Introduction and Thank You
08-21-15, 03:31 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Introduction and Thank You
This is my first post on this forum, so Hi! *waves*.
I signed up a few years ago just to read up on our 2001, that has been good enough to us that we've decided to keep it "forever", like a few of the old VWs we have from the 80's. Other cars we've had were "meh" and we've since moved on from them.
Naturally, like any complex machine, things have cropped up over the years, some early on, others recent, some common, others maybe not, according to my reading.
What is beyond any doubt is that this forum helped A LOT. Thank you, and I apologize for failing to keep track of who taught me what, but you know who you are
.
Here's a brief operational history of the car, and what was done to resolve problems.
First failure: the driver window intermittently failed to raise while still under warrantee, took several visits to resolve, no charge, the passenger window did that once recently but disconnecting the battery seems to have rebooted the controller *fingers crossed*
The trip computer failed years ago and only displays MPG, we never fixed it.
The antenna got stuck after a few years, but a good cleaning of the internals and an extra O-ring under the tip to keep dirt and freezing water out has worked well. It also took us a few broken antennas to learn to stop the radio when going through a car wash
.
When I read about the failing transmissions, I started to change the trans fluid at about 80,000 miles, every 10,000 miles, with no malfunctions (yet).
The car started to lose abundant oil over 70mph, none below that speed, and I finally settled on rear valve cover replacement after a new PCV valve failed to solve the problem. Jury's still out pending a long trip, but what a PIA compared to the VWs! I changed the spark plugs also (110,000 miles) and in good time as the electrodes were almost gone.
We also got a CEL at about 90,000 miles, code P1130 IIRC, and replaced an A/F sensor with one we got off the WEB for $175 (ouch). I don't know if the oil loss fouled the original, but that's all behind us.
The mode and temp servos went bad and I was able to fix them both using info garnered here. They both had dirty grease on the pots which made them "hunt", and the mode servo's worm gear slipped off the brass drive knuckle and was making a fierce racket. it took me a while to realize there's only one temp servo, since the GS models I was reading about also have one on the driver side, lol.
I did the timing belt and water pumpat around 100,000 miles using a DIY tool similar to one I saw in one of your threads to lock the crankshaft pulley and remove the crank sprocket bolt.
The car's had a few sets of tires and a few sets of brake pads and rotors, as well as a door repainted after a scrape against our garage door. As for rust, so far only along the inner lip of the passenger rear wheel well. I opened the lip, blasted everything clean, and was gonna use my MIG to close it all up, but the paint was intact so it seemed like a shame to burn it, so I bent the inner lip back into position and sealed the repair with windshield urethane, which acted like seam sealer but MUCH stronger.
The driver seat side vinyl tore after a few years. My wife is pretty tall, but not tall enough, I guess, lol. I broke down and patched in a new piece of material, which was another PIA, figuring out how to get the seat apart...Again the web helped a lot in the form of an exploded diagram of the seat that I found somewhere.
The last thing on the list when the weather's a bit cooler is to repaint the door. The repair was over ten years ago and the clear coat is starting to frost a bit from UV damage. I have the new paint, just need to get to it. We also found a new grill to replace the OEM piecewith flaking "chrome".
What else? I added a few ounces of refrigerent years back and have never had trouble with the A/C, always nice and cold. I did the serp belts at the same time as the timing belt/pump. The strut boots are torn, but I've decided to leave them and just change the whole strut if/when they finally fail.
Overall we love the car and couldn't have done much of this work without the groundwork shared by others, so THANK YOU,
Eric
I signed up a few years ago just to read up on our 2001, that has been good enough to us that we've decided to keep it "forever", like a few of the old VWs we have from the 80's. Other cars we've had were "meh" and we've since moved on from them.
Naturally, like any complex machine, things have cropped up over the years, some early on, others recent, some common, others maybe not, according to my reading.
What is beyond any doubt is that this forum helped A LOT. Thank you, and I apologize for failing to keep track of who taught me what, but you know who you are
.Here's a brief operational history of the car, and what was done to resolve problems.
First failure: the driver window intermittently failed to raise while still under warrantee, took several visits to resolve, no charge, the passenger window did that once recently but disconnecting the battery seems to have rebooted the controller *fingers crossed*
The trip computer failed years ago and only displays MPG, we never fixed it.
The antenna got stuck after a few years, but a good cleaning of the internals and an extra O-ring under the tip to keep dirt and freezing water out has worked well. It also took us a few broken antennas to learn to stop the radio when going through a car wash
.When I read about the failing transmissions, I started to change the trans fluid at about 80,000 miles, every 10,000 miles, with no malfunctions (yet).
The car started to lose abundant oil over 70mph, none below that speed, and I finally settled on rear valve cover replacement after a new PCV valve failed to solve the problem. Jury's still out pending a long trip, but what a PIA compared to the VWs! I changed the spark plugs also (110,000 miles) and in good time as the electrodes were almost gone.
We also got a CEL at about 90,000 miles, code P1130 IIRC, and replaced an A/F sensor with one we got off the WEB for $175 (ouch). I don't know if the oil loss fouled the original, but that's all behind us.
The mode and temp servos went bad and I was able to fix them both using info garnered here. They both had dirty grease on the pots which made them "hunt", and the mode servo's worm gear slipped off the brass drive knuckle and was making a fierce racket. it took me a while to realize there's only one temp servo, since the GS models I was reading about also have one on the driver side, lol.
I did the timing belt and water pumpat around 100,000 miles using a DIY tool similar to one I saw in one of your threads to lock the crankshaft pulley and remove the crank sprocket bolt.
The car's had a few sets of tires and a few sets of brake pads and rotors, as well as a door repainted after a scrape against our garage door. As for rust, so far only along the inner lip of the passenger rear wheel well. I opened the lip, blasted everything clean, and was gonna use my MIG to close it all up, but the paint was intact so it seemed like a shame to burn it, so I bent the inner lip back into position and sealed the repair with windshield urethane, which acted like seam sealer but MUCH stronger.
The driver seat side vinyl tore after a few years. My wife is pretty tall, but not tall enough, I guess, lol. I broke down and patched in a new piece of material, which was another PIA, figuring out how to get the seat apart...Again the web helped a lot in the form of an exploded diagram of the seat that I found somewhere.
The last thing on the list when the weather's a bit cooler is to repaint the door. The repair was over ten years ago and the clear coat is starting to frost a bit from UV damage. I have the new paint, just need to get to it. We also found a new grill to replace the OEM piecewith flaking "chrome".
What else? I added a few ounces of refrigerent years back and have never had trouble with the A/C, always nice and cold. I did the serp belts at the same time as the timing belt/pump. The strut boots are torn, but I've decided to leave them and just change the whole strut if/when they finally fail.
Overall we love the car and couldn't have done much of this work without the groundwork shared by others, so THANK YOU,
Eric
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Pwrdude (12-04-23)
08-21-15, 06:27 PM
#3
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Thread Starter
110,000. We have other cars, so it gets driven less than before.
The other thing I forgot to include on the list is the exhaust gaskets deteriorated and the car rumbled a bit, but I was able to easily remove all the fasteners and replace the gaskets, so the car sounds like new again.
The other thing I forgot to include on the list is the exhaust gaskets deteriorated and the car rumbled a bit, but I was able to easily remove all the fasteners and replace the gaskets, so the car sounds like new again.
08-20-16, 10:09 AM
#4
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Thread Starter
Updates on the car, I don't know if this is worthy or not, but I also like to post to keep track for myself.
The front passenger door lock actuator failed and I got a new one off EBay for $28, and all's well now using this great forum as a DIY guide. The front passenger window is also erratic and a search suggests it's the large relay in the switch panel, so I got a relay off EBay for $41. The price is stiff, but they are NLA and sellers apparently know that. Meh, the laws of supple and demand apply, so whatever. Still a cheap fix, and this car has proven to be one of our best ever, so we try to keep up with its needs.
Edits: I was looking at the first post and noticed it's exactly a year ago, and that I didn't post any followup on some of the stuff:
1) The new rear valve cover solved the oil consumption problem perfectly. The car now has 117000 miles and does not use any oil.
2) I repainted the passenger rear door, with blends onto the quarter panel and front door, and cleared the three panels with quality poylurethane to keep it from oxidizing again. I was surprised how easily everything came off the door, which avoids tape lines. Some 1200 grit and a machine polish and it looks as good as new if I say so myself! While I was at it, I cut out any suspicious metal from the wheel arch and the rear rockers, MIG'd in new steel, seam sealed, cavity waxed, etc... hopefully the repairs will last longer than original (since I found and addressed the water ingress/egress problems). While I had the bumper skin off I redid the color/clear/flex, to address some scrapes and dings.
3) The driver seat bolster repair has held up perfectly. I used matching vinyl that is cloth backed instead of that weak "felt" that the OEM vinyl is made with. I think new material is the way to go. I hear about those vinyl repair kits, but I don't see that looking good or holding up at all. It was a pain to sew, but I used matching thread and the old thread holes, so the repair really looks right. It took a lot of time, but I did most of it while being subjected to a Chick Flick ( I probably lost some Marriage Points in the process, but it's her car so maybe I broke even?)
I was looking at the rips in the strut boots and noticed that they were fairly contained. I cleaned the the rubber with acetone and glued the cracks with Shoe Goo, and they're holding up well so far. I'll just check them once in a well and re-apply as necessary. New struts aren't a terrible DIY, but why rush it?
I've put some time into her car, but we like the thing. Besides, I'm older and I have the time, and I have all of the tools from working on our Sciroccos, so why not? Thanks again for a great forum!
The front passenger door lock actuator failed and I got a new one off EBay for $28, and all's well now using this great forum as a DIY guide. The front passenger window is also erratic and a search suggests it's the large relay in the switch panel, so I got a relay off EBay for $41. The price is stiff, but they are NLA and sellers apparently know that. Meh, the laws of supple and demand apply, so whatever. Still a cheap fix, and this car has proven to be one of our best ever, so we try to keep up with its needs.
Edits: I was looking at the first post and noticed it's exactly a year ago, and that I didn't post any followup on some of the stuff:
1) The new rear valve cover solved the oil consumption problem perfectly. The car now has 117000 miles and does not use any oil.
2) I repainted the passenger rear door, with blends onto the quarter panel and front door, and cleared the three panels with quality poylurethane to keep it from oxidizing again. I was surprised how easily everything came off the door, which avoids tape lines. Some 1200 grit and a machine polish and it looks as good as new if I say so myself! While I was at it, I cut out any suspicious metal from the wheel arch and the rear rockers, MIG'd in new steel, seam sealed, cavity waxed, etc... hopefully the repairs will last longer than original (since I found and addressed the water ingress/egress problems). While I had the bumper skin off I redid the color/clear/flex, to address some scrapes and dings.
3) The driver seat bolster repair has held up perfectly. I used matching vinyl that is cloth backed instead of that weak "felt" that the OEM vinyl is made with. I think new material is the way to go. I hear about those vinyl repair kits, but I don't see that looking good or holding up at all. It was a pain to sew, but I used matching thread and the old thread holes, so the repair really looks right. It took a lot of time, but I did most of it while being subjected to a Chick Flick ( I probably lost some Marriage Points in the process, but it's her car so maybe I broke even?)
I was looking at the rips in the strut boots and noticed that they were fairly contained. I cleaned the the rubber with acetone and glued the cracks with Shoe Goo, and they're holding up well so far. I'll just check them once in a well and re-apply as necessary. New struts aren't a terrible DIY, but why rush it?
I've put some time into her car, but we like the thing. Besides, I'm older and I have the time, and I have all of the tools from working on our Sciroccos, so why not? Thanks again for a great forum!
Last edited by echassin; 08-20-16 at 10:33 AM.
08-20-16, 09:25 PM
#5
Can you post some detail on the driver seat bolster repair?
01-26-18, 08:35 AM
#6
Rookie
Thread Starter
This forum is absolutely fantastic!
Ooo, sorry I never saw this. Basically amounted to taking the seat out (label everything), removing the cover, cutting out the torn piece, sewing in a new piece by hand using matching thread through the old holes so the stitches match and line up. Tedious but rewarding.
123000 miles and the new rear valve cover completely resolved the oil consumption problem, I still don't understand the path for such a huge oil loss. New A/F sensors after the CEL came on with some stumbling, cleaned the HVAC servos, passenger window switch relay (two $1 relays to replace the weird OEM relay), etc... The body work has held up perfectly in spite of heavy Sun and salt exposure. I have to change the driver door lock motor, it just died.
Things we're living with for now:
1) The power steering is occasionally notchy at first when it's been sitting for a while in sub-zero. I don't see why, I'll put clean fluid and clean the reservoir in the Spring.
2) After I replaced the passenger door lock motor, the doors all lock and unlock again whenever you open the passenger door, which is really annoying and I don't know why it's happening, maybe I'll try another motor while I'm doing the driver door.
3) I gave up on the power antenna; it keeps failing and I see RX300s all over with the antenna stuck half way. I finally gutted the thing and put a tiny plastic tab on the tip so we can move it up and down manually. We usually leave it down because reception is fine around here that way.
Latest update, hope this helps others:
For a few weeks, the car would occasionally hesitate slightly off the line in such a way that it felt like the transmission was briefly disengaging. No CEL, so I thought the trans was going in spite of all the fluid changes, and we were feeling sad and pondering what kind of car the Lady would like next... Finally the CEL came on, then started flashing, and the car started to stumble badly. I forget the code but it was the VVT solenoids, I just changed them and cleaned the little filters, and everything's perfect again. New car purchase averted!
I can't stress this enough: this forum has saved us countless dollars, and maybe more importantly, has allowed us to keep a good car nice. Another big Thank You to all the knowledgeable/helpful folks on here.
123000 miles and the new rear valve cover completely resolved the oil consumption problem, I still don't understand the path for such a huge oil loss. New A/F sensors after the CEL came on with some stumbling, cleaned the HVAC servos, passenger window switch relay (two $1 relays to replace the weird OEM relay), etc... The body work has held up perfectly in spite of heavy Sun and salt exposure. I have to change the driver door lock motor, it just died.
Things we're living with for now:
1) The power steering is occasionally notchy at first when it's been sitting for a while in sub-zero. I don't see why, I'll put clean fluid and clean the reservoir in the Spring.
2) After I replaced the passenger door lock motor, the doors all lock and unlock again whenever you open the passenger door, which is really annoying and I don't know why it's happening, maybe I'll try another motor while I'm doing the driver door.
3) I gave up on the power antenna; it keeps failing and I see RX300s all over with the antenna stuck half way. I finally gutted the thing and put a tiny plastic tab on the tip so we can move it up and down manually. We usually leave it down because reception is fine around here that way.
Latest update, hope this helps others:
For a few weeks, the car would occasionally hesitate slightly off the line in such a way that it felt like the transmission was briefly disengaging. No CEL, so I thought the trans was going in spite of all the fluid changes, and we were feeling sad and pondering what kind of car the Lady would like next... Finally the CEL came on, then started flashing, and the car started to stumble badly. I forget the code but it was the VVT solenoids, I just changed them and cleaned the little filters, and everything's perfect again. New car purchase averted!
I can't stress this enough: this forum has saved us countless dollars, and maybe more importantly, has allowed us to keep a good car nice. Another big Thank You to all the knowledgeable/helpful folks on here.
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maxSteel (02-05-18)
02-04-18, 12:06 PM
#7
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Thread Starter
Boy, when it rains it pours... Seems like no sooner I fixed the VVT solenoid DTC, a P0420 DTC came up with CEL/VSC lights, turns out the flex section of the exhaust under the engine was broken. A YouTuber showed how the leak may be imperceptable until you pry at the corrogations of the flex pipe with a screw driver with the engine running, and the leak becomes obvious/loud.
Interestingly, I was careless once plugging and unplugging the scanner tool while starting and stopping the engine, and on two subsequent test drives, the VSC and ABS lights flashed. Stopping and restarting the engine seems to have solved that, but it's something to keep in mind; a search showed another identical incident from a different scanner tool.
Tough winter for this car, new battery, dead driver door lock motor, new VVT solenoids, new O2 sensor, new flex pipe...
What's next?!
Interestingly, I was careless once plugging and unplugging the scanner tool while starting and stopping the engine, and on two subsequent test drives, the VSC and ABS lights flashed. Stopping and restarting the engine seems to have solved that, but it's something to keep in mind; a search showed another identical incident from a different scanner tool.
Tough winter for this car, new battery, dead driver door lock motor, new VVT solenoids, new O2 sensor, new flex pipe...
What's next?!
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02-05-18, 11:46 AM
#8
Where did you get the material for the bolster repair? I have the cream colored leather interior and I haven't found anything close.
02-05-18, 04:31 PM
#9
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Thread Starter
I brought the old torn section to a local shop that sells materials to upholsterers and they let me rummage around in the "scraps" room until I found a perfect match, and the material is tougher than what Lexus used. They only took a few bucks because I insisted. Nice folks. I was prepared to use something a little "off" because the section was ripped so badly it ruined the whole look of an otherwise nice car, almost anything would've been better.
06-08-19, 09:36 AM
#10
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Thread Starter
Update as we continue to decide to keep this car year after year, since it has been so good to us:
1) A little rust blasting here and there followed by seam sealer and refinishing, all underneath, under trim, or inthe rear wheel wells, the body still looks great.
2) I had annoying rim leaks so I got four new wheels from Rockauto for $500, and four new tires off Ebay for $250, and a tire machine and bubble balancer also off Ebay for $200. I modified the tire bar with a polyethylene tip and the tires mounted easily with no scratches. They balanced nicely so at 75 mph there is no shimmy at all (I admit I was skeptical about the balancer).
3) I got new pads and rotors and cleaned/lubed the caliper pins. The parking brakes and right rear brake shield were toast and I just deleted then. The parking brake on some new cars only works when stopped so I figured it's OK to be without an emergency brake in a modern car. People with big brake kits delete the shields so I did the same with the one rotted one.
4) I got four complete Monroe strut assemblies and new sway bar links from Rockauto for $650 and so far the fitment and quality seem stellar. The ride is no better but much less creaky than the old stuff.
Over all the car continues to impress us: the control arms are still tight and the CV boots are still perfect, which for a car this old and used this much is great.
1) A little rust blasting here and there followed by seam sealer and refinishing, all underneath, under trim, or inthe rear wheel wells, the body still looks great.
2) I had annoying rim leaks so I got four new wheels from Rockauto for $500, and four new tires off Ebay for $250, and a tire machine and bubble balancer also off Ebay for $200. I modified the tire bar with a polyethylene tip and the tires mounted easily with no scratches. They balanced nicely so at 75 mph there is no shimmy at all (I admit I was skeptical about the balancer).
3) I got new pads and rotors and cleaned/lubed the caliper pins. The parking brakes and right rear brake shield were toast and I just deleted then. The parking brake on some new cars only works when stopped so I figured it's OK to be without an emergency brake in a modern car. People with big brake kits delete the shields so I did the same with the one rotted one.
4) I got four complete Monroe strut assemblies and new sway bar links from Rockauto for $650 and so far the fitment and quality seem stellar. The ride is no better but much less creaky than the old stuff.
Over all the car continues to impress us: the control arms are still tight and the CV boots are still perfect, which for a car this old and used this much is great.
05-31-20, 07:54 AM
#11
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Thread Starter
Update as we continue to keep this car for hauling duty, hopefully this is useful within the Search function if others have need:
A few years back we started getting a lot of codes noted above and we kept up with them by replacing the appropriate parts, but it struck me as odd that we were getting so many unrelated codes all at once after years of nothing. It turns out the battery terminal were corroded and cleaning them made the car run noticeably smoother, I think crappy connections was causing the ECM to constantly reboot and be overly sensitive to things, causing a lot of codes to be stored that might otherwise has passed un-noticed.
Fast forward to last week, the car died suddenly in our subdivision. At first it wouldn't restart and we were going to walk home and grab a tow bar, but it suddenly fired and we got it home with a CEL on. The codes were simultaneous p1300, p1305, p1310, p1315, p1320, and p1325, all iginition coils off-line simultaneously. Figuring it would be odd to lose all at once, I at first suspected the ECM, but with research in this forum we were able to verify +12V at the white/red coil wires "key on", and we found that the white/black coil wires were poorly grounded. Splicing a fresh ground into the #3 coil's white/black wire solved the problem perfectly Sadly, I had to resort to that because cleaning all the ground straps we could find did not help. It looks like I never located the actual ground for the coils, it's either corroded or fraying.
A few years back we started getting a lot of codes noted above and we kept up with them by replacing the appropriate parts, but it struck me as odd that we were getting so many unrelated codes all at once after years of nothing. It turns out the battery terminal were corroded and cleaning them made the car run noticeably smoother, I think crappy connections was causing the ECM to constantly reboot and be overly sensitive to things, causing a lot of codes to be stored that might otherwise has passed un-noticed.
Fast forward to last week, the car died suddenly in our subdivision. At first it wouldn't restart and we were going to walk home and grab a tow bar, but it suddenly fired and we got it home with a CEL on. The codes were simultaneous p1300, p1305, p1310, p1315, p1320, and p1325, all iginition coils off-line simultaneously. Figuring it would be odd to lose all at once, I at first suspected the ECM, but with research in this forum we were able to verify +12V at the white/red coil wires "key on", and we found that the white/black coil wires were poorly grounded. Splicing a fresh ground into the #3 coil's white/black wire solved the problem perfectly Sadly, I had to resort to that because cleaning all the ground straps we could find did not help. It looks like I never located the actual ground for the coils, it's either corroded or fraying.
06-12-21, 01:53 PM
#13
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Thread Starter
We still like this car at 140,000 miles and even though underneath is crusty from Chicago winters, the car still looks great up top and drives fine with ice-cold A/C that I've topped off only once over the years (unreal!).
Latest code is a p0446 (EVAP/emissions). After attending some classes at Interwebz University, I checked the common suspects and found that the gas cap's mating surface at the filler pipe was rusty. I smoothed it with an abrasive pad and the code stayed away for a year, but then it returned. By then the O-ring on the gas cap was broken, but sadly a new OEM cap didn't keep the code away. After some more reading and curious about an occasional gas smell, I took the cover off the charcoal canister under the trunk floor and found dry-rotted hoses, which I'll replace. I also found that the so-called "vacuum switching valve" back there doesn't close with 12V on it, it just sparks a little. I was able to get it to close manually by taking it apart, cleaning/lubing it and pushing on the plunger with a screwdriver, but by then I'd destroyed the thing, not that I would've re-used it anyways. I found a new one on EBay for $30 that's the same brand as the original (Aisin?). I'll report back if this doesn't do the trick.
Edit: I also removed the fuel pump to confirm the original brand replacement (Denso) and ordered a new one. The old one runs smoothly but since I'm working on the the fuel system anyways...
Latest code is a p0446 (EVAP/emissions). After attending some classes at Interwebz University, I checked the common suspects and found that the gas cap's mating surface at the filler pipe was rusty. I smoothed it with an abrasive pad and the code stayed away for a year, but then it returned. By then the O-ring on the gas cap was broken, but sadly a new OEM cap didn't keep the code away. After some more reading and curious about an occasional gas smell, I took the cover off the charcoal canister under the trunk floor and found dry-rotted hoses, which I'll replace. I also found that the so-called "vacuum switching valve" back there doesn't close with 12V on it, it just sparks a little. I was able to get it to close manually by taking it apart, cleaning/lubing it and pushing on the plunger with a screwdriver, but by then I'd destroyed the thing, not that I would've re-used it anyways. I found a new one on EBay for $30 that's the same brand as the original (Aisin?). I'll report back if this doesn't do the trick.
Edit: I also removed the fuel pump to confirm the original brand replacement (Denso) and ordered a new one. The old one runs smoothly but since I'm working on the the fuel system anyways...
Last edited by echassin; 06-12-21 at 05:42 PM. Reason: Additional information
12-02-23, 06:58 AM
#14
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Thread Starter
This car simply. won't. die. 150,000+ miles.
My 18 year-old has been using it for 2 years and except for rough-looking bumpers (I hope the boy isn't hurting anyone elses' cars...), and a new $35 driver seat lower cover off EBay that looks completely normal, we haven't had to do a thing.
I do have to add a few tablespoons of coolant every month, not sure where it's going. LMK if there are usual suspects. No staining that I can see anywhere (nor puddles at such a low loss), but the radiator is the original so maybe that's it. I did leave the overflow cap off after one refill and the accessory belts mauled it up a little . LMK if anyone knows a source or has one to spare.
My 18 year-old has been using it for 2 years and except for rough-looking bumpers (I hope the boy isn't hurting anyone elses' cars...), and a new $35 driver seat lower cover off EBay that looks completely normal, we haven't had to do a thing.
I do have to add a few tablespoons of coolant every month, not sure where it's going. LMK if there are usual suspects. No staining that I can see anywhere (nor puddles at such a low loss), but the radiator is the original so maybe that's it. I did leave the overflow cap off after one refill and the accessory belts mauled it up a little . LMK if anyone knows a source or has one to spare.
04-02-24, 02:55 PM
#15
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Thread Starter
Follow-up on our slow coolant loss: a small wisp of team while sitting at a red light confirmed a wet spot at the upper driver side crimp of the radiator's end-tank, only visible after removing the upper shroud. Funny enough, I squeezed the crimp with pliers to tide us over while the new Spectra radiator shipped over, and the leak stopped completely, lol.
For anyone about to undertake this: replacement wasn't too bad: the lower shroud bolts rusted badly so we had to remove the radiator and fan shroud together, then cut the rusted bolt heads off with a cutoff wheel. They are M6, about 15mm long so have 3 of those on hand. By removing the trim piece along the bottom of the hood (atop the bumper skin), the upper bolts for the headlights, and the condenser brackets, we created just enough room to squeeze the old radiator-with-fan-shroud out and evrything back in whole. There's a vertical bar that connects the upper and lower core supports that we removed, but I think that may have been unnecessary. Its lower bolt can be easily accessed through the bumper skin by lifting the radiator up a few inches.
I also had to TIG a flex-fitting to reconnect the rear muffler to the pipe feeding it. That could have been achieved with clamps (no welding), so keeping this thing on the road past its prime really isn't too bad.
For anyone about to undertake this: replacement wasn't too bad: the lower shroud bolts rusted badly so we had to remove the radiator and fan shroud together, then cut the rusted bolt heads off with a cutoff wheel. They are M6, about 15mm long so have 3 of those on hand. By removing the trim piece along the bottom of the hood (atop the bumper skin), the upper bolts for the headlights, and the condenser brackets, we created just enough room to squeeze the old radiator-with-fan-shroud out and evrything back in whole. There's a vertical bar that connects the upper and lower core supports that we removed, but I think that may have been unnecessary. Its lower bolt can be easily accessed through the bumper skin by lifting the radiator up a few inches.
I also had to TIG a flex-fitting to reconnect the rear muffler to the pipe feeding it. That could have been achieved with clamps (no welding), so keeping this thing on the road past its prime really isn't too bad.
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Mjuta
LX - 1st and 2nd Gen (1996-2007)
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09-10-18 04:30 PM