What would Molegrips do? This afternoon Matthew…

… I’d like to be a VW mechanic.

My folks Passat was overheating sporadically. I suspected initially that it was a knackered radiator. I fitted a new one, it made no difference. Some googling suggested that the water pump impellers were prone to revolving freely on their shafts. I checked the service history, at the last timing belt change the pump wasn’t replaced.

So I took a deep breath this afternoon and stripped it all down and found indeed that the pump was goosed. I swapped the timing belt while I was in there. Darkness and cold beat me. Just the bumper to fit and the rad to fill and fingers crossed it should be back to normal.

molgrips would start a thread, that’s what molgrips would do.

Ah, but what would molgrips do?

I hope that molgrips would tidy his garage 😯

Would he then get pudding?

Handsome, talented, wealthy bastard! 😀

I’ve got to do my timing belt. How long do you reckon?

Untidy working, tools all over the place & that’s one way to lose tools!

On 2nd thoughts looking at the state of the garage……

I hope that molgrips would tidy his garage

L bloody OL no he wouldn’t! Mine’s worse than that 🙂

That’s a longitudally mounted engine in a Passat? I didn’t know they existed? What engine?

Funnily enough I also have to do my cambelt. It’s DOHC 🙁 So I would be doing exactly that.. in the cold and dark in (or actually infront of) a messy garage.

did you have to move the Roller or is this in the west-wing garage ? 😀

He’s chucked the manbag in the caravan and he’s on his way to help….eventually.

did you have to move the Roller or is this in the west-wing garage ?

The debris that’s stacked on my workbench is usually stored on the roof of the Corniche while it’s parked outside the yard 🙂 I agree the garage is a mess. I really need to have a ruthless clear out.

I’m usually more methodical with my tools but I was in a rush before darkness fell. What I really need is a wheeled trolley, tool station type thing. I’m totally anal about how I keep my good tools, I’ve not lost anything in thirty years.

I enjoy a spannering project, it’s the total opposite to painting. Square peg in a square hole, the manual even tells you how much to tighten the bolts to.

wrecker – Member
Handsome, talented, wealthy bastard!

POSTED 1 HOUR AGO # REPORT-POST

I know the man, 1 out of 3 maybe… 🙂

wrecker – Member
Handsome, talented, wealthy bastard!
POSTED 1 HOUR AGO # REPORT-POST

I know the man, 1 out of 3 maybe…

I thought the list had four options. None really apply. I just enjoy a random challenge.

I hope those headlights did not make their way to the front before it was their turn.

That’s a longitudally mounted engine in a Passat?

Exactly my first thoughts.

Talk about doing it the easy way…

molgrips – Member

L bloody OL no he wouldn’t! Mine’s worse than that

That’s a longitudally mounted engine in a Passat? I didn’t know they existed? What engine?

Funnily enough I also have to do my cambelt. It’s DOHC So I would be doing exactly that.. in the cold and dark in (or actually infront of) a messy garage.

Probably a B5/5.5:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group_B_platform

Aye it’s an 04 Passat. The model that preceded it had its engine the same way. There’s no other way to get to the timing cover other than taking the front off. It’s not as bad as it looks, it a damn sight easier that the transverse engines where you are squeezed against a chassis leg or in inner wing.

BTW, Molgrips would have been on here ‘researching’ for months before taking action then completely disassembling the car into its constituent parts before buying a small but critical item from a bloke in the pub for a fiver then putting it all back together again to find said part dint work right then complaining endlessly about it before finally fixing it properly with a real bit.

Now that is what Molgrips would do 🙂

<edit> Christ it’s hard to write without punctuation…

Aye it’s an 04 Passat. The model that preceded it had its engine the same way. There’s no other way to get to the timing cover other than taking the front off. It’s not as bad as it looks, it a damn sight easier that the transverse engines where you are squeezed against a chassis leg or in inner wing.

Believe me, as a Civic owner I was being in no way sarcastic. Transverse is an utter shit especially when you have ~30mm clearance and no ratchet spanners. FWIW I gave up and sent it to the garage, best £120 I ever spent.

The model that preceded it had its engine the same way

Hmm.. I’m fairly sure my 94 one was transverse too. How odd that they chnaged it round.

Not only do I have to deal with two cams, I have to jack the engine up because the engine mount goes through the middle of the belt. Still – the procedure is in the Haynes manual, so how hard can it be?

£400 inc water pump at the dealer. £160 for the parts from ECP.

Ever done a timing belt before molly?

Molegrips, you’ll need the crank and cam locking tools and the special tool for the eccentric tensioner. Budget for elastoplasts too.

How long….

How long….

Depends on the car.

I could change the transverse timing belt on my old transverse engine 1.9tdi in a little over an hour.

This one is more involved as the front has to come off including the radiator and refilling and bleeding the cooling system. You can do it without removing the rad, but it’s too tight a fit for me. The water pump had to come out it was much easier with the rad away. I’d say around three or four hours.

If you were doing it every day you would know where to cut corners.

Molegrips, add a pair of hose clip pliers to your tool list.

Good skills

and impressive looking garage!

Ever done a timing belt before molly?

Yep, two, but both were SOHC. Cam locking tools etc are on order – wouldn’t dream of doing it without for the sake of £18. There’s also an adjustment tool for the injection timing I will probably get.

Hose clip pliers.. what kind of hose clip are they for?

I meant On that car. Mines the same.

On my one the hose clips to the heater matrix aren’t jubilee clips. They are like this. The special pliers have a cup on one jaw and a fork on the other. If your water pump is timing belt driven the only place to bleed the heater matrix from is as the hoses cross the bulkhead into the cabin. One hose has a small hole in it. You pull the hose forward a fraction to expel the air. It may be different on your model.

wysiwyg – Member
On that car. Mines the same. Eesh

It’s certainly DIY able. Get some new clips that hold the radiator top and bottom hoses in place, they are likely to be rusted and will break when you move them.

I didn’t have a viscous fan spanner, I think it’s a 36mm – the 32mm one I have was too small. I used a pair of these slip joint locking pliers to grip the up pulley while I undid the 8mm Allen keyed bolt from the slot behind.

I think this is the correct viscous fan spanner. it’s worth a punt. I’ve ordered one Ill let you know if the correct size.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sykes-Pickavant-Viscous-Fan-Hub-Spanner-36mm-or-32mm-031200-031100-/171689400253?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27f97c57bd

This video shows the process and the special locking tools

They are like this

Ah yeah, I have those on the air box. I use a pipe wrench, which works about 20% of the time and the rest it spangs open and smacks my fingers in a variety of painful ways.

Ironically, molegrips do the job pretty well for those springy bastards.

the total opposite to painting. Square peg in a square hole, the manual even tells you how much to tighten the bolts to.

have you ever tried painting by numbers. quite enjoyable for a cold winter evening.

Ironically, molegrips do the job pretty well

Nicely done 🙂