Ook's VW Sharan

general
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So, as posted in the shiny thread, we’ve purchased a secondhand VW Sharan.

The lefthand mirror is cracked, but replacing it (the mirror only and not the whole unit) should be a doddle.

Two new rear tyres need to be fitted.

New CV boots and steering rack boots, plus steering bushes are required. And a parking light and head light that need to be replaced, that’s about it. Oh, and the oil pump for the power steering.

Currently I’m poking around here and there, trying to figure out how the central locking is wired up. Seems that there is an aftermarket controller fitted (instead of the VW original) and it is not working as it should. At least the alarm is working.

Apart from that I’m impressed with the car. Enough power for Africa, you don’t need to struggle with pullaway or maintaining speed even on uphills. Enough seat space for the kids, no more fighting and moaning and all those things kids do on long road trips.

Went to the fruit and veg market yesterday, we had more than enough space for all our purchases, no more trying to squeeze things into a small car. Yay.

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This color?

image

And how’s the latest crap from Parliament feel to you, is it just spouting nonsense or are white farmers, and possibly all white people really in trouble?

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They might want to take a look at their neighbor Zimbabwe and see how that worked out for them (spoiler alert: not well).

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All whites are in trouble. Including those overseas investors who invested in property.

Fun times.

BTW the Sharan’s a silver color. But exactly the same as the one in the image above.

Nice to drive, especially on the long road.

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It still boggles my mind to see that they want to ignore the bitter lessons of history, and still want to proceed with this thing.

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There you go…

IMG_20180407_124024
IMG_20180407_1240244160×3120 2.23 MB

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Update :

  1. We found a leak in the cooling/heating system. There is a heater at the back for the passengers, and one of the pipes are leaking at a joint seal. Will be fun to try and fix that. It took us a while to find this particular leak, but like all cars you have absolutely no idea what is leaking where.
  2. I got the central locking sorted out, except for one door. So far, so good.
  3. We got it through roadworthy. Yay. No more worrying when there’s traffic police out on the road.
  4. It is really nice to have a big car with lots of space. Each child have his/her own space, and there’s no fighting regarding who’s sitting at the window etc etc.
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Leak located and fixed. Real bastard. Scuse my language.

It was a plastic T-joint. Hot water exit the engine and mosey on towards this T joint via a pipe. The T joint then go upwards to the front cabin heater, and downwards for the rear cabin heater.

This T joint have a built-in thermostat. In cold (icy) weather it will send hot coolant only to the front cabin heater, and not to the rear cabin heater, until the engine has warmed up properly.

This particular T-joint developed a crack, and broke totally apart when I tried to remove it.

At least I got the basic dimensions of it and asked somebody (with the right tools) to build a T-piece out of stainless steel. Duly crafted, it was installed and now we will have to drive for a couple of weeks (car is not in daily use) and check coolant levels.

Should the coolant not leak anymore, I will flush the whole system completely and fill up with new and fresh coolant as it now only have water in, which is not ideal.

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There is some leakage still around said T-joint.

I will have to get new radiator hoses and a couple of proper hose clamps, then redo the whole setup. The original hose clamps are those spring clamps from the factory, which I intensely dislike.

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Hose clamps installed.

Have to check the water level though, but it looks good.

$wife complained for a long time regarding a grinding noise coming from left front wheel. So yesterday afternoon I decided to have a look at what is causing it.

Removing the tyre, no problem. Check outer brake pad - is OK, good enough for a couple of kms more.

Took a shufty at the inner… it is NOT good. It was installed incorrectly, and it does not have much brake left. Due to the incorrect install, the one end was scraping against the brake disk.

Dismantled the whole shebang, got new brakes from Midas (like Autozone). Tried to put the brakes in.

The inner one was a bit loose when I clipped its spring into the cylinder, but then I discovered that the brake shoes themselves doesn’t fit the brake shoe cradle.

Took a shufty at the old ones, and discovered somebody chamfered the ends down to make it fit.

Back to the dealer I went, and explained the situation to them. They checked in the brake parts book, and got the correct brakes, and placed an order for these.

I can collect the (hopefully correct!) brakes this afternoon.

Pictures :

The inner one is supposed to have a spring which fits inside the slave cylinder, but it got cut off.

inner1
inner14160×3120 2.11 MB

It is supposed to be something like this :

sample2

Anyways, you can see the wear on the pad (the origin of the grinding noise)

inner2
inner23662×1868 718 KB

And because of the uneven surface due to the “modification”, wear is uneven.

inner3
inner33958×1044 453 KB

Because the inner one was uneven, it also caused the outer one to be uneven as well.

outer1
outer13352×991 366 KB

Compare the ends of an unmodified brake shoe (inside ends are NOT chamfered) (picture is for illustration only)

sample
versus

inner2
inner23662×1868 718 KB

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After that much wear how is the rotor?

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Rotor is fine, no damage which I’m glad for.

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Good you caught it before the thin disk of brake pad was all the way gone and it would have been metal-to-metal.

Talk about a grinding noise!

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Dang. The brake pads that got ordered is also the wrong ones. I have nfi why as the parts catalogue says it is the correct part…

I’m going to try a different parts vendor tomorrow, hope they’ll stock the correct ones.

If that fails, then I’ll have to take a shufty at Ali Baba and his 40 thieves (VW stealership).

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We celebrate at my house any project completed with less than 3 trips to the hardware or auto parts store. Sounds similar for your situation.

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I hope previous owner didn’t install the wrong caliper, which would explain why the supposedly correct pad isn’t fitting.

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Was also my worry…

…but I got the correct pads this morning. A bit more expensive than the previous incorrect ones, but what the hey, safety first.

Measured against the old (modified) ones, and they look 100%.

Acid test will be tonlght. Fitting these should be a doddle.

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FFS people, if it does NOT fit, don’t modify it to fit, get the correct part!

I can skimp on the clutch, gearbox etc, but if it comes to brakes, I’m not in a position to compromise on safety.

If your engine burns out, you can still coast to a stop. If your gearbox decide to go south, you’re still OK.

But if you’re at speed (on a downhill) and your brakes shits the bed…

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Luxury! New brake pads fitted!

Right hand side inner brake pad was also skew, and was also starting to rub on the stator.

So now we’re good for a couple thousands of km’s (or miles).

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