Slight rolling resistance?

jack it up and check the rears for tight brakes, if they are, back off the adjusters.

but first...check air pressure on all 4 tires

I had a flat last weekend in driver's rear, backing it out after a short errand I heard an unusual "squishing" sound and definite rolling-resistance, pulled back into the carport, jacked it up and it was flat.

couldn't find the nail/screw/whatever with air in the tire using water so I took out the valve core, put 8 ounces of Orange Seal (for my MTN bikes) in, and drove it around the block to spread the seal evenly around the tire, 4 days later it's still at 25 psi, I'm doing the other 3 tires today (more Orange Seal just came in yesterday).

most of us don't have spares so i figure I was lucky this time, might happen miles away from home next time, should be prepared...like a good Boy Scout...

Drive it a bit and then put hand on each wheel - moving hand closer to center of wheel to brake drum/rotor.  If one is dragging, it will be hot.  I had one rear drum dragging while towing my Speedster VA to FL.  I touched the brake drum (I could smell hot paint!) - I now can crack safes and not leave finger prints.

WOLFGANG posted:

I now can crack safes and not leave finger prints.

Ha!

It's hard to say if this is a thing or not without jacking up all 4 wheels (individually) and seeing if one is dragging, or just "skimming". If you've got 4 wheel discs w/ a residual valve, the brakes will drag very slightly. It's the price you pay for a firm brake pedal. 

Think I figured it out. My brake pedal is sticky. What?!

Ryan in NorCal posted:

Think I figured it out. My brake pedal is sticky. What?!

Quit using your brake pedal!!

There is a return spring that is part of the pedal cluster (clutch, brake, and gas) and it's possible the spring has broken. Move the carpet around from where the pedal cluster is and see if you can find the spring to see if it is broken. It could also just need some WD40 after the conditions we just drove in. Put on some yoga pants and cram yourself in under the dash and see what you see.

http://www.vw-resource.com/brake_adjust.html

If it's not that then someone with more knowledge than me should offer some advice.  

I'd have a new spring on hand - but often the pedal assembly just needs cleaning and regreased.  Up until mid-60's VWs had a grease fitting on the assembly. You can see spring in center of picture - one of ends frequently snaps off.

 

Ryan, it could be that the pedal is still jammed up with ice.

I'd wait a few more weeks for all of it to melt.

 

Sacto Mitch posted:

 

Ryan, it could be that the pedal is still jammed up with ice.

I'd wait a few more weeks for all of it to melt.

 

wise a$$

Never thought there was so much to the pedal cluster-crazy

I vote for the clean and re-grease.  That is a frequent issue with VW pedal clusters.  

Pull the cluster (two 12mm bolts), take it apart by driving out the pin at the clutch pedal base, clean everything with steel wool to make it shine, re-grease it and put it all back together with the hook on the right end of the shaft upright, just like the clutch pedal.

I remembered, as did Wolfgang, that VW used to have a grease fitting on the cluster shaft, so I added one when I rebuilt my cluster to go into the Speedster.  Very handy to have - no problems since.

Gordon makes it sound easy - removing it is right up there with under dash work.  If you can get the brake spring and the gas pedal - it's worth the $10 to have them on hand and replace them while its apart.  I like to use Varsol (kerosene) and a wire brush if they are really groaty. If you live where there is slush be sure to paint parts.

 

WOLFGANG posted:

...If you live where there is slush be sure to paint parts...

 

We don't live where there is slush, we just drive there for fun.

 

In the meantime Ryan you can use a good motorcycle chain lube. If the spring is still good then it should loosen up. When you decide to take it apart you might consider this upgrade:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/cl...etail.php?id=1087010

I also upgraded my gas pedal assembly to this:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/cl...etail.php?id=1333757

*** You need to know the year of your chassis and get the right pedal assembly.

Return spring put on (not by me) backwards...Took me months to figure this out!

So, Ryan - - - - How'd ya make out?

Rusty S posted:

In the meantime Ryan you can use a good motorcycle chain lube. If the spring is still good then it should loosen up. When you decide to take it apart you might consider this upgrade:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/cl...etail.php?id=1087010

I also upgraded my gas pedal assembly to this:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/cl...etail.php?id=1333757

*** You need to know the year of your chassis and get the right pedal assembly.

@Rusty S, any reason on choosing that kit over their piston wheel? Does this kit increase the angle of the pedal? Looking to bring it closer to me. More 90degree up vs laying down like it is now 

http://www.classicbugparts.com/pistol-wheel-2/

 

 

@James Garrett

I was looking for something a little more current in design. I went with my kit because it maintained the natural look of the peddles. Looks like the piston model will do exactly what you want.

Could the sagging chassis be the source of this? 

Bill Prout posted:

Could the sagging chassis be the source of this? 

I'm certain the engine dang near falling out of Ryan's car caused his clutch cable to cause him problems.

Mitch we only live 100 miles apart but my baby is in storage for the winter. 12 degrees and the side roads have a couple inches of ice. Not like the snow and hail from last summers Tour d' Hoe. 

 

It was down into the thirties even here last night.

I tell you, it's hell having to wait until noon to drive the Speedster in December!

 

Sacto Mitch posted:

 It was down into the thirties even here last night.

I tell you, it's hell having to wait until noon to drive the Speedster in December!

Nobody likes you, Mitch.

Makes you miss the weather out east, I’ll bet. 

well, in Atascadero we hit the mid 20's last night but it's slated to be in the mid-to high 70's today through Sunday, driving weather indeed!

53 here today when I got up...

 

Stan Galat posted:

 

...Nobody likes you, Mitch...

 

 

Aw geez, Stan, don't shoot the messenger.

And I'm sure Will didn't actually drive to the beach today - that must be a screen grab from the surf cam. You must have surf cams in Peoria, right?

And... wait, hokey smokes! Am I reading your weather right? That can't be fahrenheit, can it?

 

Sacto Mitch posted:

 

Stan Galat posted:

 

...Nobody likes you, Mitch...

 

 

Aw geez, Stan, don't shoot the messenger.

And I'm sure Will didn't actually drive to the beach today - that must be a screen grab from the surf cam. You must have surf cams in Peoria, right?

And... wait, hokey smokes! Am I reading your weather right? That can't be fahrenheit, can it?

 

...no, he didn't go to the beach today, he's been busy building Bac Racs  (www.bac-rac.com) but tomorrow?

yep, it's going to be close to 80 and Kath and I are turning Whitecloud out of the stable for a run to the coast!

Actually, I’m OK (ish) with all of this until it’s around 0°, assuming the wind lays (which it never does). Blessedly, we have no snow cover, at least as of today. People who opine that “if it’s going to be cold, there should at least be snow” have never worked outside in it  

What is far worse (for me) to deal with is the relentless gray. Sunrise this morning was about 7:30 AM, sunset is 4:30 PM. In between, with the steel-gray cloud cover— I’m not sure when the last time I’ve seen that orange ball in the sky. I assume it’s out there somewhere, all evidence to the contrary. If history provides any guidance, I’ll likely not see it for another few months.

I’ve always said that by March I wonder why anyone lives here. By September, I wonder why anybody would live anywhere else. It’s December— I’m on the fence. 

 

Stan Galat posted:

 

... People who opine that “if it’s going to be cold, there should at least be snow” have never worked outside in it...

 

 

I put up with it for about 30 years, but when opportunity knocked, it didn't have to knock twice.

The last winter was it for me. It went down to under 20 sometime in December and never got above that for about six weeks. Even half a foot of snow will stay around for a long time when that happens. Yeah, in some places it's much worse, but that was enough for me.

Stayed with a friend in Denver for a week on the drive across, and it was always about five degrees in the morning.

The winter before, I literally almost died one night, driving up to Vermont for some skiing. It was 30 below, and the Honda Accord started running rough in the middle of nowhere. Then rougher. Then not at all. Pffttt ! This was before cell phones. Luckily, we found a church that left its doors unlocked all night, so we ended up sleeping there, on the floor. Turns out - that's exactly why they leave the doors open. Scary, that.

And oh yeah, that was the time I learned about 'Dri-Gas'.

 

Now it's hot!

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?

You used to be a New Englander???????

That means you must come from tough stock.  Especially if you skied Vermont.  Our friends/relatives live midway between Stratton and Snow mountains, in Jamaica, VT.  Now, THOSE are tough folks.  Cut their own wood to burn all winter, work at the ski areas all winter until March and then double time between the ski resorts and boiling 40,000 gallons of maple sap into Mayple Syrup.  Hard working people, for sure.  

Me?  Well, we tried that “snow bird” thing for a while but the family is here, living in the “snow belt” of mid-Massachusetts.  Sonwe came back and that makes us true “Massholes”!!

He was from Philly. 

 

Yeah, Philly boy (which DID require its own set of survival skills).

Then lived in the wilds of Jersey for another few years. But 'up north' meant Hackensack. Skied the mighty mountains of Pennsylvania. That one trip to Vermont was enough. It left me with the impression that 30-below temps were typical winter conditions thereabouts.

Some googling now tells me I happened into some record setting weather that's rarely been equalled since.

 

 

Skiers from NE and the NW are usually really good skiers. If you learn to ski on Vermont ice or Cascade concrete your technique will be perfect.

Yeah, but it's a whole 'nuther world skiing powder in the Rockies.   NE is used to "Packed Powder" which might be feet deep (packed) but the surface only has a foot of fresh powder or less (or granulated "corn" snow if the groomers are running the shredders).  All of your turns are done with the hips and knees (mostly knees) while you lean forward.  Get into the Rockies with 2' - 4' of fresh, fluffy powder and it's a whole new ball game - It all becomes hips and upper body as you lean back, and you can "fly" up and down in the powder, unlike anything you'll ever get in NE.  I love both forms, but I'm way more comfortable with the packed powder - just what I grew up with.  Taught the "Graduated Length Method" of skiing at Killington and Snow/Haystack in the '70's.  Anyone remember that?  But, now that I'm getting older I'm way more fearful of falling and breaking something so I'm sorry to say that skiing looks to be behind me.    Unless, of course, my grandsons challenge me to ski "Mount Ward", a 150' elevation hill in the next town.   

 

Uh, full disclosure - I never was more than a novice skier.

I took some lessons in the Poconos just to negotiate the mighty 300-foot vertical drops there. But, I was also starting to get into biking then, and didn't want to mess up my knees skiing, so gave it up pretty early on.

As it turns out, that trip to Vermont WAS to Killington, and I did take a lesson there. And it would have been around 1979, I think. I don't remember 'Graduated Length Method', but they did start you out on short skis (170's, I think), so that sounds like it could have been GLM.

I remember the 'final exam' was pushing you down the baddest black diamond run just to prove that you could survive anything using their prescribed techniques.

I do remember that making the beer back at the lodge taste a lot better.

 

The last place I skied was Stubai Glacier in Austria....an eye opener for sure. A once in a lifetime insane adventure i.e. huge mountains for this novice skier.  Skied the entire run inclusive of two black diamond trails, somebody should have mentioned this to me.  So glad I did it and survived. Only to do the Olympic Bob Sled run that next night in Innsbruck.  ( Pre ride beers helped with bravery here :~)

https://images.search.yahoo.co...amp;hsimp=yhs-sgm_fb

I thought we already had a weatherman here. You all applying for his job?