Washer hose spare tire fitting Options

[bbrock]

I know this is a futile quest since most of you think it is only civilized to convert the pneumatic windshield washer to an electric pump. But c'mon, that has to be the most ridiculously quirky quirk of a car dripping with quirkiness. Anything that stupid has to be worth keeping... right?

But I have a problem. The seal inside the fitting that screws onto the spare tire was shot and leaking all the air out of the tire. That wasn't going to work so I dug it out and and replaced it with a stack of neoprene washers that looked to be the right size and sealed to each other with a smear of RTV. It worked... almost. It seals tight unless you bend the hose to the side at all and then it leaks. Of course, mounting the tire in the frunk with the hose on bends it to the side. So what to do? Anyone have suggestions on how to seal this thing, or where a replacement might be found? New hoses with fittings are NLA and the ransom demanded by folks with used ones seems steep considering they might very well leak also. Thoughts? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[wonkipop]

@ bbrock.

pardon the limey spelling rather than mericanlish. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

correct the bottle cap stops it going flat, theoretically anyway.
though they can clag up to. but i still don't know exactly how that works mechanically.
i wouldn't mind knowing.

i finally got my head around the two part hose back to the spare tyre.
typical VW parts rationalisation/irrationality? not sure.

the original system to power the bottle off the spare tyre was designed for the standard beetle with a short hose to an upright spare.

its like that became a standard part they kept on incorporating into all their systems.

the super beetle, the type 3, the type 4 and the 914 came along with spare wheels in different locations/distances from the bottle.

they made a new part which was a length of hose connecting the tyre to the end of the standard beetle bottle cap/hose/screw-in fitting (formerly to tyre).

the new hose had a schrader valve (tyre tube valve) in one end of it and the screw fitting in the other.

there is something going on there because that hose is a smaller diameter than all the other hoses in the system after the second valve and after the bottle. why i don't know but the one from the tyre to the second schrader valve is smaller. maybe its to protect it in the luggage compartment to make it less vulnerable to damage. its certainly fed up to the bottle in the 914 via a route that means if it ever needs replacement the fuel tank has to come out. its the one hose i left alone in my system having inspected it. it was in excellent condition still. all the other softer hoses in the rest of the system were cracking and had begun to perish at the ends where they connected to other valves etc.

so the whole system in a 914 (and super beetle, type 3 and type 4) has two schrader valves. one at the tyre and one in line in the hose to the bottle. i was very confused by this second valve thinking it did something - its either its just a crazy german idea of an adapter joiner or the different diameters of the lines do something i can't quite understand yet.

the answer is buy one of those extensions i have seen and i know exist you can get for cars/trucks with difficult to access spare tyres. its a hose that comes off the tyre valve and it has another identical tyre valve in the other end of it you can hook up a tyre pressure gun to. take the screw in fitting off that and put on 914 hose.

i am going to do that. i had a real close look at mine this morning. its doing the same thing as yours. its leaking there i can tell.

the exact same screw in fitting up near the bottle is not jiggly and loose like the one is down at the tyre. and as i say, the tyre went flat but the bottle stayed pressurised.

i think a tyre extension line is cheaper to buy than one of these VW bottle cap kits.

i haven't had the pleasure of being urinated on by the 914, but i did have it happen to me in my old type 3 when i was younger and it was on the way to work. i was stuck in traffic too so i had to just let it empty its bladder on to me. it takes a long time for a vw to have a piss.

[bbrock]

there is something going on there because that hose is a smaller diameter than all the other hoses in the system after the second valve and after the bottle. why i don't know but the one from the tyre to the second schrader valve is smaller. maybe its to protect it in the luggage compartment to make it less vulnerable to damage.

Was not aware of the different size hoses. I should have looked when I pulled my old deteriorated ones. Interesting.

its certainly fed up to the bottle in the 914 via a route that means if it ever needs replacement the fuel tank has to come out.

Not necessarily. I don't know if it was the clever Germans thinking ahead or just luck, but the replacement hose will have that male schrader on the bottle end and a female fitting on the tyre (ooh, merican spell check doesn't like that (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif) ) end. So as long as the old hose isn't completely broken, you just screw the male schrader of the new hose into the female fitting on the old hose. Pop the grommet in on the bulkhead and pull the old hose up through the top until the new hose is in place. Pop in the new grommet and hook it up. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

so the whole system in a 914 (and super beetle, type 3 and type 4) has two schrader valves. one at the tyre and one in line in the hose to the bottle. i was very confused by this second valve thinking it did something - its either its just a crazy german idea of an adapter joiner or the different diameters of the lines do something i can't quite understand yet.

I think it is just a convenient place to add air to your tyre. Say you are on a long trip loaded with luggage and you've been wiping mud spatter off the windshield for the last 200 miles (do you know what a mile is? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/stirthepot.gif) ). You stop for gas and know your tyre is probably getting low. No need to schlep all the luggage out and pull the board to access the tyre. Just unscrew that upper schrader and start pumping air. I've done it many times and it works! Cheeky Germans, they are. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

the answer is buy one of those extensions i have seen and i know exist you can get for cars/trucks with difficult to access spare tyres. its a hose that comes off the tyre valve and it has another identical tyre valve in the other end of it you can hook up a tyre pressure gun to. take the screw in fitting off that and put on 914 hose.

But that is what the hose on the tyre already does. It's a little awkward to hold the little hose while pressing the pressure nozzle on, but not too bad.