Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (May 2002, week 5)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Wed, 29 May 2002 22:59:41 -0400
Reply-To:     "Russell, William" <william.russell@UW-INC.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Russell, William" <william.russell@UW-INC.COM>
Subject:      Re: What happened?
Comments: To: TStone8359@AOL.COM
In-Reply-To:  <25.284312bd.2a26e457@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

You bought an '85 Vanagon for $100?!?! Do those horseshoes hurt? :)

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of Tom Stone Sent: May 29, 2002 22:12 To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM 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


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.