Date: Sun, 25 May 2008 12:55:11 -0400
Reply-To: Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Water Pump // Alternator Belt problem
In-Reply-To: <4838D333.1070607@turbovans.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Scott,
Bravo, Bravo! You were absolutely correct! The water pump pulley was on
backwards. I removed it and reversed it and it lines up perfectly.
Last night, after reading your reply, I thought "well, that certainly could
be the problem, but how could the van have run for over 40,000 miles without
the problem surfacing before now?" And, the water pump was changed by an
excellent van mechanic (now retired) and I doubt if he made that kind of
mistake.
During a restless night worrying about the problem, and after looking at the
Bentley and a receipt for some recent work, the source of the problem hit
me. I live in Virginia and we have to have yearly vehicle safety
inspections, part of which involves visually inspecting at least one front
brake pad and one rear brake pad. In the past, I have run into problems
with safety inspection stations being unable to remove the rear drum even
after I explained how. So, I usually go to a VW dealer about 30 miles away
for the safety inspection.
Recently, I went to the VW dealer for the safety inspection and mentioned
that there seemed to be a coolant leak around the water pump and asked them
to check it. A few minutes later, the mechanic (loosely used term) informed
me that the water pump was fine and I just needed a minor gasket replaced.
I told him to fix it and didn't think any more about it.
Well, guess which gasket was replaced? *Part #N-901-685-02* which is the
water gasket for the steel air bleed nipple on the the right head. After
looking at the Bentley, putting on a robe, and grabbing a flashlight, I went
outside and inspected the van. Yep, made perfect sense to me what
happened. The guy at the dealership removed the pulley to replace the
gasket and then put the pulley on backwards.
While I am highly annoyed with what happened, I certainly learned a lot in
changing the belts and reversing the pulley. How the belt stayed on for
over a 1,000 miles is amazing. I am thankful I found the problem and that
Scott gave me the correct reason for the problem.
Scott, if my wife and I end up in Oregon this summer, we are coming by your
shop to buy you a cup of coffee.
Thanks for the correct diagnosis.
Oh, and yes, I have lubed many, many places on the van but am certain I have
missed many more. I did lube the doors, and every thing I could find where
metal rubbed on metal. I bought some Redline MT-90 but I think I will have
to go to a real mechanic to get that changed. I just can't get the fill
plug loose with my improvised tool.
Thanks again,
Harold
--
Harold & Faye Teer
1991 Westy
Harrisonburg, VA
On Sat, May 24, 2008 at 10:47 PM, Scott Foss - Shazam <
scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
> Harold, check the w pump pulley.
> it will ( stupidly ) fit on both ways.
> Only one way is correct.
> it's not marked in any way which side is 'out' , and it's an easy
> mistake to make.
> I mark them, or paint them with bright paint for which side is 'out'.
> Very likely this is it.
>
> and.....................
> I didn't hear anything about CV joint servicing, trans oil changing to
> MT-90 Redline Synthetic, ( if manual )
> inspecting front wheel bearings grease and adjustment ( this BARELY
> wears btw ) .
> Nor rear brake inspection inside the drums for worn shoes and especially
> leaky wheel cyldiners.
> nor inspecting the front brake pads.
> nor changing the brake fluid.
> nor lubing the shift linage if manual trans. ( or servicing both parts
> of an automtic trans )
> nor lubing the throttle cable inside the white tube in the forward body
> of the van.
> nor checking that the spare tire is good and has sufficient tire pressure.
> nor checking all exterior lights- brake lights etc.
> let's see ...........what else.....
> man..........i find 400 hundred things to lube on a vanagon when i get it.
> I am usually the FIRST person ever to lube the seat belt latches, for
> example.
> and every latch and hinge on the whole van.
> or treat all the rubber.
> Windshield washer fluid and function of the sprayers ?
> How good are the shocks. ?
> What is the charging voltage to the battery ?
> How is the battery water ? Is there corrosion on the terminals or inside
> the battery box ? ( found an 86 lately this is rare, but big holes
> corroded right through the battery box floor )
> is there a # 2 battery?
> I bouught an 85 Wolfsburg Weekender about a year ago - behind the
> driver's seat was an original white case, Audi symbol - those 4 blue
> rings if you've ever seen one- 80's era VW original equipment battery
> ............an original battery, from the factory in Germany
> ............I was THE FIRST PERSON IN OVER 20 YEARS to know that battery
> was in there or ever lay eyes on it.
> And it was fried to nothing of course.
> no owner, no shop, EVER,.........................I suspect, knew about
> that battery in there or serviced it, in 23 years.
>
> I could probably add 100 more things to this list.- small detail things.
> Lube the rear hatch hinges and pivot points for the struts top and
> bottom, and the latch at the bottom.
> And spray a good penetrating ( i like Prolong ) spray synthetic grease
> into all key lock cylinders.
>
> you know what happens when people lube every little thing that moves on
> the whole van ? ( which no one ever does of course )
>
> ..........why..............................................things.....................................last
> .....................................indefenitly
> ........................................ !
>
> Isn't that just amazing ?? !!
> so fun i think.
> and here's what gets me ........................a half second shot of a
> spray lube is good for about a year or two practically.
> Is that so hard, when the alternative it to never ever do
> 'anything'...........until things are broken, stuck, jammed, falling off.
> What is it with me ? - I just like taking care of mechanical things.
> And so rewarding too, especially on a very Wonderful and WORTHY vehicle
> like a vanagon .
> I should publish my 'real' service list on my site.
> it would go on for pages. Every little thing that moves.
> like this.............that spring on the throttle body , where it hooks
> into a small hole at the aft end.
> tell me what happens if it never gets lubed, and tell me what happens it
> it gets lubed once in 5 years.
> for the former- it wears a notch in the round spring hole, for the later
> - nothing happens, it stays happy.
> i like to lube the throttle body pivots and springs.
> did i miss air and fuel filters on your report ?
> Have fun !!!
>
> scott
> www.turbovans.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Jake de Villiers wrote:
>
>> It sounds like you've done the heavy lifting Harold!
>>
>> Your pulleys need to be in fairly good alignment. Maybe you can shim the
>> water pump pulley out so that it matches better with the others. Maybe
>> you
>> have the wrong ( ie 1.9) water pump on there?
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, May 24, 2008 at 6:50 PM, Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>> I need some advice/help with a problem. In preparing for a long trip
>>> this
>>> summer which could amount to about 12,000-14,000 miles, I decided to do
>>> as
>>> much of the preventive maintenance on our van as I could so that I would
>>> learn more about the van and how to fix things should we have problems on
>>> the road. I changed the spark plugs, rotor, distributor cap, fuel
>>> filter,
>>> air filter, oil and oil filter, and flushed the power steering, brake and
>>> clutch systems. As I was doing all of that, I noticed that the water
>>> pump/alternator belt was loose and frayed a little even though it had
>>> been
>>> changed by a real mechanic about 16,000 miles ago. So, I ordered an A/C,
>>> Power Steering, and Alternator belt so I could change all belts.
>>>
>>> Before removing the belts, I noticed that the water pump, alternator belt
>>> did not seem to line up perfectly. The pulley for the water pump is
>>> closer
>>> to the front of the van than the engine pulley or the alternator pulley.
>>> In
>>> fact, the outer lip of the water pump pulley seemed to line up almost
>>> with
>>> the inner lip of the engine pulley. After removing the belts, I checked
>>> the
>>> end play in the alternator and the water pump pulleys and everything
>>> seems
>>> really tight with no wiggle in the pulleys.
>>>
>>> After replacing all belts, the water pump/alternator belt (ContiTech AVX
>>> 10X1110) twists and kicks off the pulley. So, I know I either did
>>> something wrong, or something is wrong on the van.
>>>
>>> Facts: Coolant has been religiously changed every two years since the
>>> van
>>> was new. During a fix of a leaking head gasket at about 75,000 miles, I
>>> had
>>> a new German built water pump installed. The van now has 116,000 miles.
>>> No
>>> coolant leakage around the water pump.
>>>
>>> Can anyone give me some advice on what to check and how to check it. Be
>>> easy, I am not a mechanic, just someone who is learning.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Harold
>>>
>>> --
>>> Harold & Faye Teer
>>> 1991 Westy
>>> Harrisonburg, VA
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Jake
>> 1984 Vanagon GL
>> 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
>> Crescent Beach, BC
>> www.crescentbeachguitar.com
>> http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27
>>
>>
>>
>>
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