Re: "Hydraulic" revisited

[LToy@aol.com]

Robert Phillips writes:  

|  What the post was asking was:
|  Since I have a cross-breed (mutt?) of a VW and an Audi, which
|  fluid "should" my car use?  I cannot determine what's in it, and I 
|  don't trust what the previous owner may or may not have used.  I 
|  have the Haynes, the Bentley manuals, but can't seem to 
|  determine what I should use. 

Robert, 
You hit a couple points here that bring up reminders:

1.  VW (and hence, Audi) makes running updates to their cars during the year.
 Some of these are "official" and others are simply convenience items.
 So...vehicles of the same model, trim, etc may vary even if of the same
model year.  In some cases, you can check simply by VIN, in other cases, only
by checking the original part.  (And this doesn't count the mid-year model
changes, like the special edition late '87 Coupe and 4000 CSQ with the
high-compression '88 engine (130 bhp vs. 115) and "special" white-painted
wheels.)

2.  VW/Audi sometimes uses different OEMs for various components.  For
example, brake calipers have been made by Girling, ATE, and  others. I don't
know about hydraulic system OEMs, but the ps pump in my '87 4000 CSQ was made
by ZF, which looked just like 5000 hydraulic system pumps.

3.  The Bentley manuals, arguably the best available, may or may not be
"Official" Factory Service manuals.  This depends on the particular book.
 i.e.  the Bentley for the '72-'76 Type II Transporter was "Official" while
the one for the '75-79 Rabbit/Scirocco was not.  The picture quality in the
later book was much poorer.  go figure.  (never bought the bentley for my '87
4000 csq, but did buy the microfiche for my '91 200 q).

Again, if the reservoir has a sticker warning to use "mineral oel" follow
it-- a few pints of Pentosin is much cheaper than replacing ps/hydraulic
pumps!  

fwiw, my $.02.

ldt.