[Vwdiesel] Jetta trip/alt/AC bolts

[dieseltdi at verizon.net]

Gave the  82 GTD Jetta a good work out yesterday, I drove from Grapevine to just south of Wichita, Kansas (336 miles in each direction) and back to pick up an old  1970 Apache Tent trailer (really a trailer with a tent body, no hard parts).  Everything went pretty good except….I have to do something about my intercooler.  After about 3 hours of continuous driving, it becomes heat soaked and the EGTs begin to rise.  I need to seal it away from the rest of the engine compartment and make sure the fan I mounted on it runs all the time.  Then about 1 hour north of Oklahoma city on the way back, the tach began to act funny, and then stopped working, at the same time the alt light began to wildly blink.  I pulled over, checked some wires but could see anything wrong.  Got back in and drove another 30 minutes or so and the same thing happened,  repeated the previous stop.  This time the tach simply stopped working and the Alt light was just barely glowing.  I realized that the alt was going out so I drove as long as I could without any electrical drain.  In fact, it was actually dark before I turned on my headlights.  Car was making just enough juice to keep the car going and the lights on but not to charge the battery.  Everything went well until I had to stop for fuel.  I didn’t think and shut the car off, sure enough, no start.  Luckily a lady gave me a jump and I made it home safely.  I will pickup a new alt tomorrow.  This time I am going to put in a 90 amp so that it handles the AC better.  Unfortunately, when I removed the alt, I found out that the adjustment bolt on the AC compressor had broken.  This is the bolt with a threaded hole in the head that allows you to tighten up the belt by pulling up on the compressor.  Once everything is tight, you tighten up a locking nut on the adjustment bolt and another bolt and nut on the belt side.  Well not only was the head broken off of the adjuster, but all the nuts and bolts were gone too.  Soooooo, if any one has one of those adjuster bolts with the threaded head, drop me a line.  BTW despite everything on the trip, the Jetta got 41 mpg at 70 mph without AC and 29mpg dragging the 720 lbs trailer at 65-70 mph.  Hayden


“There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle.” 
“I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run."
“I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on every new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may absolutely refuse to move at all.”  Alexis de Tocqueville

Proud owner of:
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Ecodiesel
1968 Beetle, Still in progress
1982 VW Jetta Coupe GTD "FrankenJetta"
And many, many, many VWs; from a 1947 Beetle (13 Beetles total), to Vans (5 - 3 splitties  2 bay window (both were campers), 1 Vanagon Westy, Rabbits (3), Karmen Ghia (1), Jettas (11), Passats (2), Dasher (1), New Beetle (1), Rabbit Convertible (1) and Rabbit Pickups (3) most now gone but not forgotten.