Club 80-90 Forums

Greetings from Bulgaria!

Hello everybody -
I am a new forum member so let me introduce myself:
I am Danish but lived and worked in the UK for more than 10 years in the 1970s and 80s, a former freelance software writer, now a pensioner and moved to Bulgaria last year where I now live in the wild woods and rolling hills of the Central Balkan Mountains, and am starting up a Back to the Land eco-project.
I may be new on this forum but I am not new to T3s, for I owned a 1984 (pre-Syncro) T3 1.9 Wasserboxer from new for 10 years and did c 200,000 miles in it without any major problems, including Manchester to North Cape and back.
Also had a Golf GTI at the time but that is another story.

I have just been to Vienna to buy a Syncro, mid-1992 1.6TD, in quite simply AMAZING condition for a 21 year old vehicle, just over 200,000 km (c 125,000 miles), with a works reconditioned engine with about 30,000 miles.
First owner was Austrian Telecomms/Post, then 1 private owner (who also had 2 Ferraris in the garage: a 308 GTO and a Maranello...).
We did the 1300 km (800 miles) return trip to Bulgaria with absolutely no problems and driving a T3 is a very happy reunion for me, they are such reassuring and positive cars to drive. If a motor car can be "friendly" then the T3 is!

There is no user manual with my Syncro, hence my questions:

1. How big is the fuel tank in the TD? The previous owner did not know!
Unless we made a mistake in the maths we did nearly 800 km (500 miles) on a full tank - surely this is not possible? Would be nice but I do not believe it!

2. The fluid in the visco-box needs replacing and the previous owner told me that the amount of silicone added to the oil is critical - he thought it was 268 or 278 grams but was not sure, but said there were YouTube clips describing it.
However, neither I nor my Bulgarian mechanic have so far been able to find those clips - can anyone here help please? (Amounts in ounces are OK!).
(Bottles with silicone I have, came with the car, as did replacement rubber gaiters for the front CV joints).

3. Is there a downloadable workshop manual in English or German available somewhere?

Many thanks for any info!
Best regards,

Hi chap, and welcome. Your TD Syncro sounds very nice, the tank is 70l, so you did 32+mpg which is excellent.
There's a long thread on here about VC rebuilds, 'Rebuild your own VC for 120 Euros'. The Bentley manual PDF can be got from Ebay or downloaded, if struggling send me a PM.
PS. Your project sounds good.

Welcome aboard! Great to have another member from across the channel .

Thanks Andy, much appreciated!

Thanks Jes*B for the welcome - all members are welcome in Bulgaria anytime, beautiful country, great for 4x4s!

Hello! No silicone is or should be added to the oil...is your VC actually working ok? If so its the front diff oil only that needs changing.

Changing the VC silicone "oil" is possible but is not an exact science for the do it yourselfer...so if it isn't broke don't fix it..it's not quite a serviceable item.

Thanks "max and caddy".
Is my VC working properly? Ermm, I really do not know yet, so far I have only driven my Syncro on dry asphalt roads and my own 600 m access track which is also dry...
Will pass your info on to my mechanic.

here you go an easy test for the VC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMqOebMnZKo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thank you HugoMonkey - I see you are located in Denmark. it is a small world!

welcome mate hope you sort your syncro out !

Thank you Fabzzz - my local mechanic will soon get on top of the little things that need doing.
He is repairing my Lada Niva at the moment - it is ALWAYS broken and it will have to go soon.
Shame really for it drives and handles surprisingly well for such a short and high little car -
but I have had nothing but problems with it since I bought it last November to get through my
first Bulgarian winter: electronics, electrics, LPG system, front CVs, front wheel bearings, etc...
Fine design but crap quality! Only positive is that spares are cheap!!
Plan to sell the Niva before the winter, then "tart up" and sell my big old MB camper in the spring
and then have only the Syncro, so having just ONE motor car which will be able to do just about
everything that a motor car can do for its owner AND do it all well.

Welcome

May be a good idea to give your mechanic a Bentley manual for Christmas !!

Failing that there are some very clever guys on this forum (not me)!!

Welcome. Sounds like a nice van.

First I would say to ascertain where (and if) you actually have a problem. Do the VC test before considering the fluid aspect. If it is defective or tight it can be addressed by either replacing the fluid yourself or paying to have the VC refurbished.

Hello good evening and welcome S-Viking

Would love to see your alternative eco living project sometime... we are thinking of moving into our allotment shed here to practice survival !

You probably wouldn't get the full 70 litres into a Syncro fuel tank.

Yes take good advice before attempting a VC rebuild. Most people would either buy a refurbished exchange unit from say Dorfbrunnen who do a complete overhaul or if you can pick up a 2md hand front diff from a scrapper, that may have a good VC in. Only lately are people starting to take apart and refill their VCs... don't think that this is the norm. It isn't. It is very rare to self-refill..

But as said, you first need to prove your unit has failed.. Open or Closed. Loose or Stiff
or is somewhere acceptable in between. NB. It is not a black/white decision...I have known several owners convince themselves to change a reasonable VC, sometimes a perfectly good one. Also they can fail when hot and not cold, so read up some good sources first... look at our Syncro website, our Wiki, our Tech Archive with old forum threads on VC topics.

Keep in touch :OK

Thank you everybody!