Shedding properly, 2004 Passat Estate 1.9 TDI
Discussion
Cracking on with the cambelt change itself.
Whatever cambelt you are doing you must have the correct timing tools.
Engine as is after taking the front end off.
Engine top cover off
I like to loosen a few key components to start with. If you get stuck on these then you are, well stuck, so it best to get them over and done with.
Prise out rubber cover over crank pulley bolts
8mm allen key socket for the viscose fan, if you are lucky this will undo whilst the aux belt counter holds the fan pulley, I was. If not in the past I've used some soft jawed pliers to counter hold the puuley
Fan coming off
Fan off
Crank pulley bolts. These are made from cheese and easily round off. These were re-sued from last time I did the belt which would have been the second belt change on the car. They did not and would cope with a third belt change. Despite having good and close fitting tools they rounded off. Luckily for me as I've got stuck at this point before I had a set of Irwin bolt grip sockets as pictured. Lightly tapped on to each cheese head it had them off. If you are doing this, make sure you have a similar means to get past this hurdle if these cheese heads round off!
Counter holding crank via 19mm center bolt and then using another breaker bar and the bolt grip socket
Also make sure you have the means to get the old cheese heads out of the bolt grip socket. They are very good at gripping bolts and need some whackage to get them out.
Damned things, all out.
Aircon belt, loosen pivot bolt
Then the clamp bolt
Take the belt off
Taking the tension off the aux belt, 19mm spanner counter clockwise, take the belt off
Aux belt tensioner lower bolt
Viscose fan hub already off, remember the first bolt undone from the back..
Aux belt tensioner upper bolt
The growing collection of lumps of car
Both aux belts off including tensioners, fan and fan hub off
Top cambelt cover off, two spring clips. You can see the five 10mm bolts that hold the two lover covers on, take them out and remove!
Evidence of the old water pump leaking, crystalised coolant This is another reason why you should always change the waterump
Out curiosity, I wanted to see what the belt tension was. It was out a bit but as expected after 40k on the car.
Whatever cambelt you are doing you must have the correct timing tools.
Engine as is after taking the front end off.
Engine top cover off
I like to loosen a few key components to start with. If you get stuck on these then you are, well stuck, so it best to get them over and done with.
Prise out rubber cover over crank pulley bolts
8mm allen key socket for the viscose fan, if you are lucky this will undo whilst the aux belt counter holds the fan pulley, I was. If not in the past I've used some soft jawed pliers to counter hold the puuley
Fan coming off
Fan off
Crank pulley bolts. These are made from cheese and easily round off. These were re-sued from last time I did the belt which would have been the second belt change on the car. They did not and would cope with a third belt change. Despite having good and close fitting tools they rounded off. Luckily for me as I've got stuck at this point before I had a set of Irwin bolt grip sockets as pictured. Lightly tapped on to each cheese head it had them off. If you are doing this, make sure you have a similar means to get past this hurdle if these cheese heads round off!
Counter holding crank via 19mm center bolt and then using another breaker bar and the bolt grip socket
Also make sure you have the means to get the old cheese heads out of the bolt grip socket. They are very good at gripping bolts and need some whackage to get them out.
Damned things, all out.
Aircon belt, loosen pivot bolt
Then the clamp bolt
Take the belt off
Taking the tension off the aux belt, 19mm spanner counter clockwise, take the belt off
Aux belt tensioner lower bolt
Viscose fan hub already off, remember the first bolt undone from the back..
Aux belt tensioner upper bolt
The growing collection of lumps of car
Both aux belts off including tensioners, fan and fan hub off
Top cambelt cover off, two spring clips. You can see the five 10mm bolts that hold the two lover covers on, take them out and remove!
Evidence of the old water pump leaking, crystalised coolant This is another reason why you should always change the waterump
Out curiosity, I wanted to see what the belt tension was. It was out a bit but as expected after 40k on the car.
Timing the engine up prior to removing the old belt.
On these engine you lock the crankshaft and the (single) camshaft. Nice and easy, in fact one of the easiest you can do but you need to understand the basics and they are the that due to the locking tools the static timing is extremely precise. As such you may get a locking tool in on the crank but it wont fit on the cam or vica versa.
This is what happened to me just now, one tool would fit, the other wouldn't.
So....
Crank tool in, note the alignment marks
Crank tool partly pulled out to show rear alignment peg and hole for the peg in the housing behind.
But the cam locking pin wouldn't fit all the way in.
So I removed the crank locking tool and carfully turned the engine (just a few degrees) until the cam pin went all the way in.
Back down to the crank tool, it wouldn't fit as expected, about 1/4 of a belt tooth out, this is due to belt stretch and wear after being on the car for 40k miles, quite normal and this is why we re-time correctly at each belt change.
So, what you do then is loosen the three outer cam pulley bolts so that the outer can rotate. Sounds mad, but the cam obviously has an outer and inner pulley, whilst the inner is locked with the timing pin, the outer pulley is free to rotate by the amount available on the slotted bolt holes.
So now with the cam inner locked but the outer loose, you can carefully turn the crank (in this cae a few degrees or about 1/4 of a tooth) so that the crank locking will fit. By doing this you are re-setting and correcting the timing. If you recall the screen shot of the "syncro angle" or "torsion value" being at 1.1, doing this you will be getting it back to 0.0. The running tolerance on these engines is about +/- 5.0 at which point it won't run however some say there is a sweet spot timing wise but I don't know what it is so I set where it should be at 0.0
So, now that the timing is correctly set you can set about removing the old belt. One last thing on setting the timing, it possible to get it 180 degrees out initially as the cam and crank don't rotate at the same speeds, you'll get the crank locking tool in but there will be no chance of getting the cam pin in despite tweaking +/- tooth. Just rotate the crank one full turn and then the cam should close enough to do the +/- 1/4 tooth maneuver I did.
Belt tensioner nut off. Fully de-tension using an allen key on the tensioner, you can see below where it goes.
Removing nut on deflection / idler pulley. I find the belt goes on / off easier with this out the way. If you have never done a belt before you will be amazed at how tight they are even when supposidly "de-tensioned".
The old belt off and in very good condition, probably good for another 40k+
Waterpump off time, three bolts and wiggle it out. Some pumps are stuck fast in the blocks and require considerable violence inflicted to them to get them out.
Water pump off. Prepare for coolant to go everywhere. This is why I don't actually do this in the garage itself.
Evidence of the pump leaking. There is not a lot you can do about this. Everything is / was spotlessly clean when I fitted it.
You can see the thermostat through the 'ole...
So there we are, everything off and ready, almost for the new belt and associated gubbins.
One last thing, I like to take the outer cam pulley off and give the the mating surfaces a good wipe over with a very slightly oil rag. This helps any micro adjustments you may need to make later on the timing.
On these engine you lock the crankshaft and the (single) camshaft. Nice and easy, in fact one of the easiest you can do but you need to understand the basics and they are the that due to the locking tools the static timing is extremely precise. As such you may get a locking tool in on the crank but it wont fit on the cam or vica versa.
This is what happened to me just now, one tool would fit, the other wouldn't.
So....
Crank tool in, note the alignment marks
Crank tool partly pulled out to show rear alignment peg and hole for the peg in the housing behind.
But the cam locking pin wouldn't fit all the way in.
So I removed the crank locking tool and carfully turned the engine (just a few degrees) until the cam pin went all the way in.
Back down to the crank tool, it wouldn't fit as expected, about 1/4 of a belt tooth out, this is due to belt stretch and wear after being on the car for 40k miles, quite normal and this is why we re-time correctly at each belt change.
So, what you do then is loosen the three outer cam pulley bolts so that the outer can rotate. Sounds mad, but the cam obviously has an outer and inner pulley, whilst the inner is locked with the timing pin, the outer pulley is free to rotate by the amount available on the slotted bolt holes.
So now with the cam inner locked but the outer loose, you can carefully turn the crank (in this cae a few degrees or about 1/4 of a tooth) so that the crank locking will fit. By doing this you are re-setting and correcting the timing. If you recall the screen shot of the "syncro angle" or "torsion value" being at 1.1, doing this you will be getting it back to 0.0. The running tolerance on these engines is about +/- 5.0 at which point it won't run however some say there is a sweet spot timing wise but I don't know what it is so I set where it should be at 0.0
So, now that the timing is correctly set you can set about removing the old belt. One last thing on setting the timing, it possible to get it 180 degrees out initially as the cam and crank don't rotate at the same speeds, you'll get the crank locking tool in but there will be no chance of getting the cam pin in despite tweaking +/- tooth. Just rotate the crank one full turn and then the cam should close enough to do the +/- 1/4 tooth maneuver I did.
Belt tensioner nut off. Fully de-tension using an allen key on the tensioner, you can see below where it goes.
Removing nut on deflection / idler pulley. I find the belt goes on / off easier with this out the way. If you have never done a belt before you will be amazed at how tight they are even when supposidly "de-tensioned".
The old belt off and in very good condition, probably good for another 40k+
Waterpump off time, three bolts and wiggle it out. Some pumps are stuck fast in the blocks and require considerable violence inflicted to them to get them out.
Water pump off. Prepare for coolant to go everywhere. This is why I don't actually do this in the garage itself.
Evidence of the pump leaking. There is not a lot you can do about this. Everything is / was spotlessly clean when I fitted it.
You can see the thermostat through the 'ole...
So there we are, everything off and ready, almost for the new belt and associated gubbins.
One last thing, I like to take the outer cam pulley off and give the the mating surfaces a good wipe over with a very slightly oil rag. This helps any micro adjustments you may need to make later on the timing.
New belt on.
If you have done one of these on an 8v PD engine they are incredibly tight to fit un-tensioned which is why I favour leaving the deflector pulley off until the belt is mounted. It also helps if the tensioner is right out on the end of its mounting stud with the belt looped over its lip and then draw the tensioner in whilst pushing the belt over the cam pulley.
From the last post, naked bare timing end of the engine. I spend quite a bit of time making sure everything is as clean as I can get it. I used almost a whole can of aerosol brake cleaner doing this washing every sign of grease and grit away focusing on the pulleys.
First job is to swap the mounting studs out for the tensioner and idler / deflection pulley. Ye olde lock nut trick is the one to use for this.
I like the Gates kits as they use Litens tensioners
Make sure the angled elbow bit fits into the corresponding slot in the backplate seen in the background
Like so
New waterpump on, new tensioner and mounting studs on.
Belt on. Make sure the cam pulley is centered in the middle of the elongated slots and is free to rotate. Obviosuly both locking tools are in at this time. As above these are a tight fit and can take some time and effort to fit. The PD TDI belts are very heavy duty things being twice the width of a normal belt. Massively engineered I suppose as the cam drives the unit injectors.
Tensioning the belt. This is a bit of trial and error as when you tighten the tensioner lock nut the tension increases.
To prove the point, this is the basic tension before tightening the nut. The pointer is in the middle where it should be
But when tightened it is clockwise out of the 'window'.
So to get the tension spot on, start low or slightly anti-clock from the center of the window so that when you tighten the nut it pulls it to where it should be. Start here.....
One attempt, nearly there.... I gave up taking photos at this point but it took another two goes to get it 'cock-on'. Now tighten the three 13mm bolts so the outer cam pulley is locked back to the inner pulley.
So now, you have enverything tightened up, the engine timed up with the locking tools in and the tension set. You now need to 'prove' your work. Pull the timing tools out and then turn the engine over two or four times via a socket on the crank pulley and then put the locking tools back in position. All being well the tools will glide back in. If they don't you need to undo the three bolts on the cam pulley and tweak thing a bit (much like you did when you set the initial timing).
The best way I've found to do both this for the initial timing at the start of the job and the final adjustments is as follows;
Get the crank locking tool in.
If the cam locking pin won't go in then remove the crank tool.
Finely rotate the engine until the cam pin goes in, you cannot see the 'ole for it so it has too be by feel or this way. Rememeber mine was about 1/4 of a tooth out.
Undo the three cam bolts
Offer up the crank locking tool so you can see which way you need to turn the engine, it should be close.
Both tools should slide freely in and out.
Tighten the three cam sprocket bolts back up.
Check the belt tension again, the pointer.
Remove the tools and rotate the engine again 2 or 4 times.
Repeat until you are happy.
Cock-on
For me, the way I left was that the timing tools went in with just a knats-cock of a tweak required to get them both in, they did were just a bit tight. I'm not too worried about it as it will be close enough and i'll check the timing (syncro angle / torsion value) with the diagnostic software once everything is screwed back together.
It is quite easy to adjust if needs be when the car is fully back together, all that is needed is the engine cover taken off and the upper cambelt cover unclipped so as to allow access to the three cam sprocket bolts.
Covers back on and job done, well the cambelt change is anyway.
If you have done one of these on an 8v PD engine they are incredibly tight to fit un-tensioned which is why I favour leaving the deflector pulley off until the belt is mounted. It also helps if the tensioner is right out on the end of its mounting stud with the belt looped over its lip and then draw the tensioner in whilst pushing the belt over the cam pulley.
From the last post, naked bare timing end of the engine. I spend quite a bit of time making sure everything is as clean as I can get it. I used almost a whole can of aerosol brake cleaner doing this washing every sign of grease and grit away focusing on the pulleys.
First job is to swap the mounting studs out for the tensioner and idler / deflection pulley. Ye olde lock nut trick is the one to use for this.
I like the Gates kits as they use Litens tensioners
Make sure the angled elbow bit fits into the corresponding slot in the backplate seen in the background
Like so
New waterpump on, new tensioner and mounting studs on.
Belt on. Make sure the cam pulley is centered in the middle of the elongated slots and is free to rotate. Obviosuly both locking tools are in at this time. As above these are a tight fit and can take some time and effort to fit. The PD TDI belts are very heavy duty things being twice the width of a normal belt. Massively engineered I suppose as the cam drives the unit injectors.
Tensioning the belt. This is a bit of trial and error as when you tighten the tensioner lock nut the tension increases.
To prove the point, this is the basic tension before tightening the nut. The pointer is in the middle where it should be
But when tightened it is clockwise out of the 'window'.
So to get the tension spot on, start low or slightly anti-clock from the center of the window so that when you tighten the nut it pulls it to where it should be. Start here.....
One attempt, nearly there.... I gave up taking photos at this point but it took another two goes to get it 'cock-on'. Now tighten the three 13mm bolts so the outer cam pulley is locked back to the inner pulley.
So now, you have enverything tightened up, the engine timed up with the locking tools in and the tension set. You now need to 'prove' your work. Pull the timing tools out and then turn the engine over two or four times via a socket on the crank pulley and then put the locking tools back in position. All being well the tools will glide back in. If they don't you need to undo the three bolts on the cam pulley and tweak thing a bit (much like you did when you set the initial timing).
The best way I've found to do both this for the initial timing at the start of the job and the final adjustments is as follows;
Get the crank locking tool in.
If the cam locking pin won't go in then remove the crank tool.
Finely rotate the engine until the cam pin goes in, you cannot see the 'ole for it so it has too be by feel or this way. Rememeber mine was about 1/4 of a tooth out.
Undo the three cam bolts
Offer up the crank locking tool so you can see which way you need to turn the engine, it should be close.
Both tools should slide freely in and out.
Tighten the three cam sprocket bolts back up.
Check the belt tension again, the pointer.
Remove the tools and rotate the engine again 2 or 4 times.
Repeat until you are happy.
Cock-on
For me, the way I left was that the timing tools went in with just a knats-cock of a tweak required to get them both in, they did were just a bit tight. I'm not too worried about it as it will be close enough and i'll check the timing (syncro angle / torsion value) with the diagnostic software once everything is screwed back together.
It is quite easy to adjust if needs be when the car is fully back together, all that is needed is the engine cover taken off and the upper cambelt cover unclipped so as to allow access to the three cam sprocket bolts.
Covers back on and job done, well the cambelt change is anyway.
Spangles said:
Completely hatstand, but in a good way obviously 
This is the proper tool for the CV clips, not some manky pliers.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000RA0H1U/
Mine look like manky pliers but are also the proper tool for the clips. Just a bit dirty, well manky from being covered in moly grease a few times when I was, as you do, having a bit of a mare in previous cv joint boot adventures.This is the proper tool for the CV clips, not some manky pliers.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000RA0H1U/
Have to say those ones do look nicer and they are clean.
Quite exciting and into uncharted territory.
I swapped out the viscose fan bearing after some head scratching and cobbling together some big sockets and some thread bar. The bearing itself is a snug interference fit into the huge aluminium carrier bracket that holds the alternator and power steering pump also. A cock up would be expensive but I forged ahead regardless and did it.
I also swapped over the alternator over run pulley clutch type thing, very easy to do once you work out it is a left hand thread, d'oh !
Blurred shot of the fan bearing being drawn out
Pulled out to the edge of the casting, a bit of a re-think and a bigger socket that the bearing can be drawn into
And the bearing out
A 30mm socket was a perfect fit for drawing the new bearing in
New bearing with socket pushing on the outer race, starting off...
Side view of my Heath Robinson setup for drawing the bearing in. Very pleased with how it went.
2/3's of the way in
In
The H.R. tool. The small socket is 30mm the big one is huge.
Cap off alternator pulley
The extractor tool. The old pulley unscrewed and the new one went on very easily
All of the aux components on, new tensioners and new belts.
I swapped out the viscose fan bearing after some head scratching and cobbling together some big sockets and some thread bar. The bearing itself is a snug interference fit into the huge aluminium carrier bracket that holds the alternator and power steering pump also. A cock up would be expensive but I forged ahead regardless and did it.
I also swapped over the alternator over run pulley clutch type thing, very easy to do once you work out it is a left hand thread, d'oh !
Blurred shot of the fan bearing being drawn out
Pulled out to the edge of the casting, a bit of a re-think and a bigger socket that the bearing can be drawn into
And the bearing out
A 30mm socket was a perfect fit for drawing the new bearing in
New bearing with socket pushing on the outer race, starting off...
Side view of my Heath Robinson setup for drawing the bearing in. Very pleased with how it went.
2/3's of the way in
In
The H.R. tool. The small socket is 30mm the big one is huge.
Cap off alternator pulley
The extractor tool. The old pulley unscrewed and the new one went on very easily
All of the aux components on, new tensioners and new belts.
Just about finished. All there is to do is reset the front lower arm suspension bushes for the revised spring height, put the undershields back on and have a jolly good tidy up. It would also be rude not to give the car a clean as well.
I spent some time replacing the vacuum hoses that are ordinarily hidden when the front end is on.
And then carefully cable tied the vacuum lines togehter so they cannot rub and chaff
And then spent what was an eternity cleaning the the intercooler and pipes
New 'green' seals for the boost pipe junctions, new chesse heads for the crank pulley and some 'o' rings for the radiator. The 'green' seals are about £6 each and are revised from the older 'black' ones. Legend has it that a key ingredient of the green seals is a special rubber compound from the amazon rainforest that has to be collected by licking the leaves of the special trees and then spitting the juice into a jar. I've just made that up but for the price I'd like to think something exotic has to happen to make them!
And then I spent ages assembling and all the boost pipes off the car as they are difficult when on the car. I wanted to make sure everything was just with them before fitting them
One green one black, I swapped there for two new greens and used the exiting green higher up on a joint which is more accessible.
Getting there
The new rad, Eurocar parts are a funny company. This time I went for a "Magnelli Marelli" rad instead of one of there EIS cheapies. The bonus was when I went to collect it was that it was a OE Valeo item with galvanised header tanks. Nice.
The new radiator, fun was had. I had to cut this lug off to make the A/C rad on top.
Quite pleased with how the cars sits now
For a bit of madness, I like to layout all the bits I've changed and take photos of it!
I spent some time replacing the vacuum hoses that are ordinarily hidden when the front end is on.
And then carefully cable tied the vacuum lines togehter so they cannot rub and chaff
And then spent what was an eternity cleaning the the intercooler and pipes
New 'green' seals for the boost pipe junctions, new chesse heads for the crank pulley and some 'o' rings for the radiator. The 'green' seals are about £6 each and are revised from the older 'black' ones. Legend has it that a key ingredient of the green seals is a special rubber compound from the amazon rainforest that has to be collected by licking the leaves of the special trees and then spitting the juice into a jar. I've just made that up but for the price I'd like to think something exotic has to happen to make them!
And then I spent ages assembling and all the boost pipes off the car as they are difficult when on the car. I wanted to make sure everything was just with them before fitting them
One green one black, I swapped there for two new greens and used the exiting green higher up on a joint which is more accessible.
Getting there
The new rad, Eurocar parts are a funny company. This time I went for a "Magnelli Marelli" rad instead of one of there EIS cheapies. The bonus was when I went to collect it was that it was a OE Valeo item with galvanised header tanks. Nice.
The new radiator, fun was had. I had to cut this lug off to make the A/C rad on top.
Quite pleased with how the cars sits now
For a bit of madness, I like to layout all the bits I've changed and take photos of it!
Thank you all...
Went out for a good test drive this morning, the car had been laid up for almost two weeks, which was planned.
The goods...
It feels quicker, probably a placebo effect but I'm likening it to the fact the all off the leaky boost seals are more airtight than they were.
The car feels a lot lot tighter, the old shocks were a lot more worn than you would realise with a car being a daily driver. It is still an old hector of a Passat TDI though, it just feels nicer.
The bads and they really are...
Brake pedal sinks a bit. I need to get the new calipers on quick sharp and the system bled. Funny as I've changed countless sets of pads over the almost thirty years I've been doing my cars. Even when I was young and really didn't know what I was doing I never suffered a sinky pedal after a pad change. Never mind, it just means I'll need to bring forward the caliper work sooner rather than later.
Even worse, after about 15 minutes of driving, huge clouds of vapour out of the internal air vents, so much so that it fogged up the interior of the car. I've no idea on this one at the moment but it didn't have the sweet curry like smell of antifreeze / coolant which is unmistakable. It was more like cat pee.
Went out for a good test drive this morning, the car had been laid up for almost two weeks, which was planned.
The goods...
It feels quicker, probably a placebo effect but I'm likening it to the fact the all off the leaky boost seals are more airtight than they were.
The car feels a lot lot tighter, the old shocks were a lot more worn than you would realise with a car being a daily driver. It is still an old hector of a Passat TDI though, it just feels nicer.
The bads and they really are...
Brake pedal sinks a bit. I need to get the new calipers on quick sharp and the system bled. Funny as I've changed countless sets of pads over the almost thirty years I've been doing my cars. Even when I was young and really didn't know what I was doing I never suffered a sinky pedal after a pad change. Never mind, it just means I'll need to bring forward the caliper work sooner rather than later.
Even worse, after about 15 minutes of driving, huge clouds of vapour out of the internal air vents, so much so that it fogged up the interior of the car. I've no idea on this one at the moment but it didn't have the sweet curry like smell of antifreeze / coolant which is unmistakable. It was more like cat pee.
It is a good job I'm hands on with the car.
Just seen this...
That is a very sweet and acrid tasting drip of coolant on the passenger side floor mat. Sticking my finger above into the heater ducts, they are wet.
Gutted.
As far as I'm aware, the only way to change the heater matrix on these cars is via the full removal of the dashboard and heater box.
Not a job I really want to do. Despite the love for the car, at times like these, the £250 per month PCP and or a company car seem like reasonable prospects.
Just seen this...
That is a very sweet and acrid tasting drip of coolant on the passenger side floor mat. Sticking my finger above into the heater ducts, they are wet.
Gutted.
As far as I'm aware, the only way to change the heater matrix on these cars is via the full removal of the dashboard and heater box.
Not a job I really want to do. Despite the love for the car, at times like these, the £250 per month PCP and or a company car seem like reasonable prospects.
Despite the heater matrix issue, the show must go on...
Gave the old hector a good clean and a polish today along with blacking up all of the lowers, that takes ages.
Clean and shiny engine bay, as clean as the rest of the car.
Lovely new belts and pullies and gubbings
The plan is to buy a new matrix this week and start stripping down on this coming Friday evening which isn't a problem for me as I'll do it under the very well lit car port rather than the garage as I'll need room to work on both sides which I can't do in the garage.
I'm really not looking forward to doing the matrix as I think it is going to be a massive and fiddly job.
Gave the old hector a good clean and a polish today along with blacking up all of the lowers, that takes ages.
Clean and shiny engine bay, as clean as the rest of the car.
Lovely new belts and pullies and gubbings
The plan is to buy a new matrix this week and start stripping down on this coming Friday evening which isn't a problem for me as I'll do it under the very well lit car port rather than the garage as I'll need room to work on both sides which I can't do in the garage.
I'm really not looking forward to doing the matrix as I think it is going to be a massive and fiddly job.
Good news and some bad.
The good is that the car passed its MOT today as expected with no advisory notices at all. The tester, who I know well and have been using for years said, "I don't even need to look at it as I know it will be perfect as you are an OCD nutter. But of course I have to." I liked that.
Found a good Aircon specialist two minutes away who de-gassed the system in readiness for me doing the heater matrix job. A very knowledgeable chap who I had a good chat with about doing the A/C side of the matrix swap, whilst it is all out I'm going to change the evaporator as well so got some tips.
The bad news.
I have to do the heater matrix job, really not looking forward to that. I've currently got the two heater hoses that normally feed the heater matrix bodged together with a short length of 22mm copper pipe. Good job I've got heated seats as the auxillary electric heater despite trying its best only just takes the chill off.
After the MOT I was on route to the tyre shop to get the tracking done, when all of a sudden, BANG and thereafter clouds of smoke. I knew exactly what it was, an intercooler hose had popped off. Serves me right for messing with them doesn't it. The way the I/C unions and clips are designed on these cars is diabolical and must have been done on a Friday afternoon after a long boozy lunch somewhere.
Even worse a replacement will be £50 or that is the cheapest I can find one on German e-bay. It is the shortest I/C hose on the car and seemingly the most expensive.
I've already engineered an elegant solution to the problem in my imagination and have ordered some exhaust clamps, some M6 bolts and will have to dust off the welder. The fix will be a permanent one and will allow me to do the same on all four lower I/C joints for £20 with loads of bolts spare. More on that as and when I do it.
Right, plucking up the courage to start taking the dashboard out....
The good is that the car passed its MOT today as expected with no advisory notices at all. The tester, who I know well and have been using for years said, "I don't even need to look at it as I know it will be perfect as you are an OCD nutter. But of course I have to." I liked that.
Found a good Aircon specialist two minutes away who de-gassed the system in readiness for me doing the heater matrix job. A very knowledgeable chap who I had a good chat with about doing the A/C side of the matrix swap, whilst it is all out I'm going to change the evaporator as well so got some tips.
The bad news.
I have to do the heater matrix job, really not looking forward to that. I've currently got the two heater hoses that normally feed the heater matrix bodged together with a short length of 22mm copper pipe. Good job I've got heated seats as the auxillary electric heater despite trying its best only just takes the chill off.
After the MOT I was on route to the tyre shop to get the tracking done, when all of a sudden, BANG and thereafter clouds of smoke. I knew exactly what it was, an intercooler hose had popped off. Serves me right for messing with them doesn't it. The way the I/C unions and clips are designed on these cars is diabolical and must have been done on a Friday afternoon after a long boozy lunch somewhere.
Even worse a replacement will be £50 or that is the cheapest I can find one on German e-bay. It is the shortest I/C hose on the car and seemingly the most expensive.
I've already engineered an elegant solution to the problem in my imagination and have ordered some exhaust clamps, some M6 bolts and will have to dust off the welder. The fix will be a permanent one and will allow me to do the same on all four lower I/C joints for £20 with loads of bolts spare. More on that as and when I do it.
Right, plucking up the courage to start taking the dashboard out....
F***king Hell, what a nightmare.
At the start I looked at the Haynes manual, rolled my head back and laughed like a pirate, then closed the book. Turns out that was a good call as it would have been useless, skipping out ALL of the man traps.
Five hours work and the heater box is out of the car. I would say at least half of that time was spent scratching my head working out what was stopping whatever bit coming out I was trying to take out.
The biggest man traps are, in no particular order...
1, The cross member, so, so many cables clipped to it with those stupid stupid clips, many of which you cannot see.
2, The cross member, so, so many bolts holding things and it in, many of which you cannot see.
3, The cross member, for some bizarre reason there are two legs that extend forward towards the engine bay which act as a support cradle for the ECU connector plate.
4, Did I mention the cross member?
5, The right hand side plate which forms the stereo housing, two hidden impossi-bolts near the bulkhead.
6, The sunlight sensor loom was a casualty right at the start, snapped the really thin cables, thankfully an easy fix.
7, The heater ducts, some are clipped, some have fixings and you never know which is which.
I knew it was going to be tricky and it lived up to my expectations. I'm currently in the position thinking how the hell am I going to get it all back together and I'm normally supremely confident on all things car.
Anyway, some photos. There is so much to do I didn't even begin to take them of all the stages but the order of work is basically;
a, Stereo out and all associated gubbings
b, Glovebox out
c, Panel above pedals out
d, Front section of cener console out
e, Dash top off
f, Clocks out
g, Drop steering column onto axle stand
h, Cross memeber
i, Heater box out.
First of all, the human cost. Not too much claret was spilt but there are plenty of sharp edges!
Will it ever look like this again?
Stereo gubbings out
Everything out ready for the dashtop to come out
Yey
Coolant everywhere
There are two screws that need to be undone via the ECU housing not mentioned anywhere
Crossmember finally out, there is also a single bolt engine up under the scuttle so the wipers have to come off.
Crossmember out
Disconnecting the A/C manifold
Heater box partly out, at this stage I was undoing and unclipping cables
I put the right hand bracket back once it was finally off, this is the one with the impossi-bolts on it. Note to self when things go back in...
Impossi-bolts are at the end of the arms
And finally the heater box came out of the car. All I did was take the matrix out to have a look. It is pretty bad.
A bit wet in there
The infamous V71 motor, not where internet folklore mainly says it is. It is actually on the far left hand end of the heater box and knowing this I reckon it is do-able with the heater box in the car like it is on a MK4 Golf which I've done.
Took out the auxiliary electric heater which was soaking wet.
I've got to get it all cleaned up, new matrix fitted and back together now. That is going to be fun.
At the start I looked at the Haynes manual, rolled my head back and laughed like a pirate, then closed the book. Turns out that was a good call as it would have been useless, skipping out ALL of the man traps.
Five hours work and the heater box is out of the car. I would say at least half of that time was spent scratching my head working out what was stopping whatever bit coming out I was trying to take out.
The biggest man traps are, in no particular order...
1, The cross member, so, so many cables clipped to it with those stupid stupid clips, many of which you cannot see.
2, The cross member, so, so many bolts holding things and it in, many of which you cannot see.
3, The cross member, for some bizarre reason there are two legs that extend forward towards the engine bay which act as a support cradle for the ECU connector plate.
4, Did I mention the cross member?
5, The right hand side plate which forms the stereo housing, two hidden impossi-bolts near the bulkhead.
6, The sunlight sensor loom was a casualty right at the start, snapped the really thin cables, thankfully an easy fix.
7, The heater ducts, some are clipped, some have fixings and you never know which is which.
I knew it was going to be tricky and it lived up to my expectations. I'm currently in the position thinking how the hell am I going to get it all back together and I'm normally supremely confident on all things car.
Anyway, some photos. There is so much to do I didn't even begin to take them of all the stages but the order of work is basically;
a, Stereo out and all associated gubbings
b, Glovebox out
c, Panel above pedals out
d, Front section of cener console out
e, Dash top off
f, Clocks out
g, Drop steering column onto axle stand
h, Cross memeber
i, Heater box out.
First of all, the human cost. Not too much claret was spilt but there are plenty of sharp edges!
Will it ever look like this again?
Stereo gubbings out
Everything out ready for the dashtop to come out
Yey
Coolant everywhere
There are two screws that need to be undone via the ECU housing not mentioned anywhere
Crossmember finally out, there is also a single bolt engine up under the scuttle so the wipers have to come off.
Crossmember out
Disconnecting the A/C manifold
Heater box partly out, at this stage I was undoing and unclipping cables
I put the right hand bracket back once it was finally off, this is the one with the impossi-bolts on it. Note to self when things go back in...
Impossi-bolts are at the end of the arms
And finally the heater box came out of the car. All I did was take the matrix out to have a look. It is pretty bad.
A bit wet in there
The infamous V71 motor, not where internet folklore mainly says it is. It is actually on the far left hand end of the heater box and knowing this I reckon it is do-able with the heater box in the car like it is on a MK4 Golf which I've done.
Took out the auxiliary electric heater which was soaking wet.
I've got to get it all cleaned up, new matrix fitted and back together now. That is going to be fun.
twoblacklines said:
I had the most fun ever in my passat 1.9 tdi.
The whole time I drove it I was saving for something better and couldn't wait to get out of it. Then when I bought that something better (A3 2.0t FSI) I didn't have half the fun. I had to watch where I parked it (or so I thought) etc.
Though driving a passat around a city at night is a ballache because people think you are a taxi and taxi companies think you are nicking trade!
Fun times though!
Yes, they are a park and leave it anywhere without a care kind of car.The whole time I drove it I was saving for something better and couldn't wait to get out of it. Then when I bought that something better (A3 2.0t FSI) I didn't have half the fun. I had to watch where I parked it (or so I thought) etc.
Though driving a passat around a city at night is a ballache because people think you are a taxi and taxi companies think you are nicking trade!
Fun times though!
I've done the new(er) car thing a few times and always end up back in something older.
Not much to say really.
I took the heater apart to clean the leaked coolant of it and to have a look more than anything. Also a good to check if there was anything silly that had happened causing the matrix to fail. There wasn't.
I took a load of pictures more for my benefit in case I had trouble working how it all goes back together but I might as well post them up.
The heater assembly splits into three main parts, the heater section, the A/C section and the air intake section
Heater section below
A/C evaporator
A/C evaporator left, heater matrix right
Manky and well worth the effort of splitting it open and cleaning it all up
All cleaned, dry and back together
New matrix in
The V71 is not going to happen as this clip is broken and would be impossible to obtain.
I took the heater apart to clean the leaked coolant of it and to have a look more than anything. Also a good to check if there was anything silly that had happened causing the matrix to fail. There wasn't.
I took a load of pictures more for my benefit in case I had trouble working how it all goes back together but I might as well post them up.
The heater assembly splits into three main parts, the heater section, the A/C section and the air intake section
Heater section below
A/C evaporator
A/C evaporator left, heater matrix right
Manky and well worth the effort of splitting it open and cleaning it all up
All cleaned, dry and back together
New matrix in
The V71 is not going to happen as this clip is broken and would be impossible to obtain.
Joey Deacon said:
Any links to that deal as I would be very interested!
Very impressed you have stripped the car down to replace the heater matrix, I would imagine that the vast majority of people would have thrown in the towel and put the car on eBay!
I'm in too deep with the car now to let it go.Very impressed you have stripped the car down to replace the heater matrix, I would imagine that the vast majority of people would have thrown in the towel and put the car on eBay!
I really, obviously, didn't want or need the heater matrix failure to contend with. If that had happened before I'd done all of the other work, it may well have ended up on e-bay.
Having done all of the other work I was looking forward to simply using the car without worry for the next few years with only minor servicing needed and more importantly putting my spanners away. Hats off to mechanics who have to do this day in, day out, whilst I enjoy it I couldn't do it every day (although it seems I am at the moment) and it makes you appreciate life behind a desk!
[edit]
Your name..... are you the JD? the one who has the special friend who is the only one who can understand him. Kids of a certain age circa 1981, Blue Peter, a certain article on JD and then the next day in the playground.... and for years afterwards; cruel child like takes on it, not what Blue Peter were hoping.
I find it funny to this day.
So, are you a Joey or a Deacon recruit ? ....
He must be long dead now as he was knocking on a bit then. A genuinely nice chap with a genuinely nice friend, how cruel we were.
Edited by colin_p on Thursday 17th March 12:38
Edited by colin_p on Thursday 17th March 12:39
Don't forget I'm doing extreme shedding far above and beyond what could be considered the actions of a reasonable person on this car.
As has been pointed out, I'm not shedding at all, not even close to it.
At least i'll have the satisfaction that any and all dashboards rattles will have been caused by me and not the fault of the car.
In fact as I type this, I'm about half way through putting it all back together. There have been a few false starts when I've got on / in only to have to take it off again as a part needing to go on first was forgotten about. The biggest nightmare thus far has been getting two cross head screws in, the ones that hold the ECU connector plate down, it took a good 45 minutes to get those two screws in.
Tea break over, back to it.
As has been pointed out, I'm not shedding at all, not even close to it.
At least i'll have the satisfaction that any and all dashboards rattles will have been caused by me and not the fault of the car.
In fact as I type this, I'm about half way through putting it all back together. There have been a few false starts when I've got on / in only to have to take it off again as a part needing to go on first was forgotten about. The biggest nightmare thus far has been getting two cross head screws in, the ones that hold the ECU connector plate down, it took a good 45 minutes to get those two screws in.
Tea break over, back to it.
Sheepshanks said:
Would now be a good time to point out that you could have leased a brand new one, with DSG & 4Motion, for about £120/mth?
Nah, this way is supposed to be fun. Not on my radar at all so don't know prices but surely something similar be current would be £200 to £300 a month?
But my sanity is being tested by this heater matrix adventure.
problemchild1976 said:
but...........
1. you pay ALL the depreciation up front
2. you then pay an extra £3k
so you pay £5k in 2 years for a car
well buy the car new, use for 2 years and then sell and its prob cost you £1-2k less
this passat isn't just about shedding its about having a really useful hobby that doesn't cost £££
i'll send you my father in laws for a similar treatment
he's just done front and rear lights and its made a huge difference to the look
JJ
It'd be more like £8k I'd have thought and you own nothing at the end. Depends what value you attach for peace of mind and how much a month you are prepared to chuck at a car.1. you pay ALL the depreciation up front
2. you then pay an extra £3k
so you pay £5k in 2 years for a car
well buy the car new, use for 2 years and then sell and its prob cost you £1-2k less
this passat isn't just about shedding its about having a really useful hobby that doesn't cost £££
i'll send you my father in laws for a similar treatment
he's just done front and rear lights and its made a huge difference to the look
JJ
pfnsht said:
Bloody hell! I've been following with interest but that heater matrix job looks an utter nightmare. Well done sir!
About 10 years ago I had a Cavalier V6 with the same fault but fortunately I don't remember having to take the dashboard out to the fix it (and I did do it myself so surely I'd remember that pain).
I now have a 3 year old Exeo estate (it's a re-badged B7 Audi A4) with the same front suspension set up as you've got. I am not looking forward to future repairs!
I have currently had a guts full and am all car'd out for the time being.About 10 years ago I had a Cavalier V6 with the same fault but fortunately I don't remember having to take the dashboard out to the fix it (and I did do it myself so surely I'd remember that pain).
I now have a 3 year old Exeo estate (it's a re-badged B7 Audi A4) with the same front suspension set up as you've got. I am not looking forward to future repairs!
I've almost got it all back together, almost but gave up about half an hour ago 10.30pm!
That's about 12 hours so far and if I were paying a garage, they might be an hour or two quicker but I'd still be crying about the bill.
Well, that's that.
The car is back together. Inevitably there were some screws and bolts left over but only six!
Pictured below are the casualties of the heater matrix swap, all snapped bit of plastic along with the six screws / bolts.
I never, ever, ever want to do that again.
[edit]
Forgot to mention, the heater is hotter than a oven now, it must have been partly clogged and in a really bad way.
The car is back together. Inevitably there were some screws and bolts left over but only six!
Pictured below are the casualties of the heater matrix swap, all snapped bit of plastic along with the six screws / bolts.
I never, ever, ever want to do that again.
[edit]
Forgot to mention, the heater is hotter than a oven now, it must have been partly clogged and in a really bad way.
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