Comments by "SeanBZA" (@SeanBZA) on "HumbleMechanic" channel.

Charles, just had a 21 year old VAG coil finally pop, off my old VW Polo. $30 for the pattern part, 3 minutes talking nicely to it with a 10mm spanner, and away it went again.
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Next to replace the entire brake system. Luck that is all still available, from the pedal to the drums.
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Yup, had to change the pump, not because it was faulty, but because the fuel level sender wore out, and was erratic below a half tank.
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@Dave-in-MD Reply yes, any cheaper it has no return, no warranty at all.
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How about the VW Up engine, even if it is technically not a VW engine.
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@skylinefever Toyota Aygo or Datsun GO, and also the Citroen and Peugoet versions. Yes not likely to have been sold in the USA, as they are small vehicles with small engines. You can park 2 of them in the parking space you need for the Mini Clubman.
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@HumbleMechanic I found it, and another one, plus 2 10mm spanners. Now, to find that 13mm spanner, I know I had at least 5 of the darn things, but all I can find are 12mm sockets, and only some bolts fit.
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Pretty much the most popular vehicle here in South Africa is a VW of some form, mostly the Golf, which had been produced in some form or the other for 40 years, and which is pretty much entirely available as aftermarket and performance parts.
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If you skip OEM and go for aftermarket that bill would be a lot lower though. Especially in countries where VW is the most popular vehicle around, and you can get just about the entire vehicle in spare parts, without ever stepping into the dealership once, though you better still have the front badge, as that, along with the VIN plate, is OEM only.
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@clayniemann2608 You also find that plaster and paint can hide a multitude of sins.
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Saw one the other day. Looks very nice, though at first glances I was wondering which variant of the MB sportster it was, till I got close enough to see the model name. That massive centre stop light......
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Small amounts no, but putting on spacers that put the rims outside the wheel arch and show a lot of tyre will lead to high forces on bearings that in general are designed for the load to be mostly symmetrical around the bearing. Higher wear, and higher loading of the bearing during driving, and of course potholes will cause extra wear. Use small amounts to correct for different rims not going to be any major problem.
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Can of spray silicone oil works wonders to find rubber bushes with problems, though if you are replacing them hit the new parts with rubber grease first to get them in, and warm them up in boiling water as well to soften the bushes. As well the grease on the threads means that when you need to replace it again it will not be a solid ball of rust.
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While I am in there, involved chiselling open a ceiling at 10PM, so as to get the buried junction box open, so that I could make a new cable change direction. Luckily I did have 100m of cable for the conduit already, and got that floor free of the old rubber insulated cable. Another involved removing nearly 20kg of old cable, inside the machine bowels, and replacing it with 100m plus of new, because I could not be bothered trying to trace where that spaghetti went, so took the original diagram and made the unit match it again. Whole load of mystery relays came out, including some tucked up in the wiring area itself, behind the steel cover, which in turn was covered with a whole host of pneumatic valving. Only used 4 packs of cable ties there.......
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Done water pumps in under an hour, one even at the garage after driving into the town at sunset.
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Going to bet they were unhappy with the rust on the firewall near the HVAC air inlet, and also under the cowl, as that is also a common place to have rust.
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Not enough varnish to say long running with no oil changes, and likely it just was burning oil, and eventually burnt all of it. When he was pulling the top apart the cams and such did not look like they were running in crude, just regular "change at 20k instead of 15" sadness and cooked on deposits Just they did not bother with filling it when it got low, especially with the extra boost pumping oil vapour into the engine, and it all got burned, followed by the bearings being burned to the crank.
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Yes it's a VW, it does break down. However fixing is cheaper and faster than with GM, and in general they only break down when stressed from towing all the GM vehicles to the shop. Reminds me, should really replace that knock sensor, the connector itself fell apart, so really should replace it instead of the wire holding the pieces together.
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Easiest thing for the floor is to simply rent a buffer, and clean it using the rotary brush attachment, water and detergent in the mix tank, followed by a rinse, then simply use a commercial liquid polish to seal it, probably 3 coats applied with a flat mop. Will seal the concrete from spills and stains, and will at least keep the dust down, plus easy to patch as all you do is strip with polish stripper, wash, let dry and then apply another coat. Do every year as a maintenance task, and it will still allow you to have bare concrete look, but a little more resistant. Downside is if you want to do epoxy afterwards you will have to diamond grind off a millimetre more of the surface to get to bare substrate, so add an hour or two to the epoxy job.
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Calcium based road salts to prevent ice forming above a specified temperature, which when it hits steel makes for a great cathodic rust cell all over the underside, and with all the pinholes in the coating from road debris this makes the underside rust like crazy. I live in a place which is the second rust capital of the planet, and here it is only salt spray, and vehicles do not rot out as bad as in the cold states of the USA. more because the local manufacturers long ago went and put in proper protection on the underside metal, and then put a decent paint coat on every part as well, so that there is very little bare unprotected steel around.
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Likely the wide gaps and failing coil was the thing that killed the PCM, by subjecting it to high primary side voltages, above what it would get in a properly running engine. Says the owner did not maintain the vehicle properly, and sorry that you, and not the owner, were the one to pay for his short sightedness. Just remember that for the next one, where you get that, and say up front that this neglect can have damaged the PCM as well.
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Documentation is great, because you will not remember what you did a year ago, but having it all written down is a big help when you get the same or similar problem again.
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I did one day go to the scrapyard with around 50kg of old assorted nuts, bolts and screws, all old stuff. Little transparent thing is the flower holder from the New Beetle, which was part of the dashboard. I found an old ford distributor for my old ford, and gave it to the distributor rebuilders, as a core, because those CVH engine parts are getting a little long in the tooth now, and this one was a still reasonable one, complete and ready to go.
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@DrewLSsix Funny enough where I am much cheaper buying VW parts than buying GM spares. Even though GM parts are mostly Daewoo, they are very much more expensive, as they are sold as if they are US made. VW hub assembly is under $40 here from a reliable second source, and includes every part. Good thing about GM is that here you just buy the equivalent Daewoo part, either genuine or pattern, and avoid what is left of the GM network, but always a week or two wait for parts is common.
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@HumbleMechanic Grease the parts of the pin that go in the bushings as well before putting in, along with a bit inside the bushing. That way the lubricant is actually where it is needed, and not just on the surface, unlike the factory that put them in bone dry before the paint shop, and afterwards showed them a drop of lubricant is passing, leading to them wearing. Sagging door I have in the past used the car jack to gently bend up to be a better fit, was just sagging because cabrio and heavy doors but not worn pins. Soft body panels have moved with age, moving the hinges along with them.
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Just need to add a fire extinguisher ( dry powder, and if possible a CO2 next to it as well) each side of the garage door, and another by the other entrances. That will at least give you some time if there is a fire, and your insurance rates will require it as well.
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Would make a nice table, or a footstool. Did that with a roll of 0 gauge cable, seeing as I have a lifetime supply of it in the one roll.
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Repairable though, those bearings are parts you can get.
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Tip if you want to not drill into the tool boxes is VHB tape, it will pretty much hold better than the paint, and also gives a small amount of compliance in the joints. Will also stick to the wood nicely, just make sure both surfaces are clean, dry and oil and wax free.
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@HumbleMechanic For you they are cheap, but for the rest of the world they are an expensive item, so I would want to keep it as good as possible, in line that in future i might want to repurpose it. Adjustable feet a good idea, and I would also apply the same surface protection to the underside, as that will at least keep the warping down if you live like I do in a climate where you have considerable humidity swings between seasons. Would also add a row of socket outlets underneath, along with a desk hole and cover each end, so that you can have things like cordless tool chargers and such neatly arranged, but with the power cords out of sight and clutter. A length of slotted conduit as well under the sockets to hold the cord excess, and then a box and switch above, so that you can turn the whole lot off with a single switch at night, reducing the fire risk from dodgy wall warts. If going the whole hog would also add a length of LED strip under the front, along with a switched power supply, so that you have easy lighting when down on the floor plugging things in, or fetching stuff from the shelves.
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$8k for a new engine, thankful a new engine for a VW golf from VW is under $2k by me. Biggest cost was the "while we are here" things though, like a new clutch, new carburettor and such.
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Depends, are any of the hoses still original, and have you always run antifreeze in it. If the hoses are all new, and the vehicle has been run with antifreeze to manufacturer spec for change, you probably are fine, though you will find the oil cooler is no longer available as genuine VW part, though there are aftermarket ones that are made by the same OEM's who did them for VW, which are as good as original.
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@HumbleMechanic Just be thankful that you can get those plastic parts as aftermarket as well, as there is a large volume of VW spares around, and thus the OEM parts in general are cheaper. Unlike certain 2 letter US brands where they think that they should charge you as if all parts were made in the USA in dollars, but buy them in Won at a very low price, and make a massive mark up on them instead. If you need 2 front struts and an engine mount, and they cost more than the car, while for VW and even BMW even from the agents they are affordable.
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VW U We don't believe in anything but quantity....... Saved 300g per vehicle, and is guaranteed to make a generation of mechanics rich as they age. But there are no new designs where large parts of the engine, drivetrain and body are not plastic parts. Cheaper to make those moulds with a hundred individual sections that have hydraulics to move them in the machine per cycle, than to stamp out steel panels where you need a half dozen different dies and presses to get them to that shape, and still need to do extra processing on them as well. The plastic dies also last longer in use, many tens of thousands of parts between needing to overhaul them, as opposed to the metal press dies where they run a few thousand parts before they need to fully rebuild the die. Also can handle thinner walls in the plastic than what you can do with molten aluminium alloy, and no need to have complex sand castings for each part, made from up to a hundred patterns, burn out fillers and cores.
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I will say though they are very strong and safe vehicles. Where i used to live one got t boned by a Fiat Uno, which was skipping a red light, and hit the Porsche (less than a week old as well, under 200km on the clock) on the driver door, and punted it 80m down the other road. Uno was basically crushed back to the firewall, and the cabin itself was compressed and buckled as well. Porsche though, all 14 airbags deployed, car was bent front and rear and looked like a banana, but the driver just had powder burns, and a bruise from the side impact airbags, and was otherwise fine. But the thing was that, despite being hit on the driver's door, and having a massive dent in the door, the cabin was still intact, only slightly warped, and that door both was still openable, albeit with bent metal impeding you, but also still would close and latch properly again. Uno driver had to be cut out of the vehicle. Both written off. Uno driver left in ambulance with police escort, and Porsche driver left with a friend who picked them up. both left on lowbeds, one because there was no way it would tow, and the other because all wheel drive, and towing companies not wanting to get the bill for the extra damages from incorrect tow.
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SAE tooling for that banjo bolt because they are still an imperial thread, and you will never be able to change that, as it is a 1/4 inch pipe fitting. Just remember your caliper bolts, brake fitting threads and all hydraulic fittings are a metric equivalent fitting, because the old stuff was changed to nearest size. 2.5 and 4mm hex keys, very common in industrial machinery, though I will tell you that, if they do get seized fast, the easiest way to get them out is to have a few of those ultra cheap 30 piece 1/4in hex driver sets, and look for the Torx bit that will just not fit in, and tap it into the damaged hex head, so you can turn it out. Will get it out, and if you do not have a replacement capscrew, you can put it back in again with it, and wriggle it with a pair of pliers to get the bit out, making it into a Torx head. Done that very often, because you might need that machine to run right there and then, and driving to get a new one, adding an extra hour of breakdown time, is often not an option. Make a note to keep that size as spare parts, for the next visit. I go through a lot of those size, M4 and M5, as they are a common thread, and you find often the stainless steel will gall fast to the aluminium parts if you do not use a thread sealer on them, especially if they get hot. I also have the thread repair kits for those sizes in various lengths, and the extractors for the broken screws, though you really burn through cobalt drill bits doing that, especially for the 8.8 high strength variant, and the left hand thread version drill bits are stupid expensive, even in plain HSS. Ridgid do make a really nice extractor set, but sadly the lifetime warranty does not apply by me, so I have had to buy some replacement sets along the way, because I always break the smaller sizes.
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