Advice on a daily beater Scirocco

[rocco16 at sbcglobal.net (Larry Fry)]

> clutch plate still suspected of being dead
> (clutch pedal has no resistance).

 Could be as simple as a broken clutch cable....

> My question to the list: What goes wrong when a Scirocco sits in the heat
> for 2 years?  I'm worried every fluid needs to be drained before starting 
> it
> (will a simple oil change and coolant change be enough?).  Maybe there are
> hoses that should be replaced at the shop as soon as I can tow it there to
> get the clutch plate fixed?  What else that used to be so well known about
> this car is now questionable?  Is the freon gone?

It was an 18 year-old car when it was parked...another 2 years didn't make 
much difference to the steel, aluminum, and rubber.    I'd just change all 
the fluids, since it probably needed it when it was parked anyway.
  Will it be reliable?  I suppose that depends on your definition of 
reliable.   Will you be able to drive it every day for five years without 
fixing something? NO.  Will it strand you at work or on the road?  Probably 
not.  My own MkII has had plenty of little things go wrong with it, but I 
could see them coming and correct them before they stopped the car.  It's 
called normal maintenance.


> Now that it's likely going to be a daily beater, there's one persistant
> problem it's always had that will need to be fixed-- I hope someone here
> can tell me where to look.  When the RPMs are low and the engine is warm,
> the oil light will flash.  Revving the engine a bit turns it off, and 
> adding
> more oil doesn't resolve the problem.  She doesn't leave any oil puddles
> at a rest.  I'm no mechanic, but I wonder if it's a sensor or the oil pump
> that doesn't like the heat.

   You have low oil pressure, probably from worn bearings.  Old, tired 
engines do this. The engine is due for a rebuild.
 It could run for another 100K miles, too......

> Thanks for any advice and give me a wave if you see a British racing green
> '84 Scirocco driving around North Austin after the first of February.

BRG?  I like BRG.    I say go for it if you can buy it back for $200.

Larry
sandiego16v