RobClubley

Windscreen has been re-sealed by the local guy from Novus. Dehumidifier installed to dry out the carpet. New Zealand is such a small place. I filled up the car in Rotorua, 400km from home next to a guy filling a motorbike. Called a friend for windscreen repair recommendations, called the number and the guy that came round was the biker from Rotorua!

Seems it's common: http://www.sealtd.net/quattro/pump.html "Ur's - especially of the WR variety, have a tendency to burn the fuel pump supply wire." Have fitted a new fuel pump relay $8.99 from Repco, local equivalent of Halford's. Also this is interesting from Facebook comments... The ECU pulls timing gradually, using the lambda (if your has, mine has, or later cars had knock sensors), so a restart would probably fix a small boost leak, not a huge split. So possibly a boost leak, will have a look at that when I get chance.

So happy with my new black plates! At least she can look pretty in the garage while I’m fixing the problems!

In Tauranga - made a quick trip to meet a fellow quattro owner Andy who kindly gave me a fitting to fix the fuel pump wire, which has been getting a bit warm by the look of it. The crimp is gone, now soldered properly. It was a long day and I forgot to take a pic of the new wire but it’s much better now 🙂 Not the source of my issues but it can’t have been helping. It has been suggested the fuel pump relay might be part of the issue. Looks a bit corroded on the bottom but inside seems okay. But it turns out Repco do a replacement for $8.99 so that'll do!

Interesting trip home! The car ran flawlessly for the first 2 hours then started to lose boost again. 500km covered with about 12 stop/starts needed and lots of driving with no throttle.

600km road trip did not go as planned! I made it to my destination with several issues. It started when I hit a bump in the road and immediately lost all boost. Turning the car off and on brought it back. From that point, the car gradually restricted boost more and more as it ran, to the point where after 10-30 minutes of driving I had no boost and could only cruise at 3500rpm with no throttle. Hills were very tricky. And New Zealand is hilly. Stopping the engine and restarting gave all the boost back each time, until it went away again. Also I seem to have lost part of a transmission or engine mount. Then it started raining hard, and it seems a new feature is that my windscreen lets water in at both bottom corners. Above the wiring and relays at one side and the ecu at the other. Also the boot is leaking. So a very frustrating day. Another #gumbootrally almost attended! We did the rally in another car so all was not lost. https://i.imgur.com/Bl8cTPB.jpg https://i.imgur.com/eqXai9K.jpg https://i.imgur.com/EZdGvx1.jpg https://i.imgur.com/GO77bcM.jpg https://i.imgur.com/9lmlA2R.jpg https://i.imgur.com/MZwZpfD.jpg https://i.imgur.com/hWvLSeF.jpg https://i.imgur.com/HPiIbOr.jpg https://i.imgur.com/SoRX4Z4.jpg https://i.imgur.com/kh3gxzt.jpg https://i.imgur.com/rF8ifVQ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/8AcrMUi.jpg https://i.imgur.com/HLasApY.jpg https://i.imgur.com/b8JQOKL.jpg https://i.imgur.com/nKdw5CA.jpg https://i.imgur.com/aSvXz9L.jpg https://i.imgur.com/KwRkASl.jpg https://i.imgur.com/vfeElnu.jpg

2 days to go

https://gumbootrally.com/2021-escape-from-waikato/

Gumboot Rally prep part 1: 2 weeks to go!

I thought that fan sounded a bit loud!

When you take the long way home from the local shop.

I would get a spare if they were available. At some point I'll pull it back out and refurbish it.

It's always fun taking pictures next to modern small cars.

Wadestown - I've driven past a few times and thought it'd be an interesting backdrop. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wadestown,+Wellington/@-41.2682135,174.776942,20z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x6d38ae1f9ac3aed1:0x500ef6143a311d0!8m2!3d-41.2619938!4d174.7741937 The ceramic coating was so worth it! Almost 5 years and still doing the business.

Sunday morning wash

Love my red leather!

Out in the rain getting dirty And getting groceries

Out in the wild! After 100km or so of general driving the fuel gauge seems to have settled to a consistent reading, about 10l less than the actual amount but as long as it stays consistent that's fine by me.

50L in, gauge says E. It did say 9 for a while and was counting down as I drove which was a concern. No leaks just dodgy gauge so I might be looking for one if I can’t fix it. Will pull it out and investigate. When it had sat level for a while it read 38l which went down to 20 when driving and settled about 34. Some longer bolts and washers got the filler neck sitting right.

It’s in! Haven't put fuel in yet. Filler neck isn't sitting right, must have moved during welding. Will do some adjusting.

Apparently it doesn't need a cert. Neither would a replacement tank. But changing wheel sizes technically does, for example. It's all a bit hard to fathom. The old motor does work, but made an annoying ticking noise on setting 2. And replacements turned out to be available and cheap. I will hold onto the old one just in case.

The offending fuel blocker flap and gauze filter. Gave the bottom of the tank a quick spruce up with wire brush,rust converter and paint just to slow down any surface rust growth in future.

should do. They coated the tank after completing the welding.