Oh sh!t?

I prefer Carey's 100 pt inspection & expert maintenance over the winter ;-)

Lane, your car is almost perfect.  yea, I saw that fly speck on the fender after you took your bra off.  Relax, you're good for at least another another 40K miles. 

Lane--is it grease in the transmission? I thought it was a heavy oil (Hypoid?  whatever that means.)

 

Thanks for the warning about the plastic plugs in the steering box--I plan to check mine soon.

Does the Beck use a VW steering box or something else?

 

Seems I read about some spec to check the steering box---like 1/2" play before the wheels start to move---something like that.  I guess it's in the Haynes manual.

Hoss: Yer too nice to me John.  I have more rock chips in mine than you do in The Redman.

 

Jack: It's 80-90w hypoid grease in the transaxle.  My concern is about the chunk of plastic in the steering box.  If it's nothing to worry about, I'll find a plug for the filler hole and be done with it .  If it is a problem, I guess I'll need a new steering box .

 

Oh, and it's ~1" of play in the steering.

Thanks, Lane.  I did have my tranny's oil changed last spring--same drill; the camber compensator had to be removed for the job. Last  year the seals went at the rear bearings and I lost a lot of tranny oil---what a mess that was.  I cought it kinda late --it never should have gotten that far.  The insides of the rear tires were slathered with oil---actually ruined the brake pads too.  I didn't know how much oil I lost so I just had the rest drained and refilled the tranny oil to full..  Not a drop lost since then.  AI guess the fun never ends, does it?  But it's all good.

I don't believe the plastic will cause any big problem.....   Just take it easy for a while and check out the force required to move the wheel....  With the leverage available, the plastic should be squashed to an acceptable thickness to clear the internal parts....  I've seen literally hundreds of the units from many manufacturers with the same problem....

 

By the way, the box uses #0 or #00 grease.(not readily available)  # 1 or #2 grease weight is acceptable.....

Lane,

Here's some notes of wisdom I pulled off the internet -Volkzone.com- some time ago. (I've got pages and pages of cryptic illegible notes!)

 

"...packing box with CV grease instead of oil is good"..."oil seals are cheap and you don't have to buy VW either...seals have a limited number of 'patterns' and are interchangeable"

 

Just checked Volkzone.com again to verify my crummy handwritten note. They've got a lot of DIY, follow-the-dots, rebuild info.

I started using CV joint grease in steering boxes back in the 1980's and have been using it ever since.  Good stuff, and with a flexible vinyl hose pushed onto the end of the grease tube, it's easy to get it up over the top of the steering box and into the filler hole.  I never had much trouble getting the old plugs out and back in, but I agree with Leon - they're just thin nylon and there's enough gear clearance between the gears that they'll just squash out and be benign (but there is the question of potential "feel" from time to time).

 

But if you really have to, then use a 17mm giant allen wrench on the tranny drain or fill plug, with a 4 foot piece of substantial pipe on the leverage end of the allen wrench and slowly loosen it up.  Those things should only be torqued to about 35 ft. Lbs., but God knows what yours are cranked up to.

 

Personally, if they are not obviously leaking, I might check those two units for fluid levels every 10-15 years or so (I've never yet checked Pearl).

 

As for Hoss' comment:  "I saw that fly speck on the fender after you took your bra off."  Hoss -  That's a BRO to you, and that speck?  A beauty mole.......

Manssier

I had the left front wheel of summer before last and noticed the steering box was weeping.  I also I thought that I had a little play in the steering and asked Carey to check it last winter.  The Pittman bolt was a little loose, but I didn't have a lubrication issue.  He told me that a very small amount out there translates to a large amount out at the wheel.  When I picked up the car this past spring, I immediately noticed the improvement.  He told me that lubing it was a pain and that he mixed up a combination of grease and something else and applied it with a turkey baster or something.  That's my poor recollection.  You might want to consult with him.

The easiest way to remove the plastic "plugs" is to run in a #8 or #10 sheet metal screw and then pull it out using needle nose or regular pliers..(depending)

 

To get the clearance to do this, you will probably have to remove the box or cut an access panel from inside the trunk.....    

 

The replacement plugs, or equiv. are usually available at hydraulic supply outfits if not Ace Hardware....

 

Remove both plugs and fill the box from the lowest hole..... 

Steering box grease is usually lifetime unless for a semi or something with a million miles on it.  Its also thick like wheel bearing or chassis lube.  You can use either or these.

 

I had already made an access panel for steering box adjustments.  Carey says they're now doing it as well.  His magic mixture is 1/2 bearing grease and 1/2 80/90 wt oil, thoroughly mixed.  I used a fluid transfer pump to fill and no old grease came out - just new stuff - so I guess it was pretty dry.  I drove the car to Cars and Coffee this morning and for errands after and all seems fine.  I'll get some new plugs and call it a lesson learned.  If the steering starts binding or catching or just feeling weird, then I'll replace the box.

 

Now if I can just get the !#$^%%$!!! drain plug out of the transaxle.

Lane....   Unless your car has something like 100,000+ miles on it or has been submerged in water for some reason, I would not worry about draining the tranny lube....   Just top off whats there, note how much it takes and any odd qualities in the original oil...  (color, odor, grittiness, etc....)  I usually pull the plug on the side of the tranny, dip a pipe cleaner / finger to check oil level, then top off....

 

I believe most of the tranny builders now use something like locktite's hydraulic sealant on those plug threads.....  Good stuff to prevent leaks...  Not so good on ease of removal....

Hmmmm, on my VS I've logged just over 147,000 Km (>91,000 miles) and never checked the grease in my steering box! Should I be concerned? 

 

 

Lane, You can get a 3/8" drive specific Allen head socket for this and slide a pipe over the ratchet handle...or slide a piece of pipe over the Allen wrench and use the additional torque to loosen it ..or locate a bolt that has the same head diameter as the drain plug Allen hole, dbl nut that bolt and put a wrench on the inner nut and wack it with a heavy hammer, should come loose.

Lane is like a kid who has to take his toys apart to see how they work & then breaks them in the process.  That's why we love him. He's a constant source of education & entertainment :-)

I do applaud his DIY spirit.  If my car never needed another moment of maintenance I would be overjoyed. I like to drive, not work on my car.

Yes Tom, but you can easily send yours back to Carey every year.  Bremen's kinda far from coastal SC.  The number of local air-cooled guys has dwindled here, so for my own piece of mind I need to know how to do this stuff myself.  When the manual says "remove drain plug", I try to remove the drain plug.  I think I'll go with Leon's suggestion (it's always worked in the past) and just fill.  I'm sure it could use some, given what's leaked out on the brakes in past years.

"MustabeenJim" wrote:  

"Hmmmm, on my VS I've logged just over 147,000 Km (>91,000 miles) and never checked the grease in my steering box! Should I be concerned?  "

 

Not particularly....If it's not obviously leaking all over your torsion tubes, then just drive it.

 

Or bring it to Lane.......  

Add my name to that list. 

When I had my IM restored I had a very experienced VW mechanic go over my steering box, because new VW steering boxes are CRAP.

Back in the late 70s the steering box in my 1970 VW failed.  A new (German) steering box was well over $200, so I went with a used box, which still cost me over $100.  Today's VW new steering boxes go for something like $70, and they're Chinese made CRAP. 

Lane, full the box up with the correct grease and carry on.  

Ron

p.s.  Someday I may stop breaking things when I work on my cars, but that will only happen when I STOP working on my cars.

x2

My engine came out today. . . .

You'll need a bigger chain that wimpy thing will snap.

X3- I'm sure if I gave it an honest try I could break the proverbial crowbar in a sandbox. If you don't try, you don't learn anything...

Gordon, you are such an instigator! 

OK that was funny!! 

 

You will need a bigger chain if you pull a Speedster engine like that.

 

 

Last weekend I went to my 45'th high school reunion, organized by several ladies of the old cheerleader set.  One of them looks the same as she did on Graduation, two others not so much, and one I totally did not recognize, even after she introduced herself, although all said of me, "YOU haven't changed a bit!"  (Little do they know...)

 

Anyhoo, sometime during the evening one of them just HAD to read the captions beneath the pictures of those who showed up (about 30 out of 100 still left around).

 

Honest to Pete, the caption beneath my pictures says,

 

"I'll fix it or break it trying".

 

Been doing that my whole life...........

Yep! You got that right! One of my many fears...when doing a master cylinder replace, having all four bleeder valves loosening without snapping one off.

 

~WB

Gentle heat, my Padewan......gentle heat.