mbrickell

The picture in my Hayes shows a coolant temp sensor with a connector that does not look like anything on my car. There seem to be 2 sensors near or on the t-stat housing, a one and two wire. I guess the one wire is for a gauge and am guessing the 2 pole is the CTS? The hilarious thing about the haynes manual is that it says: "access to the coolant temp sensor makes it difficult..." but gives no specific location. If someone can give me exact location/appearance of the CTS on my 90 Loyale manual trans 2wd it is appreciated. I am trying to figure out why the car runs great when cold but bogs and has hesitation with throttle when warm. I switched out the MAF with another, no change. I tested the TPS according to Haynes and it checks out within spec. I installed new 02 sensor. No improvement so far... Thinking it may be a temp sensor of some sort.

I have owned and own VWs as well. In particular, the 5 cylinder Audis ( 4k, 5k, ) and VWs ( Eurovan ) had notorious valve noise issues as did the 1.8 in the MK1 GTI. These all had hydraulic lifters I think. Having spoken to many of the VW illuminati over the years about this issue, the general consensus is that the valves tap due to lifters being old and worn and not holding enough pressure, or by sludge or gunk sticking the lifters and not allowing them to operate properly. Most notably, an old timer who was a no bs guy and specialized in VW for about 40 years told me to try this approach as it works 50% of the time: I was told to run some of the marvel mystery oil in there for 15-20 minutes at idle with a warm engine. Also, some of the popular motor flush products. You are not driving, just idling and letting that stuff work around in there and dissolve the posible deposits. Then, after you are satisfied, you drain and change the oil and put in fresh stuff. You are not continuously running an additive, you are trying to break up deposits, then flushing them out. I tried this approach on my 87 VW Quantum that had horrible lifter tapping and it resulted in probably IMHO a 50% improvement. Certainly worth a try and you will do no harm. Also, a number of the VW guys have told me to run a smidge heavier oil and you may see improvement in valve lifter noise. I tried this in my 83 VW Pickup and found it to work. Likely, though, too, that the hydraulic lifters just need replaced to quit down. I'm sure a Soob would have similar issues and responses as the VWs in this case. Matt

Yeah, that is what happened here, see post WOW not stranded by alternator!

Here's the real funny thing. The car had been experiencing the not unheard of clutch shudder when taking off in 1st gear from a stop. Now, gone. I mean for a long time, clutch shudder, so sign of pulley issues. After working on the pulley, totally gone. I was driving yesterday and this just struck me out of the blue at a light, that the clutch take-up was now smooth and drama free, very unlike the time before. Wierd.

The way dealerships test for leaks is to have someone inside the car watching while someone outside methodically runs water from a hose over certain areas of the car. I would say the majority of leaks in cars actually come from that plastic sheeting under the door panels being torn or poorly sealed. Water runs down the outside of window glass and then finds a leak in the sheeting. This is typcial if the water is on the floor. In your case, where you can see water running down dash wiring, this is not the case of course. Your situation is classic windshield gasket leak, sounds like. With age, the gasket or seal shrinks a little, or the windshield was replaced at some time and not sealed that well, or there is corrosion around the seal area seen or unseen. My 2c

SPFI

You know, you are right. Someone was too lazy to machine the threads reverse. I had a car that had a tow hook you could screw into a fitting in the front end, and it was reverse thread so that it would not spin out if a tow rope unwound. Someone was thinking there.

ebay

Ok, I found a 92 Loyale at Pick n Pull today with fixed delay interval wipers. I got the wiper motor and control stalk. I looked but could not find any relays. Should I need anything else to set up my 90 Loyale? Thanks

Hilarious. Actually, that would be Kansas, right down the road a little. I'm from PA originally, so used to forest and hills. Missouri has quite a bit of trees compared to the Kansas side of the state line, esp Kansas west of Manhattan or so.

Ingenious. I was able to use the flywheel method and got the pulley back on. Car runs great, no dash lights. Learned something new today. Never seen a crank pulley just come off like that, interesting. I'll run around close to home with some tools for a while in case...

One week!

I will give it a go now, thanks! Matt

Ok, cool. Dumb question: how to keep the crank from turning when tightening the bolt that holds the pulley on? Putting car in gear, etc, not helping much, no firm "stop" to push against...

Ok, thanks. Turns out this is not the issue. See my post title wow was not alternator! matt

Ok, I go out this morning to check on what seized up stranding me last night. To my amazement, I look and all the belts are still there and in good condition. I can turn the alternator and water pump, wait the belts are a little loose, what gives... Umm, the crank pulley is not on straight, it is cocked ot one side. Not good... It is loose and when I move it the bolt falls out in my hand and the pulley drop off. I am thinking, crap, the threads that the bolt goes in are stripped and I am screwed. I put the bolt in alone and it seems to screw right in normally and hold. So, the bolt just came loose and the main pulley falls off?! That is why my accessories died? Car starts and runs fine, just no wp or alt at this moment, so I didn't completey fry anything due to immediate shutdown. Amazing to me, have never heard of a crank pulley just coming loose like this? Anyone heard of this!?

Going to get an alternator likely today. Oreilly, AutoZone, Advance all carry fairly generic brands. NAPA also has Bosch which I am accustomed to having some VWs over the years. On a 1990 Loyale with 120k, and me being a student, budget is an issue but noy the only issue. If I go cheaper to save $30 will I regret it? Will a cheapo parts store alternator be fine for a few years, which is what I will need? Opinions... thanks

[quote name= what kind of highway mileage you getting out of the 2WD trans?[/quote] Eh, 85% highway, overall last tank was slightly over 30mpg, 2wd, stick. I think it calculated at 30.4 or something like that. Typically run 70mph on highway. Pretty flattish around here ( Kansas City ) but not the complete pancake people think it is.

Driving down the highway, not 3 miles from my house, 65mph, all the sudden: REEEEEEEE! Like a belt squealing like crazy, dash lights up like a Christmas tree, car still running, I make it to a turn around between the four lanes, car dies. Will not start, cranks REAL slow and weak, rr, rrr ,rrr, nothing. So, stranded in the median turn around in the dark with cars flying by each way, not near crap for a house or exit. I figure I have to get out of this turn around before some idiot bashes into me. So, with a real Olympic feat only seen when the adrenaline says do it or die, I see a gap in the one set of lanes, no cars coming, I push like hell and get rolling across since I see a gravel road across the highway. I never pushed something that heavy that FAST before, as I see headlights and know that it is get the Soob across STAT or T-Bone city. Since it was slightly uphill, a real feat, and probably funny if anyone had been there to watch. Anyway, surprising how fast you can push a car across a highway on an uphill grade when you know you are going to die in about 15 seconds. Ha! One phone call to AAA, and back home in minutes, turns out the tow truck guy lives 3 blocks from me. Well, eventful evening, we'll see what seized up tomorrow. Maybe no need to keep troubleshooting my high pitched whine anymore, since whatever it was failed!

Oh, by the way, if I had a DL/GL/Loyale that was getting 50mpg real world, I'd be on the horn to Subaru, because I bet the engineers would pay big money to see how this happened so they can replicate it!

Not saying it is not occurring, but am skeptical. Physics is physics. It takes a given amount of fuel to push something through air at a certain speed. On the highway, wind resistance will matter more than a couple hundred pounds of weight. A certain mass being pushed through air with a certain drag coeff, with a certain gear ratio will produce x mileage. There is no "magic" pill or one magic car that gets 30% better mileage than 100,000 other identical examples. Slight variations, yes, but not huge ones. If every 1990 Loyale, for instance, gets 30 mpg, and one person is getting 50, I would say that chances are better than not that the issue lies with the 50 mpg person's accounting, not that it is some miracle. The reason I am skeptical is I sold diesel VWs for years. I owned 5 or 6. Now, they will consistently get a certain range or mpg, within about 10% leeway based on driving style. Let's say for the sake of discussion, 45 mpg. Maybe 50, maybe 40, but out of that 10% range or so, no, certainly not 60mpg unless you are drafting a semi at 50 mph even downhill for 2 hours in neutral and the interior is stripped out and you have a big magnet on the roof.. However, you would get folks in there swearing to God that they got 60-65 mpg, sometimes 70. No way. They were real enthusiastic, excited to be getting high 40's or so, and the MPG story would gain 2 mpg every time it was told until it was 60. Hate to say it, but just about impossible to get 60, but you'd have the old timer who would swear by it. Even more outlandish were the non-owners who KNEW someone who had a diesel VW. When they would talk about their brothers/aunts/uncles diesel, it was getting over 60 mpg. It started at 40 mpg 5 years ago, and the story grew and grew to 60 mpg. Now everyone working at the store had owned numerous diesels old and new, had driven slow, fast, etc and had a real accurate idea of what the car was capable of, and it was sure not 60 mpg I don't care what people's perception was, it was just not possible period. 90% of the time, it was a math error, or the people did not know how to calculate mileage properly ( using gauge or what the manual said the tank held versus real world measurement ). But since these people figured the mileage incorrectly once and saw 50 or 60 or 70 mpg on paper, after that, it was gospel. Again, ok, let's say for the sake of discussion someone can get 50 mpg out of a Subaru ( non-justy). I am saying I am real skeptical having experience with how the psychology of this kind of thing works, it is really funny. Kind of like someone being so convinced that the world is flat, that they get peeved when you don't believe it. Everyone knows it is impossible except one guy, and there is hell to pay if you contradict him. Just my 2c, no offense to anyone. Good for you if you are getting 50's.

arrooff? ( scooby doo questioning sound ) 40+ highway? umm...jato on the roof, or diesel conversion? kpg?

Thanks, yeah, I thought of that, then said, eh, $10, I'll use it on other vehicles so might as well own one.

Out of interest in my Loyale's minor hesitation issue ( when warm, seems to run perfect for the first 2-3 min in the AM ), I observed the codes per the white connection procedure found in various threads. I get one long flash and one short flash, seems like 11. That is it. No CEL. Now, would that not indicate Cam Position Sensor issues? Interesting, because I thought this would mean no start. Hmm...car starts and runs decent. Changed o2 sensor, no effect seen.

Ok, cool, I did as you said and worked like a charm. Dropping the headers down a little allows enough clearance, and as you said was simple. Thanks, mission accomplished.