I believe that the rear window never misted up on them due to the angle!
2007 VW Transporter 2.5TDi 4motion
- Thread starter Bailes1992
- Start date
I believe that the rear window never misted up on them due to the angle!
It was the angle of the rear widow (or rather the C pillar) that caught my eye.
Here we had the 1964 Mercury Meteor with a similarly canted rear window, which was powered and rolled up and down.
I’m disappointed to hear the Yokohamas are a little noisy. I’m looking at their new G018 over here and there’s not a lot of consistent information. The first ones are LT and the reviews are consistently “a bit noisy on every surface.” But then there are reviews out there saying they are quiet - and P-metric sizes are coming out - and hence I wonder if the P-metrics are quieter. Yokohama tires for me have been very uniform, smooth as glass, low runout - well made.
Are yours P-metric or LT?
It looks like you have the G015, which is a highly regarded tire. I had a set - they were quiet in my application and excellent in many areas. What pressures are you running, VW may want a higher pressure than normal.
Are yours P-metric or LT?
It looks like you have the G015, which is a highly regarded tire. I had a set - they were quiet in my application and excellent in many areas. What pressures are you running, VW may want a higher pressure than normal.
Well my attitude towards the van is warming. It's been reliable and nothing new has reared it's ugly head.
Good news, the PAS pump is actually fine. Turns out the oil leak I've been trying to track down is just a leaky PAS cooler that's blowing oil all over the engine bay. The PAS noise was the pump cavitating. Two problems, one stone!
The engine seems to have 'sweetened' up over the last few weeks. I put two bottles of Archoil 6400D-Max into one full tank of diesel and run it down to the diesel equivalent of fumes. Maybe this helped? Or maybe it's just the fact it's now getting used regularly.
Decided to give the engine an oil change today as I'm unsure when it was last done. The last stamp in the service book was at 180k
So with the odometer showing 215,637miles, out the oil came...
Quite an awkward filter to get to, but easier than the filter location on my old Duster.
Old filter out.
There was some material between the pleats. Some black sludgy bits and a few flecks of metal. Unfortunately, this filter could have done 35k or 5k, I have no idea.
New Mahle filter in.
New sump plug.
And copious amounts of Mobil 1 0w40 ready to go in.
The engine runs really nicely. I'm not convinced there's any internal issues with it. But, the fact it's shed some metal and sludge does concern me.
Some will also notice I opted for an A3/B4 engine on an engine with a DPF. But right now, I'm almost certain it's been 'deleted'. The EGR has been removed with a Darkside Developments kit which isn't cheap at all. I can't see any cuts in the DPF housing, but if I rev the engine with no load, there is a very light amount of smoke out the exhaust. It also stinks to high heaven. So yes, an A3/B4 oil went in.
Good news, the PAS pump is actually fine. Turns out the oil leak I've been trying to track down is just a leaky PAS cooler that's blowing oil all over the engine bay. The PAS noise was the pump cavitating. Two problems, one stone!
The engine seems to have 'sweetened' up over the last few weeks. I put two bottles of Archoil 6400D-Max into one full tank of diesel and run it down to the diesel equivalent of fumes. Maybe this helped? Or maybe it's just the fact it's now getting used regularly.
Decided to give the engine an oil change today as I'm unsure when it was last done. The last stamp in the service book was at 180k
So with the odometer showing 215,637miles, out the oil came...
Quite an awkward filter to get to, but easier than the filter location on my old Duster.
Old filter out.
There was some material between the pleats. Some black sludgy bits and a few flecks of metal. Unfortunately, this filter could have done 35k or 5k, I have no idea.
New Mahle filter in.
New sump plug.
And copious amounts of Mobil 1 0w40 ready to go in.
The engine runs really nicely. I'm not convinced there's any internal issues with it. But, the fact it's shed some metal and sludge does concern me.
Some will also notice I opted for an A3/B4 engine on an engine with a DPF. But right now, I'm almost certain it's been 'deleted'. The EGR has been removed with a Darkside Developments kit which isn't cheap at all. I can't see any cuts in the DPF housing, but if I rev the engine with no load, there is a very light amount of smoke out the exhaust. It also stinks to high heaven. So yes, an A3/B4 oil went in.
Thought some of you might be amused by our propshaft. So apparently the centre bearing in the propshaft bearing is supposed to be attached to it's frame by a rubber bush. Ours is not 
Oddly, this makes no noise at all. The propshaft is perfectly free to jump about. flail and move and there's zero symptoms.
Haven't got any further with polishing it either, but I still think she's a good looking bus!
We'd like it as a functional day van for summer next year. That means the Mini is going to have another winter of neglect unfortunately. This is the high level plan...
So far, we have or have on order the following...
20 Litres Mobil Delvac MX 15w40
5 Litres Millers Oils 75w80 MTF/Gear Oil
5 Litres Millers Oils 75w90 Gear Oil
850ml Febi Bilstein 101172 (Haldex Coupling Oil)
Oil Filter
Fuel Filter
Air Filter
Cabin Filter
5x Glow Plugs
Victor Reinz Intake Manifold Gaskets
Haldex Filter & Seals
New OE Propshaft
Used PAS Cooler
Reservoir to PAS Cooler Pipe
Should be an interesting few months! I wish I had the time, patience, know how and personality to video it.
Oddly, this makes no noise at all. The propshaft is perfectly free to jump about. flail and move and there's zero symptoms.
Haven't got any further with polishing it either, but I still think she's a good looking bus!
We'd like it as a functional day van for summer next year. That means the Mini is going to have another winter of neglect unfortunately. This is the high level plan...
So far, we have or have on order the following...
20 Litres Mobil Delvac MX 15w40
5 Litres Millers Oils 75w80 MTF/Gear Oil
5 Litres Millers Oils 75w90 Gear Oil
850ml Febi Bilstein 101172 (Haldex Coupling Oil)
Oil Filter
Fuel Filter
Air Filter
Cabin Filter
5x Glow Plugs
Victor Reinz Intake Manifold Gaskets
Haldex Filter & Seals
New OE Propshaft
Used PAS Cooler
Reservoir to PAS Cooler Pipe
Should be an interesting few months! I wish I had the time, patience, know how and personality to video it.
I wish we could get those vans here. If the new VW vans weren't electric only, there would be one in my garage to replace my 2014 Town and Country. Thanks for tracking it here!Thought some of you might be amused by our propshaft. So apparently the centre bearing in the propshaft bearing is supposed to be attached to it's frame by a rubber bush. Ours is not
View attachment 302594
Oddly, this makes no noise at all. The propshaft is perfectly free to jump about. flail and move and there's zero symptoms.
Haven't got any further with polishing it either, but I still think she's a good looking bus!
View attachment 302595
We'd like it as a functional day van for summer next year. That means the Mini is going to have another winter of neglect unfortunately. This is the high level plan...
View attachment 302596
So far, we have or have on order the following...
20 Litres Mobil Delvac MX 15w40
5 Litres Millers Oils 75w80 MTF/Gear Oil
5 Litres Millers Oils 75w90 Gear Oil
850ml Febi Bilstein 101172 (Haldex Coupling Oil)
Oil Filter
Fuel Filter
Air Filter
Cabin Filter
5x Glow Plugs
Victor Reinz Intake Manifold Gaskets
Haldex Filter & Seals
New OE Propshaft
Used PAS Cooler
Reservoir to PAS Cooler Pipe
Should be an interesting few months! I wish I had the time, patience, know how and personality to video it.
Managed to deep clean the interior yesterday. Took 5 hours including wet vac'ing all the carpets in the rear. I also left an Air Vidox in the van overnight which creates a chlorine gas to help neutralise any odours, not that it smelled too bad but it had been sat for 3 years.
Had a huge list of stuff to get done Saturday, unfortunately I totally overestimated how time consuming putting the front end into the 'service position' would be, and how long it would take to do the glow plugs. So, here's where we are at...
This is the van in service position. This involved inserting rods through the front slam panel and into the chassis rail. You can then remove all the fixings holding the slam panel on and slide the whole front end out on the steel rods.
First thing I did once in the service position was remove the intake manifold. I knew the van had a Darkside Developments EGR removal kit on it, but it was nice to see the intake had been thoroughly cleaned and also the intake ports in the head. A proper job done!
This provided me with some room down the front of the engine.
However, as you can see by the location of my ratchet here, the glow plugs are buried deep in the bay, at arms length down from the slam panel and cannot be seen, so it all has to be done by feel. This was far harder than I expected it to be.
But, after about 5 hours from when I started, we had 5 of the original, factory fitted, 18 year old, 215,000mile used glow plugs in my hand.
I went with a full RIDEX service kit from Autodoc which included glow plugs. Ridex is their own brand, and I bought a full kit for our Volvo last year and everything was quite okay. And as always, Febi Bilstein Special Cermaic Grease (26712) applied very thinly to the glowplugs to aid future removal.
I had nothing to picture installing the glowplugs as there's nothing to see. However, they're in there.
Unfortunately when removing the glowplugs the loom which had seen many heat cycles and been covered in power steering fluid for many years just disintegrated on me. I've got another one ordered and it will be with us on Thursday. I can't put the inlet manifold back on until the new loom arrives which means I can't reassemble the front end. Nightmare!
I opened up the airbox next, and found a K&N in there!
However, as I've always found with these sort of filters, when held up to the light you can see actual daylight through pin-prick like holes in the filter material. So it won't be going back in.
It was time to change the old leaky power steering cooler. These we hideously expensive new for what they are, so I installed a good used item. This was before.
I drained the cooler and reservoir. It was nice to see fresh clean green fluid! That said, it's been going through around 500ml of PAS fluid every week since we've owned it so it's no surprise.
This is the van in service position. This involved inserting rods through the front slam panel and into the chassis rail. You can then remove all the fixings holding the slam panel on and slide the whole front end out on the steel rods.
First thing I did once in the service position was remove the intake manifold. I knew the van had a Darkside Developments EGR removal kit on it, but it was nice to see the intake had been thoroughly cleaned and also the intake ports in the head. A proper job done!
This provided me with some room down the front of the engine.
However, as you can see by the location of my ratchet here, the glow plugs are buried deep in the bay, at arms length down from the slam panel and cannot be seen, so it all has to be done by feel. This was far harder than I expected it to be.
But, after about 5 hours from when I started, we had 5 of the original, factory fitted, 18 year old, 215,000mile used glow plugs in my hand.
I went with a full RIDEX service kit from Autodoc which included glow plugs. Ridex is their own brand, and I bought a full kit for our Volvo last year and everything was quite okay. And as always, Febi Bilstein Special Cermaic Grease (26712) applied very thinly to the glowplugs to aid future removal.
I had nothing to picture installing the glowplugs as there's nothing to see. However, they're in there.
Unfortunately when removing the glowplugs the loom which had seen many heat cycles and been covered in power steering fluid for many years just disintegrated on me. I've got another one ordered and it will be with us on Thursday. I can't put the inlet manifold back on until the new loom arrives which means I can't reassemble the front end. Nightmare!
I opened up the airbox next, and found a K&N in there!
However, as I've always found with these sort of filters, when held up to the light you can see actual daylight through pin-prick like holes in the filter material. So it won't be going back in.
It was time to change the old leaky power steering cooler. These we hideously expensive new for what they are, so I installed a good used item. This was before.
I drained the cooler and reservoir. It was nice to see fresh clean green fluid! That said, it's been going through around 500ml of PAS fluid every week since we've owned it so it's no surprise.
And installed the new unit.
I also fitted a brand new OE hose that goes from the reservoir to the cooler because they were only £17 and the old one looked a bit rough.
Next I swapped out the fuel filter. This was the old MAHLE one.
Always wondered why PD's have a return back to the filter and not directly back to the tank?
New filter for comparisons sake.
And fitted.
I also fitted a brand new OE hose that goes from the reservoir to the cooler because they were only £17 and the old one looked a bit rough.
Next I swapped out the fuel filter. This was the old MAHLE one.
Always wondered why PD's have a return back to the filter and not directly back to the tank?
New filter for comparisons sake.
And fitted.
Next up, cleaning the engine bay. Due to the PAS leak, the engine smelled horrible after the engine got up temperature. Due to the location of the leak, fluid got blown everywhere at speed and it's been leaking for a long time. Add into that 215,000miles and 18 years of general grime build up, it was pretty bad in there.
This is before.
The engine bay was snow foamed with Bilt Hamber Auto Foam, rinsed, then I applied neat Bilt Hamber Surfex HD to the engine bay, agitated it where I felt it needed it and rinsed again. I then applied 4% Bilt Hamber Atom-Mac to the entire engine bay for corrosion protection and left it to dry overnight.
And after it had dried.
This rust next to the strut top is concerning me. It's all solid, the hole that's there is factory and I had a good 10 minutes knocking it about with a screwdriver checking it was just service rust. But I don't know how to get in there to deal with it properly. Ideally it all needs taking back to bare metal, epoxy primering and repainting.
But for now, I've treated the entire engine bay with Bilt Hamber Dynax S50 and UC and made sure to give that area above a very decent dose of S50.
And that's where I'm at. I'm going to try get the airbox put back together and replace the cabin filter on my lunch today. Will see how I get on!
This is before.
The engine bay was snow foamed with Bilt Hamber Auto Foam, rinsed, then I applied neat Bilt Hamber Surfex HD to the engine bay, agitated it where I felt it needed it and rinsed again. I then applied 4% Bilt Hamber Atom-Mac to the entire engine bay for corrosion protection and left it to dry overnight.
And after it had dried.
This rust next to the strut top is concerning me. It's all solid, the hole that's there is factory and I had a good 10 minutes knocking it about with a screwdriver checking it was just service rust. But I don't know how to get in there to deal with it properly. Ideally it all needs taking back to bare metal, epoxy primering and repainting.
But for now, I've treated the entire engine bay with Bilt Hamber Dynax S50 and UC and made sure to give that area above a very decent dose of S50.
And that's where I'm at. I'm going to try get the airbox put back together and replace the cabin filter on my lunch today. Will see how I get on!
Excellent thread. You are getting after it and are making great progress. You inspired me to do something today. I rotated the tires on my GTI I had been putting off for a couple weeks.
I’ve had diesels my whole life ranging from F250 and 350’s to the fire apparatus I worked off of for twenty five years to a 2015 Passat tdi and there is no better feeling than hitting the highway and eating up some miles for hours on end.
I’ve had diesels my whole life ranging from F250 and 350’s to the fire apparatus I worked off of for twenty five years to a 2015 Passat tdi and there is no better feeling than hitting the highway and eating up some miles for hours on end.
Last post for today.
Must admit, I'm quite liking some of the Ridex service kits. They certainly seem good-enough and for the money, I could do a full service every interval instead of every other interval and still be better off financially compared to using OE brands.
And all back together.
I did give the MAF connector a squirt with some brake clean, some compressed air and then followed it up with some Bilt Hamber Ferrosol just in case I got some water in there.
Then it was time for the cabin filter.
Out the old one came, along with a fair amount of bits of leaves.
And the new one that went in.
Weirdly, the screws that hold the cover for the cabin filter in place are 7/32nd's. A 5mm socket was too small and a 6mm socket was too big. How very odd on a German vehicle.
Must admit, I'm quite liking some of the Ridex service kits. They certainly seem good-enough and for the money, I could do a full service every interval instead of every other interval and still be better off financially compared to using OE brands.
And all back together.
I did give the MAF connector a squirt with some brake clean, some compressed air and then followed it up with some Bilt Hamber Ferrosol just in case I got some water in there.
Then it was time for the cabin filter.
Out the old one came, along with a fair amount of bits of leaves.
And the new one that went in.
Weirdly, the screws that hold the cover for the cabin filter in place are 7/32nd's. A 5mm socket was too small and a 6mm socket was too big. How very odd on a German vehicle.
I take back what I said about doing a full service at every maintenance interval. The glowplugs are an utter pain to do. It took me an hour alone last night trying to get the new wiring loom in. Unfortunately, you cannot see them, only feel them. There's not enough room for two hands and the only way to be dextrous enough to plug them in is to put your back to the front of the van and reach around behind you. And when you do that you can only really use one arm. If you could have one finger from one hand on the plug and direct the other hand towards your finger it would be far easier, but it's almost an impossibility. If I didn't have A/C I'd have just disconnected the radiator and intercooler and removed the entire housing. It would have saved so much time! A total of 6 plugs took an hour. I'm not convinced I could do it any faster now that I've experienced it. BUT, it's done. I can stop complaining about it now.
One little win to discuss. I had a quote from our local VW dealer for £144 for a new glowplug wiring loom. Another VW specialist do an aftermarket one for £80. I took a punt at a no-brand chineesium one from Amazon for £20. And would you know it...
Anyway, the loom itself.
And an hour later, long after the sun had set...
Got some coolant pipes to reconnect, the inlet manifold to put back in and then I can start reassembling the front end. Bloody thing!
One little win to discuss. I had a quote from our local VW dealer for £144 for a new glowplug wiring loom. Another VW specialist do an aftermarket one for £80. I took a punt at a no-brand chineesium one from Amazon for £20. And would you know it...
Anyway, the loom itself.
And an hour later, long after the sun had set...
Got some coolant pipes to reconnect, the inlet manifold to put back in and then I can start reassembling the front end. Bloody thing!
I was doing so well in the spare hour I had yesterday, but had a mishap and now waiting for parts. 
First thing to button up was this coolant flange.
Nice new gasket after THIS thread.
And all back installed and torqued to 10NM.
The intake manifold was then cleaned off with some brake clean and compressed air as it was covered in oil.
New intake manifold gaskets.
And fitted with a tiny dab on superglue on the 'ears' to stop them falling off or out of position during assembly.
And after half hour of fighting with it and getting it lined up, it's in! Bolts torqued to 20NM.
Then starting filling up the cooling system with Glystantin G40.
And disaster.
I was really confused by this. I though that the 'peg' on the pipe was just there for support. I didn't realise it was an actual pipe. But, I checked the parts diagrams and saw there was an O ring there.
I keep spare 'O' rings, so this should be easily sorted. Right?
First thing to button up was this coolant flange.
Nice new gasket after THIS thread.
And all back installed and torqued to 10NM.
The intake manifold was then cleaned off with some brake clean and compressed air as it was covered in oil.
New intake manifold gaskets.
And fitted with a tiny dab on superglue on the 'ears' to stop them falling off or out of position during assembly.
And after half hour of fighting with it and getting it lined up, it's in! Bolts torqued to 20NM.
Then starting filling up the cooling system with Glystantin G40.
And disaster.
I was really confused by this. I though that the 'peg' on the pipe was just there for support. I didn't realise it was an actual pipe. But, I checked the parts diagrams and saw there was an O ring there.
I keep spare 'O' rings, so this should be easily sorted. Right?
I couldn't quite photograph how bad the leak was, but this was 20 minutes after filling the system up.
So I went to remove the coolant flange and replace the 'O' ring and found out why it's leaking, and why I didn't notice the seal before.
When I removed this flange I put a big screwdriver between it and the block to leaver it off, clearly I snapped the little bleed pipe. Gahhhhh.
I then had a little panic about the little bit that was stuck in the engine. Suddenly envisaging having to remove the entire front end and drilling out what's been left in the head. BUT, I popped a little pick into the snapped bit, give it a wiggle and out it came! This van is no match for my engineering expertise.
So today, I need to make some phone calls and try get hold of another flange, gasket and 'O' ring. And until I get them, I'm a little bit on stop.
On another note, I managed to get a brand new genuine VW and rather rare T6.1 heated windscreen for a future upgrade! Just £100!
So I went to remove the coolant flange and replace the 'O' ring and found out why it's leaking, and why I didn't notice the seal before.
When I removed this flange I put a big screwdriver between it and the block to leaver it off, clearly I snapped the little bleed pipe. Gahhhhh.
I then had a little panic about the little bit that was stuck in the engine. Suddenly envisaging having to remove the entire front end and drilling out what's been left in the head. BUT, I popped a little pick into the snapped bit, give it a wiggle and out it came! This van is no match for my engineering expertise.
So today, I need to make some phone calls and try get hold of another flange, gasket and 'O' ring. And until I get them, I'm a little bit on stop.
On another note, I managed to get a brand new genuine VW and rather rare T6.1 heated windscreen for a future upgrade! Just £100!
Heated electricly I assume? Any system upgrades needed? I remember Fords with that option had a special alternator.I couldn't quite photograph how bad the leak was, but this was 20 minutes after filling the system up.
View attachment 305507
So I went to remove the coolant flange and replace the 'O' ring and found out why it's leaking, and why I didn't notice the seal before.
View attachment 305508
When I removed this flange I put a big screwdriver between it and the block to leaver it off, clearly I snapped the little bleed pipe. Gahhhhh.
I then had a little panic about the little bit that was stuck in the engine. Suddenly envisaging having to remove the entire front end and drilling out what's been left in the head. BUT, I popped a little pick into the snapped bit, give it a wiggle and out it came! This van is no match for my engineering expertise.
View attachment 305509
So today, I need to make some phone calls and try get hold of another flange, gasket and 'O' ring. And until I get them, I'm a little bit on stop.
On another note, I managed to get a brand new genuine VW and rather rare T6.1 heated windscreen for a future upgrade! Just £100!
View attachment 305510
I'll be building a small simple control loom that will include an ignition switched relay, a voltage sensitive relay and a timer relay. Therefore the ignition will have to be on, the voltage above 14v and when switched on it will time off after 10 minutes. I may do this with 3 separate, off-the-shelf relays for simplicity, or I may look at using an Arduino or something.
There is two heating elements on the windscreen, each use ~20A.
Turns out that coolant flange is discontinued, but I have managed to order a Vaico unit from Germany which will be here next week.
5.5mm
New pipe arrived.
Was full of manufacturing burrs.
Spent some time with a small file to try tidy it up a little.
And fitted.
Took it out for a drive and was greeted by a fuel gauge that's stopped working and the oil pressure light again.
I'm sure this van hates me.
Was full of manufacturing burrs.
Spent some time with a small file to try tidy it up a little.
And fitted.
Took it out for a drive and was greeted by a fuel gauge that's stopped working and the oil pressure light again.
I'm sure this van hates me.
