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Sat Jun 13, 2020 7:11 pm

Hi did you make out with installing the air conditioning. I live one town East of you in Coppell and like to see what you have done. John

Sat Jun 13, 2020 7:14 pm

Still working on the AC. I finally have all the fittings so I can start measuring for the hoses. Drop me a Pmail and I will get you my phone number. You are welcome to come over anytime and take a look. I am retired so I am here all the time mostly. Of course being over 60, I try to stay home as much as possible during this pandemic. Hayden

Fri Jun 19, 2020 7:35 pm

Just a couple of updates. I have made some updates and changes since last time. First of all, I have installed a bypass heater valve. When closed, this directs the hot coolant back to the engine instead of it just stopping. This is more like the flow that is found in the TDI engines. I have also made changes to my pedal potentiometer. The way I had it set up just didn't feel right on the foot. So the other day, I was looking through eBay and found an ad from Greaseworks. They used to do conversions and make veggie oil conversions for vanagons and other diesels. Unforturnately, a car wreck and disability have taken a toll so they are selling off stuff. Anyway, they had a bracket to mount the potentiometer under the floor of the van. I know that it isn't supposed to like water (even though in the Passat it was mounted in the engine compartment) but I have used Gorilla seal tape to seal up the wires and I am going to construct some sort of box that covers everything. (BTW it isn't as close to the steering shaft as it looks in the pictures.). My guess is that once the spare tire is in place, I won't really have to worry much about water but I am going to be cautious. I have also made some changes in the engine compartment with the proper hoses and reservoir but that will have to wait for another day.

Fri Jun 19, 2020 9:56 pm

I put mine under my Bus last August and drove it through some grimy stuff this winter and it's going strong. I used silicone to provide more seal where the wires enter the body, and also put some slicone grease under the little cap at the shaft end to help keep water out.

So far, so good.

I do also keep a spare stashed in the Bus, just in case. I believe this insures that I'll never have a problem!

Fri Jun 19, 2020 10:09 pm

You could also mount it back in the engine compartment or above the trans, and use the stock throttle cable.

Sat Jun 20, 2020 6:51 am

I really like the positive feel of the pedal using the aluminum arms. It is more like the direct pull of the pedal on the original setup in the Jetta. My original idea was to mount it in the rear. I just didn’t like the options that I had once the engine, trans and inter cooler were in place. I also have a spare Potentiometer to carry with me just in case. But as Dave said, that means I will probably never need it.

Sat Jun 20, 2020 7:29 am

I will say that I also started out with my potentiometer in the back near the engine, inside a waterproof box. This never had good feel and resulted in somewhat notchy action. The pedal feel is why I moved it up front last year.

Also, I used a spring to provide a little pull assist. I just experimented with the tension until I had a balance in the feel that I liked.

Sat Jun 20, 2020 8:19 am

It seems that you could put a box around that whole setup.

Sat Jun 20, 2020 8:50 am

I think the matter is just whether or not a box can fit in the space.

When it was in the back, mine was mounted in a weatherproof electrical box. But when I moved it to the front I didn't have room for it up there.

Sat Jun 20, 2020 9:17 am

Zeitgeist 13 wrote: You could also mount it back in the engine compartment or above the trans, and use the stock throttle cable.

Or just switch to the mk4 TDI pedal, it's a direct plug in.
No pot to package or worry about waterproofing.

And I think somewhere in my build thread we posted the dimensions and shape of the simple bracket needed to mount it in the stock van pedal position.

I'd argue that's the simplest option

Wed Jul 01, 2020 8:42 am

Well after taking a week off to recover from injuries from a loose gravel bicycle crash (sprained shoulder, road rash and bruised ribs), I can finally get back to the ac on the Vanagon. I now have all the hose I need, all the various connectors, as well as the dryer and trinary switch so hopefully in the next couple of days it will all be installed.

Wed Jul 01, 2020 6:13 pm

here is the pile I started with this morning minus the two bottles of system flush for the condenser and the evaporator and the tool to crimp the hoses. By the time it got too hot to work outside I had made the #6 hose connections from the condenser to the dryer and to the evaporator and the #8 hose from the condenser connection. Both the #8 and the #10 hoses have been run to the back but not strapped in place yet. Tomorrow it is time to drill 3 holes in the floor: one for the #6 hose to the evaporator, one for the #10 hose to the compressor and 1 for the drain.

Sat Jul 04, 2020 7:31 pm

Spent yesterday making hoses, running hoses and doing connections. Here are two pics of the connection to the evaporator and the dryer. Still need to screw the trinary switch into the dryer. Only connections not made are at the compressor as I am trying to sort out hose pathways into the engine compartment.

Sat Jul 04, 2020 9:34 pm

Very cool!

Mon Jul 06, 2020 6:51 pm

Well, while working on the routing of AC hoses into the engine compartment to the compressor, I noticed diesel fuel on the engine block. When I tried to start the engine, it sputtered and stopped and then on the second turn of the key, it sputtered more and finally started. On close examination I can see diesel fuel dripping quite rapidly from the injection pump. Apparently one of the O rings dried up when the pump was stored previous to my getting it and as diesel saturated it, it failed. Now I have to decide whether to take it to the only Bosch shop in Texas that can rebuild and test the pump to have it rebuilt or try to buy a rebuilt one online. Oh well, two steps forward, one step back. No matter, I can still work on getting the dash board installed and finish up the installation of my gauges.

Mon Jul 06, 2020 6:56 pm

Where is it leaking from? The seal kits are readily available. Resealing one of the TDI pumps is not particularly difficult and if there are not other operational issues, that's all that is required.

Mon Jul 06, 2020 7:03 pm

It is appears to be leaking from the O ring between the pump main body and the cast iron portion. I have done replacements in a TDI pump before but haven't done that O ring. I am leaning toward a rebuild because the pump came from a donor car that I never saw so I do not know what kind of mileage it has on it. Since it is a new engine, it seems that it would be a good idea to go ahead and have the pump done, if for nothing else, peace of mind. Hayden

Mon Jul 06, 2020 7:28 pm

I certainly understand the reasoning for thinking about a new pump; makes sense.

However, while a bit fiddly, that o-ring isn't all that difficult to replace if you are simply a bit careful to not let the head come all the way loose. (Carefully and strategically removing and replacing the bolts is required.)

I've done it on my old Golf and on the TDI Bus engine.

Mon Jul 06, 2020 9:06 pm

I've changed several of those o-rings without removing the pump from the engine.

IMPORTANT! One thing that is often not mentioned is to maintain pressure on the main plunger while loosening the 4 bolts that hold the distributor head to the pump body. If that is not done, then a small shim can fall out of place between the plunger foot and the camplate. Usually diesel keeps it stuck in place but sometimes it will fall out of place and if it does, the pump will be completely ruined when first cranked over. Many people get lucky, some don't. If pressure in maintained on the plunger, then the shim cannot fall out of place. I have always added a shim under the 'timing plug' and tightened the timing plug onto the shim gradually as I've loosened the outer bolts. Once the old o-ring is visible it can be cut out and the new one stretched around the distributor head. Remove each bolt one at a time and then replace them so the o-ring can be placed in the channel. Tighten them gradually while loosening the timing plug bolt which maintains the pressure on the plunger. I have done multiple pumps in that manner and have had a 100% success rate.

Tue Jul 07, 2020 8:20 am

The problem is, if I replace this O ring, what will be next on the pump to fail? Since I don’t know it’s history, I think a rebuild is the best bet. Hayden