No door locks whatsoever now and engine hesitates to shut off~
Time to buy a Mityvac and start troubleshooting in earnest?

I started with having the tailgate lock not working with the rest so I adjusted the actuator away and isolating / plugging the gas cap actuator. I thought it was working OK so I put everything back together again...but, alas, quite working again.
Then all the door locks became inconsistent, sometimes working sometimes not.
Now, I'm starting to have problems with the engine shutting off, eventually it dies but I'm guessing soon it won't and I'll have to get under the hood and use the manual switch.
Brakes, tranny, climate control seem to be working alright.
Any assistance would be helpful. I did perform a search but there's almost TOO much information on this subject to wade through...

Hey Shawnster:

I like to start with the following:

1. Make sure the vacuum hoses around the valve cover and oil filter cover didn't slip out [quick glance]

2. Start with the feed coming into the cabin, underneath the driver's carpet [actually, the black rectangular cover - it houses all the vacuum lines]

3. Test with mighty vac and go in this order:
a. front driver's door
b. both driver side doors [front, back]
c. then add right front
d. then add right rear
e. then add fuel and tailgate, etc.


4. the way you do this is to use golf tees to plug off the other lines while working your way through the doors.

Don't worry about this procedure.....its very easy and somewhat fun tracking down where the leak is.

There is a very detailed [3 page] printout on this. let me know if you can't find it through the search.

Your probable breakdown will reside in the door vacuum acutuators [must take door panel off - again, fairly straight forward]

Generally speaking, one of the functions of the actuator [open or close] is broke. They cost about $25 per door.

The green lines are open and the red close.

Let me know if I'm overly simplistic or complicated as I'm not sure where you are at in the discovery process.

Don

__________________
DAILY DRIVERS:
'84 300DT 298k (Aubrey's)
'99.5 Jetta TDI IV 251k (Julie's)
'97 Jetta TDI 127k (Amber's)
'97 Jetta TDI 186k (Matt's)
'96 Passat TDI 237k (Don's
'84 300D 211k Mint (Arne- Undergoing Greasecar Conversion)

SOLD:
'82 240D 229k (Matt's - Converted-300DT w/ 4 speed

what does it mean if the locks work with the engine running but don't with the engine off?

With the engine running, it is producing enough vacuum to allow the various functions to work (like locks) even though there is a leak. The engine overpowers the leak.

When you shut it off, the leak drains the vacuum and therefore no functions work.

Have you gone door by door? This whole thing confused me until I just dove in and did it. Now I love tracking down leaks cuz its free and simply a matter of elimination.

Let me assure you that this works. All four of mine didn't work and now they do.

Having said that, I have a leak in my climate control. When its on heat, it leaks off vacuum and the car won't shut down nor will the locks work. Therefore, one has to roll the dial to cold about a minute before shutdown. Wierd stuff.

If anyone has an idea on that one let me know!

Thanks

Don

__________________
DAILY DRIVERS:
'84 300DT 298k (Aubrey's)
'99.5 Jetta TDI IV 251k (Julie's)
'97 Jetta TDI 127k (Amber's)
'97 Jetta TDI 186k (Matt's)
'96 Passat TDI 237k (Don's
'84 300D 211k Mint (Arne- Undergoing Greasecar Conversion)

SOLD:
'82 240D 229k (Matt's - Converted-300DT w/ 4 speed

Dieseldon:
Your leak is in the actuator for the footwell heat. It's the only actuator that only works when the heat is on (I believe). Remove the panel under the driver's dash and you will see the actuator just to the right of the accelerator. It's not the one on the side of the heating ducts (that one does the defrost I think) but behind the ducts just to the right of the pedal. Very easy to test with a Mighty vac.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Hey thanks Kerry:

Much appreciated and will track this down soon

Don

__________________
DAILY DRIVERS:
'84 300DT 298k (Aubrey's)
'99.5 Jetta TDI IV 251k (Julie's)
'97 Jetta TDI 127k (Amber's)
'97 Jetta TDI 186k (Matt's)
'96 Passat TDI 237k (Don's
'84 300D 211k Mint (Arne- Undergoing Greasecar Conversion)

SOLD:
'82 240D 229k (Matt's - Converted-300DT w/ 4 speed