charger dead :( got another one :)

[coolrado 0]

noticed an odd buzzing noise at mid revs the other day on the way home, popped the bonnet and the noise was coming from the charger :pale:

 

starting to get a bit sick of this unpredictable time bomb.

DSC_0129.JPG[/attachment:14wyhzvk]

seems the displacer is a bit buggered :bad-words: it's cracked about half way around its length, lucky it didn't break apart completely really as the last time the charger went it sucked half of it into the engine and screwed that as well.

 

I'm also starting to think the toothed belt kit may be to blame, the last time the belt failed it had stripped half the teeth, so the charger may have suffered some serious shock as the belt slipped then re-engaged on the remaining teeth, so i'm getting rid of the toothed belt kit and going back to ribbed, i just dont trust it anymore, after looking around on the net it seems quite a few people have had problems with the toothed belt kits.

[bcstudent 0]

Is that repairable or is it scrap? It sucks that the toothed belt kit fixes one problem and causes another.

[coolrado 0]

Is that repairable or is it scrap? It sucks that the toothed belt kit fixes one problem and causes another.

I dont think it's fixable, unless someone knows someone who can do inert atmosphere magnesium welding, but personally i wouldn't trust a repaired displacer, and it would need to be balanced, I can't say 100% that it was the toothed belt that caused it, but this is the second charger that has died while not being thrashed since i have had the toothed drive, and its left me stranded 3 times so far when the belt has let go, an uprated belt did last 3 times longer than the Gates HTD belt that came with it, but i never had a problem with the ribbed belt.

For the tiny bit of a difference the toothed belt makes it's just not worth the hastle.

[Yandards 0]

Is that repairable or is it scrap? It sucks that the toothed belt kit fixes one problem and causes another.

 

Not sure toothed belt is such a great fix really, if you keep the standard set-up in good condition then you are going to minimise your belt slip, only real snag is that probably means changing the tensioner every 3 years or so.

[G Charged 0]

are you running the standard boost return?

 

my old charger went similarly, but actually smashed its insides up

 

when i checked the standard boost return was to blame, as it was not allowing boost to flow properly.

 

hence i use a custom pipe now

[coolrado 0]

Not sure toothed belt is such a great fix really, if you keep the standard set-up in good condition then you are going to minimise your belt slip, only real snag is that probably means changing the tensioner every 3 years or so.

yeah i have to agree, I never had a problem with the standard belt, but since iv'e had the toothed belt i have lost 2 chargers, gone through several belts and had to completely re-build the engine with a replacement block, might just be coincidence but would rather not risk it.

 

are you running the standard boost return?

 

my old charger went similarly, but actually smashed its insides up

 

when i checked the standard boost return was to blame, as it was not allowing boost to flow properly.

 

hence i use a custom pipe now

nah i have the boost return removed, and the BBM boost pipe kit fitted so it's certainly flowing properly, i'm pretty sure the toothed belt kit is to blame as the belt stripped some of it's teeth the previous week, so the charger will have gone from stalled, to instantly spinning as the remaining teeth engaged.

After talking to a few people i know in the machine automation and pumping industries they seem to agree, and also said the toothed drive will not reduce wear on the charger bearings but may actually increase it as the tension needed to prevent the belt from jumping teeth is similar to the tension of the ribbed belt, and the small amount of belt slip with the standard belt would probably help protect the charger from shock.

[coolrado 0]

well I picked up another charger from Rob (Rustynuts) on here and stripped it down last night, its a later charger (1992 according to the stamps on the case) my old one was a 1989 and it seems like they changed the design of the displacer, this one has extra strengthening at the ends where mine had cracked so there was obviously a design flaw with the old ones.

2.8l 24v Climatronic system.pdfdisplacers.JPG[/attachment:13ghycs3]

 

Rob did say the charger had leaky seals and he wasn't joking, whoever had re-built it had used nitrile seals, which had all gone brittle and cracked.

 

the charger has also had a bit of porting done to it but it's a bit rough so i'm going to use my case with this displacer.

old new case.JPG[/attachment:13ghycs3]

 

I ordered a full set of seals and bearings this morning so it should be back on the road next weekend.

[boost monkey 0]

omg, twin chargZZZ!!!1!!!

 

do it :notworthy:

[coolrado 0]

:lol:

 

one of them is more than enough to worry about :pale:

 

would be 8) though

[coolrado 0]

well my mind is well and truely made up, had another funny noise on the way home from work and the toothed belt has stripped some teeth again :bad-words: at least using a sprung tensioner has meant the belt didn't slip and cause any damage.

stripped belt.JPG[/attachment:27m7y5fa]

this is an uprated belt, and has lasted much better than the Gates HTD belt, but the teeth are litterally being torn away.

 

I now have all the ribbed pulleys to change it back to standard so tomorrow the toothed pulleys are being binned.

[Yandards 0]

well my mind is well and truely made up, had another funny noise on the way home from work and the toothed belt has stripped some teeth again :bad-words: at least using a sprung tensioner has meant the belt didn't slip and cause any damage.

stripped belt.JPG[/attachment:28srg89j]

this is an uprated belt, and has lasted much better than the Gates HTD belt, but the teeth are litterally being torn away.

 

I now have all the ribbed pulleys to change it back to standard so tomorrow the toothed pulleys are being binned.

 

Sensible decision I think, looks like the toothed belt mod is not so good, just goes to show that VW knew what they were doing when they specced the ribbed belt setup. Sorry about the spelling its early in the morning and my brain is not working too well :)

[dirtytorque 0]

you couldn't pay me to enough to go down the tooth belt route.

I have heard so much negative press about them.

[_leon_ 0]

i made the choice not to get a toothed belt after reading of people having so many adverse issues from them. were you getting a lot of belt slip before? i only had my g60 up to 203bhp and 197lbs/ft but had no slip from what i recall. after reading the above - i think after changing the charger twice and an engine rebuild - i'd be tempted to fit a 1.8t - especially if i didn't have complete faith in the charger/mods around the charger.

[coolrado 0]

the only time I ever had noticeable belt slip was after driving through big puddles, but that was only until the pulleys dryed off, or the odd time if I was thrashing the stereo with other electrical stuff on and it would slip on the alternator a bit.

 

I suppose I will miss the noise, but I certainly wont miss being stranded at the side of the road or having to pay £25 for a replacement belt every couple of months.

Apart from the toothed belt issues it has been a very relliable car and it really gets me down when it's off the road so I dont want to start loosing interest in it for the sake of something like this.

 

I do have faith in the charger now because I rebuilt it myself, so I know that good quality seals and bearings have been used, and now I know how simple it is to re-build I will just do it twice as often just to be on the safe side, I'm also looking into having the wear faces in the charger teflon coated.

 

Ah well, you live and learn, I'm just off out to replace the crank pulley and see how many knuckles I can remove when the bolts crack loose :bad-words: :censored:

[dirtytorque 0]

 

Ah well, you live and learn, I'm just off out to replace the crank pulley and see how many knuckles I can remove when the bolts crack loose :bad-words: :censored:

:lol: ..and it will hurt more in the cold.

 

Use a large pole for leverage so you can use less pullng force and thus be less likely to smash ya knuckles.

[coolrado 0]

 

Ah well, you live and learn, I'm just off out to replace the crank pulley and see how many knuckles I can remove when the bolts crack loose :bad-words: :censored:

:lol: ..and it will hurt more in the cold.

 

Use a large pole for leverage so you can use less pullng force and thus be less likely to smash ya knuckles.

 

All done now, It was so cold that when I did slip a couple of times I couldn't even feel it :lol: starting to ache a bit now though.

 

I find the standard wheel brace fits perfectly over the handle on the halfords 3/8th ratchet.

 

Just took it for a spin and have to say I didn't notice any loss of power or response with the ribbed belt, so I think any improvement that I felt with the toothed belt was phycological :?

[dirtytorque 0]

 

Ah well, you live and learn, I'm just off out to replace the crank pulley and see how many knuckles I can remove when the bolts crack loose :bad-words: :censored:

:lol: ..and it will hurt more in the cold.

 

Use a large pole for leverage so you can use less pullng force and thus be less likely to smash ya knuckles.

 

All done now, It was so cold that when I did slip a couple of times I couldn't even feel it :lol: starting to ache a bit now though.

 

I find the standard wheel brace fits perfectly over the handle on the halfords 3/8th ratchet.

 

Just took it for a spin and have to say I didn't notice any loss of power or response with the ribbed belt, so I think any improvement that I felt with the toothed belt was phycological :?

 

cool.

I have a bike seat stem that I slip over the handles of ratchets.Does the same thing I guess.

Yeah as long as your tensioner system is healthy I don't think these is any real need for a tooth belt setup imo.

Well I hope you have trouble free drivig from now on. :)

 

So it's fairly easy to service a charger then?

[Rustynuts 0]

From what you were saying to me about the toothed belt set up I am surprised you risked it again. Obviously you are now doing the right thing it seems.

[coolrado 0]

So it's fairly easy to service a charger then?

 

IMO, yes very easy, I'm a bit annoyed with myself that I didn't do it myself the first time, but then again it did take me a while to find all the information and get the bits ordered so i can easily understand why they cost so much to get done professionally, and you can't really complain with the warranty that people like g-werks offer.

 

From what you were saying to me about the toothed belt set up I am surprised you risked it again. Obviously you are now doing the right thing it seems.

 

I had to be able to use the car and It took me a while to get hold of all the ribbed pulleys, but i finally found the crank pulley on a golf in the local scrappy.