luftpirate

Thanks Kem, hopefully I can keep it this way.

Dash cover is okay for what you pay, mine had a fitment issue above the passengers window air duct. It stuck out too far in the bend, I tried to clamp it when I was gluing it and thus it cracked a tiny bit on the corner. I'm not sure if my cover was just warped a little bit or if its the actual dash that is tweaked. Maybe their mold was never perfect to begin with? Who knows but it is worth the 120 bucks just so you don't have to stare at the cracks all day.

Dogberri

cool, thanks. good luck with the chevy

944Ross

I've got a bad radio relay in my 86, have been thinking about adapting the GM equivalent, which times out after ten minutes. They only cost a couple of bucks at boneyards.

luftpirate

Two things I wasn't planning to have to do (usually how it goes), I finally got sick and tired of smelling like coolant after getting to work. There was a very small leak in the radiator that only leaks when the temp gauge get up near the third bar, it pisses all over the fan and then when the fan kicks on it blows it up into the engine compartment.
I replaced the radiator and the primary fan. The old radiator was dated 89, which means its not original. Also both my fans are 6 blade fans, so something must have happened to warrant replacing everything around then. Ive noticed my fan kicks on at different times sometimes 2 and sometimes 3 bar on the temp gauge. Im thinking its more likely a intermittant gauge issue but also maybe a faulty temp switch?

* As a side note I'm glad I replaced my radiator despite the leak. The old radiators fins are packed full from crap, bugs, small rocks, despite everytihng I have done in the past trying to degrease and pressure wash it clean. The condensor really gets in the way when it comes to cleaning. I went ahead and gave the AC condensor a good wash through while I had the radiator out.

I got the Valeo radiator for 290 shipped off Ebay, my local Carquest had the Bosch fan for 206+ tax.








Now time to tackle the gas smell.

vt951

Wow, it's been a few months since I looked at your thread and you have done some great work. The interior looks awesome. Looking forward to seeing the car in person sometime and I still want to sit in those new seats.

luftpirate

I have been having a slight miss/surge/hesitation around 4300 rpm, seems to happen at partial throttle. Seemed like it might be an ignition issue, I checked my records and the cap and wires only have about 3000 miles on them even though they are 9 years old. The coil looked original so I went ahead an replaced it with a MSD unit. Well that didn't fix it so Im guess I either need to try new plug wires or AFM retrack now.

One major gripe is the primary coil wire does not seat correctly on the MSD unit. The prongs on the male end are offset on the wire and it doesn't seem to pop in correctly. I'm sure this is going to come back and bite me at some point but I have plans to find a new wire to replace it that will hopefully seat correctly.

The MSD coil is a little smaller in diameter than the Bosch unit so I thickened it with some duct tape. (Yes its the only place I will be using duct tape on the car.) I also decided to go ahead and do the resistor ballast despite what some say, I don't want to have any doubts so might as well. It mounts nicely right on the bracket for the headlight motor support.

luftpirate

This post is to add some useful information I wasn't able to attain on Rennlist and eventually stumbled across on a Scirocco site.

It all started when I went to remove my ignition switch after frying some things due to my ignorance in wire management in the engine bay (long story.) When removing the switch housing which also contains the column bearing, a small spacer deteriorated as I went to slide the bearing off the shaft. For anyone who needs this. That semi-clear spacer which goes between the shaft and the actual bearing (not the black plastic spacer that goes on once the bearing is on) it is part number " 171-419-34" Pelican has them for $3.25. I'm also almost certain that pot metal housing which holds the lock cylinder/ignition switch/ and column bearing is the same part used on the Scirocco so that may help if you have to source one. Here is the side with the info regarding that clear plastic spacer.

http://www.driversfound.com/scirocco...teeringcolumn/

Geldfalle 944

I have replaced several of those on all the VW's I have owned. Common problem. So is the ignition switch. Usually the return spring in the switch wears down the brittle plastic once it gets old.

luftpirate

So I ran into a slight hiccup and burned some stuff ; Any guesses as to what I fried?
The progress jumps over to this thread for a few pages.

After dealing with that I ended up remounting the ballast for the MSD coil. I honestly hate this and think eventually I will go back to a stock coil.



While working on my wiring and fuse/relay box I found this spaded ground and I cannot figure out where it is supposed to go. Any ideas? It comes out of a group with two greens as seen in the picture.

luftpirate

Its been a long summer with not much progress, I skipped out on P2O because my car lucks luster to not stick out like a sore thumb. Lucky I did because after an afternoon of staring at pretty cars I got motivated to go home and work on mine. After finishing up what I hope is the end to my fuel vapor issues (Replaced some hoses on the filler neck after finding some leakage) I decided to do an oil change.


I had noticed the car had been using some coolant lately, but to my dismay the overflow bottle was bone dry when I popped the hood. Hmm that coolant must have gone somewhere, the dipstick quickly yeilded the answer.

I went ahead and drained the oil and replaced it to get that crap out of there, replaced it with fresh and let it run a minute. The oil had taken on A LOT of coolant, kind of surprising since I had not noticed any steam from the tailpipe.

I finally got around to doing a compression test, I'm hoping these results are telling me I need to change the gaskets on my oil cooler and not that I have a blown head gasket or cracked block









Plugs seem fine.


I figure due to the amount of coolant and the high rate its going into the oil its probably a failed seal in the oil cooler.
http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/lube-01.htm

vt951

Erik,

We just did the dragon head gasket and replaced 4 valves a couple days ago. I think 2 cylinders were around 60 psi before the work (!), and all were 160-170 afterwards. I think your compression numbers look good, but not sure what the spec is for NA motors. I guess it depends on what year, since the compression ratio changed, right?

Glad to see you're charging ahead. If you could bring it out to Putnam Park, IN Sep 11-12, we'll have most of our team standing around between stints in the chump car race. Between Dan, Sam Grant, and Ben, the odds of getting it fixed that weekend are probably pretty good.

Alan

luftpirate

Thanks Alan, not sure my car will be be together by next weekend but well see. Ive started on the oil cooler job.


I did a cooling system pressure test, very little pressure drop, and did not find any leakage in cylinders. I'm hoping that is more evidence the issue is oil cooler related.


One of the ends came off on my Kingsborne wires and stuck to the plug when I removed the boot. May have been my fault for not babying them but never the less sounds like they will fix it under warranty.



Power steering pump removed, replacing it while I'm at it so disconnected the lines. Still wondering if the header has to be disconnected from the Y pipes.


I'm replacing all the oil cooler seals as well as the o-rings on the pressure relief valve.

luftpirate

Almost a year has gone by, and I found a day to finish the oil cooler job. Turns out my oil cooler seals were rotted upon inspection.


I was going to rebuild my OPRV (inner o-ring), but after trying countless o-rings from various distributors I was unable to get one with the correct tolerances to rebuild the valve correctly. So I purchased a new one.

Here is one attempt at rebuilding valve. As you can see I wasn't able to find o-rings that were oil/fuel proof, and fit well enough they would not be destroyed when pressing valve back together. Pelican tried like hell to get me the correct ones so I have to credit them. I even tried cooling them down before applying.



Pressure tested cooler with this homemade contraption using rubber hose, PVC and a schrader valve. Submersed under water to check for bubbles.



Cleaned up oil cooler after pressure testing.



I was able to do the whole job without removing the header. Don't know if this made it easier/harder on myself, but I didn't feel like knock rust off in my eyes. Still it is possible with header on provided you have the arm of an octopus and patience.




Using the alignment tool before housing gets bolted down.



After some initial testing it appears water is not making its way back into the oil and vice versa. Car is going back on insurance this week so I can give it a go over and see if issue is actually resolved. While I'm in there I'm also going to replace the leaking PS pump.



Surprising after sitting for a year, the car fired right up. Before I put the DME relay back in I put oil in all the cylinders and cranked until oil pressure came back up, and checked the cooler housing, OPRV and pressure sending unit for leaks. So far so good. Hopefully bearings weren't damaged.

ramius665

This thread makes me want to go get another early 944. Almost.

luftpirate

Was lucky enough to get the car back on the road for a few nights. Had decided to take it over to my buddies shop so we could do wheel bearings. Wouldn't start, it was firing but not enough.

Found that the throttle body would not return closed..

Upon further investigation found that this is a common problem where the o-rings which seal the valve shaft go bad and let oil and water down into the needle bearings. Ordered a rebuild kit from Paragon, it was only 20 bucks. I figured a yard throttle body would end up having the same issues so better to rebuild.
While I was at it I decided to pull the manifold (found one of the large vacuum hoses with the preformed bends was rotted - not sure how Im going to fix this one unless I can find a part #)

When the manifold came off I found out how poor in shape the injectors were. They are getting replaced now as well including manifold gaskets.



Not sure if I should put some sort of catch can back in place to prevent this crap. Could be normal with the 120k+ miles.









Here's the rotted hose I need to somehow replace...



Haven't figured out what this is yet...



Ready for some cleaning.



Injector bits stuck in manifold.





Completely missing.



Utter nastiness...





Stripped down after removing old shaft seals with dental pic. Soaked needle bearings in penetrating oil and cleaned.





All ready to go.