Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 08:50:41 +0000
Reply-To: tonyd <tonyd@CANDESA.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: tonyd <tonyd@CANDESA.COM>
Organization: candesa
Subject: Re: Temperature Sensative Sliding Door
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854";
x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"
This is an excellent reply (even though I'd be hesitant to use a pressure
washer that close to my interior) but I have to say that this is one of those
times that being "anal-retentive" may be a good thing. Cleaning the sliders is
key. But, in order for the door to close optimally(sp?) you need to clean the
rear spring/slider mechanism that runs along the rear outside rail thoroughly!
(and the outside rail, under the body molding that covers it) And, to much
peoples dismay, that requires removing it. It's a bit tedious because you have
to take the door off, but for me (and I may be a self-punishing freak) getting
that far into something gives me peace knowing every inch of it has been
attended too and logged in that "mental VW handbook". I hope this makes sense.
The better, more thorough job you do, the better your door will work in all
tempuratures. Good luck!
TonyD
'71 bug
'73 bug
'70 loaf
'84 westy
'87 GL
Bulley-Hewlett & Associates wrote:
> I have the same problem with my 87 Westy.
> Looking forward to the replies.
> Bryan
> Wil Barker wrote:
> >
> > I have an '85 Westy and as I live in NJ this is the time of year when
> > the temp starts to dip into the 40's [F]. Pretty much as soon as the
> temp
> > drops to 49 degees the sliding door will not close easily from the
> inside.
> > I must get out and close it with two hands (one at the front and one
> > pressing at
> * the back). What's up with this???
>
> Being anal-retentive isn't easy, but I find ways to make it easy...case in
> point:
>
> Upon purchase of our 1982, the sliding door mechanism was crapped up with
> 16-years of grease, dirt, and sand from around the world, (PO had van in
> 30-35 countries). This gritty crap made the door noisy and difficult to
> slide, which I couldn't stand. Disassemble the whole works to clean it? NO
> WAY!
>
> As you know, there are three surfaces to clean, the top slider, bottom
> slider, and rear slider.
>
> The top is a breeze. Using WD-40(r) as a solvent, spray the track and use a
> disposable rag to remove ALL of the old grease. ALL of it. Clean the little
> nylon sliding block by passing the rag around the back of the block,
> holding both ends of the rag, then using the rag like you would to shine
> shoes. Depending on how worn your little block is, you may choose to
> disassemble the slider, and rotate the block 90 degrees to present new wear
> surfaces, or replace it entirely. Don't leave any WD-40 on the track.
>
> The rear and bottom sliders require two things: Simple Green(r), and a
> hot-water pressure washer. I hope you are fortunate enough to have both
> available in your town. We have a coin-operated "Wand Wash" a block down
> the road; I've seen similar businesses everywhere that water copiously
> falls from the sky (not CA, AZ, Antarctica, etc.)
>
> The rest of the procedure is obvious: saturate the sliders and track with
> Simple Green; allow a few minutes for it to dissolve the grease. With the
> door fully open, pressure-wash the entire bottom slider, using a variety of
> angles and paying careful attention to clean away every speck of grease.
> You will need to crouch down quite low, and point the tip upward to wash
> the upper portion of the bottom slider. YES, you can do this without
> wetting the interior, you just have to be careful. If you have difficulty
> being careful, bring along a friend to hold a towel like a curtain across
> the bottom of the door.
>
> Move the door slightly forward (toward closing) to clean the very back
> portion of the sliding rail.
>
> Follow the same procedure for the rear sliding rail and mechanism. Again,
> spray off every last molecule of old grease from the mechanism and rail.
> This will get little flakes of crappy old grease on the side of your van,
> but simple washing will remove these.
>
> Whole procedure took Six minutes, at a total cost of about $3.50, Simple
> Green, WD-40 and $1.50 at the Wand Wash included.
>
> Now that the rails and mechanism are immaculately clean, use your choice of
> lubricants on the rails. I used two applications of Slick-50 Teflon spray,
> allowed this to dry for a day, then followed with a Lithium grease spray
> which dries to a paste. The door slides smoother than butter now. You will
> be amazed. If your sliding mechanism has a lot of rust, you may consider
> soaking it for a few days in WD-40 prior to this procedure to loosen up
> some of the rust, so it washes off.
>
> Best of luck,
>
> G. Matthew Bulley
> Principal
> Bulley-Hewlett & Associates
> Communications for Organizational Development
> www.bulley-hewlett.com
> (888) 468-4880 toll free
| 
