Operation Bora Body

[beale187]

Just finished reading this entire thread.. Epic journey mate so glad you decided to put her back on the road after the 2015 meltdown.
The "VeeDub Gods" will be pleased.
I'm doing an 45-55mins each way in Sydney traffic as well (Penrith - Bankstown) I feel your pain

Keep on posting, great thread.

[PranK]

Thanks beale187! I'm looking forward to having it back on the road and knowing that its solid again, all the bad parts replaced.

The mechanic I took it to after the meltdown just kept telling me to not waste any money on it and get rid of it. It broke my heart. No way!

[PranK]

So, after the radiator swap and new thermo switch for the fans, the fans still wouldn't work.

The amazing JustCruisn helped me diagnose the A/C compressor clutch coil as the failing part.

So, I am trying a Chinese replacement. Its $28 as opposed to $160ish from the states. I figure even if it lasts 10,000k's that helps me distribute the costs across a few months. The car is kinda starting to rack up the bills.

If this coil works, it will fix A/C (which I thought was just gas) as well as fans. The car will be summer safe!

Today I attacked a problem thats been irritating me for years; the drivers door micro switch. I got a Chinese micro switch replacement and put it in. ****ty job but good result.

Got the module apart.


New switch in (note crimps) also fixed a snapped piece of plastic. You can see the super glue under the 'R' on the left most part. Not sure what it does but thought it was worth fixing.


Also, for those who are going to try this, mine was different from all the guides I read/watched. My micro switch had little plastic rivets through the placement holes which made it a little hard to get the switch out. Also, the replacement didn't have these little plastic rivets, it just had little guide things that didn't hold it hard down. This will make sense when you do the job. I just used a small bit of super glue to get the switch to stay in place.

I also made sure when I put the door back together that everything was clipped in and tight to reduce rattles.

When I was done I must have opened and closed the door 80 times. It sounded perfect and the lights when on (open) and off (closed) which has *never* worked in my car. So cool.

Passenger door next week. Or tomorrow.

[beale187]

Hey Prank, was this micro switch replacement to fix the door puddle light? Or the "door open" light on the dash cluster.

[PranK]

Hey Prank, was this micro switch replacement to fix the door puddle light? Or the "door open" light on the dash cluster.

It does everything.
- Door open light
- Interior lights on/off with door
- Puddle light
- Headlights on warning with door open
- Keys in ignition warning with door open

I've even heard it can trigger your fuel pump when the door is opened, in a way to prime the system. Not sure if thats right but my car has in the past had problems starting for no apparent reason, so this may have fixed that too.

[beale187]

I haven't investigated completely yet but my puddle light stopped working and interior motion alarm button stopped working after I d/c the battery when installing my CAI, thought this may have caused. Will have to dig deeper.

re fuel pump, I believe this is correct. When I open my door I can hear an ever so slight hum which I assume is the pump priming.

[PranK]

So, quite the update.

I finally decided to get an A/C guy out to look at my system. Especially as it would appear that the lack of A/C pressure was stopping my fans from working.

He immediately found a massive leak and replaced 4 O-Rings. On charging with fresh gas however my pressure switch just collapsed and released all the new gas. Luckily he had a spare, genuine VW, pressure switch and fit it. Charged the system up and not only do I have beautiful cool air, I have working fans!! This has been such a bastard to get fixed and its really the last step before the car is drivable again.

So, on Sunday I wired up the resistor fan fix and I also replaced my horn with new Hella items as mine stopped working a while back. Jeezuzz the new horns are seriously loud!

I put another radiator flush in and ran the car for around 30 mins. Fans stayed on and the bay was noticeably cooler than on previous radiator flush attempts. I have some fresh G13 and distilled water to go in this weekend.

The front is still off the car and I'll take great joy in putting it all back together this coming weekend.

[PranK]

I'd love to know why my images are upside down.

[PassionGarage]

looking good man just did the whole read

[PranK]

looking good man just did the whole read

Thanks mate! Hopefully not too boring.

My latest update is a frustrating one; when I put my compressor back together with the new clutch coil, I tightened it too much. This meant that it worked for 15 mins before siezing and falling to pieces.

I now have a replacement compressor (A Zexel as opposed to a Sanden - but assured it will fit). I just need A/C guy to come back and flush so we can fit and then refill.

So close! Would love to have it on the road for Summer as its been over a year now since it died.

[PranK]

So, I can confirm that the Sanden compressors are exchangeable with Zexel.





So, had to drain coolant, fit Zexel compressor, then got system re-gassed with a new drier.

THEN, believe it or not, my small fan stopped working. I almost put the car back together with the fan not working, I was so jack of it.

I left the car for a few hours and watched the cricket, the time away made me less angry and I thought I'd try to fix it myself.

It ended up being a seriously easy fix, one of the fan bushes had stuck in its housing, so I doused the whole thing in WD40 until everything moved freely and put it back together. I used Permatex Steel Weld to epoxy the fan back together (you need to use brute force to break the fan apart). Then I put it back together and it all worked again. Hallelujah.

You can see the stuck bush in the pic below.


That means that on Sunday, it went for its first drive in 6 months or so. It was so awesome being able to drive it again, I've missed it a lot. The brakes felt like ****, the disks were a little rusty so hopefully that will just get better once I start driving it more.

Also, the battery is done. It wont hold charge longer than 2 or 3 days.

Its totally filthy and the interior is full of spiders webs, so the whole thing will get a really good clean over chrissy / ny.

[beale187]

nice write up man, on a side note how's your a/m headlights holding up? Any fading?

[PranK]

nice write up man, on a side note how's your a/m headlights holding up? Any fading?

Oh I took them off ages ago. I gave my stock ones a good sand and polish and they came up well enough to put them back on.

[beale187]

Didn't like the look? Or they started to fade also?

[PranK]

I liked the look a lot, but they were cheap and the light wasn't great from them. I find Bora headlights terrible at the best of times, those ones made it even worse.

What are your headlights like?