New front turn signals

Some time ago I found on one of polish internet auction sites a set of white front turn signals, coupled with position lamps. They were prices as high as PLN 200 ($82, but closer to $70 then) and I thought that someone must be insane to sell them at such price.

Three or four weeks ago I was scrolling through Ebay and I found so called VW Vanagon T3 80-92 clear corner light lenses and bought two sets. One clear, one dimmed (smoked). I wasn't sure which will suit my camper best.

They arrived on thursday. I just came home after installing a set. Would you guess which one I installed?

From Volkswagen Transporter T3

Lenses as taken from the boxes.



The clear lens, mounted on the right side.



The smoked lens, mounted on the left side.



Both lenses while hazard flasher is on.

The white looked very nice, as large part of my camper is white.
The smoked also looked nice, as some parts in front of the camper (grilles, bumper) are black).

And the winner is:

The clear, of course!

I will sell the smoked lenses to someone here. :)

Small repairs

On saturday I spent a couple of hours with my camper, making some small repairs.

The most important thing was to fill the oil in the engine as it's level was below minimum. I had oil in 4 liter can so it was a bit difficult to pour it into the inlet. I used a flexible hose I got with a tank of screen washer fluid (brand new, so I didn't introduce any washer fluid into the oil tank). I poured 0.5 liter of oil.

The next thing was to replace the bulb in the left front light. The left headlamp worked only with high beam (driving beam) but not with low beam (passing beam). But it was not the light that was broken. It was caused by an old fuse, as it's wire broke.

I also found out why the two rear registration plate lamps didn't work. The cause was as simple as two broken bulbs.

I enjoy working with my camper when it's such easy... ;)

New engine coolant and new wheel covers

On tuesday I drove my T3 to Tomek. We were going to change the cooling liquid, 'cause the cooling system was filled with distilled water. In Poland we have cold winters with temperature drops down to -30°C (-22°F), far below the freezing point. So having water inside an engine is a bad idea.

The VW T3 has in it's engine 16 liters of cooland, so Tomek bought 3 5-liter coolant tanks.

From Volkswagen Transporter T3

We had some trouble in finding a good place to flush the old liquid from the system. Finally we disconnected two hoses that go from the engine to the radiator.



What was weird, after draining all the liquid, we could only pour inside less than 10 liters of the new coolant. It seems that some water was left somewhere in the system. I have to add some additive that will protect it from freezing, though some kind of device Tomek has shown that the coolant is enough for -22°C.

I also have two new wheel covers, with beautiful chrome layer!



Tomek found out that two of my wheel covers aren't painted with gray paint, but are covered with chrome and some dust. With chrome-cleaning paste and a cloth he managed to restore them to the beauty you can see above.

Before:



In the middle of cleaning.



After.



At the moment I have to buy the other two wheel covers. :)