New Member - 86 Cabby - Illinois

[fomanchu]

Hello All...

I've finally gotten my hands back on a German car, a 86 VW Cabriolet. I've owned an 86 Bmw e30, e28, 88 Mercedes 380sl and 82 Porsche 928. Im pretty much familiar with all the nuances of CIS L-jet and K-jet and dusted off my Bosch FI books and pdf's. So now my VW saga begins..purchased the Cabby from craigslist after reviewing the car. It was in poor shape, missing, knocking, exhaust leak, and leaking fuel lines, no radio, no speakers, but included top boot cover and Im just praying to make it to my garage. But the best selling point of the car..it included a Bentley Manual!!

Made it home and begin a list of parts to replace starting ignition tuneup: NGK plugs, bosch wires, cap/rotor, oil change used proper STP filter, transmission filter/fluid change and cleaned K&N filter. (thanks cabby-info.com!!)

Took it to a shop to do exhaust and fuel lines, and they guys are VW fanatics too (one guy has a tatoo of vw on his arm). They changed the coolant temp sensor and pointed me towards a bad Cold Start injector/Thermo time switch + some other issues (tires/timing belt/struts/shocks/tie rod/drivers cv axle/leaky radiator/original hoses/original belts) which I knew about. The mechanics tell me it has rear disc brakes from a GTI, and im thinking cool, i havent touched drum brakes in years!

The car has both cold and hot start issue. It starts, but runs rough/misses and is idle too high (set by PO) and it bogs down when accelerating. The hot seems to be gone w/the cts change. I installed a new thermo time yesterday and that seem to help the cold start issue, and im still waiting for csi to come via mail. I've also have a new fuel filter/radiator/hoses/belts/thermostat/timing belt/valve cover gaskets to replace.

I also order the CIS fuel test kit, to verify fuel pressure settings.

yeah, yeah, i know pics..but please bear with me

During my search i find that the car has a four wire O2 sensor (wth?). Also the mechanics stated that I should replace the throttle switch as it was loose. Also, the throttle looks different, could it have been an upgrade? I dont have pics of that, but will post tonight. The car has a/c but has a 65amp Bosch alternator (al27x) but it seems to require (al33x), but Im not having any charging issues.

The goal is to have it ready by summer for my daughters HS grad. Ok..now for some pics.. oh thx for reading ..FOMANCHU

[Briano1234]

Welcome to cabbyhood. The o2 sensor can be swapped for a Generic 3 wire that you can gut and splice in to the existing harness with solder and heat shrink tube. runs about 40 bucks versus 120. It is a o2 sensor from a Mustang.

I may have a thread on the replacement here.

Where at in Illinois I used to live in Decatur years ago, but for the last almost 30 live in Atlanta.
I used to work for a computer company up there and my territory was from Quincey to Danville, Vandalia to Bloomington.

I still have a Brother that lives near Taylorville.

Can't help too much with the CIS, as I am a 90's Digifant type.
But the rest of the car I can assist you as needed....

[fomanchu]

Thanks Briano, I live in the NW burbs about 20 miles from Chicago. I have read just about all of your posts on various sites and must say it has help tremendously. I'll post any further issues in the proper forums. Thanks Again!!

[eric4321]

Welcome to the forum. I was born and raised in Chicago area. I am in Atalanta GA now but lived near Midway airport. Sounds like you are off to a good start with the car.

[CalAltaDubber]

Hi and welcome to TRF.

Seems like you have a good start on the car. Do keep us informed of your progress.

[kamzcab86]

Welcome aboard!

The mechanics tell me it has rear disc brakes from a GTI, and im thinking cool, i havent touched drum brakes in years!
...
During my search i find that the car has a four wire O2 sensor (wth?).

Pull the rear wheels off to verify because these cars did not come factory-equipped with rear disc brakes.

An '86 Cab does not even have a 3-wire O2 sensor, let alone a 4-wire. Your car came factory-equipped with a 1-wire O2 sensor. From 1988 onward, Cabriolets got 3-wire (i.e. heated) sensors.

[fomanchu]

Update - 1 year later..
So I was able to accomplish a lot during the year on the cabby:
New tires, brakes, rotors, fuel injectors, fuel pump, relays, lights, radio, new radiator, all new hoses, new fan relay, adjusting CIS fuel mixture and much more (thanks to cabby-info.com!!).
And my daughter loves the car and drove it top down all summer. It started to leak from the wp, so I ordered up the parts and have made that a winter project w/timing belt.
Well, I started last week and got everything back together this morning (been taking my time).. I double checked and started it up. I hear a whine around the timing belt area and notices the tensioner isnt moving. I had installed it backwards..two dots (for spanner) should face out. Well the belt slipped and my car is out of time

So, I just need clarification on my next steps. To statically set timing i need to

**make the following adjustments w/o belt on**
1) Set Camshaft notch to match top of head near valve gasket
2) Set Crank vibration damper notch to top ( I can double verify this through hole on transmission w/yellow dot)
3) Verify that cylinder one is tdc and then remove and turn distributor so notch is at top
4) Put dist cap plug one at notch
5) Put belt on and tighten..rotate belt to verify all marks line up
6) Put plugs back in and crank

Am i missing anything..thanks..

[Briano1234]

Update - 1 year later..
So I was able to accomplish a lot during the year on the cabby:
New tires, brakes, rotors, fuel injectors, fuel pump, relays, lights, radio, new radiator, all new hoses, new fan relay, adjusting CIS fuel mixture and much more (thanks to cabby-info.com!!).
And my daughter loves the car and drove it top down all summer. It started to leak from the wp, so I ordered up the parts and have made that a winter project w/timing belt.
Well, I started last week and got everything back together this morning (been taking my time).. I double checked and started it up. I hear a whine around the timing belt area and notices the tensioner isnt moving. I had installed it backwards..two dots (for spanner) should face out. Well the belt slipped and my car is out of time

So, I just need clarification on my next steps. To statically set timing i need to

**make the following adjustments w/o belt on**
1) Set Camshaft notch to match top of head near valve gasket
2) Set Crank vibration damper notch to top ( I can double verify this through hole on transmission w/yellow dot)
3) Verify that cylinder one is tdc and then remove and turn distributor so notch is at top
4) Put dist cap plug one at notch
5) Put belt on and tighten..rotate belt to verify all marks line up
6) Put plugs back in and crank

Am i missing anything..thanks..

Well here is how I time it.
Tranny to 0tdc Pull the white plug and the Big plastic nut.
Dimple on the Back side of the Cam equal to the top of the valve cover tin (not the rebar).
Pull the Dist Cap and look for the hash mark stamped in the side of the dist lip, and center the rotor there. (loosen the lock bolt on the dist.)
Should be good to go, place the cap back on and should be good to go if you have 1/2 belt twist between the intermediate shaft and the Cam.

Don't go worrying about the intermediate shaft marks as it is the Dist to Number one that you have to worry about and setting the hash in the middle is all that you need to worry about.

Cabby-info.com has good pics. After it is warmed up, then set the timing to spot on with a timing light.

[fomanchu]

Wanted to post a follow up on this issue. I purchased the timing belt tensioner tool from GAP which arrived promptly. I tightened the belt and set timing according to your instructions and she fired up. I also advanced the timing (i think that the correct term) by turning the distributor counter-clockwise and listening. I need to purchase a timing light to be exact. She starts and runs pretty well now. As a reward I washed and waxed her and will post pics. Thanks to all for your help.

[Briano1234]

Coolness.