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Date:         Sun, 22 Oct 2000 21:39:16 -0700
Reply-To:     Coby Smolens <cobys5@HOME.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Coby Smolens <cobys5@HOME.COM>
Subject:      Re: Stuck Cylinders
Comments: To: Don & Christina Preston <betsy@utah-inter.net>
In-Reply-To:  <057e01c03c68$e11096c0$a0807ad8@lightrealm.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Right - the hose clamp routine is what works. I get the kind that you use to join sections of sewer pipe (I think it's the 4" size). The clamp I'm talking about is actually part of a repair kit consisting of a rubber sleeve and a clamping arrangement comprised of two large hose clamps tack-welded to a stainless steel band. When you tighten down the clamps in normal use you actually squeeze the band together over the rubber. I take out the rubber sleeve, take a pair of tin snips and cut through the band in the middle. I then have a single hose clamp around a nice, smooth, wide band of stainless steel which fits nicely over the rings. It is a FIDDLE getting the clamp out after the second cylinder goes on, but eminently do-able, and a whole lot quicker than pulling pistons. Having a good quarter-inch drive socket set with the shortest wobble-drive extensions works well for hex-driven clamps.

As to the seals: There should be two steel head gaskets (if it's a one-side-only type gasket set), two green viton o-rings for the cylinder/head (outer) groove and two black neoprene o-rings for the cylinder/block (inner) groove. The green ones are crucial! They are the first line of defense against coolant reaching the steel head gasket. DO NOT ASSEMBLE WITHOUT THESE SEALS! The black ones at the base of the cylinder are responsible for keeping the water jacket separated from the engine block. These seals are not so susceptible to damage as they are farther from the heat. I have never seen a case of the black seals leaking. If you were stranded on a desert island with no chance of procuring them, I would say use the old ones. But this is The USA in the age of instant gratification - I'll bet the Bus Depot will overnight 'em to you free of charge if they were missing from the kit.

POINTER: Buy some silicone dielectric grease to coat the green seals with when you install the heads. About eighty percent of the heads we do that are being done because they are leaking not long (geologically speaking) after someone else has resealed them are done because the green seals were not lubed before installing the heads. They get caught by the edge of the cylinder bore in the combustion chamber and rolled out of their groove. We find them flattened between the outside of the cylinder wall and the head. VW factory rebuilds are notorious for this, as a matter of fact.

Good luck - let us know if you have any further problems...

Coby Smolens Valley Wagonworks VW Bus and Vanagon Specialists "Intimately acquainted with VW Vans since 1959"

1535 SF Drake Blvd, San Anselmo, CA 94960 415-457-5628

-----Original Message----- From: Don & Christina Preston [mailto:betsy@utah-inter.net] Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2000 1:44 PM To: Coby Smolens Cc: Vanagon List Subject: Re: Stuck Cylinders

Well, I went ahead and pulled the sleeves with the head. As it turns out, they were STUCK!! Man, took me about 25 minutes to seperate them OFF of the engine.

So, now that I have them off, got any special tricks to getting them back on? I'm thinking a large hose clamp to compress the springs....

One other question...I ordered a head repair kit from Ron at the Depot (right on time guys, thanks!) which came with what looks like some replacement seals for the bottom of the sleeves. My question is actually regarding what looks like seals on the top of the sleeves. I don't see any seals in the kit for these. Do I need to worry about these? Or just reinstall?

For now, I'm cleaning things up and waiting for the JB Weld to do it's thing....

Thanks,

Don ----- Original Message ----- From: "Coby Smolens" <cobys5@home.com> To: <betsy@UTAH-INTER.NET> Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2000 11:54 AM Subject: Stuck Cylinders

> Hi - > > We have done this job at least a couple hundred times by now and have ALMOST > always been able to get them out using a sort of special pry-bar made from > whatever steel stock we could find at hand. Somehow or other, the tool I > make almost always winds up wandering away and getting itself lost in > between incidents of the kind you're referring to (mostly the cylinders > separate with minor persuasion), so I usually have to remanufacture the tool > each time we need it. The stock I've been using lately comes from the > hardware store (Home Depot), in the form of the spikes used to hold concrete > forms in place. I grind the end of one of these spikes down so it's flat on > one side, rounded on the other, and just narrow enough to fit between the > center tangs of BOTH cylinders. I insert the tool under the tangs with the > rounded side against the head so that it acts as a smooth prying fulcrum. > When the tool is shaped properly it works almost every time (it's only > failed once). I am a bit leery of using the chisel method someone else > mentioned - I broke a cylinder once that way and had to pull it after all. > If you DO wind up having to pull the cylinders, let me know - there is a > trick which allows you to reinstall them without having to remove the > pistons. > > Coby Smolens > Valley Wagonworks > VW Bus and Vanagon Specialists > "Intimately acquainted with VW Vans since 1959." > 1535 SF Drake Blvd, San Anselmo, CA 94960 > 415-457-5628 > >


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