Hi Listers,

I'm a new owner of a 1985 Westy, my first VW.  She has 167K miles.

I took the throttle body out.  Things don't look too good here.  First, a
small (~1/8" dia.) hole has been drilled through the butterfly!!
QUESTION:  Is this the factory setup?  I'm assuming it isn't and plan to
fill the hole with epoxy.  Presumably a PO had idle problems and took
drastic measures.

Also, the butterfly shaft (vacuum) seals have small cracks and don't seem
to seal tightly around the shaft.  My dealer does not list replacement
seals.  It looks like these seals are built to hold grease and maybe a
dollup of new grease will be sufficient for vacuum sealing, but if anyone
has suggestions for renewing these seals, please share.

Wear on the butterfly shaft and its supports have caused the butterfly to
score the interior of the TB.  This has made the operation of the valve a
little sticky when opening from idle.  I found that by adjusting the
throttle valve mechanical stop screw, I've prevented the butterfly from
traveling all the way into the scored area when closed, and now the
butterfly opens without any sticking.  (After this adjustment, the
butterfly is still closed at idle, and the tiny vacuum port falls on the
atmospheric side of the butterfly at idle.  The adjustment moves the closed
position of the butterfly fractions of a millimeter.)  Short of machining a
new butterfly shaft and bushings, this is the best way I could rectify the
butterfly shaft/bushing wear.  Comments?

Thank you!

Scott
'85 Westy "Pearl"
Santa Barbara, CA