Bean Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Both great solutions - hopefully the temp fix buys you plenty of time needed to sort out doing a reseal. Good thing you replaced the belt as a little bit of slipping causes the belt to get hard as the friction burns the rubber and it doesn't grip very well at all and you have to run high tension to stop further slipping. A new belt and it just needs to be snug and it's good to go. Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 my first thought was, "it's the 21st century, we can't make seals that don't swell or contract?" then i watched the video, and the guy said that the new seals don't swell or contract. good to hear about the new belt, also... andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulaweb Posted December 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 my first thought was, "it's the 21st century, we can't make seals that don't swell or contract?" then i watched the video, and the guy said that the new seals don't swell or contract. And I guess those seals were made (in the 20th century) to not swell or contract with the fuel that was sold in 1985. If we could have kept using that fuel, the seals would probably keep working fine. Perhaps more to the point is, "this is the 21st century can't we make fuel that burns clean without hurting the seals in existing vehicles". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulaweb Posted December 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 Since my fuel leak (now greatly reduced) seems to be coming from the side of the pump towards the block I still wonder if I can get away with doing just steps 39-40 and maybe 99-100 for good measure. Those don't seem to be too scary for me to do myself without taking the whole thing apart and might fix me up for a while.http://gnarlodious.com/Vanagon/Bosch_Pump/-Rebuild#39 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted December 13, 2012 Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 Definitely worth a shot I think... If you can stay true to the task and stop there, you should be set. I'm TERRIBLE for the "While I'm at it..." syndrome - and the next think I know it's completely apart and I'm polishing parts inside it. Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulaweb Posted December 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2012 If you can stay true to the task and stop there, you should be set. I'm TERRIBLE for the "While I'm at it..." syndrome - and the next think I know it's completely apart and I'm polishing parts inside it. I do that too when I'm comfortable with what I'm doing, but the inside of the injector pump is scarey to me. If I came across something else I could replace without having to take out parts that I don't understand the function of, or cause an adjustment to be needed, I might go a little further, but I'm sure not going to say oh what the hell and take the thing apart. Maybe if I had one pump professionally resealed I might try the other one for purely educational purposes, but I need a car to drive every day, and it might take me a month doing it a little at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulaweb Posted December 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 Yesterday I drove my 89 year old mother, who was the original owner of the Blue 505, to the Connecticut Massachusetts boarder, where my Brother met us to take her to his house near Boston for a few days, before driving her home to New Hampshire. So that was about 4 hours each way. It was raining and a little “wintery mix” most of the way. We noticed that the front passenger side carpet got wet. Not like a puddle of liquid wet, but wetter than would be the result of just wet shoes on it. I’m not sure if it came up from below or down from above, but I’ll investigate that. At the time we noticed the wetness, the driver’s side and the back on both sides were dry. I’ll check that again shortly. When I got about 3/4 of the way back, the speedometer quit. I assume that will be the cable but I’ll have to check that. Otherwise the Grey 505 did fine. Approximately one full tank of fuel, but I can’t calculate my mileage since the Speedometer/Odometer died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 one time i found a small bit of water on the front passenger side floor, but it hasn't happened since...i searched and searched for a leak but found nothing. the only thing i could come up with is that is could be a bit of condensation that was in some of the a/c hoses since it happened just after i removed the old dashboard (and undid several hoses as a result). it hasn't happened again (many rainy days since), so i'm trying not to think about it. i was just noticing your signature file and the fact that the grey car has an automatic. how does driving it compare to your blue car (5-speed)? andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulaweb Posted December 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 i was just noticing your signature file and the fact that the grey car has an automatic. how does driving it compare to your blue car (5-speed)? Not as much fun. I wasn't expecting much performance from a 3 speed auto, but it's not as bad as I expected. Of course a diesel isn't going to be smoking the tires no mater what transmission it has. I must say I don't like the stiffer suspension on the STI compared to the S. The S was a perfect balance of comfort and handling for my taste. The STI really feels every bump. The seats on the STI also don't have that legendary Peugeot comfort I've come to expect. The leather was somewhat stiff, and I've been using a lot of conditioner on them, to try and soften them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulaweb Posted January 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2013 As I discussed earlier when I changed the alternators the heater in the lower radiator hose interfered with the alternator. I fabricated a temporary fix using part of the hose from the blue car and part of the hose from the grey car. I just got a new hose from Rock Auto which looks like it is correct. While I was getting that, I ordered the other relevant hoses, as well, since I can't count on being able to get them later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulaweb Posted January 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Now I don't know about my plan to drive the grey car for the winter before swapping engines. The last few days something hasn't felt right in the rear end. Today the weather cleared enough for me to have a good look, and the left rear trailing arm looks like it's had it. Is that the same part on the S as the STI? If so, does anyone have one for sale? I figure if I can find one, and can later use it on the Blue car I might replace this one, but if it won't later fit the other car, I don't think It's worth replacing on a car that will soon be dissembled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrethx Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 the STI cars use different part numbers...for non-STI cars, the rear arms are 5175.03/5175.04 (L/R); for the STI cars, the part numbers are 5175.07/5175.08 (L/R). as far as i know, the parts are interchangeable but the camber is different on the STI arms. so if you get a new left STI arm for the grey car (the STI, correct?), you should get a matching right one for the blue car when you eventually move the replacement arm over (if the right arm on the grey STI is not in good shape). or, you could get a non-STI left arm for the grey car but i'm not sure what the camber mismatch would do besides wear out your tires funny... when i rebuild my rear suspension in the coming months, i plan to have my rear arms powder coated (black, no smartass jokes, rabin ) so they'll last a long time. my car is a california car so my arms have no rust, but i'm nutty like that. based on the other stuff i've had powder coated, i estimate it'll cost around US$100 each to have this done. the arms are made from stamped metal, there are lots of areas in the piece where water can collect so they have a tendency to rust out. andré Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anj Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Hi Dave I am the process of changing mine and the ones off my current car will be availabe in about thirty days. Free, you cover the cost of shipping. They are off a 1987 STX. Arun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulaweb Posted February 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Arun That would be great. Thanks! I assume that the ones from a 1987 STX will fit my cars. I really dislike the ride of the STI compared to the S. I don't know how much if any of that is related to the arms. I wouldn't think that would be much of a difference. I don't know how the suspension in an STX compares to others or if a 1987 is any different from a 1985. Let me know when they are ready and I'll arrange the shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulaweb Posted March 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 I made a quick (well it took a while so not so quick) ghetto fix to the rear suspension arm. I just need it to hold together for another week or two till I'm ready to swap engines. I took a steel strap and wrapped it around the stub at the front pivot point of the arm which had separated from the rest. I riveted it to the stub, then placed it back in position and riveted the strap to the top and bottom of the suspension arm. I'm still debating what to do about the leaky injector pump. I could take the pump from the blue car, which also leaks but not as baddy, and get it resealed then replace the one in the grey car with it, at the time of the engine swap I could put the pump from the blue car in the grey car, or on it's engine, living with it's leak for the time being while sending the pump from the grey one out for reseal I could send out the pump from the grey car while switching engines and just wait without a car till it comes back. The engine and pump on the grey car has a lot less miles on it so I'm inclined to try and wind up with that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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