Today Was a Bad Day.

[Cory Wolfe]

So, I just started at Pizza Hut as a delivery driver. Yesterday was my first day, while today I started making deliveries on my own. No big deal here and that's mostly good news, being that I needed a job and all. I made $22 in tips and work went fairly smoothly.

With that said, I started off the day by nearly running out of gas. Why? My fuel gauge doesn't work. When it started sputtering, I thought "Sh!t, I have no chance in hell of making it to a gas station." Up hills, I rocked back and forth in a fury to slosh what little fuel I had into the pump's pick up. That worked for only a little while, unfortunately. It came to a point where that seemed to make it worse and all I could do hope I could keep enough speed up to coast over the crest. I'm pretty sure I pissed off some people who were stuck behind me when I crawled to about 25 mph the last few hills. I feel pretty relieved when I hit the last hill and was able to coast down into the valley where I'd find a Gulf. However, I did have an eight of a mile to travel through town first and this just about did it in for me. I had one traffic light to go through and it was red. While coming up to the end of the line in front of me, the engine stalled upon pushing the clutch. I immediately released the clutch and noticed a getaway to a back alley that would lead to the rear of the station, and most importantly, prevent me from having to stop. I take it and blow through some stop signs until I get to the last one. A truck just had to stroll by at that exact moment. Bastard. Somehow, It's still running. I pull out and into the station. I quite literally ran out as I pulled up to the pump. What a relief.

I was also late to work because of this.

As the day goes on and I make a few deliveries, my power steering pump is beginning to make some noises and steering effort has notably increased. Somehow, my pump ate through most of the fluid in the reservoir. However, I couldn't do anything about it until the end of my shift. By that time, I was sure the pump was going to eat itself, too. A grind here and there, a constant whining made louder by making any turns. Somehow, it hold together til the end where I'm able to stop at an Advance Auto directly afterwords. I buy a bottle of fluid and dump the entire thing in. It's still not up to the level that it should be at, but above the minimum. Hey, no more noise. Although, It's still a mystery as to how all that fluid disappeared without any visible leaks.

After this, I make my rounds to all the car lots to see what's new and worthy of being a candidate as a Sunfire replacement. I find a MK4 Jetta and snoop through it for my own personal enjoyment and head over to the Volkswagen dealer after that to look for the new MK6. Indeed, they finally got one in and just like the Cruze last week, these guys left it unlocked for me. They must know how much I love them for doing that. Anyways, I'll have a write up on that later (no pictures, though, unless I go again tomorrow). Back to my story... As I got back in my Golf and started it, I noticed something funny. My odometer and clock had disappeared and my coolant light was mysteriously on. I figure its one of those beloved VW glitches, and switch it on and off a few times. Nope, didn't work, so I head off. I look down and what do you know, my speedometer is gone as well. I look to the left... Yep, no tachometer either. "Well f*ck." The only gauge that is working? My coolant temperature gauge, ironically. So, not only do I not know how much gas is in my tank, I can't even use mileage to estimate my driving range and now have absolutely no clue how fast I am going. I don't even know what time it is! ...Okay, that's a lie since its also displayed on my aftermarket stereo and my cell phone which I wedge inbetween my legs, so perhaps I'm just being melodramatic now.

In this picture, I'm going at what I assumed to be roughly 35 mph. As you can see... The needles are lifeless.

Not to mention, this is all in addition to my dome light that tends to imitate a strobe light more than anything these days. Sometimes, it'll stay on steadilly; others, it flickers randomly. Then, a few weeks back, the alarm sensor for the hatch decided to suddenly stop working. An alarm is rather useless if you can get into the car without having it go off.

The biggest annoyance of everything is my low oil pressure warning light. Not only is it a light, it also incorporates a very audible beeping. When working correctly, this is to warn you that you need to immediately shut the vehicle off. You know, when you have serious oil pressure issues. I'm beginning to wonder about it, myself, but my oil pressure ought to be fine and probably is. These sensors are about as reliable as the rest of the sensors, which is to say, not terribly reliable. In addition, I'm currently running 5w-30 in it along with a cheap Fram filter. VW recommends 10w-40 grade oil in most circumstances, 10w-30 for the winter, and 15w-40 for hotter climates. The latter most of which, I don't think I've ever seen in stores. As well, most people on the Vortex say to stick with OEM filters as these engines simply don't seem to like other brand and quite simply, Fram filters are terrible in their own right.

This all has me fairly steamed, especially the timing. My Golf couldn't have picked a worse time to throw all its little charms at me. Some of them have been lurking for a while now and haven't really bothered me. That is, until I sat down and actually thought of each issue in addition to the rest. By themselves, they're really no big deal. Each is a cheap, simple fix and with the exception of the mysterious power steering fluid eating pump, are all electrical issues. The gauge cluster probably needs some soldering work to become operable again and at the very worst, I can buy a used one with "close-enough" mileage for around $30. The sensors are all under $10 each, and I'm an oil change away from (probably) eradicating my oil pressure light issue.

Oh Volkswagen, it pains me to love you at times.

Edited October 3, 2010 by blackviper8891

[Satty]

So, I just started at Pizza Hut as a delivery driver.

My condolences.

[SAmadei]

blow through some stop signs until I get to the last one. A truck just had to stroll by at that exact moment. Bastard. Somehow, It's still running. I pull out and into the station. I quite literally ran out as I pulled up to the pump. What a relief.

Every car I've ever had, running out of gas was a one shot deal. No sputter, just out.

As the day goes on and I make a few deliveries, my power steering pump is beginning to make some noises and steering effort has notably increased. Somehow, my pump ate through most of the fluid in the reservoir. However, I couldn't do anything about it until the end of my shift. By that time, I was sure the pump was going to eat itself, too. A grind here and there, a constant whining made louder by making any turns. Somehow, it hold together til the end where I'm able to stop at an Advance Auto directly afterwords. I buy a bottle of fluid and dump the entire thing in. It's still not up to the level that it should be at, but above the minimum. Hey, no more noise. Although, It's still a mystery as to how all that fluid disappeared without any visible leaks.

/quote]

If you look at the steering input on your steering rack, there might be a rubber somewhat weather-tight cover going up to the interior or to the end of the steering column. The little universal is in there. I've seen the input shaft leak and fill that up.

Also, its sometimes possible that you have a leak in the pressure line that points downward away from the car, and it only sprays out at certain times. I've had that before on the Bonne... I would have never seen the leak without having someone run the wheel back and forth while running with the car on the ground.

[Cory Wolfe]

Every car I've ever had, running out of gas was a one shot deal. No sputter, just out.

That's probably the fuel pump going, which is the reason my fuel gauge is inoperable in the first place.

[SAmadei]

That's probably the fuel pump going, which is the reason my fuel gauge is inoperable in the first place.

Not necessarily... could just be fuel tank design. Unless VW is doing something radical, about the only thing the fuel gauge and fuel pump would share is ground and possibly a pigtail connector.

Quite frankly, in-tank fuel pumps tend to just go. You might luck out and find the fuel pressure is not up to spec... but all my fuel pumps died without warning.

Of course, the fuel pump uses the fuel as its coolant... so running a car on fumes all the time WILL reduce its life.

[ocnblu]

Is it possible there's a ground issue causing at least some of your electrical problems? Maybe there's a ground for your cluster that is loose or corroded? It may not be an internal fault in the cluster. Is there any place you can find a wiring schematic for your car online? If so, I'd check all the grounds.

I'd take the dome light bulb(s) out if it causes issues driving at night. And carry a can of gas in your car until you can get your fuel gauge diagnosed.

[A Horse With No Name]

Oh Volkswagen, it pains me to love you at times.

It's a love hate relationship with all ve dub fans, methinks. I know a couple of VW guru's who can fix anything VW and electrical related....

Is it possible there's a ground issue causing at least some of your electrical problems? Maybe there's a ground for your cluster that is loose or corroded? It may not be an internal fault in the cluster. Is there any place you can find a wiring schematic for your car online? If so, I'd check all the grounds.

I'd take the dome light bulb(s) out if it causes issues driving at night. And carry a can of gas in your car until you can get your fuel gauge diagnosed.

Sounds logical to me....

[Cory Wolfe]

The cluster is purely the cluster. It's something these MK3's are known for having issues with. If you need to see proof, I made a nice video of the changes that occurred today. Now, the speedometer works... but its a tad optimistic. For example, I had the needle buried far past 140... and I promise I was only going about 60. The laws of physics are on my side.

Per the fuel pump and fuel gauge, its a singular design from what I read. In order to fix the fuel gauge, I have to replace the fuel pump. And apparently it's a sign that it's going.

[vonVeezelsnider]

Reminds me of when the cluster in my Cavalier went screwy towards the end... mine was just a junction box by the dead pedal that had bent pins.