job, and it's a $800 car.

It's worth pursuing the recall. We did on our 88' a few years back and it worked in our favor. VWoA didn't want to honor it, but our dealer took care of it and said leave corporate to them. We did and never heard a word more about it.

Even if you can't get it done through the recall, it's really not that bad of a job. Just do your best to drain the tank and still be ready for a gas bath. Also be ready to take inventory of the fuel lines that you might break and need to replace a long the way. And keep the mindset that if you think something is in the way and it looks like a pain in the ass to remove, to deal with that pain in the ass and remove it. Because it "will" get in the way and you "will" get pissed and you "will" break the hell outta it. This goes for things like the fuel accumulator which are almost made out of unobtainium these days.

[Briano1234]

You do have to drop the rear axle, (lower it) so be warned that you will need to soak the nuts and bolts with pb-blaster for a few days, and that you will need to be careful of the rubber brake lines.

[gull]

Yeah, lowering the axle is definitely the part of the job I'm dreading the most, if I have to have a go at it. I hate dealing with rusty, crusty suspension bolts.

Gonna call around today and see if I can get the dealer to do it. I don't know what my odds are. They never seem happy to see me when I'm looking for parts for one of my old cars...I think in their mind every time I fix it it represents a lost sale.

[gull]

Called the dealer and the car already had the recall done, in February of 1995. So it looks like I'm on my own.

[Briano1234]

It may be a rotted hose or the sender cover... I would investigate the area of the leak......

[gull]

Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do this weekend. I haven't been able to see the actual leak yet, just the marks where it's running down the back of the tank and evaporating.

[Briano1234]

That sound like a line to the pumps.... If the hoses deteriorate, then the pumps shoot fuel out the hose connections and that usually sprays to the rear....

I am fighting a bad in-tank pump, I hear it buzzing all the time and have a major hesitation.......ie: Fuel Starvation.

[Briano1234]

Found the hall connector on the Green bunny broken, I suppose the intermittent grounding of the leads could cause stumbling, (the spare dist that I have is in, but I get a no -run condition, so I think I have to get it back to time and reset it again. I also found a new vacuum line that runs from the Fuel pressure regulator to the Throttle Body holed, so I have fixed that.... Worse case is I will have to repair the old dist, and put it in.

ARGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gull]

Well, I think it's pretty clearly the tank itself. The leak is on the left rear corner, above the exhaust heat shield. I don't think there are any hose connections on that side are there?

Now I have to think hard about whether I want to put the money and effort into changing the tank on this car. It also needs engine mounts, struts, and tires, and the engine is showing signs of wear (low oil pressure & high oil temps at speed.) I'm seriously thinking about scrapping it.

[Calimus]

8v motors are easy to find and cheap. So no need to scrap her for what possibly ammounts to worn intermediate shaft bearings. Also, engine mounts are easy to do. It's a day job to replace all 4 of them so long as you have a small 12 ton press, or a local garage that has a press.

The gas tank really isn't bad. Find a pick & pull, give them $20-$30 for a tank and slap it in there. Any tank from a cabby, rabbit, gti, Scirocco, Mark I jetta should work. It's another day job.

Oh, and the oil pressure could be remedied by replacing the worn oil pump and putting one from a 2L 8V. It will vertainly bring the oil pressure right back up. you can do the pump at you next oil change. Just drop the pan, 2 bolts drops the old pump out and then slap the new pump in and slap the pan back on. Shouldn't take more then 1 hour and that just because of all the damn little pan bolts.

So, lets see, 3 days of work and you get to continue enjoying that car for the small sum of maybe $300. Or scrap her. Don't think I need to tell you the opinion your going to get around here

[Briano1234]

So, lets see, 3 days of work and you get to continue enjoying that car for the small sum of maybe $300. Or scrap her. Don't think I need to tell you the opinion your going to get around here

I don't know I am getting ready to drive my green one off a cliff.

[CalAltaDubber]

Well, I guess I'm resigned to the fact winter is coming.

On the week end I finished putting Topless Bunny and Posh Bunny away for the winter.

The place where I store them is only a couple of km from my house, so I prepped them at home and drove them over. Part of my prep is to change the wheels (so the tires don't "flat spot") for this I have a set of space saver donuts I use. It was really wierd driving Topless Bunny on them.

Any how, I got them to the barn, removed their batteries, fogged the cylinders and coverd them up.

Now all I want is spring to come so I can get them running again.

[Calimus]

Brian - We both know what the green one always has problems. If you were the one driving it full time, we both know you wouldn't end up with a handful of issues at one time.

Phill - that's sad news. Then again, Crabby cabby hasn't made an appearance in daylight in over a year now, so I feel your pain. I think I might haul her out of the garage this weekend just to get her fired up and dusted off. Then, I'll put her back to slumber for the winter. I'm really hoping to be able to haul her out this coming spring and get the top replaced.

[gull]

Yeah, I know it can all be fixed. If this were a perfect car I'd definitely put the work into it. But it has a lot of other issues ranging from bad HVAC pods to bad paint, which makes it more of a tossup. And it has never, ever quite run right, no matter how many times I tune it. It had a long and interesting life before I got it, which I think has included at least one minor engine fire.

Hate to say it but I think this may be my last A1; they're old enough now that they're mostly all beat to hell.

I've decided to give myself 'till the end of November to find a newer car that's in my price range. If I don't I'll go ahead and fix this one.

[Briano1234]

I'm really hoping to be able to haul her out this coming spring and get the top replaced.

.."To Dream the impossible Dream......."