Inheriting A Cabriolet!

[CaliforniaCabbie]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum, and I've just found out that I'm inheriting a black 1992 VW Cabriolet! Anyway, this thing has more than a few problems. If ANYONE has any idea what ANY of these things may be, PLEASE post!

Problem 1: Happens about once a day. Loses power, then lurches back to life, stays running. It took almost a year until we could find a mechanic who would even make a guess at what it was; he said it was the ECU computer, the correct type of which (for a 1992) is never on eBay. Any guesses?

Problem 2: It rained a while ago (the cabbie leaks like a sieve as of now) and some water leaked onto the power window switches. Now, whenever it rains, the windows roll themselves down. Just glad I don't have a power top!

Tell me, should I let the car die and make a down payment on a Jaguar (no soul, but fast) or should I revive my Volkswagen? I hate to get rid of the Cabbie, I have so many memories of it (including pickicking it up at the dealership in 1992 with my dad) but I kind of began to lose patience when the window thing started. It would make a really cool California beach cruiser, though! Thanks all!

[kuklaki]

Welcome to TRF! It's always good to see a new face, so to speak

As far as the windows, it sounds like water got down into the electronics, I'm sure you already guessed that. You can try and dry and clean the card, and see if that helps. Those parts are relatively easy to replace, they come up often on Vortex for parted out Cabbies.

I'm sure more apt members will chime in shortly on your issues, so be patient.

BTW congrats on the aquisition!

[lowredcabrio]

Sounds great! cabbies are a neverending source of fun, aka problems! If you choose to keep the Cab which i hope you do, im sure you'll find all the help you need on various VW sites like the VwVortex and others. Can't wait to see some pics of the babe!

[CalAltaDubber]

Greetings and welcome.

You do have some interesting problems there. I understand your frustration at both of them.

As far as the Loss of Power issue goes, I would assume that you need to have the ECU codes read, they would at least store fault codes and that would at least point you in the right direction.

The window thing, to me any way, seems to be an easier issue to deal with. You will need to remove the door cards, and make sure that there is no accumulation of water in the doors. You will have to inspect the switches and maybe replace them.

I wouls also inspect and clean all the electrical connections on the window motors.


It is my hunch from your discription, that there is still some ammount of moisture where the window circuits are in the doors and that excess moisture will cause a short circuit that causes the windows to roll down.

Naturally you will have to fix the source of the problem (the leak).

If the car has the memories and is as cool as you say, these problems can be fixed properly and you will be set to cruise. Hang in there and let us know how it's going.

[speedtek]

I know a guy who has a '92 parts car, I'll e-mail him and see if he will sell the ECU. IT's an automatic car, though so I'm not sure if there is a difference between that ecu and a manual car. Somebody may know the answer to that. I would imagine they are the same.

[Briano1234]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum, and I've just found out that I'm inheriting a black 1992 VW Cabriolet! Anyway, this thing has more than a few problems. If ANYONE has any idea what ANY of these things may be, PLEASE post!

Problem 1: Happens about once a day. Loses power, then lurches back to life, stays running. It took almost a year until we could find a mechanic who would even make a guess at what it was; he said it was the ECU computer, the correct type of which (for a 1992) is never on eBay. Any guesses?

Problem 2: It rained a while ago (the cabbie leaks like a sieve as of now) and some water leaked onto the power window switches. Now, whenever it rains, the windows roll themselves down. Just glad I don't have a power top!

Tell me, should I let the car die and make a down payment on a Jaguar (no soul, but fast) or should I revive my Volkswagen? I hate to get rid of the Cabbie, I have so many memories of it (including pickicking it up at the dealership in 1992 with my dad) but I kind of began to lose patience when the window thing started. It would make a really cool California beach cruiser, though! Thanks all!

Problem 1. Bad Grounds or resisitive battery cables are the bane of cars exsistance.

Replace the main ground, clean all others. Make sure that your fuse box is not corroded and buy a Bentley.


Problem number 2.

The window control unit is directly under the fresh air inlet. If your Rain tray is missing and or your drains for the rain tray are plugged with crap, that can allow water to pool, and over flow under your fresh air vent and directly on your electric control unit for your windows. Take it off and open it up, and pour 100 proof alcohol on it, or you can try squirting WD40 is there to displace the moisture.

A plugged rain tray drain by the ecu can cause water to back up and get into the connector of the ECU which is on the rain tray near the drivers side upper.

Corrosion on the grounds or electrical connectors is the primary cause of frustration for all car owners. 99 times out of ten, the dealer or independant shop will have it farmed out.

I would replace the positive and the negative cables on your cabby. Then work out what works and what don't

I have been led down the garden path rebuilding distributors till in frustration I threw my wrench. It shorted between frame and ground of the batter and it sparked.

But a 5 dollar VOM (Multimeter) and measure the voltage with the car running on the battery it shoud be 13v + or - .5 . If it isn't then you have a bad cable. Measure the voltage between the negative battery lead and the chassis it should be 0 anything less and you have a bad ground.

All the symptoms that you describe are either flakey grounds or flakey +12.

The switches getting wet, if they aren't dried out, dosen't suprize me that as you are driving the water shorts out the switch and the window goes down. Take them out and spray the bahooties out of them with wd40 after a good shaking.

[SoCal_Cabby]

a 92 is CIS-e correct?
the running problem can be something as simple as a vacuum leak from the intake pipe.

you got the car for free correct?
first thing i would do is swap the motor with a scirocco 1.8L 16v, all the mounting points are the same, and the engine management is plug and play.

as far as the leaks.
make sure your window are adjusted correctly (you can tell by having a buddy get inside the car and shine a light at the top of the window (it's best to do a little after dusk) if you see light coming between the seal and the glass then your window is either not rolled up all the way or not adjusted right))

pull your door card off and see if your vapor barrier is in tact (the vapor barrier is the plastic film glued to the door under the door panel) if it has tears in it fix it. you can use duct tape to mend the holes, but i prefer to just get a new piece of plastic and re-do the whole thing.

look at the window scrapers to see if they are dry rotted. (the scrapers are the little pieces of rubber that kinda look like wiper blade on the outside bottm of the window) if they are dry rotted they will not form a water tight seal and need to be replaced.

[kuklaki]

a 92 is CIS-e correct?
the running problem can be something as simple as a vacuum leak from the intake pipe.

92 should be DigiII...

[speedtek]

yep should be digi unless somebody has backtracked somewhere along the line.

[CaliforniaCabbie]

Thanks everyone! It seems as though the window "auto down feature" will be sorted out soon, and hopefully so will the lurching problem.

The windows have long been a problem... when the car was bought new by my dad in 1992, he got a discount because one of the windows had a long scrape in it. When he took it in to be repaired, they replaced the wrong window. Upon bringing it back, they replaced the other one, but did so in such a way that you got a neat-o whistling noise as you drove along the highway. Thankfully, that particular problem has gone away with time.

Oh, and yes, I am getting this lurching, suicidal excuse for a Volkswagen for free. But I'm grateful!

On an unrelated topic, the car radio, which I thought had been ruined when the rains came, began working the other day. The song playing began out very faint, but got louder and louder after a few minutes. The song was "I Will Survive." Hopefully, this means that the VW dosen't want to off itself anymore.

[speedtek]

....shades of Christine......

[CalAltaDubber]

On an unrelated topic, the car radio, which I thought had been ruined when the rains came, began working the other day. The song playing began out very faint, but got louder and louder after a few minutes. The song was "I Will Survive." Hopefully, this means that the VW dosen't want to off itself anymore.

A good omen I hope

[CaliforniaCabbie]

Hi everyone! I was lucky enough to come across a parts '92 Cab, and pulled everything I needed off of it. The ECU was transplanted into my car, but that wasn't it. Looks like I know what I'll be doing this weekend. Also, the windows are fixed. It was (so I hear) the 'window solenoid.' Thanks for the help everyone!

[BigDaddy90Cabby]

Hi everyone! I was lucky enough to come across a parts '92 Cab, and pulled everything I needed off of it. The ECU was transplanted into my car, but that wasn't it. Looks like I know what I'll be doing this weekend. Also, the windows are fixed. It was (so I hear) the 'window solenoid.' Thanks for the help everyone!

Welcome to the wonderful world of the Cabby. all work and.... some play here and there. hehehe it will pay off in the end though.... i just never made it to the end with mine.

[lowredcabrio]

good luck!