A cry for help from my 2.1MV brethren!

[max and caddy]

Is this why petrol engine are best then?

[silverbullet]

#sigh# too obvious Alex...

[silverbullet]

Anyway...changing the stat on dwheezil is straightforward is it? Buried somewhere under the alternator...nice and accessible!

[lloydy]

20min job

[chuckle-bus-tom]

If I gave you a million guesses, you wouldn't get what the problem was. Even The AJSimmo1000 diagnostic machine took an hour!

You know those HT leads with the metal shields? Well those little sods were earthing themselves on the engine! Theory is that the years of crud in the threads of the plugs has caused them to not earth properly, and the current is bouncing out onto the engine. Aaaaaaaaanyway, that metal casing is on them to prevent interference to your AM radio signal apparently, so off they came and that was it! Hydrocarbons back to normal, idle revs back to normal, no more boiling coolant.

So, another massive shout of praise to the Campershack and Andrew's knowledge and diligence. Also massive thanks to you guys for help and support. I now have peice of mind that my cooling system works great!

[ajsimmo]

...not to mention your coil terminals made of mouldy melba toast that crumbled off in my hand. And the battery terminal. And the, er, dizzy cap (ahem)...moving swiftly on...
It was good to see you again, Tom, and to catch up - been a while. Thanks v much for your kind comments. Just glad I was able to find the problem(s). In fairness, it wasn't at all obvious by its behaviour what the cause might be. You can normally hear the ticking sound of an HT lead arcing out, but not this time. And was pure luck that I wiggled the coil terminals and the engine stopped!
Great to get the doka workhorse back on song, now get that prop on and get some mud on yer tyres!
And no more talk of that Subaruining nonsense, eh?

[silverbullet]

Crusty HT terminals...another classic failure point!
I do wonder why VW didn't spec rubber boots to keep all the muck out of the plug wells...

[chuckle-bus-tom]

Too busy hap-hazard lay finding places to bolt on the auxiliaries!

[silverbullet]

On wbx? I think its a quite neatly integrated package myself, with specific mounts for alternator, pas pump and a/c compressor. It's all there.
The DF water pump arrangement is a lot more elegant than the later ones, but the long hose runs are a mystery/bad joke. Never understood that change either...

[ajsimmo]

I presume it was mainly due to the thermostat housing bolt being 3mm from the exhaust manifold pipe and unundoable on some motors. Or that stupid short hose on left hand head that requires a full strip down to change, or the yellow push-in o-ring that everyone seems to larrap in silicone, or that the early system was prone to air locks....
The late is better, but still looks like a friday afternoon's work in the design department.

[silverbullet]

Agreed on the latter! Never had the "pleasure" of working on a DF.
I might try a mk3 coolant system on the supercharged motor, what with the charge coolers n all...

[chuckle-bus-tom]

having my smooth running MV back after nearly a year of problems, I have to say its a pleasure of a motor. Pulls the van so effortlessly, even with the new high vindic full of garden waste.. I'm definitely hearing your argument against alternative engines Andrew!

[axeman]

20min job

If you have changed one on a diesel with pas in 20 min I would be amazed. Took me at least a couple of hours when I had to change the stat when it got too hot and head gasket failed.

Neil

[axeman]

Glad you sorted. There is nothing better than a healthy wbx in a T3

Neil

[California Dreamin]

Admittedly not the whole cause but I've mentioned the issue with the spark plug cap shrouds so many times in the past I'm surprised someone didn't mention them earlier.
These are just 2 from the many times that this was mentioned.

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... s#p7989467" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... s#p8009178" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Swap out to NGK straights ..... takes a few minutes to change all four (Snip off the the lead terminal ends and then the NGK caps just screw on to the copper HT lead..3 to 4 turns..) and costs under £10.00 posted for four.
Mine have been on a couple of years now...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-NGK-Resist ... 4ac0970d44" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Martin