What did you do to your car today?

IndigoBlueWagon said:

North. Hopes to make it to Mt. Katahdin.

Chill took the wagon apart to find out what I did to it at the track last weekend, and apparently I broke a wheel hub.

He said the tightness of the axle nut was all that was holding it together. I drove it 100 miles home like that. Lucky, I guess.

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NEVER seen that before! What was the symptom?

Felt like a flat spotted tire. Thought it was a broken CV joint after I swapped tires front to rear and it didn't go away. When I drove it home I couldn't go above about 65 of the car shook a lot, like it had a bent wheel (street tires on at that point).

Stock hubs are not designed to take the cornering loads generated on the track with wide sticky tires. I would check the other side too.

We did, that one's OK. I did two events at Lime Rock this spring (both on Victoracers) and that course is mostly right turns, so the left front wheel was under a lot of load. When I'd come in after a session the left front tire pressure was typically labout 4 PSI higher than the right. And the hub was original.

Jettawolfs98 said:

Did this... Yes called me Stupid.

I was talking with my friend and I didnt check the torque wrench.

Yes called me stupid twice, my friend did it.

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Question

Can I continue using only 3 bolts?
Or Can I add a bolt and a secure nut?
I'm afraid the secure nut get loose and drop causing some damage.

Given the relative fragility of the fuel systems in these cars and that you probably don't want to risk introducing air to the system, I think you need to either get the bolts out, and if the threads are damaged at all, replace the canister. A couple of gurus here use ALH valve cover bolts instead of the OE canister bolts, as they are notoriously soft.

Don't feel bad, more than a few people have done this.

How did you check it? A visual inspection inspection might not show the beginnings of small stress cracks; dye penetrant would.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

We did, that one's OK. I did two events at Lime Rock this spring (both on Victoracers) and that course is mostly right turns, so the left front wheel was under a lot of load. When I'd come in after a session the left front tire pressure was typically labout 4 PSI higher than the right. And the hub was original.

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IndigoBlueWagon said:

We did, that one's OK. I did two events at Lime Rock this spring (both on Victoracers) and that course is mostly right turns, so the left front wheel was under a lot of load. When I'd come in after a session the left front tire pressure was typically labout 4 PSI higher than the right. And the hub was original.

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Wow you got lucky it held together.

I know. Chris was surprised I made it home. I thought I had a cracked cage on an inner CV joint.

I'll double check the remaining hub, but I'm also putting stock suspension back in the car and taking a track day break. I was scheduled for an event in Canada this week but canceled because I don't want to get stranded. Driving the race car back and forth when it's as old as mine is too risky: Too much trouble getting towed home. I'm going to stay local and use the Miata for the rest of this season.

Installed Yakima Skybox 16S, Weathertech Cargo mat, and a pair of Amazon exhaust tips.

Big day.
Background: Had a my radiator drain valve fail about a week and a half ago after a 'top notch' timing belt job by Paramedick & co. (they didn't break it, they found it that way from previous owner and told me it was broken). I guess it was sort of sealed with age, because after opening it to drain, closing it, and re-filling the coolant it got me about 80% of the way home before it failed and left my coolant along the road in a trail until my warning light came on. Trailered it home from there.

Ordered a new part from Peter, Corey, et. al. at ID parts. Nice! Got here yesterday. Today I drained what was left and flushed with distilled water. Even pulled the lower oil cooler hose to get everything I could out of the block! Then I removed the broken one and installed the new lower radiator drain valve/hose coupling. Filled with fresh coolant/distilled water about 60/40.

Only having one issue that might be a non-issue. So as not to hijack the WDYDTYCT thread, see it and help me here, please: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=4211389&postcount=52

Kman308 said:

Installed Yakima Skybox 16S, Weathertech Cargo mat, and a pair of Amazon exhaust tips.

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Nice! I like the cargo mat. Did you get it from WeatherTech directly?

Cleaned up my IC plumbing (driver and passenger side) and sprayed TB a little with TB cleaner. Found very thin oil film inside the piping (which is normal) and some nasty goop in the pipe that goes to TB and intake manifold (passenger side).

Weathertech

TDI<wagen> said:

Nice! I like the cargo mat. Did you get it from WeatherTech directly?
Cleaned up my IC plumbing (driver and passenger side) and sprayed TB a little with TB cleaner. Found very thin oil film inside the piping (which is normal) and some nasty goop in the pipe that goes to TB and intake manifold (passenger side).

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TDI<wagen>,
I ordered the mat from a local Weathertech dealer - They had it the next day. Weathertech is severely overpriced IMO, but it is probably the best out there and properly fit. Will last a lifetime...

Finished removing the side skirt and belly pan that my son 1/2 ripped off after parking too close to the concrete parking stop and ripping off the valance..."Its dragging something..."

he needs to keep this thing together until Aug 15th. It's going to be close...

I do landscaping as a summer job (aka, "Agricultural Engineering"), so I basically work during any good time to wash a car.

700 miles on the new (black) car. Got home from work and washed the car with Dawn to get the crappy dealership coat off.

Started to clay the car...and it downpours.

Next day, get out of work at 6. Wash (again), dry, and clay the front end and mirrors only (figuring, the only stuff on the paint would be bugs). Apply Meguiars NXT sealant as it's getting dark. I notice that after I wipe it off I sealed some surface contaminants in.

Oh, and it rained overnight. Never got to see the car all nice and shiny...

MikeS_18 said:

Finished removing the side skirt and belly pan that my son 1/2 ripped off after parking too close to the concrete parking stop and ripping off the valance..."Its dragging something..."

he needs to keep this thing together until Aug 15th. It's going to be close...

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Picked up my wagon (new brakes, street dampers back in, fixed broken hub) from Chills and dropped my son's Golf: radiator, clutch (maybe) shift tower update, hatch doesn't open, stripped dogbone bolts, needs a hood and then interior (I'm doing that, need that carpet sometime, Mike). I want the car to last two more years. To his credit he's had it 7, and it still runs...barely.

After battling to fix my driver door lock for 2 weeks, I finally completed the task. I replaced the switches, still would not lock, replaced broken locking & unlocking mechanism from other parts. Still would not lock. Found out the lock cylinder was broken and replaced. Still would not lock. Tired of trying to repair. Bought a replacement the then the lock cylinder bracket broke. Disassembled the entire handle mechanism to figure out how to get the clip or bracket that holds the cylinder in place. Figured that out and lubed it up reassembled and the stripped out the damn triple square screw that holds the lock in the jam. Dremeled that so I could use a flat head. All back together and works. Now the light in the door won't turn off.

Boy o boy.... Huh..... $300


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- Installed a new power steering rack to take care of the leak at the passenger side tie rod. Straightforward but a little time consuming. Got the rack from Detroit Axle on ebay after some positive reviews on this site. Time will tell - so far so good. No more drips in my driveway.

- While I had the subframe dropped, I took the opportunity to swap back to stock springs. Took out the H&R Sports springs, re-installed the stock springs with new strut bearings and mounts, kept the Bilstein Sports all around. The rest of the front end (tie rods, all bushings, etc. had been replaced a little over a year ago and are all still in great shape. Got it aligned and the car feels great. Very solid and stable. I can live with wheel gap!

Neuspeed rear sway bar end links. I won't worry about snapping the old OEM ones with the bar set at 200% stiffness.

Finally got my suspension update/refresh done today. TT subframe and control arm bushings, Cupra R rear beam bushings, new sway bar bushings, new tie rods, and ball joints. Went in with Koni FSD dampers and Shine VR6 springs. Monday will see the torn CV boot, possible wheel bearing (still trying to diagnose this one), summer tires, shine rear bar, and the alignment for all of the work done today. After 200k an all the original components, the car feels amazing!

Swapped a burnt out Napa starter with a Bosch reman (kudos to Hevster for the phone diagnostics). Was a result of being crap, old, and forcing it too many times after a fil up of B100 that had been transfered just hours before. The filter for the transfer pumps clogged when I was getting filled up, and them I guess my filter clogged, too, causing air pockets in the fuel line (my assessment; another mechanic I conferred with suggested the B100 burnt through the IP seals). Also replaced the filter (CAT) and oil (Rotella). None of this is an "upgrade" per se, unless you consider a non-starting car now running like a baby's bottom once again being an upgrade. Also, I had never done any automotive maintenance before in my life, save for changing a tire, so the experience definitely upgraded my skills.

Thanks to all the club members that provide guidance, support and feedback.

skoullias said:

Swapped a burnt out Napa starter with a Bosch reman (kudos to Hevster for the phone diagnostics). Was a result of being crap, old, and forcing it too many times after a fil up of B100 that had been transfered just hours before. The filter for the transfer pumps clogged when I was getting filled up, and them I guess my filter clogged, too, causing air pockets in the fuel line (my assessment; another mechanic I conferred with suggested the B100 burnt through the IP seals). Also replaced the filter (CAT) and oil (Rotella). None of this is an "upgrade" per se, unless you consider a non-starting car now running like a baby's bottom once again being an upgrade. Also, I had never done any automotive maintenance before in my life, save for changing a tire, so the experience definitely upgraded my skills.

Thanks to all the club members that provide guidance, support and feedback.

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"Congratulations" for (figuring) it out so (quickly).

skoullias said:

None of this is an "upgrade" per se, unless you consider a non-starting car now running like a baby's bottom once again being an upgrade.

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I hope you have a lot of diapers on hand!

romad said:

I hope you have a lot of diapers on hand!

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(What a sh!ty thing to say.)

There was a comment in a thread about bumper guards that likened the looks of some of those guards to diaps for cars.

Yesterday the TDI started a slight squeaking from the rear wheel, that morphed into a scraping after a few more brake applications.

New set of rear pads, flushed some fluid through the rear calipers and she has brakes again.

And the rear axle bushings were observed to be bad w/ the axle hanging down. Yay, more work.

FJ40Jim said:

Yesterday the TDI started a slight squeaking from the rear wheel, that morphed into a scraping after a few more brake applications.
New set of rear pads, flushed some fluid through the rear calipers and she has brakes again.
And the rear axle bushings were observed to be bad w/ the axle hanging down. Yay, more work.

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fixt

Over the weekend she got an alignment, inspection, and a bath (6 months of dust....)

fase2000TDI said:

fixt

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I see what you did there...

used my tdi to shuffle cars around the front and driveway of my house. this is how i got them to the house, then the tow hitch was cut apart, and i ended up haveing to use the jetta to pull them BACK out of the driveway... (steep driveway, and the black and white rx7 died)

I attempted to replace the driver's side front turn light. Couldn't get the damn light fixture loose. thinking about murdering a VW engineer.