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Re: [T3] Cross Country Fastback Trip


On 10 Apr 2001, at 1:31, MotorHole@aol.com wrote:

> I have a couple of concerns I just wanted to throw out there to see if
> anything would be considered a jobstopper. Since we bought it in 99,
> it has blown a nice plume of white smoke upon startup, which
> dissipates after a minute. The PO indicated that it needs valve stem
> seals. I've been driving type 2's for a decade and I never heard of
> that. What that leads me to think is that it burns a little oil. I
> don't know if I'm correct, but I plan to keep a close eye on the oil
> coming across.

I'm with YOU. The PO remembers the problems with early Rabbits 
and is confusing them with us. Keeping an eye on the oil is always 
a good idea. Keep track of gas mileage, too. This can tell you a lot 
about how the engine is doing.

 Also the cold start MPC is disconnected and the PO told
> me not to connect it because it causes the engine to flood.

Probably something there is miswired. That might be worth sorting 
out before you start because it can still affect gas mileage and 
engine wear. My guess is that the FI harness wire that goes to the 
starter is on the wrong terminal there, so it's getting 12V ALL the 
time.

> Aside from
> the speedo and tailpipe being broken, and getting my legs soaked every
> time it rains, I can't think of any other problems.

Cleaning out the water drain hoses should take 10-30 minutes, so 
I'd say it's worth doing before you start. It's a lot nastier to do in the 
rain later, when it suddenly seems more important. It's actually 
quite important to the car all the time, because water inside will 
lead to the early death by rust of the body.

> It's an automatic,
> and I'm generally leary of them as I've always driven a manual bus, so
> I've stuck a auto gasket & filter in the trunk in case I'll need it.

Check the ATF (Dexron) and top up the gear lube with GL-5. The 
latter has to be done from below with a 17mm allen wrench.

> Do you think the car will survive 3000 with the smokey startup and
> disconnected cold start mpc?  any advice or reprimands welcome.

The disconnected CSV is no problem, but reason that it is 
disconnected might be. You might want to check the valves again 
the first morning out on the road. The most likely major thing to go 
wrong would be a dropped exhaust valve, so I'd keep the speed 
down.

Will you have email access while on the road? That might well be 
reassuring and I suspect we would enjoy daily road trip reports, too.


-
Jim Adney
jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, WI 53711-3054
USA

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