Iwan:

> Can someone explain to me what a cross-flowed head is and which VW models
> have them?

Simply put, crossflow heads have the intake ports on one side of the
head and exhaust ports on the other. In general, this gives them better
breathing characteristics than other heads.

The 16v, in both 1.8 & 2.0 liter, was the first VW engine to have a cross
flow head. Today, the 8v has a cross-flow head. The latter,by the way, was
is specific to North America and was developed more for safety than performance.

Chris Williams
1990 Jetta Carat

I found a 1977 924 (152.000km) in a reasonable condition. I would really love
to buy this car, it is cheap. Is there something I should be aware of? Is
owning a 924 much more expensive than another car? Am I running into
multiple-thousand dollar bills to keep it running? Please enlighten someone
who wants to become a Porsche driver, but does not want to spend $1000 a month
to do so…

Hi All, (question is kind of long…)

 I’ve been on about this problem before, but I’m still trying to diagnose
 what’s going on.  The car is an  85 Scirocco 8V w/100k miles
 (CIS injection).  Before the problem occurred I used to get about 400 miles to a tank of gas, now I get 200.  The other symptoms are low power and jerky
 acceleration during wide open throttle (WOT according to Mr. Bentley).

 I’ve done quite a bit of diagnosing over the past couple of weeks
 (and spent quite a bit of cash on gas), so let me list what I’ve done
 and where I think the problem may be.

     -Replaced plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter, air filter
                O2 sensor (a year ago)
               All four fuel injectors and respective o-rings (they needed it).
               All the little annoying vacuum hoses I could find.

     -Checked  cold start valve – good spray pattern, doesn’t leak
               Timing adjusted
               Idle speed adjusted
               Engine compression good
               Air flow sensor plate feels smooth throughout its travel
               Thermoswitch works correctly
               System pressure (72 psi)
               Control pressure (32 psi cold, but in Vegas that’s 100 degrees)
               Control pressure regulator bimetallic strip resistance 12 ohms
               (Out of spec, but I think that’s why the control pressure is on                  the high end of the accepted range)
               Residual pressure (55 psi warm, 42 after 15 minutes)
               Frequency valve works
               O2 sensor system control unit checks out as per Bentley
                    Thermoswitch wires jumpered (dwell = 72 deg.)
                    Limp-home mode (45 deg.)
                    Ground O2 sensor lead (85 deg.)
                    1.5 Volts on O2 sensor lead (18 deg.)

Ok, now here’s a problem…If I run the engine normally, dwell at start up
is at a steady 45 degrees – normal for open loop operation since the sensor
isn’t hot yet.  After about a minute when the sensor heats up, the dwell
shoots up to about 87 degrees and remains there steadily.
Shouldn’t closed loop operation give me a dwell reading that fluctuates
somewhere in the middle of the range??  It looks like the O2 sensor is
somehow grounded to me, but I checked continuity from the control unit to
the O2 sensor (it’s ok), and I’m getting voltage from the O2 sensor so it
can’t be grounded…
My guess is that that is the problem somehow, and I’m running with way too
lean a mixture.  If I try adjusting the control plunger in the distributor
to richen the mixture, the dwell doesn’t move from that pinned 87 degree
position, and I stall the engine.

Questions:

Does anyone know what kind of voltage an O2 sensor is supposed to put out?

How can I easily check for an air leak that could be causing the lean
mixture (if that’s the problem)???

Any clues as to what the problem is?

Thanks in advance for any input.

John Pal.

I NEED A GOOD USED TRANNY FOR A 16 V SCIRROCCO.  ALSO AN INTERIOR FAN
ASSEMBLY FOR UNDER THE DASH AND POSSIBLY A COMPRESSOR AND REGULAR SPINGS
FRONT AND REAR.

KARL
714-854-9529

I am replacing my cam shaft timing belt on a 1986 VW Golf  (8 valve)
and am contemplating replacing the oil seal on the cam shaft (I
believe it to be a source of an oil leak)… to do this I can either

  (a) purchase special tools from VW to remove seal without taking off
        the cam shaft

  (b) remove the oil seal by first removing the cam shaft. This job
        requires no special equip according to the Bentley Manual, and
        hence is a prefered option

Problem: I had once done a valve job on a 1978 VW Rabbit and I
remember that when I tried to put the cam back on the head that I
cracked the bearing caps (as well as the head) while trying to get the
cam back on the head… I luckily had an extra head and set of caps
and had a ‘real’ mechanic do it for me…

However, the bentley manual seems to suggest that putting the cam back
is ‘no big deal’ as long as you put the caps on in the correct order.

However, it seems hard to believe that you can compress this cam back
down on the head without cracking the bearings or the head. I thought
that I remember that you had (or should have) removed the tappet
buckets (or something to that effect) on the 78 Rabbit

If anyone has done this (or knows anything about it) please inform me
as to whether or not my paranoid fears are (un)warranted

A couple of weeks ago my 81 Scirocco, all of a sudden became very power shy.
Like normal I started my car on a warm sunny morning, idled for approx. 1 min.
and drove away, but my car didn’t have the power.  I would step on the gas, and
I just had a significant loss of power.  I checked the plugs, rotor, cap.  
All were ok.  And put in some fuel injector cleaner hoping maybe to solve the
problem.  Alas, still very shy.  Just the other day I checked the air filter,
and fond an oily/gas type substance on it, and in the black air hose leading
to the intake manifold.  This obviously can’t be normal, so what happened?
—
e…@ecst.csuchico.edu                               |   ____   ___    ___
 1981 VW Scirocco    GO USA SOCCER!!!                |       / /   \  /   \  
Go Chargers!  1996 Super Bowl Champs!!!              |     /  |  T  ||  V  |
Go Padres!  2015 World Series Champs!!!              |   /____ \___/  \___/

As I was driving home my 5th gear disengaged with a pop. All other
gears continued to work but a light grinding noise continued to come
from the tranney. When I put the gear shift in 5th position all I get
is a grinding noise and no power.

1985 Jetta diesel w 160k miles.
Shift linkage is sloppy but looks to be working(I could be wrong).

Any advice good or bad would be appreciated.

Regards,
Jeff Harp                      
Denison, Texas
Email:  kh…@texoma.com

        I’ve had my ’84 Rabbit GTI for almost 2.5 years and have taken it
from 125K miles to 151K+ miles.  Last week, I started having what I think
is some kind of electrical problem.  (It would be nice if it’s just a loose
connection somewhere, but I know not of these things.)  
        My car would stall out occasionally, or the seat belt light would
come one for about 4-5 seconds, with or without the radio momentarily going
dead.  My mechanic thought it had something to do with the electrical
connection in my ignition lock,  but that apparently turned out not to be
the case.  
        For several days my car wasn’t stalling at all, but I was still
getting the seat belt light frequently and occasional interruption of radio
power.  Until today, I thought I could live with that, but a couple days
ago the buzzer began coming on occasionally when the seat belt light turned
on.  
        Tonight, my car began stalling again, several times during the
course of a drive that was no more than 15 miles.  Since it was dark out,
I could see that my headlights went off as well as the radio and overall
ignition power.  I could also hear a litle switching noise just as this
was happening, or when the seat belt light would come on by itself.  I
cannot think of any commonalities among these occurrences (such as does
it happen mostly before the engine is fully wanted, why one symptom vs.
another, etc.)

        Does anyone have any ideas?  I don’t want to spend a lot of money
at yet another mechanic’s, just to discover what the problem is that I
will subsequently have to pay for anyway.  Also, if there’s something I
(a petite woman with a lot of brains and nerve but not a lot of knowledge
about cars) can do myself to improve the situation, please let me know.  
I certainly don’t want to stall while on the 405!  Thanks in advance for
your assistance.

                       Leslie  (side…@netcom.com)
– - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
       "Having the right to do it doesn’t mean it’s right to do it."
– - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

I am looking for a corrado either a G60 or the VR6 to fix up in my spare
time.  Wrecked or engine work needed are exceptable.  Please call

Karl
@   714-854-9529
or 714-939-3637 work

SOmeone was kind enough to write me E-mail concerning my Power Window
switch, Unfortunately my HD was full and the program puked and I can’t
see the mail. PLease send again if possible.