I did a thing - VW Transporter T6

[indy4x]

Fun day today, moved the van across the drive this morning to sort out the accumulation of crap. Once that was all sorted it was time to head off but the clutch pedal dropped to the floor!

Checked fluid and the reservoir wasn't empty, attempted to pressure bleed the system but no fluid coming out of the bleed nipple.

Quick search on the T6 forum and looks like this is a common fault and the master cylinder is the culprit

Found a new MC in GSF and tonight's job was to fit the new one.

Found a write up on the T6 forum which was a huge help and there was no way I would have found 1 of the bolts without the guide.

The MC and clutch pedal assembly comes out as 1 unit, all the various nuts and bolts were fairly easy to get to however, my van is different to all the pictures I've seen online

There is a 10mm dia steel bar that is welded to a large bracket under the dash and then comes down and bends across the front of the clutch pedal. No way was the pedal assembly coming out with this bar in the way



Sorry the picture isn't very clear, I'm outside doing this and rushing as rain is expected

It looks like the bar is to stop the pedal coming up too far but the pedal doesn't touch it.

Out with the junior hacksaw, I can weld it back on if needed



So the clutch pedal assembly is now out, however, mine has an integral switch in the MC and the replacement from GSF does not

I need transport for tomorrow so spent the next hour or so putting the Jeep back together

Will speak to GSF tomorrow but looks like I'll need a refund as I can't find the correct MC on their website, or any others!

 

[Turbo]

Not updated for a while, but have been doing stuff

@Exuptoy yep H4 headlamps are appalling, was giving a mate a lift and he kept asking me if the headlamps were on

There are a few revisions of the dual H7 lamps, the best ones are revisions F or G, earlier ones suffer with DRL bulb holder failure. You can buy the revised bulb holders but they are £30 each


I had been looking for a reasonable set of dual H7s with either Rev F or G and they were surprisingly hard to find for reasonable money. Eventually a pair popped up on FB for £100 with Osram Nightbreaker bulbs, downside they are in Weston-super-Mare but cheap enough to drive there and pick them up

Fitted and coded so dip stay on with high beam. While the single H4 lamps are abysmal the dual H7s are awesome

Not an exciting photo

View attachment 528790

Don't think it is fair to run down H4 bulbs. It depends a lot on the headlight design.
My 2014 Citroen Dispatch uses H4 bulbs and the headlights are superb.
On the other hand the headlights on our Mk 7 golf are terrible. It has H7 dip and H15 main beam.

 

[indy4x]

@Turbo If it came across that I was slating H4 bulbs, that wasn't the intention as I too have had some cars with really good headlamps with H4 bulbs. It was a dig at VW for making a complete hash of the H4 headlamp design that is bordering on dangerous

 

[Turbo]

@Turbo If it came across that I was slating H4 bulbs, that wasn't the intention as I too have had some cars with really good headlamps with H4 bulbs. It was a dig at VW for making a complete hash of the H4 headlamp design that is bordering on dangerous

Sounds like VW need a rethink on headlight design.
On a lot of newer cars its form over function. They design the car with a low profile grille and don't worry about decent sized or shaped headlamps. I think that's the issue with the MK 7 golf. There is a factory xenon upgrade as fitted to the gti but it is not cheap.
The MK 7.5 golf got led lights as standard and are a common upgrade to a MK 7 but again not cheap.

My van has a nice big headlight and on standard bulbs they are superb. In general French cars usually have good headlights.

 

[indy4x]

Back to the clutch MC issue

I have been unable to find the correct master cylinder anywhere. GSF did a VIN check and confirmed that the part they supplied is wrong (stating the obvious) and the correct part is out of stock and on back order. My local factors spent a good 45mins trying and they too failed

VW Main Dealer Van Centre, ditto, no UK stock and nothing in Germany. The original manufacturer is Sachs and they don't have any either!

Absolutely nothing online, even Autodoc are showing as no stock

So I'm pretty much stuffed until stock becomes available, suggestion from a few places is expected It to be weeks, possibly months

 

[Turbo]

Back to the clutch MC issue

I have been unable to find the correct master cylinder anywhere. GSF did a VIN check and confirmed that the part they supplied is wrong (stating the obvious) and the correct part is out of stock and on back order. My local factors spent a good 45mins trying and they too failed

VW Main Dealer Van Centre, ditto, no UK stock and nothing in Germany. The original manufacturer is Sachs and they don't have any either!

Absolutely nothing online, even Autodoc are showing as no stock

So I'm pretty much stuffed until stock becomes available, suggestion from a few places is expected It to be weeks, possibly months

Would it be worthwhile rebuilding your old one? Big Red might have a rebuild kit for it or even have a recon one available.

 

[indy4x]

@Turbo it looks like the MC is designed to not come apart

 

[indy4x]

Managed to find a S/H at a Transporter breakers in Evesham, will be off to collect it tomorrow morning

Its a 3hr round trip and they want £90 which is the same cost as a new one but don't have any other options ATM

 

[Turbo]

@Turbo it looks like the MC is designed to not come apart

If it was assembled it can be taken apart.
You could have a play with it when you get the replacement fitted.

 

[indy4x]

@Turbo it will be coming apart once the replacement is fitted

 

[Ton-up]

Might be worth doing a bit of research to find out what the switch is for? If it is just to say the pedal is down, can you add one working on the pedal like most vehicles? Do the vans without a switch in mc, have one external?

 

[Red'n'Black]

Might be worth doing a bit of research to find out what the switch is for? If it is just to say the pedal is down, can you add one working on the pedal like most vehicles? Do the vans without a switch in mc, have one external?

Usually to cancel the cruise control, if it has one.

Also a lot of modern stuff won't start without the clutch down.

That second feature I could happily do without. The first, not so much.

 

[indy4x]

The T6 is a bit different, its not an on off switch but a hall effect sensor.

It serves 2 purposes, one so you can't accidentally start the car with it in gear and drive into something

The 2nd is cruise control, stops the engine revs going through the roof when you change gear. However, when you do change gear with CC active, it automatically re-engages without you having to press resumed

How its wired I have no idea, you can buy a bypass harness so definitely doable. I did trawling a few forums to see if I could code it out with VCDS but everyone that asked the question got flamed for wanting to disable a safety feature

I was mulling over the switch conundrum last night so today I plugged the old MC into the van, pushed the plunger in and it allowed me to start it

 

[indy4x]

S/H MC collected from Evesham this morning, now fitted and working

I did have an issue where I couldn't get any fluid out of the bleed nipple. Its in a T piece and all plastic



You rotate the off white collar 1/2 turn to open the bleed nipple. Ended up pulling the clip out and extracted the plastic bleed nipple and got it done