Crackpipe change - remove front or jackup

[craigowl 0]

I am hoping to replace crack pipe and water pump soon.

Have got airbox, coolant, etc and old thermostat housing out.

 

I have been reading "search" results all afternoon and find that you can get access to change crackpipe by

1 - Loosening front mount and jacking up engine

2 - Removing bumper and front end

 

Any comments, guys?

 

I cannot see how to get front end off, but believe from what I have read that removing wheel arch inserts and plastic side bits under bumper is a start. A simple guide to removing bumper and front end would be invaluable!

[Goldie 2]

My vote goes with removing the front end..

 

To remove the bumper there are 2x 17mm bolts i each chassis leg (will become apparent when you are under there). Youll need to unbolt you spoiler from the bumper which is about 10 bolts across the underneath. With the indicators (sprung loaded) and fogs (4 x philips screws) removed the bumper will slide off at this point.

 

Once the headlights have gone (3 screws a piece) you can remove the slam panel, there are bolts - 2 on top 3 or 4 under the headlight and one in the engine bay under you air filter on one side and near the battery on the other and then the panel will come off (there are 2 at the bottom by the power steering cooling pipe)..

 

This will give you a lot of access to the front end of the engine for the crack pipe, thermostat housing and other bits in that area..

 

May sound like a lot but it really isnt too bad, good opportunity to get in there and have a decent clean around..

[drunkenmunkey 0]

I've relatively recently done this but I just unbolted the front and rear engine mounts and jacked up the engine, once there I removed the coil pack and that gave me plenty of access. Worth doing once you've got the crack pipe off is scraping and sanding the 'socket' in the block that the left hand end sits in, I kept fitting it and the bugger kept weaping until I sussed that it was a build up of rust around the lip - you'll see what I mean when you do it.

[nemesis360 0]

I normaly do the with the front on, but it helps if youve got long arms!

 

Graham

[craigowl 0]

That's great, guys - many thanks. :D

 

I am just back in after checking out the numerous bits I got for the therm. housing from Ford this morning.

I get another couple of bits from VAG tomorrow, then when my water pump hopefully arrives by post sometime :( I can get going.

 

I wrestled with old crack pipe this afternoon - hauling and wriggling it from the right hand side, :shock: but no luck. I expect that the corrosion drunkenmonkey talks about does not help. Did manage to get oil cooler hose off pipe and unclicked a cable holder.

 

Bloody, bleedin' knuckles now - I vowed I was never going to get in that state again after retirement, but when you get shiny alloy goodies from places like Gruvenparts there is no holding you!

 

I really should learn to remove front, though, with all the free time I have (not), so will probably follow the Goldie route.

 

Cheers for quick responses, boys.

[corozin 0]

Since you're considering changing the crackpipe over, check this out (about half way down the page)

I think you'll approve

 

http://www.fourseasontuning.com/?trim=53&type=2

 

John

[craigowl 0]

The Gruvenparts one is what I have, corozin. :D

[corozin 0]

Apologies - missed your reference to it. I would have had one myself for the rebuild but I'm already massively over budget now. Doh!

[Dogzyboy 0]

Sorry to say it, but this is by FAR the worst thing I have ever had to do on a car! It took me about a day to get my crackpipe replaced due to the corosion mentioned above. I ended up knackering my shoulder & having an uncountable number of bruises & cuts up & down both arms before I finally managed to get the pipe in!!

 

I have to say though, I chose the jack up the engine method, so perhaps the front off method might save you a lot of time, hassle & pain!?!

 

I've now got a slight sleak from the thermostat housing (surprise, suprise) so I've got to takle that job next. That however is the easy part! :lol:

 

Anyway, I hope your venture turns out a lot better than mine did! :)

[fla 9]

Yes it is a time consuming task. Mainly due to the corrosion in the block. I cleaned that out and gentley tapped the crackpipe in with a piece of wood. I've also got aircon and was fitting the mocal sandwich plate at the same time which made it doubly hard. Anyway, i'd say remove the front end, makes it much easier and gives a lot more access. Also, make sure you really give the block a clean before fitting teh crackpipe, not that you'll need to take it out again. And if you do want to remove the standard oil cooler, make sure you replace teh spring clip for the pipe BEFORE fitting the crackpipe otherwise it will be a seriosu mission to do it - like some numpty who spent a good hour trying to sort it out after fitting the crackpipe. :roll:

[craigowl 0]

Thanks for the input guys. 8)

Will try removing front today - if it turns out to be a pest I will put everything back together and have to get garage to do crackpipe fitting and oil cooler pipes.

 

Dogzyboy - I have finally got all new parts for thermostat housing from VAG and Ford. Remember not to tighten the things up to tight - some of the bolts are at low torque settings off the bottom of the normal wrench's scale. (7 ftlb).

Funnily I found all the plastic bits and the o rings to be in excellent condition with no cracks whatsoever after 12 years and 105k miles. I reckon that damage and leaks must occur as a result of cooking engine and/or overtightening bolts.

[Dogzyboy 0]

Dogzyboy - I have finally got all new parts for thermostat housing from VAG and Ford. Remember not to tighten the things up to tight - some of the bolts are at low torque settings off the bottom of the normal wrench's scale. (7 ftlb).

Funnily I found all the plastic bits and the o rings to be in excellent condition with no cracks whatsoever after 12 years and 105k miles. I reckon that damage and leaks must occur as a result of cooking engine and/or overtightening bolts.

 

Thanks for the tip. I think you might be right about the combination of extreme heat & over-tightening of the bolts. When I took a look last time, there were a few cracked bits around the bolts. Unfortunately I didn't have the replacement parts at the time & had a car in pieces so had to make do!!

[alex303 0]

I fitted my Gruven crack pipe the other weekend and found access thru the front (after bumper & slam panel removal) was a lot more easy than trying to get at it from below etc, to be fair i was changing out the Rad as well as some other stuff but was suprised at how easy it was to strip the front end once you got stuck into it!

 

Edit: don't forget to stick a jack or axle stand under your front engine mount when you remove the bumper, i don't quite understand why, but i did this after someone else recomended it as a safety precaution and the jack definitly was under load after the bumper was removed / bolts loosened!

[Toad 0]

I did mine this weekend and removed the front of the car. Made everything so much easier to clean up.

 

Have noticed that the combination of crackpipe and new waterpump haven't made a huge difference to the water temp (it's increased a little), but I think there is some air still trapped, despite three attempts at bleeding it, and 150 miles...

 

What I did notie is a 4-8 degree reduction in the oil temperature, I think this is down to a better flow rate through the oild cooler as the old water pump was missing a few blades, and the new crack pipe having a larger appature (oooooeeeeeerrr)

[craigowl 0]

Yes I have fitted crackpipe, water pump and two new hoses to oil cooler over the last few days.

Did it by removing front, but had a setback when lowering engine after fitting water pump - bolt for right rear engine mount sheared when I tried to torque it up. (Somewhere it says VW recommend these bolts are one use only and you should renew them if you remove. :? )

 

Have had to book car into garage tomorrow.

They are going to charge about £108 including VAT for fitting new mount and bolt. (Mount costs about £56 but I thought I might as well have 12-year old one replaced. One hour labour is good of them, I thought - I have had enough of wrestling with things!

[dukest 0]

I did mine this weekend and removed the front of the car. Made everything so much easier to clean up.

 

Have noticed that the combination of crackpipe and new waterpump haven't made a huge difference to the water temp (it's increased a little), but I think there is some air still trapped, despite three attempts at bleeding it, and 150 miles...

 

What I did notie is a 4-8 degree reduction in the oil temperature, I think this is down to a better flow rate through the oild cooler as the old water pump was missing a few blades, and the new crack pipe having a larger appature (oooooeeeeeerrr)

 

Oh thats interesting to know about the oil temps Tom, mine seem to have crept up in the last few months even after a full service. Maybe water pump should be added to my very long list :? :)

[Toad 0]

Oh thats interesting to know about the oil temps Tom, mine seem to have crept up in the last few months even after a full service. Maybe water pump should be added to my very long list :? :)

 

I'd definitely put a waterpump on the list, especially if you're having extensive work done anyway, the pump itself is £32 from VW, which I think is very reasonable indeed.

 

Saves messing around in the future...