'69 FI Squareback: The Continuing (Mis)Adventures

[Tram]

[D/A/N]

Well, the car hasn't been hit again since Monday so that's good.

However, when I got out of work this evening in the dark, I noticed that when I turned the key to the on position, the generator light was suddenly much dimmer than the oil light. I drove home without incident. At a gas station, I quickly looked at the wire from the regulator to the dash and nothing was amiss. Of course I didn't pull the fuel gauge to check the wire or bulb back there.

I guess I'm just asking if this sudden dimness is something to be concerned about. Since replacing the generator, I haven't had the engine cut off problem, but I want to be sure there's not some other electrical or charging issue brewing for my morning commute. Anything else I should look at or think twice about? Here's a pic:

[Tram]

Check the generator output to determine if it's a light or a charging system issue, then check both ends of the DF wire and check resistance.
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[D/A/N]

[Tram]

[D/A/N]

[Bobnotch]

[sjbartnik]

It could be something else with a ground fault attempting to ground through the filament of the generator light bulb, thus causing it to glow dimly.

Does it glow always or does it stop glowing when the gen light would normally go out?

[D/A/N]

[sjbartnik]

[D/A/N]

Ok, every once in a while we get off easy......fuses and connections were fine so we removed and replaced the bulb for the gen. light and that did the trick. The light is back and as bright as it should be!

[sjbartnik]

[KTPhil]

I am guessing a poor connection at the bulb terminal, which changed resistance depending on use and movement, maybe temperature. Putting a new bulb in made a good connection and so it's working now.

[D/A/N]

[neena]

[blues90]

I've followed some of this . After all the time and money I do hope you get it all sorted out. I got my 73 SB in 1985 and didn't have any rust and had a few small dents and needed a paint job.

The engine was not taken care of but I flushed the block out after removing all the tin and found it had a bad voltage regulator . I remover the fenders and got out the few dents and painted it . Got new fender beading and fired it up and drove it everyday until 1998 when the engine started making a noise . I had a spare engine and auto trans and many other parts from a 72 SB same auto trans and just rebuilt that engine and am still driving it now. Of course in 2011 someone ran a red light and screwed up the front bumper and a few other things but their ins paid for the repairs but they were not done well ie not like it was before then I rebuilt the auto trans in 2002 . A few weeks back some idiot in a parking lot did the same thing to my left rear fender as someone did to yours.

It a real bummer . I got a real good used fender just need to put it on and hope the beading is still ok. I keep it in a garage have done so since I got it.

I'm 66 now I just hope the car out lasts me . It did make it from 1985 to 2011 with just minor side molding dings and normal parking lot paint chips so I can't as for more than that. I am the second owner and the car was bought in southern Calif and and bought by me and is still in southern Calif.

Of course when I got mine is really was not that old , VW dealers still had many of the parts , now days it's a real challenge and expense for find most parts. Drivers hear as just as bad as everywhere else now days . I like my car and I get many people giving me the thumbs up when I drive it because I don't see any on the road these days . I used to .

Mine could use new carpet and the rubber cargo liner and a few other things . I'm amazed how well the paint I did held up for 30 years. It was a lot of work yet I was young then .

[D/A/N]

Happy spring to everyone lucky enough to live where you can be outside in short sleeves all day! We still haven't done anything to the dent in the fender but now that the weather is looking up for good, we'll pick one of the coming weekends and press on with it.

What we have been doing is digging around for the source of the vibration and shaking in the body that we get at idle. A few months ago, it was suggested that we look at the motor and trans mounts and we finally got around to doing it more thoroughly in the nice weather.

While the thudding and vibrating has always been annoying, we were extra motivated by the fact that lately the damned shifter is buzzing and vibrating at almost all speeds in all gears. REALLY annoying!! I removed the shifter and looked at the bushing and it was fine. The shifter wasn't loose and there was grease in the cup.

Also, the shifter has taken to sometimes "thunking" forward or backwards when letting off the throttle. There's also frequent shuddering when taking off from 1st gear though the clutch cable is well adjusted.

I looked at the trans mount and checked that all nuts were tight. Everything is fine. The mount is 98% firm with just a few soft spots along the edges. I put the jack on the trans and nothing wiggled. Everything was so solid it actually looked like I could jack the car up from there. Not that I would.

While under there, I also checked that the bolt in the shift rod coupler wasn't loose and causing vibration at the shifter. All was well. The cover for that thing was full of transmission fluid again (as reported last spring/summer) but the fluid level in the transmission was fine.

The engine mounts were tight all around but the rubber is really really soft and there are notable cracks on both sides. Could these be the culprit of our vibration in the body and buzzing in the shifter?

Finally, when scouting around under the motor, I noticed it's pretty damned oily and cruddy where the motor and transmission mate. Possible leaky main seal or is this just normal seepage after 18,000 miles on a build?

[jadney]

Dan,

I don't get here often, so I was appalled when I read of your recent events. You seem to fit into the group of people who, "If it weren't for bad luck, you'd have no luck at all."

Really sorry about the dent and the scuffmarks of the ignorant trespasser.

My guess is that there was nothing wrong with your old generator. It's possible that it could have used a new bearing or 2, but the way to test for that is to listen at each end with a long screwdriver used as a stethoscope. Try this now, and all over the engine, so that you get an idea of what things should sound like when they're okay.

As for its function, Bob was right, that if you are getting the right voltage out of it, it's working.

Your bulb problem was a bad connection, due to corrosion, between the bulb and its socket. I've never seen that there before, but in your case, it was clear.

Your tranny photos are interesting for a couple reasons. The first thing I noticed was that the tranny case has the pairs of holes for the rear tranny mounts that would have been used on Type 3s up thru '68, so I guessed that you have a replacement tranny from an earlier Type 3. The second photo, however, gives away the rest of the story. Note that the right side cover is integral with the rest of the case. Together with the rear tranny mount holes, this means that this is a tranny from a late Beetle. Your ratios will be different, and the clutch arm ratio is also different.

In this case, the clutch arm ratio will give you a lighter clutch pedal at the cost of more frequent and sensitive adjustment. I actually like this arrangement very much.

I don't recall how this changes your top speed. You've got either higher or lower gear ratios than Type 3s normally came with.

One thing to worry about is that there was a change in the front tranny mainshaft bearing that requires a different front tranny housing. It's likely that you didn't get this, because whoever did this work probably just swapped your nose cone onto the Beetle tranny because the late Beetle nose cone is different. With the wrong parts in there, you can get movement between parts that should not happen. That MIGHT be a cause of your vibration. If so, the solution would be to find a correct and proper Type 3 IRS tranny and just replace the whole thing. Don't bother with a rebuild; get a good used Type 3 tranny.

One thing you could do someday, when you have some time to kill, would be to replace the tranny oil. When you do that, you can check the magnets in the drain plugs, to see what they've collected. A good tranny will have some metal-containing, completely smooth, slime which is normal wear, but a failing tranny will have gritty stuff, or worse. It's also instructive to watch the oil as it drains out. Since this is a "new" tranny, the oil should come out light brown and clear. If it comes out black at first, that's probably excessive wear.

Replace the oil with something that meets the GL-4 spec.

I'm sure your rear crossbar rubber is fine. There's plenty of rubber there, and it's all in compression, so those never fail.

We've had a few nice days here, but I've been inside finishing up my taxes and a few other "winter" projects. If the weather holds, I'll get out on my bike and start shedding some of that ugly gut that I've been developing over the last few years. Wish me luck; I'll need it.
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Jim Adney
50+ years of VW Type 3 experience
Specializing in VW Type 3 parts and service

[Tram]

The transmission was the Achille's heel of this project.

The original popped out of reverse, and in discussions about it we decided to go Freeway Flyer on the 4th gear. It seemed that the sub could be made on the original transmission and our local "transmission guru" said it would work.

It didn't. While reverse got fixed, the overhauled trans would not shift into 2nd or 4th.

Out it came again and back to the rebuilder. Meanwhile, we installed a good used T3 trans that the guy had because D/A/N and neena were flying out to get the car. That transmission popped out of third!

So, we sent out a bunch of PMs and made some calls and came up with the trans that is in it- it was a rebuilt freeway flyer with less than 1000 miles on it (the car owner went with a heavier duty unit for a monster engine)

We took this one to Mr Trans Expert who adapted it to Type 3. We installed it and it ran perfectly.

Keep in mind that Matt and I road tested this car for 1000 miles before D/A/N and neena picked it up and drove it around the PNW Christmas 2013. After that, it came back for some additional things like rear torsion bushings and a few other items, then got shipped back home to NYC.

I hear what jadney is saying about the possible issues with this arrangement but unless I am not remembering correctly, this trans buzzing issue and the really rough idle that is possibly causing it popped up after the head repair due to a stripped spark plug hole a few months ago- the point being that if installing this trans is the vibration issue- why wouldn't it have done this from the beginning?

It's just odd.

There was an intermittent buzzing complaint that showed up during that holiday trek in 2013, but greasing the shifter ball cup solved it.

I'm scratching my head.
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[Tram]

I went back and reviewed the thread and it looks like the shifter vibration showed up out of the blue last June. So, it wasn't anything to do with a rough idle or possible vacuum leak.

Now, Adney has me wondering if it's a trans issue due to the T3 nose cone on the Fwy Flyer... but again, why did it wait for about 4K miles to show up is what gets me.
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