Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 20:22:04 -0700
Reply-To: Karl Wolz <wolzphoto@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Karl Wolz <wolzphoto@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Subject: Re: What happened?
Tom,
Yer kid done good fer his hundred bucks, but he's most likely going to need
a new engine. Assuming that you're looking at the same scene I did last
year, part of what's falling apart is the rear face (actually front, case
the engine is in backward in VWs) of the thrust bearing.
Oil leak; oil through the flywheel bolts; little shreds of metal. Yup.
BTDT. It's salvageable if it can be align bored, but by the time you get in
that deep, you're better off getting ahold of Boston Bob or thinking about a
Tiico or . . .
If it's already been align bored and it needs to go way oversized, bearing
availability may be a problem.
Oh, yeah. I wouldn't try drivning it much outside the city limits.
What I'm doing with my '85, BTW, is installing a complete 2.1 liter,
including the Digifant system and the later coolant system.
Good luck,
Karl Wolz
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Stone" <TStone8359@AOL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 7:11 PM
Subject: What happened?
> A few weeks ago, my son found an '85 Vanagon sitting in the weeds at a car
> repair place. The body was in good shape. There was recent evidence of
> money spent -- new tires, rebuilt alternator. The man said the engine ran
> but that it had an oil leak. Couldn't start it because the battery was
dead.
> The man wanted $100. The engine had about 120k on it.
>
> We pulled it home and checked spark plugs, recharged the battery, made
sure
> intake hoses were on tight and tried to start it. It started right up.
But
> it did have a massive oil leak, worst I have ever seen, coming from the
rear
> main seal area. I did a compression check (all 125-145 except #3 - 90)
and a
> leak down test (all 10% except for #3 -- 40%). I deemed it worthy of
fixing
> the oil seal and seeing what we had.
>
> Monday, I took out the trans and took off the clutch but could not get
three
> of the flywheel bolts off -- the allen heads were stripped. The clutch
disk
> was soaked and oil came out of the two flywheel bolt holes. Tonight, I
tried
> to turn the bolts with the air chisel -- no dice. I used the grinder to
cut
> a slot in the bolt heads and tried to turn them out with a large screw
driver
> -- nothing moved. Finally, I took the grinder and ground off the bolt
heads,
> destroying the flywheel, but getting the flywheel off.
>
> What I found next is puzzling. Inside the seal area, the shims were
broken
> into several pieces and worn thin. The seal was cooked hard and was
brittle.
> There were no visible tears. The seal was set in from flush with the
case
> by about 1/8 inch.
>
> What happened here? Was the flywheel torqued on too tight? Was the end
play
> not set up right? Was the seal installed incorrectly? Looks like all of
the
> above to me.
>
> And what do I do now? Are my thrust bearings trashed? Can I get another
> flywheel, redo the end play with new shims, put a new clutch and seal in
and
> drive it or should this baby be rebuilt? My son is dreaming of a road
trip
> to Florida and Colorado this summer.....
>
> TIA for your thoughts.
>
> Tom
> '71 Westy, '85 Westy, '91 Carat, '81 VW Diesel Pickup
>
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