after 136,000 miles, my '95 Passat decided to croak it's water pump...The belt and tensioner were replaced at 100,000 miles (tensioner died and ruined the belt), so with only 36 K on them I'd like to re-use them, unless I am being too cheap...
I'll replace the AC compressor, finally, while I am there. It's been dead a while.
So while I am at it, what else should I replace? The tensioner and belt, despite being only about 36K miles old? Thermostat? Anything else? Ron/Champ 6
My opinion is to replace the belt but not the tensioner.
I just replaced my water pump on a 95 Passat VR6 a few months ago at about 160,000 and I did not replace the tensioner (although I should have).
Your experience tells you the bearing (in the pulley) is good for 100k and mine tells me it is good for at least 172k (my present odometer reading)
Since you are draining the coolant, I recommend you replace all the plastic components around the thermostat if you have not already done so. The plastic creeps and eventually will leak at the thermostat housing flange joint. I bought a kit on germanautoparts.com that included all the necessary parts.
I replaced my thermostat a couple years ago (also from above vendor) but this did not turn out well. I just reinstalled the stock thermostat (I had saved it). The replacement thermostat left the engine run cold in the winter. (No, I did not buy the low-temp 'stat). My stock one has restored the winter-driving temp to around 190-200 F. The thermostat is easy to replace but be careful what you buy and test your old one against your new one before you install it. My test showed that the replacement 'stat opened more suddenly at temp and the stock one opened progressively.
You will want to flush out the system as much as you can and clean your reservoir bottle.
One more thing. be VERY, VERY careful when you remove your air intak assembly. The crankcase ventilation assembly will want to break at the nipple between the PCV breather valve and the valve cover. This part costs around $150- $200 to replace.
Other things you can expect on this vintage:
Fuel Pump - replaced 1 yr ago Heater core - replaced two weekends ago. Auxiliary coolant pump. You should hear this when the ignition is on, else it has croaked. I replaced mine 3 yrs ago.
R> after 136,000 miles, my '95 Passat decided to croak it's water
I don't know about the Passat but on earlier cars it's quite easy to change the t-stat, so I wouldn't bother doing it until it needed it.
I second Mark: replace the belt but not the tensioner. Tensioners last a good long while, but your belt is more than halfway to it's next scheduled replacement. Might as well get it over with now.
"The more I work on my Passat, the more I love my Volvo... "
Your '94 or your '73? Cars usually get nastier and nastier to work on the newer they get. To replace the *spark plugs* on some newer cars requires the removal of the intake manifold, so the Passat probably isn't any harder to work on than other cars of that vintage. ;)
Honestly, its not a very bad job to replace the water pump but you do have to remove the air intake system. Here is one of the sources that I used, although I did not follow the procedure exactly. Most important, I did not disconnect the exhaust system. The basic trick is that you need to disconnect two motor mounts and jack the engine up to gain access to the pump.
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Somewhere on the web there is also a great write-up with pictures. I could not find this tonight but maybe you would have better luck if you look around.
I do not mind working on my Passat.... I mind that I have to do this so often.
Mark
R> Aux coolant pump was this fall, the heater core last summer.... >
Actually, I find that my '94 850 is a lot easier to work on than my '73 1800 ES....Of course I am reassembling it from a basket case, and the 850 needs little. But everything on it is well laid out, easy to access, and requires very little of the "to get to this, you have to remove this other thing that requires removal of...." problem of the Passat. The VR6 is just such a tight fit.
Then again, I'd rather drive the Passat than the 850. ( and maybe one day I'll get to drive the ES!)
I hear you. My Rabbit has been in the garage for only 2 years now waiting for a new head gasket... My two cars are an '82 Rabbit and an '88 Fox precisely because they're easier to work on than later cars. Well, that, and they were cheaper than later cars too. :)
The VR6 does have the disadvantage of living in an engine bay designed for a 4-cylinder, but still, removing two motor mounts and jacking up the engine seems like a pain just to do a water pump.
While I'm changing the water pump, I'm gonna replace the dead AC compressor ( local shop has already discharged the system, and will recharge when I'm done), but I was wondering, since even the Bentley's does not show how much R134a to put in ( and apparently these systems are charged by weight, not pressure?) how do they know how much to put in? Ron/Champ 6
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