lt1fire
SILVER Star
tell him its a "I know you've been hot rodding that rig an now your warranty is void" alarm
TWT -- The Wrenching Thread (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter jfz80
- Start date
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afgman786
SILVER Star
Don't know what the whole theme of the car is. But from that picture, the copper bezels look good.
forrest5000
SILVER Star
Strange, but I kind of like it.Just when you think you have seen everything. I had a text from a customer today "Why are my gauge rings copper" I ask what he is talking about, he tells me the bezels, the gauge bezels are copper colored. So I called him, "Bored today are you, nothing better to do than hassle me on a Wed afternoon"
So he sends me a text with this photo. DAMN, those bezels were black, I have a picture of them when they were just installed. Notice how the tach bezel looks antique brass on the bottom. I called SpeedHut and they are aware of the problem, a UV issue with the black coating. The Tach is not getting as much sun.
SpeedHut is sending me new bezels, but they have not figured out a solution yet. I'll be painting them black and sending them to my customer, after I set them out in the sun for a while. I have four sets of SpeedHut gauges sitting here in the same color.
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lumbee1
Native American
I bought cheap black tire valve covers from Walmart. The UV light turned the black into a bright polished copper color. I loved them however over time I've lost 3 out of 4 of the valve covers and apparently the new ones don't change color
fourtrax
SILVER Star
so i purchased a little USB charger port to replace the cigarette light socket in the rear of the center console on the Ferd.
shows battery voltage and works pretty good.
ok, driving down the road i get a TPSM error. everything seems fine, i pull off at the next exit and check the tire pressure all good. hop back on the road and everything is fine the rest of the trip. (didn't plug my phone back into the charger). long story short i figure out the after about 25 minutes of driving with my phone charging (or any other device) will cause the TPMS failure. after some internet searching the USB charger is so noisy when in use that it jams the signal from the rear tires and after 20 minutes of no signal the error happens. if i unplug a device from the usb port the error goes away within a couple minutes.
go figure....
shows battery voltage and works pretty good.
ok, driving down the road i get a TPSM error. everything seems fine, i pull off at the next exit and check the tire pressure all good. hop back on the road and everything is fine the rest of the trip. (didn't plug my phone back into the charger). long story short i figure out the after about 25 minutes of driving with my phone charging (or any other device) will cause the TPMS failure. after some internet searching the USB charger is so noisy when in use that it jams the signal from the rear tires and after 20 minutes of no signal the error happens. if i unplug a device from the usb port the error goes away within a couple minutes.
go figure....
You can likely fix that with a cheap inductor choke for audio components. Worth a shot if you want to keep it.
Fi
Finally back together. Rides better than ever. These bearings were probably shot when I bought this used many years ago. I will start replacing every 3 years or so and no more deep water.
I did a bit of light reading on this issue during a droning call today:
Radio Interference of 12V iPad Charger in Cockpit
pointsforpilots.blogspot.com
Seems lots of folks report Skiva brand chargers are a solution. Doesn't seem they have the hardwire style you are after, but for "cigarette lighter" adapter to USB port, they offer a couple but they are pricier than what you see all over Amazon/truck stops/etc. Ferrite choke(s) on the charging cable seemed to be a partial solution, but I'd personally rather find a permanent solution (charger) after thinking about it a bit.
lt1fire
SILVER Star
Time for fun on the VW. There's about 400 clams down the drain lol.
fourtrax
SILVER Star
i did purchase some Ferrite chokes from amazon will give one of them a try.
Wish I still had ours. I should have bit the bullet and got the cam tool.
lt1fire
SILVER Star
Its a love hate relationship ship.
I love that it is a manual diesel......that is all.
I dont love that ive replaced more parts due to failure on it than all my other cars ever, combined.
But diesel, manual car, good mpg. Its the only game in town.
We most definitely spent more on repairs on our 2000 TDI Jetta in just the first 6 months after the warranty ran out than I paid for my most recent Cruiser (LX470). Never again, VW. Fool me once...
I must admit I have never understood the love affair with water cooled VW's. It seems like the thing they do best is make pedestrians out of their owners. When I was in college, my roommate had a first gen Sciracco that mostly just sat and collected parking tickets because it was always broken down. I had to drive him around everywhere. Once I graduated and bought my first house, my next door neighbor had a diesel Rabbit. He always bragged about the great fuel mileage it got, but most of the time it just sat in his driveway under a tarp with some major ailment. His wife drove him to work every day and picked him up. She finally got tired of driving him around. She went out on her own and bought him a Geo Storm as a surprise for his birthday! A Geo Storm! Boy was he pissed! But you know what? He got where he needed to go with no problems for years after that. The Rabbit eventually got hauled away by a teenager that had plans to fix it, but I'd bet money it never ran again. Funny thing...my neighbor always pined over that diesel Rabbit like he had lost his best friend. Strange love indeed!
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My first car was a '71 VW bug... I pushed that thing more miles than I ever drove it. It would leave me stranded all the time and I had to plan to walk home if I was going to drive it. I know they are simple machines but at 16 I didn't have the tools or knowledge to repair it so it just sat. I vowed to NEVER own another VW and so far I've held true to that. No experience with the water-cooled or diesels because of that
My first car was a '71 VW bug... I pushed that thing more miles than I ever drove it. It would leave me stranded all the time and I had to plan to walk home if I was going to drive it. I know they are simple machines but at 16 I didn't have the tools or knowledge to repair it so it just sat. I vowed to NEVER own another VW and so far I've held true to that. No experience with the water-cooled or diesels because of that
I had 3 Jettas between '93 and '05 and never had any serious problems with any of them. Guess I was lucky. Really enjoyed the little 1.8T that got me in the low 30's on the highway but still had some nice pickup. That '01 was my first new car ever and I was driving around 40k/yr due to a regional job, traded it with over 100k and only ever replaced a coil pack on that one. I really don't "miss" VW though, I'll say that much.
afgman786
SILVER Star
I had a 1.8t jetta for less than a year that I got for cheap and upgraded it to a 2.5 passat that was nice. But boy did I start seeing problems and got rid of it before it ate my money away. By 100k I had transmission problems that a drain and fill didn't fix and AC had pooed the bed, I would recharge just to get it to blow somewhat cold. As much as I would love a TDI manual... never will I go back
lumbee1
Native American
I currently have a 2013 GTI manual with a Unitronic 1+ tune. It's fast and fun and gets good fuel economy however water pump failed, loose front seat, TPS that acts up, AC leak, door hinge that failed, interior leak, and sunroof leak makes me reconsider my options. It would be the first car we sell if I had to sell one. I drive the Tundra and Land Cruiser when I do leave the house.
NCFJ
Supporting Vendor
If you have been around LCs long enough you know that they can have some interesting electrical issues. Seems older Mercedes suffer electrical woes as well. I've not jumped into this just yet as it certainly is annoying but the car is slated for a total rebuild at some point including an entire new harness etc. This is on a 1985 380SL. I am guessing some sort of odd ground feedback is the route of all this evil. I posted on the Mercedes forum to see if I am not alone in this scenario.
Lights off-when turn signals are activated the pointers on all 4 gauges in the quad gauge jump up and down with the beat of the turn signal.
Lights on-when turn signals are activated the gauge lights go on and off to the beat of the turn signals. Both turn signal indicators on the dash flash on and off to the beat. The high beam and seat belt indicators flash off beat to the turn signal indicators.
The turn signals on the outside of the car all flash as normal
With lights on when high beams are turned on the gauge lights dim.
Lights off-when turn signals are activated the pointers on all 4 gauges in the quad gauge jump up and down with the beat of the turn signal.
Lights on-when turn signals are activated the gauge lights go on and off to the beat of the turn signals. Both turn signal indicators on the dash flash on and off to the beat. The high beam and seat belt indicators flash off beat to the turn signal indicators.
The turn signals on the outside of the car all flash as normal
With lights on when high beams are turned on the gauge lights dim.
Sounds possessed
