Club 80-90 Forums

16 Litres but you only need to drain about half, two bowls and swap them when full and pour into bucket while second bowl filling, I have a joiner in the heater hose which is perfect for draining but it's not standard, it was fitted when the hose rubbed through on the driveshaft before I had it.

To give your self confidence before you do anything crawl under with a 13mm hex spanner/socket and see if the bolts come loose one at a time, you can just nip them up again if they do.
Don't force them if they don't

They may have been 8Nm going in but they will have corroded.
One bolt hole goes right through the head, you can get penetrating oil on the other side, that's likely the most corroded.

Don't even think of wimping out and taking it to a garage

itchyfeet wrote:Don't even think of wimping out and taking it to a garage

Hahahhahaha - I feel like Marty McFly in Back to the future..!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM4044bh4FU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's a steep learning curve Itchy, but I have decided I'm going for it myself now rather than opt for an easy route.
Sod it, what's the worse that could happen..!!??
( Don't answer that, it might put me off again. )

I will make a start nearer the end of the week or on the weekend when I have time and keep the thread informed, but I will see if I can loosen them first as you suggest.

if you have a toolstation locally they do their own verson of plus gas penetrating oil for about 3 quid

itchyfeet wrote:if you have a toolstation locally they do their own verson of plus gas penetrating oil for about 3 quid

I have already planned ahead for that bit mate - a small tin of plusgas from the local auto store

Made a start on this today.
Lower bolt on the thermostat housing came loose easy enough, the upper one is a bit tighter.
I'm just taking the hoses off to get better access, as it is damn fiddly.
( Now I wish I had bought some ramps - led on a cold wet floor isn't fun ..!! )

Anyway.
Judging by the pic below, I'm not entirely convinced that the coolant was changed 6-8 months ago, are you?



Now I have drained a significant amount of coolant.
Is the colourof the coolant concerning?
Best to try and flush the system a bit while I have a few hoses off?

There was some sludge build up in a few hoses too.

If the coolant used had no corrosion inhibitor or at the wrong concentration, then I would expect to see that.
As the barrels are iron they will oxidise easily when oxygen is present.
No harm is being done in the short term.

kevtherev wrote:If the coolant used had no corrosion inhibitor or at the wrong concentration, then I would expect to see that.
As the barrels are iron they will oxidise easily when oxygen is present.
No harm is being done in the short term.

OK. Thanks Kev.

I may as well drain it all and change it now I have gone this far.
I have a Euro car parts near me so am going to get enough fluid for a 50:50 mix.

Is this stuff OK?
Looks like it is G13 but want to double check with those of you `in the know.`

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/car-a ... &0&cc5_865" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Lastly, to flush out some old c*ap, is it OK to just stick a hose up there and squirt in the opposite direction to normal flow until clear water comes out?

I'm pretty sure the purple stuff is just the eco-friendly version of the red stuff. You'll need two of those 5l containers for a complete 50:50 fill, so it might be worth buying twice as much of the red stuff for the same or less money.

Online you can get it for £36 here, but the last time I was in there, a couple of weeks ago, they had it for £30 in the middle of the shop floor.

Cheers CJH.

Just got the old thermostat housing off - which was a right pig to do.
Old one looks split and the hole looks oval....!?

No yellow rubber seal in there either, but did have another one of those paper gaskets someone else was querying a few days ago on another thread.





Kind of glad I started this Solex to Pierburg project now, after seeing that...

Quick question:

When constructing the new thermostat housing, should I grease the o rings on the sensors and thermostat too?

no, dry is fine.

itchyfeet wrote:no, dry is fine.

Cheers Itchy.

Is this the correct hose from small port on the top of the thermostat housing to bleed rail?

https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/t3-parts/t ... x-3mm.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mine disintegrated when I tried to disconnect it.

Had a spare hour today.
Managed to get the old Solex and inlet manifold off easy enough.

The area around the ports on the heads are a bit uneven and mucky, so giving them a clean-up before I crack on

Out with the old:



New to follow, but what is this coiled up cable on top of the engine below?



It wasn't connected to anything and seems to come from the gearbox direction, into the engine area, and is just coiled up.
Any thoughts appreciated.

sensor for flywheel TDC iirc not used by you or your engine but by VW mechanics