Old Parts, Kept in Storage....

[jadney]

As most of you know, I rebuild a lot of different parts for our Type 3s. As winter turns into spring, some of you out there are starting to think about getting your cars ready for summer, so I start to get parts to rebuild and return. It's unfortunate, but I rather regularly get parts which are no longer rebuildable. Most of the time, that's because of some kind of fluid left in the part while it was out of service. The most common offenders are "gas" left in fuel pumps and brake fluid left in master cylinders and calipers.

Here's a photo of 3 brake caliper pistons. This is the view of the back, inside, end of each piston. The one in the middle is a good, normal, piston. The other 2 pistons are rusted beyond use. The post sticking up out of the one on the left is a pin that's supposed to be pressed into the caliper body. It was rusted so tightly to the piston that it pulled out of the caliper body, thus also ruining the body.

And here's a photo of the inside of a D-Jetronic fuel pump that sat for almost 10 years with water in it. This is what happens if you don't fix the cracked overflow hose that lives under the RF fender. The only reusable parts left in this pump were the pump head parts (stainless and hard anodized aluminum) the carbon motor brushes, and the stainless brush springs. I can't even get the armature out of the housing.

While it's possible that the water in this pump was due to long term storage and condensation (because of daily changes in air pressure and temperature) this is most commonly caused by water that is thrown into the cracked overflow hose by wheelspray when driving on wet roads. You only have to get caught in the rain once for this to happen to your car.

I'll mention here that I make and sell kits to replace the NLA OE overflow hose. The OE hose usually only lasts 2-3 years, but my kits have lasted more than 10 years, so far, with no failures yet. They are cheap, and will save you cubic $$$ in the long run.

Each of these parts probably could have been saved if they had been drained of fluid right away, but the best way to deal with old parts that had fluid in them is to get them rebuilt right away. Wet storage is the worst possible way to treat them.
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Jim Adney
50+ years of VW Type 3 experience
Specializing in VW Type 3 parts and service

[raygreenwood]

Great public service message!

The overflow hose.....a must have! However a couple of things to add.....if its car you are not driving for a couple of years.

An average VW car that has a half empty fuel tank is right at 1 cubic foot of air. As you note.....with a broken overflow hose will change that air out at a fairly constant rate for 5-6 months a year in areas that have four seasons temperatures and moderate to high humidity.

This can equal out in a fuel tank.....again with 1 cubic foot of free air and an open source. ....to about 5-6oz of condensate per year.

On master cylinder and caliper parts.....calipers the biggest leakage to water source is the outer boot/seal. Even if you are not,driving it.....but it has fluid in it.....as that seal shrinks with age or if the seal is gone....the hygroscopic nature of brake fluid pulls in water.

If calipers are important to be kept as cores I pull the pistons, and store them bagged with the calipers wetted with ATF.

Master cylinders....same way. Pull them apart, remove all rubber that may be reused and submerge in ATF. If you are rebuilding master cylinders and shelf storing them ready for use....lube pistons and bore with GOOD assembly lube.....bag the pistons and cylinder air tight and store disassembled. Never store them assembled if you have no real idea of when you will use them. Ray

[jlew]

Good work and PSA Jim! JLSTAMEY from type3 list and fellow TDI owner.

You still have the TDI JSW?

I am on my 7th TDI, a '15 Golf SEL TDI 6spd MT.

My 3rd TDI avg'd 800 mis on a 18 gal tank, '97 Passat 5spd MT.

Stay safe and stay strong out there brother!!
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1968 Notchback

[jadney]

I rebuild old brake parts before I store them. I use a silicone fluid to pre-lube the internal surfaces and they store just fine that way. I've had some parts stored this way for a couple decades that are still fine upon inspection.

The main thing to remember is that neither gasoline nor normal DoT-3 or 4 brake fluids are decent storage fluids. DoT-5 brake fluid is probably fine, but I haven't tested that.

I wouldn't store calipers in ATF unless you take the caliper halves apart. The EPDM seals between the caliper halves are not compatible with petroleum fluids.

Over the years, 1968 to the present, we've owned 10 Type 3 Squarebacks and 3 TDI Sportwagons. The first 2011 Sportwagon was bought back by VW, but when I tried to repurchase it from them they had scrapped it. That seemed really odd, but I had removed some items from it, pending needed repairs.

Our second TDI Sportwagon was a 2015 Golf, which was rear ended in Yellowstone 1200 miles later. That's a cautionary tale about the sleazyness of our insurance industry. Our current TDI Golf Sportwagon is doing fine and we love it. It's unfortunate that the later cars are a bit bigger than the early 2011, but there's nothing we could do about that.

When we bought our first TDI diesel, I remember the salesman saying, "It'll never pay for itself." My reply was, "The price of gas is only going up." You can add this to the long list of things I've been wrong about....
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Jim Adney
50+ years of VW Type 3 experience
Specializing in VW Type 3 parts and service

[raygreenwood]