MinkelR's 323 Worklog

[MinkelR]

Electrical Gremlins

Found the gremlins that were keeping my rear defroster from working. The wires behind the switch shorted out and melted together and then melted the inside of the switch. The plug and switch were fused together, I had to pry the damned things apart.

The pronged side, you can see where some stuff melted through. The actual inside of the switch is toasty as well but I didn't get a pic of that.


Kind of hard to see but this is where all of the black wires melted into one big one, also where the short is.


Peeled everything apart, wrapped the individual wires with a thick coating of electrical tape. I'm too lazy to rewire right now.


It doesn't blow fuses anymore so I'm assuming it's fixed. Now all I need is a defrost switch that isn't melted.

[MinkelR]

Replaced broken exhaust stud and manifold gasket then found the source of my exhaust leak. At the bend in the downpipe right after the manifold there's a large friggin crack that goes around about half of the pipe. No wonder it sounds like popcorn when decelerating. I removed the shielding to check it out and now it sounds (much) louder. Time to go to the exhaust shop.....

[MinkelR]

Temp Fix

Went ahead and bought a new downpipe off eBay for fairly cheap, I figured it'd cost about the same to fix mine as it would to buy a new one.
For the time being I went ahead and made a temporary fix. Wrapped it first with some metal ducting tape (supposedly good to 600F) and then wrapped it really good and tight with some fiberglass cloth and clamped it all down. It sounds much better and drives better as well.


I think I got this little B6 runnin' how it's supposed to now.

Also replaced all the bolts on the VC. One of the 6 previous owners snapped two bolts and didn't bother digging them out.

[MinkelR]

I went to the junkyard yesterday and picked up a few things.
I grabbed a reverse light switch. Wrapped the thing up with electrical tape to keep the wires supported so they won't snap off.
Grabbed a BP VAF as well as a BP throttle body and a spare B6 IM (I plan on boring out the B6 IM to fit the BP TB).
Most importantly I grabbed a new door and fender!! They're white but they will work until I can paint them.
Pics to come....

Oh yeah, I also started changing the shoes on my drums. Damn, that's a pain in the ass. Also ordered new rotors for the front.

[me19875]

Replaced broken exhaust stud and manifold gasket then found the source of my exhaust leak. At the bend in the downpipe right after the manifold there's a large friggin crack that goes around about half of the pipe. No wonder it sounds like popcorn when decelerating. I removed the shielding to check it out and now it sounds (much) louder. Time to go to the exhaust shop.....

lol, i just did a leak test on my exhaust at school today with a smoke machine to find mine was leaking from that same exact spot. i'm willing to bet when i remove the heat shield on that piece mine will look a lot like that.

[me19875]

and for the defrost switch, it may have been the other way around. the switch may have shorted internally and damaged the wire. my coolant level sensor did that. the plug was starting to melt and smoke but it was still in decent shape so i just replaced the sensor with one from the jy and its been working fine ever since.

[MinkelR]

The 20 Amp fuse was still popping even without the switch plugged in. I hope I got all the wires separated, I don't want to crawl any deeper into that harness.

Some pics:

New body panels. Don't mind the wheels, lol.


Everything bolted up with no issues. No damage done to the unibody except what you see behind the drivers door.

Recent engine bay pic, still dirty from the Olympus Rally.
I had to replace the head light bracket. It was broken into 3 pieces. Also installed the BP VAF and the BP intake hose.


BP throttle body

Bolted onto the B6 Intake Manifold, you can see what needs to be ground down.


Edit:
Curious question. I see that the 5-speed TPS will not swap to the auto TB. If I wire it up color for color where will I put the extra wire? I read on how to wire it for the GTX ECU, is this similar or am I in foriegn territory?

[MinkelR]

Got started on the intake manifold today.

Everything marked that needs to be removed, about 10 mm of material:


Have about 1/3 of it out, I just need to work my way back now:


Takes some time with the Dremel...

[MinkelR]

New Parts

Fed Ex guy dropped off some parts!

[Kris]

where and how much the rotors come out to?? i need to replace mine

thanks

[MinkelR]

where and how much the rotors come out to?? i need to replace mine

thanks

I think I got them for under $50 at RockAuto.com, part number is 6130R. I have a 5% discount code: 16112491374365. Good 'till June 7th.

[MinkelR]

Installed the rotors and downpipe and wow! The car pulls much better with the new pipe on, will probably up the MPG's as well. Installed the new rotors in less than an hour, 'twas easier than I thought. High speed driving AND braking is much smoother now.

[MinkelR]

Installed the BP throttle body :D It's definately peppier in the lower gears and sounds a bit louder.

[superscort93]

yup, anyone know how these wires get cut so easily. it seems to happen more than it should.

People looking fo the horn?

[MinkelR]

People looking fo the horn?

I grabbed one of those reverse switches at the junkyard while I was there. All of the ones I saw had breaks on the wiring shroud, my guess would be that it wiggles back and forth from wind and such that the wires eventually just break. I reinforced the one I grabbed lots of electrical tape to prevent the wires from breaking. Fairly simple, will post pics if interested..