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Date:         Sun, 27 Jun 2004 23:58:54 -0400
Reply-To:     Eric Zeno <vw4x4@FYI.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Eric Zeno <vw4x4@FYI.NET>
Subject:      Valve seals
Comments: To: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <000601c45cb5$75d11850$6400a8c0@masterpc>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Speaking of valve seals. The most recent engine I've taken apart still had the valve seals in place. I've never installed these, on Vanagon engines, and I've never noticed a problem. Comments?

Eric 86-VW4x4 vw4x4@fyi.net 86-SS Syncro Pittsburgh, PA USA 1936-Chrysler 92-Jetta GWC www.fyi.net/~vw4x4/vw4x4.htm

On Sun, 27 Jun 2004, Dennis Haynes wrote:

> Another possible cause is worn valve guides. Worn intake guides will > actually suck oil from the back of the head into the manifold. The valve > stem seals are probably missing either from never being installed to > them breaking and falling off. They don't do much on a new engine but > once the guides wear they help prevent an oil burner. > > Dennis > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf > Of ROBERT DONALDS > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2004 2:19 PM > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Subject: Re: Rings? New engine? > > This could be rings or it could be a bad valve and the cylinder does not > fire all the time and you have a crankcase full if unburned gas the > symptoms > are the same. you could also have an injector bleeding down when the > engine > sits and this would also send out smoke signals > I think that when you are talking about main bearings in the WBX engine > you > need to be very clear that size the engine is. The 1.9 has huge case, > main > bearing issues and in my opinion all 1.9 cases need to be align bored. > Align > boring when done correctly can solve the loose main bearing problem the > 1.9 > cases have. One problem with align boring is that some machine shops, > I'm > thinking west coast type large production shops set there cutters years > ago > and never looked back or measured the difference between the Brazilian > mains > and the German main bearing OD's. This alone can be the difference of > the > intended main bearing crush and no crush. > The 2.1 main bearings are a thinner rolled trimetal bearing and do not > have > the loose main bearing problem the 1.9 suffers from. The center main > bearings webs on the 2.1's do have to be closely inspected when the case > is > split to determine of the case is reusable > Zoran is right It does depend on the mileage as to how far to go with > the > repair taking into account the warm oil pressure and the compression > test > both wet and dry > > going faster miles an hour with the radio on > I remain > > Bob Donalds > Boston Engine > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Craig Oda" <craigoda@GMAIL.COM> > To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> > Sent: Sunday, June 27, 2004 12:08 PM > Subject: Re: Rings? New engine? > > > > So, this sounds like rings. My question to rest of the vanagon people > > is about general rebuilds. > > > > First, I was surprised to see symptoms that look like rings, when > > there are so many other things that can go wrong with the waterboxer. > > In my own situation, my first engine had severely worn main bearings. > > I believe this is fairly common. I've also heard conflicting reports > > on the effectiveness of bore-aligning the case and installating new > > main bearings. > > > > My own situation was that I had low oil-pressure on my first engine. > > I cracked the case to check out the problem, verified that the main > > bearings were really worn, then priced out the cost of the bore-align > > and parts. I'm thinking that it was a bit over $400. Yikes... since > > other parts of the engine were questionable, I bought a complete used > > engine on the ebay for $150. I installed that and have been using it > > for a year with good reliability and good power. However, one of the > > cylinders if firing funny. > > > > I suspect that one of my rings on engine #2 might be messed up and > > causing this odd sound and misfiring problems. I've tried to isolate > > the problem with stethoscope and have changed the lifters. However, I > > think that I'll eventually need to crack the case to check it out. I > > already have a spare engine seal kit. However, I'm reluctant to open > > the case of my working engine #2 and check things out. > > > > My question as relates to Blake, is it really cost-effective to do > > only a ring change on a waterboxer? Or, does he have to go in there > > and bore-align the case, put in near bearings... basically do a full > > rebuild. The answer for Blake's situation will give me info on how to > > deal with my own situation and help me decide when/if I should crack > > the case on engine #2 to change only the rings, or just go ahead with > > the rebuild on engine #1 with a full bore-align. I have a 1.9L > > waterboxer, both engines. > > > > On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 14:37:41 -0500, Blake Thornton > <blake@math.wustl.edu> > wrote: > > > > > > I am afraid that my 84 might need some serious engine work. Here > are > the > > > symptoms: > > > > > > - When I start up the van, it blows a lot of grey smoke initially. > Quite > > > a lot and it keeps getting worse. After the van is warmed up, the > van > > > runs alright. > > > > > > - I just changed my spark plugs. 3 of the 4 were pretty oily. I > had an > > > exhaust leak and took off the forward most exhaust pipe. The pipe > was > > > pretty oily and black. > > > > > > - Lately, my vans wants to stall out when cold, which leads me to > needing > > > to keeping my foot on the pedal when I am driving. This seems to go > away > > > when the van gets warmed up. > > > > > > I am thinking that my rings are probably shot. My engine has > 160,000 > > > miles on it (with probably around 20K on new head gaskets). What > are my > > > options? I am thinking that I can probably just run this engine for > a > > > while longer (assuming I pass emmissions) and see about finding a > used > > > engine or something soon. > > > > > > Thanks for any input you can offer!! > > > Blake > > > 84 Westy > > > St Louis > > > > > >


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