Central Florida

December 16, 2013 TDI Club

Saturday, November 2, 2013 TDI-GTG

Trick n Treat a Success

Our TDIGTG: Get-ToGether held on
SATURDAY, NOV. 2nd, 2013,
just a few days after Halloween, was
certainly time well spent. Our focus
was on tricks our members have
found that work well in maintaining
and repairing their TDIs. What started
out as a series of slow recollections of
past tasks soon catapulted into a
staccato of techniques our members
have used to save money, time, &
effort while reducing swollen knuckles
and an occasional inappropriate word
or two.

(photos below) Discussions

focused on tricks members
use in repair & maintenance
of their TDIs, plus plenty of input on resources, tools,
procedures, etc. Chris discussed his recent visit to, and
tour of, Gunther VW in south Florida (see this issue).

I certainly wish I had better note-taking

skills as my colleagues blasted out
comments faster than a salesman in a
used car lot. Was this venture worth
the time spent? You betcha! As just
one individual I left with two
techniques that will save me several
hours of arm-twisting with a wrench as
I repair the door lock on my Jetta
(broken by myself while trying to do a
fix a day before leaving on a mustleave-tomorrow scheduled trip). If you
missed this GTG Ill do my best to
recollect (continued next page)
2013 Central Florida VW-TDI Club, headquartered in Ocala, Florida Mr. Chris Mendola, Club President

concepts & techniques presented by

club members, but my notes certainly
cant do justice to the
recommendations made by club
members. Here are a few brief notes
about some of the strategies,
techniques, & tricks discussed:
Vacuum hoses dont always leak
when youre in your own town, let
alone your driveway. One member
found leaks occurring in the stiff plastic
hose that attaches to the brakes
vacuum booster. This tubing is similar
to electrical shrink tubing, though much
more substantial. Replace the tubing
with rubber hose & clamps, and use a
90 copper elbow and short end of
copper tubing soldered on each end of
the elbow. Thisll save you over $50 if
the components on each end of the
original tubing are still operative.
Another fix over cracked ends of the
same original tubing is to use electrical
shrink-wrap tubing thats used on the
ends of battery cables. Such shrink
tubing has a sealer inside that fill the
cracks to prevent leakage, but the
original also cracks at the bend, which
is necessary to allow for engine flexure
at motor mounts.
Your TDI diesel pump (certain
models) is pumping fuel to the
injectors but not pulling from the fuel
tank. Installation of a lift pump in the
tank may be all thats required to do a
fix for this problem. Check with
aftermarket suppliers for this part (e.g
Kermit & ECS mentioned). TDI
forums are another source for info on
these pumps.

Broken glove box latch: AARodriquez

(search online) sells a repair kit with
super magnets. At less than $30 its
a good fix when compared with $100
for a used glove box door w/ a used
latch (if you can find one!).
Save money by rotating your own
tires unless your tire source provides
this free. While youre moving your
tires check for other needs that are
hidden behind the wheels (e.g.
brakes pads, CV boots, etc.).
Do you change your own oil? Many of
us do because were more accurate
than some technicians at quick
lubes shops. One member says he
uses a vacuum pump to pull oil up via
tubing through the oil-fill funnel tube
(where the dipstick resides). He
reports getting more oil out that way
compared to merely removing the oil
plug. Others installed the Fumoto oil
pan drain valve that eliminates the
need to remove the drain plug, which
can lead to stripped threads when
improperly re-installed and/or
tightened. Flick the positive-lock lever
& the oil drains out (a bit slower than
when the plug is removed).
The fold-down rear seat latches in
G o l f s a r e l i k e t h e T- s h a p e d
emergency hood latch pull knob as
they can become inoperative if the
knob pulls loose from the inner
workings. This can be repaired using
a cotter pin or other pin-type device to
serve as an axle for either lever.
Need to replace your radiator? This is
most easily done by removing the
front end. Sound scary? I thought that

2013 Central Florida VW-TDI Club, headquartered in Ocala, Florida Mr. Chris Mendola, Club President

Not broken studs,

but tasty spuds!
It can never be said that our GTGs
arent a culinary success and Sally
outdid herself again with a different
focus this meeting.
Our luncheon featured large baked
potatoes with a slew of toppings:
homemade pulled pork, chili, sauteed
fresh mushrooms, butter, sour cream,
shredded cheese, bacon bits, along with
steamed broccoli, & cheddar snack mix.
Beverages included lemonade (always a
favorite), iced tea, root beer, diet Coke,
& orange soda. Dessert was another
new recipe: spicy gingerbread twigs a
homemade, labor-intensive, crunchy
gingersnap stick covered with colored
granular sugar. This recipe has two
bake cycles with a race in between
bakings to get the hot & quickly
hardening dough cut into thin strips
before the dough cools hard. Then
placement back into the oven for the
final bake to drive out moisture so the
twigs are crunchy, spicy sweet. Yum.

Spicy gingerbread twigs minus the cayenne pepper

that Sally thought a bit too much the first time around.

too until several members mentioned

the few clips & screws that need to
be removed to gain access to the
radiator from the front of the car
rather than from between the radiator
& the engine. A search online may
give specifics on this procedure. (Im
hoping to avoid this!)
Repeatedly getting on the
accelerator from a standing start
may cause problems with your turbo.
A surging back & forth of the
wastegate actuator may occur
causing stresses on the
turbochargers shaft. These repeated
oscillating forces along the shaft
could lead to turbo failure. This
doesnt mean all turbo failures occur
due to acceleration as there are
many other contributors including
incorrectly rebuilt or faulty parts. As a
precaution, wait for your car to get
beyond 2,000 RPM before pressing
the go pedal to accelerate.
As our club expands in both members
and activities, we are expanding our
communication system to meet our
burgeoning needs. We will soon be
posting our club newsletters and
announcement information on our new
website. Go to www.thriftytravel.info
and click on the VW-TDI Club tab on
the far right of the screen (tablets &
phones may appear differently.) More
information will be forthcoming when
the website is launched. This
expanded service comes as a
response to your overwhelming
requests. Were glad we can further
meet your needs.
Chris Mendola, Club President

2013 Central Florida VW-TDI Club, headquartered in Ocala, Florida Mr. Chris Mendola, Club President

Outstanding VW Dealers in Florida

Gunther VW Coconut Creek, south Florida
As much as we sometimes make make remarks about dealerships, those of us who
have broken down on the road are readily happy, if not elated, to see the blue & white
VW dealership sign. Though our clubs members pride themselves on their wrenchtwisting skills, we all soon realize that when we are without our tools, manuals, etc. were
stuck. There are many great VW dealers that can come to owners assistance. Yours
truly and wife Sally spent a few hours touring Americas largest VW dealership Gunther
VW in Coconut Creek (north of Ft. Lauderdale), courtesy of Pete Raissis, Gunthers very
able shop foreman. Pete is one of the nations most renowned VW-Audi repair gurus. If
youre in south Florida stop by Gunther and pay a visit to both the sales & service
departments. Youll be very impressed! Gunther VWs sales lobby is like no other.

Volkswagen of Ocala Ocala, north-central Florida

We recently decided to purchase a new 2014 VW Sportwagen TDI, of course. Though
our current TDI wagon has only 220,000 miles on it we felt we needed to ensure more
trouble-free miles during our extended travels. Where to buy was the next question. We
priced new 2013 and 2014 models at three dealerships and received great prices from
two of them: Gunther VW in Coconut Creek
and VW of Ocala. Our final decision was
influenced by price and distance to service.
Additionally, the honesty and personal
involvement of our salesman, Rick Hammond
at VW of Ocala, was another plus. Ricks
knowledge of his product was exceeded by his
honesty and his desire to see us in a 2014 VW
Sportwagen at the price we were willing to pay.
We got what we wanted and more. I would
definitely recommend Rick to Central Florida
VW customers. L>R: Rick Hammond, Chris, &
Clay Morrison, Sales Manager @ VW of Ocala,
Florida, Hwy 200, west of I-75.
2013 Central Florida VW-TDI Club, headquartered in Ocala, Florida Mr. Chris Mendola, Club President