there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

[bigdirty]

You know when you already have too much to do, and not enough time, something else ALWAYS pops up right? So I am stuck waiting till tomorrow (for a friend with a truck) to grab more lumber so i can finish my boat shelter.. figured hey, I'll pop the snow tires on my vw, do some clean up in the shop, take it easy tonite... Take the front tire off, oh look.. My brakes are about shot! Rotors scored/grooved to hell, pads nearly gone.. ok, no big deal.. they are cheep, just another hour of my time some nite (soon)... then I grab the caliper/strut, just to give things a shake, check nothing is seized, tie-rods and such are still good.. the whole damn strut is wobbling around! (up and down, side to side..) :facepalm: the upper mount/strut bearings are right out of it. Been getting some weird clunks from the front end lately, and its puling all over, but front tires are shot so I figured clunks were struts going out, possibly rear engine mount, and i know one tire probly has a shifted belt, meh no big deal.. ya..

There goes my weekend.. :cold: boooo...

 

[generator12]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

Wow! Guess you should have put those snow tires on in July. At least that would have left you some time...!

 

[bigdirty]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

heh.. yaaa..... so I went and picked up my ordered strut mounts today, spent an hour moving things around in the shop to squeeze the car in, start to tear it apart, wait a sec.. :facepalm: these strut mounts are WAY to small.. wrong part, wont work, pheww.... ok, get a ride into town, return these.. parts store guy looks it up, "Oh.. ya, these are wrong, but we can get the right ones ordered.. They are $92 each." (as opposed to $26 for the 'wrong' ones) so I make a 'homer simpson' type noise.. "ahhh!" but wait, heres the kicker...

Struts are on sale this week, I can get a whole 'quick strut' (strut, spring, mount, everything) ready to bolt on, and its done... for $123 ea. Guess i'm waiting till monday night now, but on the good side of things, that frees up my night now to drink beer and jump i the hot tub later :laugh:

 

[JoLin]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

My father used to say something to the effect that...

As you accumulate more and more 'stuff', you'll come to realize that your possessions own you, instead of the other way around. He was right.

Seems that 9 times out of 10, every task I start turns into a project.

 

[bigdirty]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

yup.. true saying.. Got the car all sorted... sort of :cold: .. new brakes dont stop as well as the old, new struts make squeaky noises the old ones didn't (rubber bushing not seated well i guess...) and it pulls to the left.. still. :facepalm:

ya, well.. whatever, I got a boat to build, this car will just have to get its arse through the winter as is. :laugh:

 

[bigdirty]

Re: there's always something... (MORE vehicular issues..)

Re: there's always something... (MORE vehicular issues..)

..... I got a boat to build, this car will just have to get its arse through the winter as is. :laugh:

Ya, I guess the car heard me say that... :facepalm: I figure I might as well hijack my own post here.. got some problems, hoping someone has possible solutions or advice...

Readers digest condensed version; Reverse gear took a vacation, never returned, bought used trany, installed, filled gear oil through wrong hole (bell-housing INSPECTION port..:facepalm and ruined clutch.. took trans out, again, bought new clutch kit, had flywheel machined, installed all NEW parts, put trans back in, test drive, %@&$%*&@$*& THING IS SLIPPING!!!! It's drivable, will stall motor if i release clutch fast or with brakes applied, BUT at higher rpm/speed the revs start to climb even before I hit half throttle, without increasing vehicle speed...

Now, there was some confusion with this car, as the VIN# doesn't seam to come up for VW and the part # on original clutch denotes it is apparently supposed to be on a GAS engine.. yet I have a 1.9 turbo diesel... soooo i'm a bit worried now.. perhaps the new pressure plate release springs don't have enough tension to hold the torque from the diesel motor? (although the new parts looked and measured identical to what came out of the car.. and what came out was worn, but working PERFECTLY, never slipped, never had any issues till my stupid move with the gear oil..)

Or is this just possibly just a normal 'break in' issue that should get better after a couple hundred miles of 'gentle' use with no WOT or hard shifting?



I'm pulling my hair out on this one now... and I REALLY do NOT wana pull this stinking thing apart again.. it is a nightmare..

 

[bigdirty]

Re: there's always something... (MORE vehicular issues..)

Re: there's always something... (MORE vehicular issues..)

ah HA! Think I have it figured out... talked to a VW guy today, turns out my 'self adjusting' clutch cable is a big POS and they are known to fail... in that they adjust, but never let go.. and hang the clutch up, never fully allowing it to engage. (long term result would be burning out the clutch) So I have ordered a manually adjustable cable, should be in Wednesday.

 

[bigdirty]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

oh god.. why have you forsaken me!!!! Replacing that clutch cable involved removing the instrument cluster, along with many pieces of the dash board, making a screwdriver into a custom 'tool' and took me at LEAST 3 beers! (working on this car requires 1 an hour usually...:laugh I believe i have invented several new curse words... Oh, ya... and to top things off, the (300 EFING DOLLAR!!) power steering lines exploded at the rack yesterday when I fired it up to move it ahead in the shop a bit.... :facepalm: good thing I cant drive this thing anywhere, cause i'm getting drunk now. :drunk:

 

[BlkY2k]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

Look on the bright side, it sounds like everything will ne new when your done.

 

[Grub54891]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

Typical issues! Bring car to shop for a new rad cap,brakes go out while tech test drives it,repaired,then the turboemaculater seizes up,repaired,then the hydrossalater-anti-vacume positive controlled neg body mount bracket holder bearing goes away. Ugggg!
Grub

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

Buy the Bentley publications shop manual for your car. It's the best tool you can ever buy for a VW, Audi, or other European car. Also check out blauparts.com for VW and Audi parts. OEM parts at about half of the dealer cost

 

[bruceb58]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

One of the problems that plagues Lexus GS300s is the power door lock actuators. 2 out of 4 of mine failed. Replacing the front door one is over $200 for the part and rear door is close to $100. Fortunately, some guys on a Lexus forum discovered that there is $5 motor that goes bad and you just have to disassemble it to get at it. $10 later and I saved $300!!

 

[bigdirty]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

Well, to top it ALL off, the lines are now BACK-ORDERED so im dead in the water for the whole weekend now.. oh, and i hurt my hand at work yesterday, and cant move my left index finger more than half an inch or so.. so i guess it doesn't mater anyway.. :facepalm: Its going to be a very drunk weekend... and the way its all going, i can only assume when I finally get the P/S lines in and installed, the clutch will likely still slip and I will be taking the trany out for a third time..

Its been a rough week all around here actually... a co-worker's car (yup, a lexus lol) had that SAME issue this week, he couldn't get in the car.. and ANOTHER co-workers truck ended up in a shop for 3 days for a whole front end and a muffler... wtf is going on right?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

also try here VW Parts | Volkswagen Parts

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

I feel your pain....... First I have to tell you that Rockauto online has been the best place I have found for parts. I recently tuned up the wife's car and bought my iridium spark plugs there CHEAP! It carries both import and domestic with fast shipping.

Yes, the wife and I had a Jetta TDI (that I chipped and made more useful ) but we bailed out on it because the maintenance was kicking our butts. It was the MOST maintenance heavy vehicle I have owned.

Scott hit it right on the head...... don't mess around and get the bently manual for your car.

 

[bigdirty]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

...... don't mess around and get the bently manual for your car.

Actually I have found that with the internet, and talking to the local VW guy (private shop, not dealer) finding the repair information isn't the issue.. it is the damn PARTS cost(s), and the fact that its a 15+ year old (Canadian) car that does NOT like to be taken apart anymore! :facepalm:

I'm in a tough spot right now... cant afford a payment for anything new(er), never mind higher insurance costs, and at this point I have put so much time and $$$ into this car i really HAVE to just drive it for the next few years.. It's not 'worth' the $1500 I have dropped into it in the last 2 months to anyone else, and hell.. there's not much left to go wrong now anyway! :laugh: Only has 176K on the odometer, motor should do at LEAST another 200K.. also I should say, I HAVE been driving it for almost 3 years, and done next to NOTHING aside from basic oil/fuel filters and brakes.. so I suppose i 'had this coming' right? Just bad timing to have it all go wrong right now...

 

[bassman284]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

I feel your pain....... First I have to tell you that Rockauto online has been the best place I have found for parts. I recently tuned up the wife's car and bought my iridium spark plugs there CHEAP! It carries both import and domestic with fast shipping.

Yes, the wife and I had a Jetta TDI (that I chipped and made more useful ) but we bailed out on it because the maintenance was kicking our butts. It was the MOST maintenance heavy vehicle I have owned.

Scott hit it right on the head...... don't mess around and get the bently manual for your car.

Well yeah, the maintenance is what I've heard about. About 6 years ago or so I went to a niece's wedding in KC (about 800 miles round trip). I had a brother and a sister going with me and none of us were interested in driving our current beaters so we rented a car from Enterprise. We got to Enterprise and they had a VW Passat for us. It was a great car to drive. Truly great. I did most of the driving but let my brother drive it for a couple hundred miles and he fell in love. He had a Volvo that he really loved but the maintenance was killing him. I told him then that I had heard that the VW was a maintenance nightmare even beyond the Volvo. He talked to his tame mechanic who told him, "If you buy a VW you'll be my best friend."

Anyway, my experience is purely anecdotal from word of mouth and internet, but it keeps coming down to cost of maintenance. Great car but it breaks a lot and costs a bunch to fix.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

My last VW's were a pair if 1998 Jetta GLX's. One I bought new with 4 miles one it and sold with 240k. Sold with original clutch. Other than brakes, struts, and tires the car needed almost 0 maintenance. The second was a basket case bought for $500, spent $500 to resurrect and driven by my daughter for about 6000 miles before she wanted me to sell it. I drove it for another 5000 miles and sold it for $2500. Prior VWs include a Passat and a fox.

 

[bigdirty]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

Man oh man... all I can do is laugh.. then cry.. then throw my hands up and say "OK, I GIVE UP!" to the universe... Went to pick up my p/s lines today... the shipper/depot screwed up, sent TWO high pressure lines. No return line. Yup, another two days to wait... :mad-new: :Cry: :frusty:

 

[slow joe]

Re: there's always something... (vehicular issues rant)

Just a couple spots for parts that I use a lot are eeuroparts.com and rockauto.com.

I'm a Saab guy which everyone says are terrible for maintenance, yet I have relatively good luck with mine. I also do all my own maintenance, and do a lot of preventative things. I've looked at VWs quite a few times as well as Volvos. I'm pretty sure my next car will either be another Saab or an XC70 Wagon... Depending on how big of a boat I get next I may have to go bigger. lol...

Good luck with the TDi. I use to work at a VW dealership, and depending on what year exactly it is there are different things to look at, you said 15 years old so I'm assuming a '98, which is actually better than a '99.5-'04 reliability wise... lol