Cappoccino

[Gary]

Hello every one, the saga goes on! I am now a little confused I have Cappoccino in my filler cap I have not seen this since my Sunbeam Imp blew a head gasket, and my beetle is Air cooled! It had oil/filter change in mid September and has covered less than 2,000 KM's. I cannot see water on the dipstick, aber it is in the filler neck very bad. Is this common Also my steering is stiff turning Right, and pulls to the Left. The steering joints have been replaced (4) and the tracking checked all is OK, could a faulty steering damper cause this I would also like a 3 pin test lead to interogate the ECU she is still running with low power, Manfred could you help Finally how do you install a tachometer I fitted one on my Imp but that had LT and coil terminals. Happy Beetling,
Gary

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Registrynr. 317

[phade]

Hiya Gary,

The sludge within the oil filler is nothing to worry about, my beetle does that all the time. The best thing to do is to simply use engine flush at every oil change.

One important thing to do every time you service your beetle (at every 7,500 km interval) is to replace the air filter and to clean out the air filter (and it's oil breather hose) unit of sludge. This will help the engine to breath more easily.

Regarding the odd steering, have you checked the steering box adjustment? There should be a small amount of play in the steering box when the wheels are pointing straight ahead. The steering wheel should turn about 25mm (on it's outer circumference) before the front wheels start to turn. A badly adjusted steering box could be the cuase of your steering problems in your case.

The steering damper its self has no effect on the car's geometry, it is only there to smooth out vibrations going towards the steering wheel its self.

Also diagnosing your car's ECU, have you tried getting a VAG-COM tester from Ebay? These testers will have an OBD II plug on them but you could also make up an adaptor lead (have a look at my VAG 1552 adaptor documentation on the 1600i website for further details). You can easily get an OBD II socket from SK Pang Electronics (based in the UK) for about £8 or so. At the 1600i plug end, I just used three flat steel pins (which happen to fit my 1600i's diagnostic socket) and heatshrink.

I found out what my beetle's problem was in the end, it was the hall sender inside the distributor. Unfortunately in my case I could not separate the impulse rotor from the distributor, so I had to order a brand new distributor (at least I found out what the problem was in the end).

Btw, did you manage to get your gearbox fixed?

Happy beetling and good luck,

Phil

[Gary]

Hi Phil, I used a flush when we first got the car, the oil was in a terrible state i think I told you I dont think it had been serviced for about 4 years( the length of time the previous owner had it for). I have cleaned out filter housing/breather hose and emptied the oil filler of water and sludge, I will monitor it but I think an early oil change might be in order. I noticed you are from kent, i was born in Orpington and lived in New eltham up untill I married and moved away, small world! The steering is a pain and my little darlin( it's her car) finds it difficult to park, Compared to the 69 we just sold, I do wonder if I did the right thing, is it the same set up with the adjuster under the little plate behind the spare wheel? The Diagnostic side really is in need of sorting, the engine hunts at idle i.e. nearly stalls and then revs high, it has never been a powerful car there was a slight improvement when I changed the relay, but couple low power with what I believe to be a really bad g'box you have a really uncomortable drive. The local garage has the vag com, I just need the lead he thinks that the ECU may have gone into limp mode, again untill I can reset the ECU I wont know. I replaced the lambda probe with a walker unit, no difference, coil cap and rotor, just need the leads, head temp sensor and a new g'box! I'm just a little dissapointed cos the 1300 was quicker, only 4mph slower, and sounded great with a kadron fitted. I could also do with a tacho just to see what RPM the engine is producing at each gearchange, you have to change up very early 35 2nd 45 3rd as it sounds like it's screaming! When you compare the 69, 45 2nd, 65 3rd its like I'm missing a gear! Glad you sorted yours out, although it's nice to know I'm not the only one with problems. Well phil thanks for reply I will have alook on ebay now for vag com, happy beetling, Gary.

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Registrynr. 317

[Gary]

Hi Phil just went on ebay and saw a vag com vw audi code reader obd-2 cable, including software for £14.99 item 330189698502, is that the one?

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Registrynr. 317

[phade]

Hiya Gary,

The VAG-COM on Ebay (item # 330189698502) is exactly what you need. All you need to do is to order the OBD II socket from SK Pang Electronics which costs about 8 quid and find some metal pins (to fit the beetle's diagnostic socket) and some heatshrink to prevent them from shorting out with each other.

Using the VAG-COM software its self will only diagnose faults that the ECU can recognize. Unfortunately it doesn't recognise faults such as faulty hall senders very well (that's what I found out !!), but it can recognise most faults.

As for the irregular engine running, I think either of the two following items could cause that problem:-

- Hall sender (inside the distributor)

- Ignition module (inside the ignition transformer)

The quick way to test this is to wiggle the socket on the hall sender part of the distributor. If your engine cuts in and out (eg. gets better or worse) when you wiggle that socket then you may have to replace the distributor. On my old distributor, the circlip and washer had rusted solid onto the distributor's shaft which made removal of the impulse rotor (the metal circular thing with notches on it) impossible.

Unfortunately it's impossible to get a new distributor from VW Classicparts, but however you can get one from Antonio Trejo (who happens to be a VW dealer in Mexico City) quite easily. He can be contacted on partsvw@hotmail.com and you will need a PayPal account to order parts from him.

However if it turns out to be the ignition module, then you can easily get one from places like GSF Car Parts (they fit several vehicles, eg. Polo Mk 3, Golf Mk3, Type 2 T4, etc.). The replacement VAG part number for those is 6N0 905 104.

Let me know how you get on with getting your engine up and running again.

The steering adjustment its self is exactly the same on all beetles (I also have a 1973 1300) and there should be a plate on the front O/S of the wheel well.

Good luck with your beetle and happy beetling,

Phil

[Gary]

Thanks again Phil, bought the lead on ebay, part one completed, i have now been on skpang and behold 4 connectors and a choice of two around the £8 mark, now, you don't know this, but my nickname is lucky! So unless it is a dead certainty I'm stuck, there is a short obdII connector with 16 pin obdshrt at £10.58 or a female obdII connector obdfem, in a rather nice shade of pink for £8.81? The other two are £18.80 so I think they are not the ones. I will give it a wiggle at the w'end and see if there is a problem and check the circlip for corrosion. I will also check out the availability for the ignition module just in case. Thanks again Phil, hopefully armed with the lead I can see what the faults are, if it can read them, will I then be able to return the ECU to basic settings? Happy beetling Gary

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Registrynr. 317

[Gary]

Hi again, I would still like to install a Tacho can anyone help?
happy beetling, Gary

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Registrynr. 317