I realized that I hadn't posted on a collection of things that broke all around the same time on Flash, the Jetta, so today I'll cover what went wrong and what I did to fix them.
Snow Shoes Grow
With a plan to hit the mountain for a taste of snow over the Christmas holiday, I pulled out the snow tires I got for Flash last Thanksgiving (Nov 2017). I got them new off of craigslist for $400 already mounted on universal steel rims. I say universal because they fit the 2 standard VW 5-bolt patterns. In looking back on my old posts, I don't think I ever posted on this purchase. Anyway, they are i-Pike tires and hold firm in ice and snow like no tires I have ever owned. Since we were down to one car, I had to swap the tires after Boo got home from work, so, on the night of December 23rd I set to swapping out tires in some nasty weather. I found, however, that the brakes were in pretty shabby shape and needed to be done as soon as possible. I found some locally-sourced pads (Adaptive One brand) and on Christmas Eve I did a brake job before we left for the mountain.
Lights? Who Needs Lights?
The pads fit well, and have performed extremely well, considering I'd never heard of them, and I didn't go with one of the usual VW-friendly brands. If Discount Import was still on the West Side, I would have gotten pads there. Anyway, while I was digging around the driver front wheel, I noticed a light bulb dangling by a wire. I concluded that it had fallen out of it's holder on the front bumper on one of the many times the bumper got ripped off by a parking curb. Yes, this happens often, and apparently happens to anyone owning a Jetta MK4. The TDI engine is an engineering marvel; the body it was delivered in, however, is not. Anyway, I put the bulb into the little hole, and finished the brake job. When I went to take a test drive, though, the brakes were great... but I lost my dash lights. That is, I lost all of the lights on the dash except the idiot light telling me I needed to replace my brake pads. Suddenly that light was on now. Love you, Flash.
Mountain Fun
We drove to the mountain anyway, having no idea how fast we were going. While we were still near the city, this was not much of an issue. We just stayed with the speed of traffic. Once we got onto US26 east of Sandy, though, we were alone. So, I checked speed periodically with a flashlight. We arrived in Welches after the local grocery closed for the holiday, so we just hit the cabin for the night. Christmas morning, we (me, Boo and T) drove up to Timberline Lodge, and we rode snow until sunset. We drove down, again without the benefit of dash lights, but the traffic was so heavy it didn't matter. By the time we hit the Damascus turn-off, the traffic was so crazy it really didn't matter how fast we were going; someone else was going to come racing up from behind anyway.
Dash Light Fix
As you may have surmised, the cause of the dashlight failure was that otherwise uninteresting bulb I found hanging. A small section of bare wire had become exposed, probably when it was force-ably removed from the bumper. When any one of your running lights creates a short, it blows a fuse... which also routes 12V to the lights on your dashboard. Either side can cause this. I find it so hard to understand how a fuse box with so many fuses doesn't isolate the dashboard from the running lights. Engineering marvel. So, I taped up the bare wire, replaced the fuse and the dashboard lights returned.
Brake Warning Light Fix
When I did the brakes, I plugged in the sensor in the new pads. Apparently, the sensor doesn't work. Maybe there is not enough metal material in the pad to conduct electricity or maybe these AdaptiveOne pads are NOT that great. Regardless, I check the condition of my car often enough that an idiot light should not be necessary. So, I cut the wire from the "sensor" in the brake pad and removed it from the car. I stripped and spliced the two wires together and plugged it back in. Warning light off: but also will never light up. So, I will be sure to check my brakes when I switch over to regular tires in March, and may just add that check to my oil-change routine.
Wipers Not Wiping
No sooner were we back to having an operational car than the wipers stopped working. Seriously, I fixed the lights on a Sunday night and on Monday morning the wipers stopped working. If you turned them on, the wiper would move a few inches and then stop. You could hear the motor, and since they tried to move, but failed, I thought the problem was in the linkage between the wiper arms and the motor. While waiting for linkage to arrive, I applied Rain-X water repellent. That stuff is magic. The following morning, we were greeted by ice on our windows. While letting the car warm up, I set to scraping. The windscreen was the only glass to which I had applied the Rain-X, and it was also the window which was freed of ice the easiest. Also, as we drove down the road, the little bits of left-behind ice quickly melted and beaded away.
I'll post on the wiper repair and the other fix (reverse lights) next time. Both of those jobs have more tale to tell than I can put in one post. Thanks, as always, for following along-
Showing posts with label studded tires. Show all posts
Showing posts with label studded tires. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Friday, December 9, 2011
Foiled Again
Cue a picture of a cartoon villain, twisting the ends of a long thin mustache...
Harnessed
The engine harness I bought sight-unseen was not for an early ALH engine. I take at least some of the fault here since the guy I bought it from called and we talked about what it looked like. What we didn't talk about, though, was what the ECU plug looked like. Since this plug is the only one I know is bad on my harness, that one was the single most important one for me to ask about. I didn't. So, when the box arrived, I opened it like a kid at Christmas. I took one look at that plug and knew I'd struck coal in my stocking.
Now, the fun starts. I was unable to return the harness because the guy I bought it from had already spent the money and indicated that I did get what he said it was: it is an engine harness for an ALH engine. The fact that it is not an "early", and therefore doesn't fit is my problem. Of course, this position wasn't articulated until after I'd returned the harness, so now I have no harness, and no money. Sweet! ... and just in time for Christmas. The guy did say he would return the harness on delivery, so I'll have my useless-to-me harness again. To eBay I go, I guess. It does have a brand new glow-plug section in it, though, so that alone is worth $70. Before I go that route, though, I'll look up the part number on the ECU plug and verify what models and years it fits.
UPDATE (2011-12-21): I did some googling and found the harness fits an AJM engine, not an ALH: fits 1998-2000 Passat, Jetta and Golf with a highest HP output (130BHP) diesel engine available at the time.
I did buy a replacement ECU plug on eBay. After all this time, I finally found someone just selling a plug with 3" of wire bundle attached. I didn't want to perform this kind of surgery, but a $30 plug beats a $150 harness if the rest of the harness is good (which it should be). Had I found a plug like this before, though, I would have gotten it then. In 3 years, I'd never seen just a plug with some wire bundle for sale. Good deal, great timing. I'll have to wait on that work until I finish my other Christmas time commitments, but I still hope to get the bus onto the mountain before NewYears.
Tires
As I write this, my studded snow tires are being mounted onto an extra set of 14" rims I got off Craigslist a couple of years ago. They're black, so its almost like they were designed for snow tires. Since they're 14" tires, though, I will be retaining my 52mph top speed in the bus for winter driving. I'm certain this will frustrate other motorists as they try to speed past the beautiful countryside on their way to the lift lines. Ah well. I do have a set of 15" rims which fit the rear hubs. If I had that harness money back, I could probably get a pair of 15" studded snows and increase my top speed... but only by a few mph. Ultimately, my top speed is controlled by the high-rpm expecting 002 transaxle. I'll address that next Summer.... if I have the money. Or, I'll have another year to remind myself that the journey is the destination, and traveling at 50mph allows me a greater opportunity to make the most of that destination. Later this winter, I will be chanting this mantra as I drive up Mt. Hood at 50mph, heading a line of Chevy Behemoth's and Ford Monstrosity's chomping at my rear bumper. :)
Thanks for following along.
 |
| what I got on top early ALH on bottom |
The engine harness I bought sight-unseen was not for an early ALH engine. I take at least some of the fault here since the guy I bought it from called and we talked about what it looked like. What we didn't talk about, though, was what the ECU plug looked like. Since this plug is the only one I know is bad on my harness, that one was the single most important one for me to ask about. I didn't. So, when the box arrived, I opened it like a kid at Christmas. I took one look at that plug and knew I'd struck coal in my stocking.
Now, the fun starts. I was unable to return the harness because the guy I bought it from had already spent the money and indicated that I did get what he said it was: it is an engine harness for an ALH engine. The fact that it is not an "early", and therefore doesn't fit is my problem. Of course, this position wasn't articulated until after I'd returned the harness, so now I have no harness, and no money. Sweet! ... and just in time for Christmas. The guy did say he would return the harness on delivery, so I'll have my useless-to-me harness again. To eBay I go, I guess. It does have a brand new glow-plug section in it, though, so that alone is worth $70. Before I go that route, though, I'll look up the part number on the ECU plug and verify what models and years it fits.
UPDATE (2011-12-21): I did some googling and found the harness fits an AJM engine, not an ALH: fits 1998-2000 Passat, Jetta and Golf with a highest HP output (130BHP) diesel engine available at the time.
I did buy a replacement ECU plug on eBay. After all this time, I finally found someone just selling a plug with 3" of wire bundle attached. I didn't want to perform this kind of surgery, but a $30 plug beats a $150 harness if the rest of the harness is good (which it should be). Had I found a plug like this before, though, I would have gotten it then. In 3 years, I'd never seen just a plug with some wire bundle for sale. Good deal, great timing. I'll have to wait on that work until I finish my other Christmas time commitments, but I still hope to get the bus onto the mountain before NewYears.
Tires
As I write this, my studded snow tires are being mounted onto an extra set of 14" rims I got off Craigslist a couple of years ago. They're black, so its almost like they were designed for snow tires. Since they're 14" tires, though, I will be retaining my 52mph top speed in the bus for winter driving. I'm certain this will frustrate other motorists as they try to speed past the beautiful countryside on their way to the lift lines. Ah well. I do have a set of 15" rims which fit the rear hubs. If I had that harness money back, I could probably get a pair of 15" studded snows and increase my top speed... but only by a few mph. Ultimately, my top speed is controlled by the high-rpm expecting 002 transaxle. I'll address that next Summer.... if I have the money. Or, I'll have another year to remind myself that the journey is the destination, and traveling at 50mph allows me a greater opportunity to make the most of that destination. Later this winter, I will be chanting this mantra as I drive up Mt. Hood at 50mph, heading a line of Chevy Behemoth's and Ford Monstrosity's chomping at my rear bumper. :)
Thanks for following along.
Monday, December 29, 2008
nightmaring of a white Christmas
After almost a month of doing nothing on the bus, I have been granted this week off by my employer. The added bonus of not getting paid time off kinda sucks, but I do welcome the opportunity to get some nagging things done. Of course, I haven't updated the blog about the last few weeks, so I'll play catch-up today.
Snow, then ice, then more snow, and, finally, more snow.
If you live anywhere in the northern 2/3 of the US, I'm sure you have a somewhat similar weather story to tell. Since I live in the Pacific NorthWest, we got it a few days before you. There are a couple of camera-phone pictures taken at night included to give you an idea of how deep the snow was. The second one is the Benz to the right and Hapy to the left each with over 6 inches piled up. I should have measured. The fun started over 2 weeks ago with a Sunday night snowstorm that usually brings the Portland Metro area to its knees: 2 inches of snow. Most folks around here don't have studded snow tires (or any snow tires for that matter), nor chains, nor skills to drive their cars in the snow. This makes it especially dangerous for pretty much everyone. Fortunately, most of the locals realize they don't have the equipment or skills, so they don't drive. We have at least our fair share of weekend warrior types with their Ford Excursion 4x4's that see snow as an opportunity to declare their vehicular superiority. Many of these motorists fail to recognize that we all have 4 wheel stop, but that function only works when you aren't driving like an idiot. These are the folks on the road (and spinning off of it), along with the few that have the right equipment, temperment and skills. I was lucky enough to have a neighbor that works at the same place I do that has these 3 advantages, so I drove in with her. Thanks Rach.
Following the Sunday night storm, there was a Tuesday night
storm that brought a little more snow. This closed the schools for the next 2 days (now up to 4), and kept me home Wednesday. By this time, we'd surrendered to the storms and ordered chains over the 'net from JC Whitney. We even paid extra for overnight delivery. Thursday I was able to drive to work, but a new storm hit very early Friday morning that again closed school. This new storm was freezing rain. By midday we had an inch of ice on everything, and the snow was starting again. Fun. We got more snow over the weekend, but no chains. By Tuesday morning (12/23), we had over 8 inches of fresh snow, and work had officially closed the office until after the holiday. The chains arrived, so I was able to take my younger son to the Blazer game that night. Wednesday morning brought more snow, but we had a soft-thaw start midday that turned the compressed snow very slippery. After driving over to NE Portland for Christmas Eve, we got stuck on our hill 20 meters from our house. Christmas Day, I shoveled neighbors out, and the day after Christmas, my neighbors and I shoveled the street down to the main road so we could come and go. As I write this, all the snow is gone except for the black snow on the road edge. The memory, though, is still quite vivid.
On deck
I'll be clearing the garage these next few days to prepare for some delayed maintenance on the cars. I have some filters to replace on the Jetta, and a fuel line to repair as well. The Benz has a sagging backend that requires new "accumulators", and the rear driver-side door's "check" is broken. Once I've done all that, the bus work resumes. I have located a rear heater from a vanagon that should work. I'll be picking that up tomorrow. If the price is right, I may buy 4 rims too. If nothing else, this snow has reminded me the importance of being prepared. Those rims will have studded snows mounted on them before the first Winter Hapy can drive. Then, if an ice storm hits, or we get 8 inches of freak snow, I can be ready to roll in 15 minutes.
Regardless, the water/coolant system is next. I'll post something in a few days.
Snow, then ice, then more snow, and, finally, more snow.
If you live anywhere in the northern 2/3 of the US, I'm sure you have a somewhat similar weather story to tell. Since I live in the Pacific NorthWest, we got it a few days before you. There are a couple of camera-phone pictures taken at night included to give you an idea of how deep the snow was. The second one is the Benz to the right and Hapy to the left each with over 6 inches piled up. I should have measured. The fun started over 2 weeks ago with a Sunday night snowstorm that usually brings the Portland Metro area to its knees: 2 inches of snow. Most folks around here don't have studded snow tires (or any snow tires for that matter), nor chains, nor skills to drive their cars in the snow. This makes it especially dangerous for pretty much everyone. Fortunately, most of the locals realize they don't have the equipment or skills, so they don't drive. We have at least our fair share of weekend warrior types with their Ford Excursion 4x4's that see snow as an opportunity to declare their vehicular superiority. Many of these motorists fail to recognize that we all have 4 wheel stop, but that function only works when you aren't driving like an idiot. These are the folks on the road (and spinning off of it), along with the few that have the right equipment, temperment and skills. I was lucky enough to have a neighbor that works at the same place I do that has these 3 advantages, so I drove in with her. Thanks Rach.Following the Sunday night storm, there was a Tuesday night
storm that brought a little more snow. This closed the schools for the next 2 days (now up to 4), and kept me home Wednesday. By this time, we'd surrendered to the storms and ordered chains over the 'net from JC Whitney. We even paid extra for overnight delivery. Thursday I was able to drive to work, but a new storm hit very early Friday morning that again closed school. This new storm was freezing rain. By midday we had an inch of ice on everything, and the snow was starting again. Fun. We got more snow over the weekend, but no chains. By Tuesday morning (12/23), we had over 8 inches of fresh snow, and work had officially closed the office until after the holiday. The chains arrived, so I was able to take my younger son to the Blazer game that night. Wednesday morning brought more snow, but we had a soft-thaw start midday that turned the compressed snow very slippery. After driving over to NE Portland for Christmas Eve, we got stuck on our hill 20 meters from our house. Christmas Day, I shoveled neighbors out, and the day after Christmas, my neighbors and I shoveled the street down to the main road so we could come and go. As I write this, all the snow is gone except for the black snow on the road edge. The memory, though, is still quite vivid.On deck
I'll be clearing the garage these next few days to prepare for some delayed maintenance on the cars. I have some filters to replace on the Jetta, and a fuel line to repair as well. The Benz has a sagging backend that requires new "accumulators", and the rear driver-side door's "check" is broken. Once I've done all that, the bus work resumes. I have located a rear heater from a vanagon that should work. I'll be picking that up tomorrow. If the price is right, I may buy 4 rims too. If nothing else, this snow has reminded me the importance of being prepared. Those rims will have studded snows mounted on them before the first Winter Hapy can drive. Then, if an ice storm hits, or we get 8 inches of freak snow, I can be ready to roll in 15 minutes.
Regardless, the water/coolant system is next. I'll post something in a few days.
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