I recently picked up the car again [4/23/09], after Smitty made some effective fixes. The main fix was the rebuild of the injection pump. The car really feels differently now and is able to accelerate fast enough to make it onto a highway. Also, the battery no longer drains [I've had no problems starting the car since then —3/14/10]. Here is an email I sent to Smitty, and below is his email after his fixes.
Hi Smitty and all,
[unrelated deleted]
Below a listing and report on the car issues.
Long story short:
Could we make this car reliable? It eats batteries, fuel lines spurt fuel, and it can't accelerate enough to avoid being honked at or get on the highway.
It's an extremely traumatic car to drive. No one in my family wants to go near it.
Long story itemized:
1. Fuel lines spurt fuel. Several of the fuel lines have cracked open and spurted fuel, once to the point of emptying the tank in a few minutes. Are they the wrong lines, or were they put in wrong?
2. The batteries fail constantly. I always carry a second fully charged battery for this case, and need it often (like on the way to the shop yesterday). When I got the car originally it came with a dead battery. I don't think this problem has ever been solved. It's either something with the alternator or it's some kind of spike or short, I would guess. Somewhere in the system, energy is being drained. I checked them with a voltmeter while revving the engine, and there is power coming through, maybe too much, but you might want to test that again.
3. The engine is very weak. I know it's a weak engine to begin with, and I know it's better than how it was before, but there must be a way to get it to be within reason. Did they really sell consumer cars in the 80's that couldn't get on the highway? Is the turbo for real or not? If not, can it be replaced? Can the engine be replaced? Smitty, you mentioned moving the fuel injection closer up. Let's try that or whatever else you can suggest. What are the different options and costs?
4. One of the belts is very loose. It makes a rattling noise when starting the car and goes away when you rev the motor, or after second gear. It doesn't always do this, so you may not notice it immediately.
5. The AC vent used to at least blow air from the left vent. Now it makes a screeching noise. How much would it take/cost to get the vents or even the AC to work?
6. The clutch is "high" according to several people who've driven the car. Can that be adjusted?
7. When going in reverse the rear lights don't light up.
8. I looked under the car. It looks rusty. Is that safe? If so for how long? What can I do about it?
9. The window washer fluid mechanism isn't really working.
10. There is a disconnected wire near the front of the motor, possibly to relay the temperature? Could you resolve that?
Long story long:
I have been gradually adding biodiesel to the diesel mix. When it was running mostly biodiesel, I dared take a trip with the car to Orlando with my wife (using smaller roads). I charged the second battery as insurance against the inevitable battery failure. When I got to Ocala cars started honking at me. I'm used to that since the car doesn't accelerate normally. Then I noticed smoke coming from the front. I stopped and looked under the hood. The whole motor area was covered in biodiesel. I turned on the motor and noticed a fountain coming from one of the valves. A man came by who claimed to work on diesels and using a knife, took off the problem hose (one of the small ones), cut it short, and put it back on. I had called AAA already so they had recommended the local VW dealer. When the hose seemed to be fixed I went by the VW dealer just to have them check it out for safety. They were very excited to see this type of car, none of them had before. This amused me, but also worried me. In the end they turned one of the fuel input valves somewhat in order to avoid chafing and also replaced another hose because it was cracked (this was a different hose than the one that had broken).
Back on the road about a half and hour later, I checked the car just out of anxiety. One of the large hoses had split at the end and was leaking fuel in large amounts. It had emptied the tank, which had been half full. That hose had not been a problem before, so I still don't know if it broke later, or was involved earlier, or if the VW guys accidentally broke it. I was near an auto parts store, bought some clamps and reattached the hose with multiple clamps so it wouldn't bend. We drove to a gas station to fill up and from there managed to drive home. The next day the battery was dead again.
I tell the story because I don't know exactly what caused the (three) hoses to fail, and why they failed in such quick succession. I had been using biodiesel, but it's supposed to take months before they degrade, and these were supposed to be the Viton hoses, so they shouldn't degrade at all. When I do the hose check (pinching the hose into an L shape) they seem fine. Could it be the shaking of the motor; do they all need to be clamped to avoid bending?
I have ordered more of the 1/8 inch hose to replace the one (with the fiber sheathing) that the Ocala VW people put on. That one seems to be "sweating" already.
Anyway, have a look at the car. I can be reached by email or phone anytime. Please keep me informed of possible solutions and costs in advance.
thanks and good luck
Max Becher
Hi Max,
Well after reading your letter I realize that we've got a challenge on our hands, however after looking closely at the problems it came down to two things (1) get much more power and be able to get the car started whenever you want without any reserve power.
First lets get the car started and do so always, the wiring harness from the alternator was changed, secure the alternator belt by repairing/welding the alternator bracket to maintain the correct belt tension and alignment. However with the belt in position and New harness to the alternator we are reading just over battery voltage as output, we have to replace the alternator after doing so re check output alternator now reads 66amps at 13.46 Volts {Perfect} with these numbers this car should always start unless someone leaves the lights on to drain the battery.
Now we look at the performance Problem, Repair all fuel leaks and try to check injection pump timing, with the Jig in place I am still not able to set the timing where it is suppose to be, Now this is a set up I have used for over 25 Years but after not being able to get the reading on my dial indicator I am now convinced that my dial indicator has died, so I ordered a new dial indicator after getting the new tool try again to set the Injection pump timing Still I cannot get the numbers that I want, remembering we had to install an electric Fuel pump earlier to try to fix a hard start problem, I came to the conclusion the injection pump is faulty, since this is an expensive part I was sure that I had exhausted all other possibilities that's when I called you to tell you we have to get the Injection pump Remanufactured, I called the diesel pump company and explained to them the problem I was having in trying to set the injection pump timing and of course he explained to me that the stator/shaft that the pin for the tool sits on in the pump is worn down and would have to be replaced, once you gave me the ok to proceed we removed the pump packaged it and sent it out, we received it three days later and installed it on the car, we were able to set the pump timing in less than forty minutes and at the settings the manufacturer recommends, since we had already secured all the fuel lines previously all we had to do was to road test this car. WOOOW We have a new car, we can now spin the front tires at will take third gear all the way to 50 miles per hour we have driven this car for the last couple of days since I knew you were not around here, You are now going to enjoy this car as you intended when you got it.
We also fixed the windshield washers.
[unrelated deleted]
Thanks
Smitty
