Official Mexican / Brazilian Beetles - All years

[Gerrelt]

I think it works like this:

This means it does have a headlight flasher function. The red wire is always hot, so it should even work without the ignition on.

This evening I took the steering column cover off, the steering wheel off, and then removed the mechanism. Now, there are 3 connectors to disconnect before you can remove the mechanism. Two at the bottom, and one at the top. This last one is the subject of our latest posts, it's the connector for the highbeam/lowbeam switch. That connector is very hard to disconnect, you will have to tilt the mechanism anti-clockwise a bit. It's still hardly reachable, and it is stuck on pretty good. That was quite a pain.
I dismantled the switch, but everything looked good inside, and I could confirm it has a headlight flashing function. When pulled (so not pushed, like I suggested in an earlier post), it should flash the headlights.

Then I had a better look at the connector, and I noticed the smaller red plug was not entirely seated in the connector. I pulled on it from the rear and it slided right out:

That was the problem! This red wire is the wire that's connected to fuse 9, when not connected, the headlight flashing will not work.

I bent the little tab on the plug a little outwards and put it back into the connector. The first attemp to put it back together failed because the plug was pushed out again! That shows how easy it is to get this wrong.
I bent the little tab even more outwards and put it back in the connector. I also put a tie wrap around all 4 wires to tighten it all a bit.
I put it all back together (sliding the connector on even more carefully this time, and it now works!

Link

Even when the ignition is off the headlight flasher works.

I think this might be a common problem. I imagine the factory workers just "brute force" pushed the connector to the switch, and not even noticing the little read wire popped out a bit.
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[VWGirl]

My headlight switch is currently broken, but my high beams work... as in I can flash them on, but they will not stay on since the lights are not on... just flash.

Gerrelt I like your bug!
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Without love in the dream it will never come true

[hopkin]

[Gerrelt]

[hopkin]

This was waiting for me when I got home from my trip:

Nice detail, with a shot of my car from a similar angle:

Now I have two 'Open Airs'!
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1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

[Gerrelt]

Nice details on the model!
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[VWGirl]

my 98 has the steering wheel like your model. My 99 has the steering wheel like you car, 96?
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Without love in the dream it will never come true

[hopkin]

A couple of Mexican Beetle manuals arrived in mail today (from OMNICAR in Germany), to complete my collection!

The manual on the left shows diagrams of how the car is put together (dated 2014) the book on the right [new] is a parts list (dated 2016), it lines up with the page numbers in the book on the left:

For example:

There are two other repair manuals, including Digifant codes and troubleshooting:

Here are all the publications available from OMNICAR, including their version of the Owner's manual and Radio manual [new] for the Mexican Beetles:

I didn't need the Owner's Manual or Radio manual, but I can't NOT complete the set.

I now have the complete set
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1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

[Gerrelt]

That's a nice collection!

I see you have a partnumbers catalog too. Maybe you can help me.
My 1600i brakes are terrible, there is something wrong.

Today I dissasembled one of the calipers and one of the two pistons was stuck. The rubber O-ring that is supposed to shield it from dust and water had a cut in it. That was why it was stuck, the rust freezed the piston.
I managed to get the piston out, and I cleaned and de-rusted it. Now the pistons move freely again.

But now I need a rebuild kit (actually two, the other caliper is bad too).
The caliper is made by Até, and the piston diameter is 40 mm, I think it's just like the older beetles.
But there are two types available:

http://www.paruzzi.com/uk/volkswagen/brakes-wheels/disc-brakes/1205/

partnumber: 111 698 471 A

and

http://www.paruzzi.com/uk/beetle/brakes-wheels/disc-brakes/1246/

partnumber: 111 698 471

Do you know if one of these fit? I think the first one has the best chance, as it is the "newest" version.
Maybe you can check these numbers in your partnumbers catalog?

Greetings,
Gerrelt.
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[hopkin]

The parts catalog shows 1BM 615 105 for the left side and 1BM 615 106 for the right side. It does say 40mm in the description. It looks like they changed the calipers over the years, the older manual shows different numbers for older cars.

Here's the info for newer cars 1996+

Older cars:

_________________
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

[Gerrelt]

This is the partnumber for the caliper rebuild kit from your 1600i catalog:

And that number looks a lot like the first partnumber I posted: 111 698 471 A

I think the first 3 digits in the partnumber is the model number. It might be that they changed the model number for mexican beetles.
This part might fit.
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[hopkin]

[Gerrelt]

Ah, so we are driving a type 1B.

I got the rebuild kit in the mail today, and I compared it to the parts that came of my caliper:

It's the same! I haven't used the kit yet, but it seems like it should fit. Even the partnumber on the bottom seal is the same.

I also ordered a new brake pad mounting kit and new brake pads:

It looks like these parts are also interchangeable.
Another thing I got was brake caliper assembly grease, which is needed to put the caliper back together.

I've measured the disk rotor thickness, and it's 8.5 mm. The minimal thickness is 8 mm.. and you cannot machine them when they are 8.5 mm. So I am going to reuse the old brake pads, so I don't have to machine them. Luckily the old pads look like they are pretty new.
I am saving the new brake pads for when I get new rotors.

I allready mentioned that on the passengers side caliper one piston was stuck. I now disassembled the drivers side caliper too. On this caliper both pistons where stuck! That explains why braking was soo bad...
Anyway, I had to use the "grease gun trick" to get the pistons out. I made a video on how I did it:


Link

I've read about this grease gun trick somewhere, and it worked perfectly!
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[hopkin]

Keep me posted as I need to do my front brakes sometime this year.

Are your rotors solid or saucer:

Solid:

Saucer:

_________________
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

[Gerrelt]

The saucer ones, which are original to the 1600i.

My local dutch beetle parts vendor has them, but they are out-of-stock:
http://www.paruzzi.com/nl/kever/remmen-velgen/schijfremmen/2270/

But I saw that VW classic parts has them in-stock:
http://www.volkswagen-classic-parts.de/catalog/pro...fer-1600i/

But I am first using my old ones, they still have a bit of live left in them.
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[GArBa]

sources for original style discs are becoming scarcer, if I were you I'd buy a pair from vw classic and store them for the future.

well, this is what I did, actually .
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cars:
'97 type 1 1600i
'14 type AA Seat Mii (sadly dead after 270.000 km)
'22 type C1 T-Cross
'23 type AC3 Hyundai I10 (VW no longer makes small cars!)
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moped:
'82 Benelli Magnum 3v

[Bruce]

Aftermarket discs are available in Mexico. Antonio can get them. When I was in Mexico City 3 years ago I asked if he could get genuine VW discs. That was a no-go.
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[Gerrelt]

Yeah, I will pre-order them, good idea.


@hopkin: If one of the pistons is stuck or not moving freely: It's probably because of rust in the cylinder bore on the area between the inner seal and the end of the cylinder bore. If the outer seal doesn't seal properly anymore, moisture can get in and cause the corrosion. But the moisture cannot get further then the inner seal, and that's why only that part of the cylinder bore rusts. Because the piston is a very precise fit in the cylinder bore, the rust will make the bore to small and make the piston seize.
That was my problem, at least. I removed the rust with a little piece of sanding paper. It's a bit awkard to get to it, you'll have to use a one-finger-sanding technique..
If you can move the piston freely up and down (with the old rubber seal removed), then it's OK.
The piston is a very precise fit, so make sure to put it in straight.

One thing to notice during re-assembly: get the little triangulare like metal thingy in place when pushing the piston back in. This metal thingy sits inside a recess in the piston, and the piston has to have a certain position otherwise the metal thingy won't fit. I found out that turning the piston while in place is impossible. So using the metal thingy when pushing the piston back in, will make sure the piston has the right position.
The "metal thingy" is the gold-colored triangulare-ish piece, as shown here:

This picture was taken after I pushed the first piston back in.

And here the two calipers are done:

I allready installed them on the beetle and bled the brakes. The brakes work now, I checked by spinning the wheels by hand, but I haven't done a test drive yet.
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[hopkin]

Thanks for the note, my calipers seem to be operating fine, but the pads are looking thin. I'm sure I can go another season, so I'm planning this as an August job. Just to be sure, I'm going to order the same rebuild kit that you ordered. I always like to have too many parts before starting a job.

I have new rear brake shoes and all the clips, etc, all but the spring kit as WW was out of stock when I ordered. I have a set of new front pads I bought from Antonio a few years ago (he had a 'sale' on them when I was ordering something else).

I think I'll order some rotors from Antonio, but I think mine are the solid ones like I posted. I'll have to pull the wheels and have another look. I don't remember seeing the 'set' screw. I'll dig through the receipts to see if the rotors were changed when the car was in the UK.

I have hundreds of pictures of just about every possible thing on my car, but for some reason I never took a picture with the front wheels off
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1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

[Gerrelt]

Have you ever adjusted your front wheel bearings? Instead of the nut with the locking bolt in it, the saucer style disks have two nuts for securing the front bearings, like this:

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