16V WOES ... HELP!!

[alves at email.unc.edu (Carlos Alves)]

Wow ... thanks a lot guys, your appraisal of the situation is 
outstanding.

One questin, when I go to pick up my car from teh dealer today, I stil 
lhave a good 300 mile trek to go until I reach schoo, when I can then 
work on the 'roc.  Is it safe to drive the car that distance? I do 
know if the car dies down, I just have to wait for maybe a half hour 
or so and the car seems to operate fine afterwards, until the problem 
acts up again. What do you guys think?

Any temporary quick fixes for the situation? 

THANKS!!

Quoting stetson <tim@unrealexpectations.ath.cx>:

> Hi Carlos,
> 
> Peter's appraisal of the situation sounds to be 100% correct (I had
> this
> same behavior this summer on my '84 8v. The tranfer pump change fixed
> it!)
> The hose you can probably find @ either your local autoparts store
> or
> hardware store. I beleive it's 1/4" ID fuelsafe hose and 1' should
> be
> enough for the repair.
> The clamps are 1/4" clamps (I prefer the stainless steel ones that
> are
> more expensive) if my recollection of the hose size above is
> correct.
> On my home machine I have a website that is just full of pics from
> various
> fixes over the summer w/ minimal comments. There you should be able
> to see
> multiple shots, both before and after, of the transfer pump, it's
> placement, and the new hoses/clamps used.
> The pictures and pages are HUGE!!!! So if you're on dial up you might
> want
> to try googling for "scirocco transfer pump replacement" for a more
> friendly site.
> The address of mine is:
> http://unrealexpectations.ath.cx/scirocco
> and you can use the pictures there to get an approximate idea of the
> work/parts involved.
> 
> HTH!
> 
> Tim
> 
> Rocky's Lemma of Innovation Prevention:
> 	Unless the results are known in advance, funding agencies will
> 	reject the proposal.
> 
> On Wed, 7 Jan 2004, Carlos Alves wrote:
> 
> > I think you are definetley on to something. When I swapped out my
> fuel
> > filter yesterday, the gas was cloudy and gray, which led me to
> believe
> > it was rust in the tank.
> >
> > I would be interestedi n buying your old fuel distributor, let me
> know
> > how much yo uwant for it and we can work something out.
> >
> > About the transfer pump, where can i get the proper clamps, and
> the
> > short peice of fuel hose to replace the original one?
> >
> > Thanks a lot
> >
> >
> > Quoting peter <peter@thescirocco.com>:
> >
> > > I think it's either the fuel distributor, or the transfer pump
> in
> > > the
> > > tank.
> > >
> > > The transfer pump is $40-80, comes with a new screen/pickup and
> > > takes
> > > about 10 minutes to change, providing you have the proper clamps,
> and
> > > a
> > > short piece of fuel hose to replace the original one.
> > >
> > > If that doesn't fix it, I'd try cleaning the bottom of the fuel
> > > distributor, and/or swap in a used known good 16V fuel
> distributor.
> > > I
> > > have an extra one, e-mail me if you're interested...
> > >
> > > My '88 16V would intermittently cut off, and when I poured out
> the
> > > fuel
> > > of the fuel filter, the fuel was cloudy and gray, from the
> transfer
> > > pump
> > > trying to self destruct.
> > >
> > > HTH, and good luck!
> > >
> > > Peter
> > > 302.832.8989
> > > http://thescirocco.com
> > >
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: scirocco-l-bounces@scirocco.org
> > > [mailto:scirocco-l-bounces@scirocco.org] On Behalf Of Carlos
> Alves
> > > Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 11:29 AM
> > > To: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> > > Subject: 16V WOES ... HELP!!
> > >
> > > Hey guys,
> > >
> > > This is my first posting on this message board. I am a student
> at
> > > UNC
> > > Chapel Hill who lives in Jersey, and i have an 87 16v with
> roughly
> > > 113k on the odo. Up until about 2 weeks ago, I absolutely loved
> this
> > > car, I bought it with 87k, and it generally served me very well
> for
> > > the past 2 years, with only minimal repairs and breakdowns
> occuring
> > > because either coolant hoses broke or because the thermostat
> went.
> > >
> > > When it comes to working on cars, I am generally a beginner,
> only
> > > having done small things on various other cars. I am becoming
> > > painfully aware, however, that owning a 16v necessitates doing
> most
> > > of
> > > the repair work yourself, or forking over a LOT of cash to the
> damn
> > > vw
> > > stelaership, Which brings me to my next point.
> > >
> > > 2 weeks ago, my car started sputtering and stalling at various
> > > RPM's.
> > > It would sputter and die down on the highway, for instance, and
> I'd
> > > have to drop it down into 4th and let the cluth out, and the car
> > > would
> > > start back up. Then it would proceed to function normally.
> > > Dumbfounded, I checked the car out and couldnt find anything
> wrong,
> > > so
> > > i took it to the VW dealer. They found some vacuum leaks on the
> car,
> > > which they fixed, cleaned out some "gunk" on the throttle body,
> and
> > > reset the fuel mixture, and said the problem was fixed. I drove
> the
> > > car home, and while home, it commenced sputtering again. So I
> > > resolved
> > > to drive the car back down to school when the time came and try
> to
> > > get
> > > it fixed by an expert on the 16v cars that I know near my
> college.
> > >
> > > Sunday, I leave, and go to my brothers place. I start smelling
> gas,
> > > open the hood, and see that the fuel filter is leaking a little
> > > fuel ... so I resolve to change it. Swapped a new one in, no
> > > leakage,
> > > and the car seemed to have stopped the sputtering problem. So, I
> > > leave, and roughly 30 miles later, my car breaks down, on the
> side
> > > of
> > > the highway. This time the problem seems different, almost as if
> the
> > > car is running out of gas, where the engine just dies down and i
> > > cooly
> > > pull off.  THe gas gauge reads 1/4, but I am thinking it is rust
> in
> > > the gas tank.
> > >
> > > My bro  comes, we put about 2 gallons of fuel in the car, and it
> > > drives fine for the next 30 miles, to the VW dealer. 5 miles
> before,
> > > it started dying down again, once again leading me to believe
> that
> > > rust is the culprit, seeing as how with about 2 gallons, the car
> > > would
> > > be good to go for roughly 40 miles before rust concentration
> builds
> > > up
> > > causing the car to die down. I put 5 dollars of gass in, and
> drop
> > > the
> > > car off.
> > >
> > > Today the VW dealer calls me back. THe problems they found, as
> they
> > > quoted, are as follows:
> > >
> > > Fuel distributor has a lot of carbon buildup. Needs to be
> cleaned.
> > > Throttle body has carbon buildup. Needs cleaning.
> > > O2 Sensor is sending error codes, possibly faulty..
> > > Spark plug wires need to be replaced.
> > > Distributor cap and rotor show signs of corrosion.
> > >
> > > And the grand total, $2500 for all of this work, and THEN they
> will
> > > check the car out again to see if rust in the gas tank is the
> actual
> > > culprit. Needless to say, I will NOT spend 2500 on a car I
> bought
> > > for
> > > 1500. My course of action is to try to get the car down to NC and
> do
> > > most of the work myself in my free time.
> > >
> > > So, some questions are, is rust buildup in the sciroccos common?
> How
> > > dfficult would it be for someone with a beginners spin on
> mechanics
> > > to
> > > do most of the work required by the dealer? I Would of course
> > > purchase
> > > the Bentley manual and consult it to the finest detail. Are
> those
> > > parts expensive in it of themselves? Difficult to install?
> > > >From your professional opininos, does it seem as if the dealer
> > > quoted
> > > problems are the actual culprit? IT seems as if the leaky fuel
> pump
> > > fixed most of the sputtering problems, and the car only started
> > > acting
> > > up when the tank (in my opinion) neared empty and the rust
> > > concentration build up.
> > >
> > > Any help you guys could give me would be greatly appreciated. In
> > > your
> > > opinions, does it seem as if all those "carbon" infested
> mechanical
> > > parts are the reason the car is failing me?
> > >
> > > My guess is I will probably be consulting this list more
> frequently
> > > as
> > > I start to do the work on the car. I love the car, and am not
> > > willing
> > > to see it go without a mechanical fight. I just hope I can learn
> > > enough about the car so that I can fix it properly. Thanks.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> > > http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > Faster than a speeding pinto......
> > Coches
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> > http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l
> >
> 
> 



Faster than a speeding pinto...... 
Coches