02/19/10

One of the main reasons why I keep this car, is its simplicity: the components and their locations are obvious, and there is not a single computer, chip, or mysterious black box on it. Consequently most maintenance tasks are easy to accomplish. That said, though, the car requires very little maintenance other than regular oil and filter changes. Parts have eventually failed, but that is to be expected after more than 250,000 miles; they cannot be expected to last forever. Recently it needed a new radiator, and the rear drums finally wore beyond resurfacing specs, so I replaced all that. While at it, I used the opportunity to renew all 4 rear bearings, some of which were starting to show too much play. But all these tasks are the least I can do for my old little car. It takes me everywhere I need to go, and it does so reliably and inexpensively.

The only recurring item, if you can call it that, is having to rebuild the vacuum pump twice. So it needs a new diaphragm every 80,000 miles or so; big deal!

• Brake & Rear Axel overhaul

• Injector Hoses

• Valve Clearance

• CV Joint service

Brake & rear axle overhaul

Replacing the brake shoes is relatively easy. For installation, the springs can easily be stretched with a pair of vise grips if you're careful. The wheel cylinders were leaking, and new ones were a mere $12/piece so I didn't bother rebuilding the existing ones. The installation of the new wheel cylinders demanded bleeding the brake lines, but I was going to flush the entire system anyway, so no extra work there.

The only slightly difficult part was driving the new bearing races into the new drums. A socket of the right size can be used to gradually hammer them into place. After everything was installed and the bearings were adjusted, there was still play on the right wheel. Since the axel stub was the only remaining variable left in the system, I took a chance and bought a new one for $32. It solved the problem.

Rear left with new shoes and wheel cylinder installed.	Old and new wheel cylinders.	Detail of old wheel cylinder. The corrosionwas significant. For $12 it was a no-brainer to replace it.	Rear right sans wheel cylinder and shoes. This is the axel stub that had to be replaced.	Driving of the new bearing races into the new drum. Here, a socket of suitable size is used with gradual hammering.
The new drums/bearings in place.

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Injector hoses

I've had a good bit of trouble with the cloth covered and very expensive German fuel hose one is supposed to use between the injectors. I have started experimenting with different types. Simple vinyl hose didn't work. I'm using some flexible line I got at the motorcycle store that is supposed to resist the attacks of diesel, but the jury is still out on that. Reportedly, 1/4 inch nylon brake line works. I'll move to that if the current one fails.

The pictures in the valve adjustment section show the hose I am currently using.

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Valve Clearance Adjustment

The measuring of the valve gap is trivial. The adjustment, however, does require a special tool to compress the valve springs and allow the adjustor to swap shims. Yes, you have to use official VW shims; this cannot be done with quarters!

There is also a special VW tool to help you extract the shims. I don't have it and I did, in fact, have a difficult time getting the shims to break loose from their seats.

It is also important in the diesel model to go past TDC before compressing the valve springs, otherwise one can start bending things when compressing. The reason for this is the smaller distances between the top of the piston and the cylinder in the diesel engine (think 23.5:1 compression ratio, hee-hee).

Engine sans valve cover, air filter housing, and timing belt cover.	New adjusting shim about to be placed. They come in 0.05mm increments, and are available at your local auto parts store.

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CV Joint service

CV Joint service in the VW is not too difficult if you know a few things that the shop manual doesn’t necessarily tell you, such as the proper way to loosen certain fasteners, where and how hard to hit the joint to separate it from the axle, and how to easily (and automatically) pack grease into the joint.

When separating the joint from the axel, it is important to know that pre-’82 models have a criclip that must be removed from the outside, while ’82 and later models use an internal circlip that cannot be removed prior to joint-axel separation. Also, on my first attempt I was carefully tapping the joint with my half-pound hammer. This led nowhere. In frustration I thought that perhaps cooling the half-axel in the freezer would help. The only thing this accomplished was create anguish among other freezer users. It turns out that one unambiguous whack with a 5-pound hammer in the right place separates the two items without further drama.

This service was prompted by a small tear I found in the outside boot while changing the oil. Thankfully the joint had not been contaminated and most of the grease was still inside. Only the boot had to be changed.

The axel nut is tight. This won’t do.	Proper support and a long enough arm attached to a 31 mm socket will do.	To unfasten the 6 tri-square bolts holding the axel, clean them thoroughly and, if available, use tri-square bits. Alternatively, a proper sized Allen bit will do, but you will need very good support, a steady hand and luck not to strip them. (I had all 3).	I used this location to unfasten all the bolts and used a big socket for support. It is easy to spin the wheel as you work on all 6 bolts.	While loosening or tightening the 6 tri-square bolts, it comes handy to block the wheel.
View of the loosened bolts.	Highlighted picture of the outside boot and its small tear.	Clean most of the old grease with paper towels at this stage.	Futile attempt to shrink the half-axel in the freezer. Avoid domestic problems by not doing this.	One good bang in the highlighted area with a 5-lb hammer is all it takes.
Joint and axel separated and cleaned.	New boot installed.	A nice, automatic way of pressing the special molybdenum disulfide grease is to: fill the middle of the joint completely with it before installing it back on the axel.	Most of the grease packet fits in there. Do not use margarine, this application actually requires the MoS2 special grease.	Axel mounted on the bench vise for joint installation.
This process forces the grease into the entire joint until it oozes out from the sides. The rest of the grease packet is emptied into the new boot.	The new boot clamps can easily be set using dikes, no need for the “special tool”.

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