1979 Transporter - "Wheatbread"

[riverside66]

Good morning all!

My Oil Pressure light doesn't come on with the ignition in the On position. Looking at the engine I can see there is no wire connected to the Oil Pressure Switch.

Referring to the Bentley wiring diagram for my '79, I see that the wire at the light is BL/BK (blue and black). I looked under the dash and that wire is in place. OK...

Returning to the engine bay, and again referring to the Bentley, it seems that at some point that BL/BK wire should end up G/R. My problem is that I can't find any lose green and red wire. This seems to have been complicated a bit when PO converted from FI to carb (as some of the wiring is no longer in stock location). Maybe it's not really all that complicated, but at this moment, it is to me.

What I did find however, is a lose BL/BK wire (with a connector on it, connected to nothing). This wire seems to be connected to one of the main wiring harnesses entering the engine bay. I've taken a few pics to help:

Near the coil

Not sure what this is (relay?) but this is where the blue and black wire is coming from

Those wires enter the engine bay here

Again referring to the Bentley, I can' find any reference of a blue and black wire being connected to anything in the engine bay.

Might this be the wire that needs to be connected to the Oil Pressure Switch?

[busdaddy]

That wire at the firewall is the charge light and if you look closely you'll find it's solid blue (no stripe), tape up that connection.
The oil light wire is blue/black and it looks like you've found it, it comes from the same harness laying across the engine the black coil wire does right beside the coil.
That relay looks like it was for the booster fan, it should be attached to te fan in the roof of the engine compartment, it's got live battery powered wires so leaving it laying on the engine isn't a good idea.
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[riverside66]

Thanks busdaddy! I connected the wire and turned the ignition to on, but still didn't get a green light. I'll continue troubleshooting but at least I know the wire is connected.

[riverside66]

Update:

Alright, I grounded the blue and black wire, then set the ignition to on, and the oil light lit up (red, not green...but it lit up).

So it seems the switch itself is bad.

Picked up a new switch today, and now I can't figure out how to get the old on out. The new one fits a socket, but the old one looks different:

My 24mm deep socket won't fit over that. The only size I have bigger than that is a 27mm, but it wont clear the tin.

How do I get that sucker out?? (without taking the engine out I mean). Is there a special tool for that? Also, I've searched thru the forums and so far haven't seen another switch that looks like mine.

Thanks

[Tcash]

That oil switch requires a special socket.
Something like this.
http://www.autozone.com/1/products/18335-oil-pressure-switch-socket-oem-25254.html
Sometimes you can get a 12 point deep socket to fit.

Try and reach down there with some needle nose pliers. Most times they are not very tight.

Good Luck
Tcash

[riverside66]

YEEESSS! That was exactly what I needed. I got one, and was able to remove the old switch. The new switch works, and I now have a working idiot light.

Small victories are still victories


Thanks TCash! I know my questions must seem ridiculous, but I definitely appreciate the help.

[riverside66]

Finally got around to pulling the MC and servo.

They both look pretty crusty to me:

different angle

You can see the servo was full of brake fluid

Here to hoping that WW's servo isn't complete junk..

At this point I'm calling it a day, but I do have a question for anyone who happens to know:

The Bentley manual refers to a 1mm required clearance between the pushrod of the servo and the MC piston, but I don't understand how to measure that. How do you (or from what point do you) measure for the correct distance?

[Tcash]

Brake Servo (booster) master cylinder pushrod

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7309128#7309128

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=582652&highlight=

Good Luck
Tcash

[riverside66]

I've been taking my sweet time lately, working on the front brakes, and getting the new MC and brake booster in

Overall, things have been going pretty smoothly.


But I think I've hit my first roadblock. The adjusters on the rear brakes are frozen rock solid. They aren't coming out. I sprayed PB Blaster on them, let it soak and then tried again, but they just arent moving. So I decided to try to remove the part that the 2 adjusters are inserted into:

As you can see in the photo below the 2 mounting bolts have been removed, but it won't budge either. I looked on the back to see if there was another bolt that I had overlooked, and I do see what looks to be a mounting peg, but it doesn't go all the way trough to the back side (no bolt head, like it's not intended to be removed from that side). Hope that makes sense. In any case, I'm stuck and am not sure what to do next. Feeling pretty frustrated, since I feel like I've been making real progress and want to get this thing back on the road, only to get stuck now. Suggestions appreciated.

[aerosurfer]

Adjusters and screws are junk. Use heat and a thick screwdriver in the screw slot and rock it with some effort. It'll eventually give and you will be able to pull it out as one. Sand smooth in the bore and use lots of anti seize on thw new parts
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Rebuild your own FI Harness..My Harness

77 Westy 2.0L Rockin and Rolling Resto!

72 Sportsmobile (sold)
79 Tran$porter... Parts car money machine (gone)

[busdaddy]

There's a dowel on the back of the adjuster that goes into the bearing housing, you can pound it out with a drift from the back. But unless you get that hub off first removing the backing plate won't be much help (the adjuster is welded to the plate BTW).

I free up stuck adjusters by carefully clamping on a large pair of vise grips, you don't want to mangle that tab on the bottom and try to avoid mashing the ends of the stars too badly. Usually brute force is enough, get it moving a few degrees each way without hitting that tab and then move the vise grips for another go. They aren't threaded into the holder on the backing plate so once you get 1/2 turn on them they will start to pull out. Large end nippers are also a good tool for this job, like a farrier uses for trimming hooves. Option C is put a heavy screwdriver or small bar through the slot the brake shoe goes in and thread the inner screw in until it bottoms, sometimes it'll push the adjuster out.

Once you get them out clean everything up shiny and lay on the never seeze.
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

Слава Україні!

[riverside66]

Thanks for the replies.

Alright, so the adjuster is welded to the backing plate...good to know. So I suppose the 2 bolts are only there as a backup in case the weld broke free.

OK, vice grips on the stars. I'll try that next. I've seen the stars available and they're cheap so even if they end up mashed that's not that bad, right?

If I'm not able to get those adjusters out, would picking up a new set of backing plates be the next step? Like: http://www.busdepot.com/211609425pr

I've been working around the axle nut so far since I've seen many advise against removing it.

[busdaddy]

[wcfvw69]

Take Bus Daddy's advice. They will come out. Try and save the original parts. They MUCH better quality than what you'd buy new today.
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[riverside66]

Alright, thanks for the info guys!

[riverside66]

This, is what victory looks like

Both of the adjusters on this side are OUT (but not without a fight first). It was just like you guys said: Clamp down, and rock back and forth. The stars and adjuster bolts were destroyed tho, so now I just need to pick up some new ones. Thanks again for the tip!

The passenger side adjusters came out by hand, and just need some cleaning, but they look good overall.

OK, so that's all for tonight, but quick question: None of the metal clips (that you guys warned me to be careful not to break) are broken, however, the passenger side clips don't touch the stars. They're about 1/8in away. Any tips on how to get them closer? Zip ties maybe?

[busdaddy]

Congratulations!

[riverside66]

Just a quick update: She's back on the road!

The brakes are done and the new tires are on! The rear brakes still need a little adjusting (they don't feel like they're fully engaging) but she definitely stops now.

After a month in the garage it feels great to be back behind the wheel. More work to do, but for the moment, I'm just enjoying the ride

[cmonSTART]

That's a great looking bus!
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'78 Bus 2.0FI
de K1IGS

[Tcash]

When you bled the rear brakes, if you hardly got any fluid out of them. It may be time to replace the rubber brake hoses in the rear. Look on the hoses for a date. No date or more than 10 yrs old replace them.
good luck
Tcash