Torque

"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw) 10/19/2015 at 14:19 • Filed to: None

5

9

A fun dichotomy in the shop today, the owner’s ‘73 Dodge 200 with a hot injected 360, and an innocent little VW Touareg.

Pretty tough looking, right? Noisy as shit, stump-pulling gears... A big pile of lopey idling, gun racked, diamond-plate bumpered Fuck You. We call it the Ogre. Should handily out-torque the little ‘Treg, over there cowering in its boots.

But wait... DUN DUN DUN. BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAP.

I’d still much rather have the Dodge, though. First-gen Tregs are generally crap, and the V10 is a monster to work on. We’re putting glow plugs in it. Step one in the service manual: Remove intake manifolds. Ok, no big deal, right? Step One for removing intake manifolds: Remove cylinder heads, no kidding. Fortunately, this isn’t really necessary. They sure haul ass, though.

EL_ULY > RallyWrench 10/19/2015 at 14:26

2

TDI head removal = taking lunch before the job starts to achieve a more efficient zombie repair zone mode.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > RallyWrench 10/19/2015 at 14:38

0

So, taken literally, “remove the heads to remove the glow plugs”. Well, that does seem like the glow plugs would be easy to reach. Out of the car and all. But why then remove the intake manifold? It sounds like that part would just be making work or something.

Dasupersprint - base trim is enough > RallyWrench 10/19/2015 at 14:41

0

Looking at the top picture I thought it was a recent Ford. Funny how truck design didn’t change in 40 years

RallyWrench > Dasupersprint - base trim is enough 10/19/2015 at 14:53

0

Good point. When he had it painted, he used the tailgate graphics from a much newer Ram, which adds to the illusion.

RallyWrench > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 10/19/2015 at 15:00

0

Yeah. This kind of thing is SOP for VW manuals. The manifolds are over the glow plugs, so their removal technically makes plug removal easier, but the manual illustrations of course show an engine magically floating in space, and don’t say “ remove the fucking engine” first. Amazing what headache can be avoided by a cleverly deployed 1/4” drive wobble. I’m convinced that VW’s lab techs work with stone tools.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > RallyWrench 10/19/2015 at 15:22

0

The easiest way to install the glow plugs in a VW Rabbit diesel would technically involve removing the injection pump. Ain’t no fuckin’ way I ever did that, though. Bashed knuckles and replacing the glow plugs in the dark in 20 degree weather, while dropping the plugs repeatedly into dark holes and barely getting them to start, then tweaking them in a 12th turn at a time? Still better than, I don’t know, de-timing the fucking engine.

Yes, the above described is factual. No, I’m not bitter. Well, maybe a bit.

pip bip - choose Corrour > RallyWrench 10/20/2015 at 04:44

0

this is why i’d never own a VW group product.

too complex.

it’s bullshit!

RallyWrench > pip bip - choose Corrour 10/20/2015 at 11:42

0

This one is, but it alone is not a good reason to swear off the brand. I’d happily drive a Golf or GTI, no question. In fact, my old 2004 GTI VR6 is the best car I’ve ever owned. 160,000 trouble free miles including track days and autocrosses, and it’s still running strong with the next owner.

pip bip - choose Corrour > RallyWrench 10/21/2015 at 02:58

0

you don’t have to deal with the mechanics that do all the warranty work.