[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by Ramsagar

Congrats Halfbytecode.

My vento is at 152000 Kms. with stock clutch.

Steering rack is showing it age.

.

Wow, 1.5 Lakh kms on stock clutch is impressive. How is the clutch pedal hardness?

How to identify that the steering rack is ageing and needs to be replaced?

[halfbytecode]

Originally Posted by Ramsagar

Congrats Halfbytecode.
My vento is at 152000 Kms. with stock clutch. Steering rack is showing it age.
Radiator fan is running with high noise, specially with AC on. I don't have problem with cooling. Have you observed this?
Other than these, it is absolutely running fine. Able to achieve good triple digit speeds & mileage of 19-20kmpl on my highway runs.

I don't think so. I actually had to have the AC refrigerant gas refilled today. The refrigerant cans be locally sourced. Mentioning the details for reference. The recommended type for this car and engine combination is R134a, and the quantity is 500g.

The cooling was close to none. It seems to be fine after getting the refrigerant recharged.

Image credit: Amazon.com

[Ramsagar]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Wow, 1.5 Lakh kms on stock clutch is impressive. How is the clutch pedal hardness?
How to identify that the steering rack is ageing and needs to be replaced?

I drive 66 kms every day in B'lore traffic.Clutch is little hard than usual. I'm used to it. I'll get to know only when I drive other car.

While turning from Lock to Lock at slow speed (Parking Areas), you can feel vibration and "rubbing" noise. This is the indication of steering rack issues.

[halfbytecode]

UPDATES

I have a few interesting updates to share in this post.

• Steering rack changed in warranty: I noticed they don't properly torque the fasteners holding the subframe to the car and steering rack to the subframe. This causes some rattles while driving the car over rough roads, and might as well be the cause of premature failure of steering racks!

• Water pump leak: So this happened a few days ago, and most of the coolant leaked. The pulley attached to it had also developed play, which caused the timing belt to also move a bit sideways. Had it fixed at the earliest and saved the car from any damage.

• High pressure fuel pump seal leak: This also happened, and it started leaking diesel! I strongly feel it had to do with the timing belt sideways movement caused due to the play in water pump. Timing belt drives both this fuel pump and the water pump, among other things. I was luckily able to obtain just the seal, and had it replaced. Afterwards I had the high pressure fuel pump checked for fuel leaks, using professional equipment by Bosch. All was good after the seal replacement. VW service centers replace the entire fuel, costing a good chunk of money, about Rs. 80,000 if I'm not wrong. The fix and testing cost me about Rs. 1200!

• Coolant change: I got this changed earlier today, after draining a total of 6 liters of coolant. This was done by pulling off coolant hoses from coolant circulation pump, lower coolant hose off the radiator, and the coolant hose from engine oil cooler. Finally blowing air from the coolant reservoir, helped clear every drop of the old coolant. After connecting everything again, we gradually added 6 liters of G13 ready-mix coolant, which does not require water to be added to it.

Concentrated coolant is also available, but we are better off using the ready-mix as it has right amount of dilution, as well as it is diluted using proper distilled water.


Image credit: Amazon.es

[torque18]

Originally Posted by halfbytecode

UPDATES

I have a few interesting updates to share in this post.

• Water pump leak: So this happened a few days ago, and most of the coolant leaked. The pulley attached to it had also developed play, which caused the timing belt to also move a bit sideways. Had it fixed at the earliest and saved the car from any damage.

• [b]High pressure fuel pump seal leak[/

Hi

Water pump and fuel pump failure appears to be a relatively common phenomenon in VAG 1.6 TDi. Does the service schedule provide for preventive replacement of both these parts at any prescribed interval?

If not, how recommended is it to change both these parts as a precautionary measure? Because knowing well that both these are prone to failure, it is a bit unsettling on trips.

BTW, I have a Rapid with around 90k on the odo so wondering if I should have it changed or wait and watch.

Thanks

[halfbytecode]

Originally Posted by torque18

Hi

Water pump and fuel pump failure appears to be a relatively common phenomenon in VAG 1.6 TDi. Does the service schedule provide for preventive replacement of both these parts at any prescribed interval?

If not, how recommended is it to change both these parts as a precautionary measure? Because knowing well that both these are prone to failure, it is a bit unsettling on trips.

BTW, I have a Rapid with around 90k on the odo so wondering if I should have it changed or wait and watch.

Thanks

Water pump is a wear and tear part, as it contains bearings. It should be proactively changed while changing the timing belt and serpentine belt.

The significant play in the pulley on the water pump, likely lead to the damage in the fuel pump seal, for me at least. I would not say this is an issue with the fuel pump.

[halfbytecode]

UPDATE - Clutch overhaul and timing belt / serpentine belt change

I forgot to mention about the second time I had the timing belt and serpentine belt changed, which was done when I had the water pump changed a few weeks ago. This was a bit early for the belts, but I went ahead as we had already removed them as part of changing the water pump, and the belts would have to be changed in some time anyways.

Lately I had started to feel decreased acceleration and increased friction while driving the car. Sometimes it felt okay, but not for the most part. I felt the clutch was at the end of its life now, after 8.5 years and about 165,000 kms.

Apparently the clutch disk had developed some play that allowed some shaking, possibly the cause of the perceived increased friction while driving. The release bearing had a lot of play, and was completely shot. The clutch fork (release lever) had started touching the surroundings on one side, and started to "dent" as well apparently. The pressure plate was quite rusted, maybe this variant was no longer installed in later models, after 11/2010.

I got all 4 of these parts changed. My car being from the very first lot, had the earliest clutch variant. Clutch disk from LuK, made in Germany if I'm not wrong, pressure plate from LuK Hungary, and the release bearing is manufactured by Sachs Germany. Among all these parts, the clutch fork was most rusted, so any markings on it were eaten away by the rust.

The part numbers for these parts, apart from the clutch fork, were 03L 141 032, 03L 141 025 P, 02A 141 165 M.

I thought about getting the parts with same part numbers at first, as they are still available and not discontinued. However, considering the clutch plate and pressure plate was changed in 11/2010 itself, 2 months after the initial lot of cars was made, I decided to get more recent variants of these parts.

However, I eventually got the latest variants of these parts, that are localised, and fitted in the newer models. These VW branded parts were available in the open market for me, but at a little premium for the easy availability and convenience. Dealerships don't stock these most of the time around here. The combined cost of these from VW is a little less than Rs. 6500, I came to know.

The price of the release bearing is around Rs. 1200. The clutch fork costs about Rs. 250.

The new clutch plate and pressure plate are manufactured by LuK in India. The release bearing is the same as the earlier one, and has never had any variants for these cars. The part numbers for these are 03L 141 032 G, 03L 141 026 G. The release bearing is the exact same one as earlier.

The localised parts do appear to have some cost cutting, as the quality does not visibly seem the same as the earlier imported parts.

When it comes to performance, the first lot of these cars had a not so light clutch, that actually provided good amount fo feedback to the driver. The newer clutch is quite light, and the feedback is low while operating the clutch lever.

The feedback does seem a bit better after a day of usage, but I will wait for the clutch to wear-in for some time and see if it gets to the level of feedback on the earlier clutch.

I clicked a picture after the pressure plate and clutch plate were installed and bolted on to the flywheel.

[halfbytecode]

Some feedback post more than 1000 kms after the clutch overhaul.

• The clutch seems to have worn-in nicely. It is no longer feather light, as it was right after the overhaul. It provides a good amount of feedback now, after the wear-in.

• The acceleration also seems to be restored now, after the clutch wear-in. It was sluggish right after the overhaul.

• Gear shifts are quite smooth now.

• Engine noise also seems to be restored to normal. It became a little different when the old clutch started acting up.

[torque18]

Originally Posted by halfbytecode

• Coolant change: I got this changed earlier today, after draining a total of 6 liters of coolant. This was done by pulling off coolant hoses from coolant circulation pump, lower coolant hose off the radiator, and the coolant hose

Hi

I got the water pump changed in my Rapid and changed the coolant. However, the quantity of drained coolant through pump and also through hose was max 3-4 litres.

The new coolant that went in was in the same range.

What am I missing here?

[halfbytecode]

Originally Posted by torque18

Hi

I got the water pump changed in my Rapid and changed the coolant. However, the quantity of drained coolant through pump and also through hose was max 3-4 litres.

The new coolant that went in was in the same range.

What am I missing here?

Coolant needs to be drained out from all spots, that I mentioned, to remove it from everywhere. Also, blowing air from the coolant reservoir with everything disconnected, drains about 1 litre of coolant alone too.

[300 KMPH]

Originally Posted by Ramsagar

Congrats Halfbytecode.

My vento is at 152000 Kms. with stock clutch.
Radiator fan is running with high noise, specially with AC on. I don't have problem with cooling. Have you observed this?
Other than these, it is absolutely running fine. Able to achieve good triple digit speeds & mileage of 19-20kmpl on my highway runs.

This is exactly like my Vento. Still on stock clutch. 1.45L KMS here. AC runs on a higher noise in summers due to higher fan speed. I'm happy with the cooling though.

[halfbytecode]

Update - 170,000 Kms done

Another milestone. Car's performance is really good. Both the engine and the suspension work just fine. Some of the work carried out since the last update:

• AC evaporator (cooling coil) changed: It didn't hold in the AC refrigerant, making the AC nonfunctional. Behr was the OEM for the older one and the part was imported from EU I think. The newer one while also being from Behr with VW marking, may have been manufactured in India/China. Could not capture the part numbers, as it was a long day, and we had to rip out the entire dashboard and virtually everything close to it, to get to the evaporator. This included the AC vents, music player, climate control unit, glovebox, instrument cluster, headlight control unit, gearstick covering, armrest, central portion in between the armrest and gearstick, airbag copassenger unit, steering wheel, airbag driver side unit, steering column, fuse box covering, AC blower motor, bonnet opening lever and the plastic trim surrounding it, and possibly some more parts including the entire dashboard.

We got stuck at the bolts golding the metal hoses to the evaporator, in the engine compartment. Due to the bolts being stuck, lack of space around it, it took 2 small cans of Zorikk-88 and about 3 hours to undo these 2 bolts.

The entire job including putting everything back together, took about 11 hours. 10 AM to 9 PM. Kudos to the AC specialist guys who did this amazing job. The evaporator cost me Rs. 4200, and the labour was Rs. 2500. AC refrigerant also had to be readded after this.

• Rotten coolant hose from the 4/2-way valve to the intercooler: This hose runs from the right side of the engine block towards the back of the engine compartment. The rotten rubber caused the coolant to leak. I think the age of the hose caused the issue, as it also has to carry the coolant up to 97°C all the time. I had to get this hose changed. This hose is a bit different on 1.5 TDI engines. Petrol engines also have entirely different hoses than these as well.

__________________

It has been almost two months since these fixes, which happened at the same time coincidentally. The car has been running fine ever since. The 180,000 kms service is also due shortly, in about 2000 kms. I will post regarding that in the next update.

I cleaned the MAF sensor for the third time about 5000 kms ago, this time quite vigorously. This time I used 99% Isopropyl Alcohol in addition to using CRC Air Sensor Clean. I poured the alcohol into the area where the actual sensor element is present, and let it stay there for a few minutes. During this time I also have the sensor slight shakes to make it clean better. I did this a few times, and also sprayed the CRC Air Sensor Clean a few times.

The car's fuel efficiency is pretty much restored now, and has been fine for way longer than after the first two attempts at cleaning the MAF sensor.

[halfbytecode]

Originally Posted by halfbytecode

Update - 140,000 kms

It has been quite a long time since I have posted. I have a couple of updates.

• While driving in the rains, the glowplug warning light started blinking. The idle RPMs increased to about 1200, and the car did not accelerate much. I scanned the car with an OBD scan tool, and it threw a code P0335 - Powertrain, Crankshaft Position Sensor A Circuit.

I cleared the code, but it persisted. I thought the sensor may have got wet in the rain somehow. After driving for a while, I parked the car. Upon starting it back up, the idle RPMs normalized, but the check engine light came on this time. I scanned the car yet again. It threw the same code, but clearing it this time made it go away.

The car was completely fine at this point, and has been so ever since.

...

I faced another occurrence of this, but this time it was just the blinking glowplug light, which went away upon turning off the ignition and turning it back on, after a little over an hour. There was no check engine light this time, and I didn't have to clear the error codes.

However, for the first time ever, I was unable to engage any gears this time when the ignition was on. After turning the ignition off, I engaged the first gear and also the handbrake. With the clutch pedal depressed, I turned on the engine. There was a subdued jerk felt at this time, subdued due to the handbrake. After this I was able to drive the car normally.

It seems the clutch plate may have got stuck to the flywheel, due to the rainwater on the roads.

[blackbeast]

Originally Posted by halfbytecode

I carried out diesel purge on my car, using Liqui Moly Diesel Purge.[/list]
The components used:

• Clear vinyl tubing, having inner diameter of 8 mm or 5/16" inch (5 feet in length)
• Connectors for tubing (3 units)
• Inline fuel filter
• Ziplocks (6 or 7 of them)
• Empty clear plastic bottle
• Liqui Moly Diesel Purge (500 ml)

Clear vinyl tubing, connectors, and ziplocks were available at some hardware stores. I had to go to a few stores to be able to find them all, though. These three set of things cost me about Rs. 85.

The inline fuel filter was available at some car spare part dealers. This cost me Rs.

I liked the way the inline filter was put on the return line to the diesel purge container.[/i]

Hi, can you tell me where did you source the piping and the inline filters ? I want to clean injectors on my yeti. unable to find these on internet.

[halfbytecode]

UPDATE - 1,75,000 Kms

• I had the car serviced a while ago. I used Liqui Moly Top Tec 4100 5W-40 engine oil this time. I sourced it from sparesncare.com for about Rs. 4070 shipped for the 5L packaging. Engine noise is noticeably reduced. However, I have not been able to conclude whether the acceleration is better with this oil, or Castrol Edge Professional that replaced Magnatec Professional at the service centers recently. Magnatec Professional is definitely on the third place in every manner among these 3 engine oils.

• I had the tyres replaced with Michelin Primacy 4ST ones. Managed to get them for Rs. 6400 per tyre. These tyres are good, but the ride is not as comfortable / plush as with Vredestein Sportrac 5, which I was using earlier. The Sportracs have a variety of issues though and I would not recommend using them for that.

• Rear brakes are now worn for the first time on this car. Mine has Euro spec brakes on the rear as well. Moreover, rear brakes are of multiple types which makes this quite complicated. PR code points to the correct variant of the brakes though. Will have to get these replaced, as well as the brake drums which have less than the minimum recommended thickness now.

• There seems to be slight engine oil leaks from behind the engine. It is not yet clear from where exactly. I will post about it after I have it fixed.

Originally Posted by blackbeast

Hi, can you tell me where did you source the piping and the inline filters ? I want to clean injectors on my yeti. unable to find these on internet.

I sourced the inline filter from an auto parts store, while the rest of the components were found at local hardware store.

Sourcing these online would likely be much expensive actually.