TDI Fighting Frost

Another departure from the TDI retrospective posts, today's post covers my efforts to install a FrostHeater into the new-to-us 2004 TDI JettaWagon. I discovered that this is a later-year model, so it does not have the ALH engine, rather the BEW. Neat. But, that's a different story.

Why a FrostHeater?
Our weather turned especially cold in September and never really recovered, here in the Pacific Northwest. While the rest of the country appeared to enjoy nice warmer weather (as evidenced by the short sleeves at the Major League Baseball playoff games), we were breaking out our hats and gloves. After scraping ice multiple days, I decided something that got the engine warmer faster would be a good idea, both for the car's engine as well as it's inhabitants.

http://www.frostheater.com/

I looked for and found the FrostHeater, courtesy of the TDIClub. Everyone loves these things, and while they are more expensive than many others, they are 100% USA made and they do exactly what you would expect: the coolant is heated so the engine is warm when you try to start it. So simple. No weird hot-patch glued to the oil pan, creating a small area of intense heat, and not really helping the engine warm up. There were tales of those things falling off, too, so mid-winter you are suddenly without it. Not good. It's hard enough to work on the car outside when the weather is kinda crummy; full-on winter is beyond-the-pale unpleasant.

More Sadism
I brushed up against the sadistic nature of the German auto-engineers when I did the head removal on T's Audi A4, Nemo (See Sadist Engineering). That was nothing compared to what they set up when they did the hoses behind the radiator in the TDI. On the driver side, we have the oil:coolant exchanger where the oil is cooled or warmed by the coolant. This is actually a really great idea, but the way it was implemented puts your hands behind the fan housing, if you want to mess with those hoses. At some point, you will need to replace them. In my case, I was removing the hose that runs from the bottom of the exchanger to the upper radiator hose. The rear of the fan housing, at least in my case, is hard and sharp-edged. By the time I was finished, my hands looked like I had spent the day baling hay: covered with little cuts (20 or more of varying lengths and depths on each arm/hand) and pink from knuckles to elbows. Note to the reader: get a set of hose spring clamp pliers like those shown in the picture here. The skin on your arms, and potentially many hours of suffering, will be saved.

Lower Hose
Again, I encourage you to get a set of hose spring clamp pliers. I have a set now, and will actually enjoy clowning with these clamps next time. Start by removing the under-engine pan. Then, put a catch-pan below the oil:coolant exchanger and remove the lower hose from it. Allow the coolant to drain. Once you're fairly sure you are not going to get coolant dripping on you, start positioning the heater unit. On this engine block (BEW, remember?), there are 2 holes which could hold the heater. You want the one that is closer to the passenger side, but not yet. First, route the hoses. The lower hose runs parallel to the bottom of the engine block and loops up and around to the lower fitting on the oil:coolant exchanger. I suggest attaching it entirely, with a hose clamp. It is easier to thread the bolt from the heater bracket into the hole in the block if the hose is partly helping you hold it in place. Even then, this is not easy unless you have abnormally long, thin fingers.

Heater Unit

Frostheater unit

Before you start with the bolt, shoot the hole with some brake cleaner and mop it out with a rag or paper towel. If the threads aren't clean, this only gets harder. Anyway, you are on your back, holding the unit up with one hand while slipping your fingers between the bracket and the block. With your finger tips, you will need to wiggle on the bolt, lightly turning it until the threads set. I found the bolt would just bite into the threads before it was too hard to turn with my fingertips. The tight space makes it impossible to gain purchase with more of your fingers. With a 17mm wrench (socket won't fit), tighten it down being careful not to cross-thread the hole.

Upper Hose
In the instructions, the FrostHeater folks indicate that you should route the upper hose before you attach the heater unit. Yes, it could be helpful to do it first. I routed and re-routed this hose many times (both before and after the heater was bolted on), mostly because the directions and pictures were not very useful for this part. The hose runs around the oil filter housing from below. The directions indicate that the hose runs between the AC hose and the housing. While that's correct, they omit the part where it runs around the front to the oil filter housing to the upper radiator hose. The picture in the instructions doesn't show it. Anyway, once you have the hose routed, remove the old hose, and slap that new one on.

Retrospective
The instructions and the web site indicate this is a 45 minute job. It took me 5 hours, which further proves my shop-time math. We test drove it to work the next day to make sure any air bubbles worked their way out, and plugged it in overnight that night. The swift-start and instant-heat from the heater was very welcome. Everything behaved as expected: at start-up, the coolant temperature was at normal operating temp (NOT), and once we started moving, the temp dropped a little bit while the warmed coolant met the cold that was in the radiator. After the coolant blended, the temperature rose back up to NOT quickly, like, by the time we were on the main roads. While this install was a super PITA, we will enjoy this heat for years. Already this autumn we have greatly appreciated how little we have had to scrape ice even though all the other cars in the driveway had icy windows in the mornings. Having heat coming out the vents before we're out of the driveway is really really nice too.

The main take-aways from this are: get a set of those hose clamp pliers, give yourself lots of time, and recognize that the hoses are probably original, so they will be super stubborn to come off. If I ever get to driving Hapy in the winter, I would definitely install one of these. In fact, this install gives me a thought for how I could install the coolant filter I got over the Summer.

That's it for today. Thanks, as always, for following along.

Holding water... holding my breath

Hey folks.  I may have solved the coolant leak problem, so I'll focus on that.  We've had some family events over the Summer (as have you, I hope), and I'll touch on some of that too.  Rockin' on...

Planning the Cut

cooling diagram for reference

In my last post, I concluded that the hard line that runs across the top of the bell housing was the cause of all of my leaking problems.  I was convinced that it much be the cause.  So, I removed some parts of the intake and the vacuum ball to gain access to the pipe.  As I did, I found that there appeared to be a leak at the coolant flange.  "Ay carumba," I cried, believing that yet again it was the coolant temperature sensor leaking.  With careful inspection using my dry fingers, I was able to prove that it wasn't the sensor, but it was the flange itself.  Curious.  I removed the flange, covered the o-ring with high-temp sealant (red Lock-tite product) and re-connected everything.  It failed to hold, but the water leak pattern was the same, leading me to believe that I'd found the actual problem.  Next stop: new o-ring.

By the time I'd realized it was the flange-to-head connection, it was the middle of last week.  On Friday morning, I hopped on the phone wit the fine folks at the FLAPS (Friendly Local Auto Parts Store): Discount Import Parts (DIP).  Gotta love those acronyms.  The guy on the phone mis-heard me, and pulled an entire outlet flange.  So, wen I arrived to get my o-ring, there was a little confusion.  He pointed out that the flange will warp sometimes, and they had a 100% return policy for un-installed parts.  Figuring it was a worthwhile $10 risk abatement to just take the flange, I took it.  And a couple o-rings.  And another temperature sensor o-ring.  And some high-temp gasket sealant.  And a couple bottle of coolant.  Simply put, it was a project in a bag.

Add a Flange, drop the Reverb

Old flange. rocked left to right. 

With the old flange in hand, I was able to compare what a new one was like.  Posted on the right are hard-to-discern pictures of the old and new flanges.  When the new flange is pressed against something flat (in this case a piece of finished furniture), it is perfectly flat.  The old flange rocks from corner to corner: the corners which don't have bolt-holes.  This told me that once tightened down all the way, coolant could escape through a neighboring corner.... just like it did.

Now, for the easy part.  I made the same modification to the new flange as I did to the old one: cut off the outlet which lead to the oil-cooler and sent a short bolt through the hole, sealing it off.  This is necessary because of the proximity of the flange to the frame in the bus.  I took the high-temp gasket stuff and put a thin bead on top of the o-ring, and let it sit (per instructions) for 15 minutes.  A few minutes of re-assembly later (new coolant temp o-ring, fully seat the temp sensor, new C-clip) and the flange was ready.  It bolts on easily, once the holes line up :)  The hoses slid back on, the clamps seated well, and all things appeared right.  Finally, you have to be patient for 24 hours while the gasket stuff completely dries.  It doesn't specify it on the tube, so in an emergency situation, it may not be necessary.  Still, I didn't want to go this far and have that be a problem.

New flange. no movement.

Anyway, this morning, I poured a bottle of water into the overflow bottle and listened.  Glug glug glug went the air bubbles through the top of the overflow bottle.  They got quieter to a tick-tick-tick sound, to silence.  Straining to hear the "sss" sound of a leak, or the "bloop" of a water droplet landing in the catch-pan, I still heard nothing.  The water appeared to ave leveled off just under the fill line.  I squeezed the rubber hose leading from the flange down to the oil cooler and radiator... no leak, just a little more air released.  Hmm... I seem to have fixed it!

Graduation Congratulation
After attaching the flange yesterday, I spent the afternoon with my family (including Boo, T & C) celebrating my sister-in-law's graduation from a Master's program.  For 5-1/2 years she worked through first completing her bachelor's degree and then a master's so she could have her dream job: teaching nursing.  She started working that dream job a few months ago, so now, with paper in hand, she's reached her goal.  Emotional speeches and a slab of chocolate cake later, we all recognize just how much effort it took.  Congratulations, J.  Your impact on the health and well-being of thousands of patients will be monumental through your demonstration of providing care from a place of respect and love.

That's it for now.  I have about an hour of buttoning-up left on the bus and then we'll be ready to test drive.  If he holds, then we can start looking at what's next.  Maybe, we'll just enjoy him as-is for a while and try to wedge some camping in before school starts up again.  Regardless, thanks for following along...

Musings over an Open Engine

This week is Spring Break in Oregon.  I was fortunate enough to get the week off and my boys, so its been a week of play.  I'll post on our fun later on.  I do have a theory on the leaking bus, so I'm focusing on that today.  You see, I went out there to look at the engine with the access hatch open while sipping my morning coffee today....

Coolant Flange... What?
I installed a TDI engine from a manual-transmission'd NewBeetle into my '72 bus.  The manual transmission-mated engine has a weird flange coming off the head that includes some coolant warm-up plugs.  When this engine is mated to a bus transmission, and put into a bus frame, that weird flange really sticks into the fuel tank.  I solved that issue by swapping that flange with one from an auto-tranny engine.  I don't know why they're so different, but the 3 main connectors are there: one to route to the oil cooler, one to route to the heater and one to route to the radiator.  Also, there's the coolant temp sensor.  I have droned on and on about the temperature sensor.  I still think there's something wrong there, but I'll leave that for now.

Not It
I modified the auto-tranny coolant flange.  Even with the shorter imposition into the fuel tank, the outlet for the oil cooler banged into the bus frame.  So, I cut that one off, leaving a little material on the end.  I screwed a bolt into the hole and sealed it with RTV.  One might think that's where the leak is... but its not.  That spot has been bone-dry since day one.  In a recent post, I talked about tightening the flange to the head.  That is still rock-solid, so that isn't a leak source.  There's an outlet to the radiator.  That one is pretty big, and the route of the line takes a 90* turn towards the ground, and would usually route straight to the radiator.  In my set up, it hits a "T" where a small off-shoot goes to the oil cooler.  Leak site?  Nope.  The last outlet, though, may be our culprit.

Dumb Engineer Meet Unobservant Shade-Tree Mechanic
The outlet that routes to the heater is really nothing special.  It points straight out to the left (driver-side) and a hose runs to the heater core in the auxiliary battery area. What does make this outlet interesting is that there's no clamp holding it to the flange.  *face palm*  There is a clamp there, but its one of those awful new VW style ones that require a funky tool to open and close them.  I'm sure VW engineers had their reasons for creating these clamps, but I'll take a simple screw-based clamp over one of those things any day.  Anyways, I don't have that funky cable-driven hose clamp tool, and I apparently never got around to solving this clamp issue.  Tomorrow, I'll hit NAPA or similar and buy a clamp that fits.

If that clamp was the problem, this will serve as one more example of why you should do the job right the first time.  If you do "enough for now", "for now" will be just as short-lived as it sounds.  Thanks for listening-

Zoom zoom

It seems that I've been gone long enough for the blogger format to have changed.  Apologies to my regular readers for both my delay and for any weirdness caused by the new blogger interface.  It'll be a basic update today, just touching on bus stuff.

Daily Driving
The ol' bus and I have been a tight-pair the last few weeks.  I've been driving him to work and back pretty much every day.  I've noticed a few things that are curious, but not necessarily alarming.  First, the coolant level continues to drop, but I can't spot a leak.  Also, the pressure (or is it vacuum?) build-up is so pure and strong that after a drive the coolant bottle is nearly empty.  When I remove the cap of the fill-bottle, coolant splashes back in all the way to the full line.  Crazy.  So, I hear the low-coolant alarm in the donor dash, but it doesn't necessarily mean I'm low on coolant... I really over-filled the bottle this morning.  I'll post what happens.
Second, there's an oil leak.  I don't know where it is, but the bus definitely leaves his mark when I park him. I think the oil line to or from the turbo could be it, or its the oil cooler or maybe the underside of the oil filter housing.  Regardless, I'll find a dry day next weekend and tighten everything.  I was just under there last weekend re-tightening all the coolant line hose clamps.  There's always something, but that's part of owning a 40 year old car.

Acceleration Interruption

fixed and re-installing

On the way home from work on Friday May 11th, I had a breakdown in the left-hand progress (not turn) lane during rush-hour.  The accelerator suddenly dropped to the floor and I was rolling without throttle control.  The RPM's dropped to 900, so I quickly scanned the traffic on Hall Blvd (in Beaverton).  I was unable to slide right, so I took a left turn into an apartment complex parking lot through the oncoming traffic.  Sketch.  I removed the front belly pan and discovered that my hack-awful welding job on the accelerator resistor bracket (see Accelerating Slowly) had failed.  Dandy.  With my welder deep in storage, getting this fixed could have been a real time killer.  Fortunately, Boo has a local mechanic guy (Johnny) who can do small welding repairs, so I asked him to do it.  Less than an hour (and only $15) after I gave it to him, the weld was done and the whole thing was painted.  I can''t find a business name for Johnny's garage, but the location is (9085 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Highway, Beaverton, Oregon).  Great guy.  Talk your ear-off, if you let him, but he'll fix your car for a fair price.

Since I've neglected the blog a bit, I'll post again in a couple of days covering snow and personal experiences.... and, of course, another bus conundrum. :)  As always, thanks for following along, and another apology for my blog negligence.

maintaining inertia

It's been an interesting week, but aren't they all. My concerns about available time once school started were well-warranted as I really didnt' get much wrench-time. Considering all the interrupts, tangents and distractions, I'm calling this week a win just because I was able to maintain some project inertia. I'll post more on the fuel tank solution later this week, but I touch on what's happening with the most recent twist. I have a small bit on the oil cooler and on prepping the turbo for re-install to finish out today's post. Of course, I added a picture of Mike navigating us South in sepia tones and a shot out the window along the Columbia River.

Tank Update
I was able to solicit and aggregate opinions on the diesel fuel tank under the rear seat. Now, it seems everyone agrees there's nothing legally wrong with putting the tank there, we all seem to feel the same visceral discomfort when we imagine children sitting a-top the bench during a crash. I spent time Sunday undoing everything I had done to get the WestMarine tank under the bench. Honestly, that WestMarine tank would serve very well as a water tank, and if they don't accept it as a return that's what I'll use it for. 12 gallons of water might be handy when we're off-grid camping somewhere. Regardless, I got the Westy interior back to where it was, put a bunch of accumulated tools and parts away and got to a place where Hal and I could work again.

Oil Cooler
Unfortunately, Hal hit a scheduling snag and couldn't join me, so, I redirected onto buttoning the "engine holes" back up. This consisted of cleaning the oil:water heat exchanger and remounting it. As an aside, I did some research on this "oil cooler" and it seems the TDIClub folks are very keen on this bit of equipment. This brings the oil and coolant temperatures nearly equal, so keeping the engine as a whole at "normal operating temperature" (NOT) is realized. Once external oil coolers are introduced, it is harder to reach and remain at that point, so the decision to scope-out the external cooler turns out to be a good one. The key is getting adequate cooling for the coolant via the radiator. Now, if I can figure out a way to use that external cooler to cool the transaxle oil, that would be great.

Turbo
I tightened down the intake and the vacuum pump and I set to work on the exhaust / turbo. This large unit had considerable surface rust on the iron parts, so I hit it with rust converter. The turbo and the waste-gate actuator looked pretty good, so I just cleaned them with a simple cleanser. Last, I masked off the iron so I could shoot it with some engine block / exhaust manifold paint. It will look better, but I really hope this will stop the rust. Just trying to follow the simple Navy rule: if it don't move paint it.

This week, I'll be focused on the fuel tank again. As I said above, I'll post on that once it is in place. Regardless, I would like very much to have the engine back in so Hal can resume his work next Sunday. Even though we're supposed to hit an unseasonably hot 90* today, the rainy season should open in less than a month, so the pressure is on.