Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 20:55:01 -0500
Reply-To: Peter McHugh <pmchugh952@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Peter McHugh <pmchugh952@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: clutch and tranny issues - lessons learned (long)
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relatively new listie. original owner of '91 red carat wolfsburg that's had
most all the usual problems. you guys with the 86's and 87's are educating
me where to focus for preventive maintenance. information gained by
searching archives and reading list mail has been invaluable. i thank you
all. wish to give back to the list a bit.
most recently had badly behaving shifter and clutch. finally resolved
everything and thought perhaps useful to chronicle events? here goes:
trouble symptoms:
1) grinding sounds when depressing clutch peddle, sometimes could feel it
thru the peddle
2) difficulty shifting into 1st, 2nd and reverse gears, clunked into 3rd
3) peddle traveled 3/4 to the floor and offered resistance i had come to
sense as normal; working that way for years but with increasing resistance
4) van would begin moving at ignition in 1st gear
5) at intersections i would double clutch and pump the brakes a couple times
quickly; that would seem to help changing gears
NOTE: it was so difficult to shift gears i actually broke my gear stick;
came right out of the boot when trying to downshift to get off the highway.
that was a real "laurel and hardy moment", let me tell you. 50 mph and i'm
waving the stick in my right hand and wondering what the heck i'm going to
do next. got her home in 4th gear; burned a bit of clutch on that one.
want you listers never to have to go thru that! subsequently rebuilt the
stickshift with used parts from ken wilford (tks, ken!)
archive suggestions for my problems included:
1) clutch hydraulics, failing master or slave cylinders
2) bad pilot bushing
3) worn engine mount bushings causing sloppy shifter linkage
4) binding at the throw-out bearing
there may have been others. since i'd had clutch replaced 10k miles ago, i
initially dismissed the clutch issues except for pilot bushing possibility.
so i attacked the hydraulics. list suggested replacing both master and
slave. detected no leaks in system prior to replacing both cylinders.
fluid very dirty. cleaned the reservoir, refilled and bled the system.
problem was even worse. pedal offered what seemed like even more resistance
and couldn't disengage clutch. concluded there was trouble in the
bellhousing.
put the van on jackstands; removed tranny. (couldn't believe crud piled on
top.) cleaned it up.... first time examining inside of a bellhousing for
clutch issues. after staring at the parts for a while, noticed:
1) badly worn release fork; wear was uneven left vs. right, about a 1/4" of
depth difference, left to right. contact side of forks were had beveled
surfaces; a new one has a curved surface; this would reduce the travel and
cause uneven wear on the guide sleeve, which i'd seen on earlier clutch jobs
for the van.
2) pressure plate fingers badly scored; barely contacted the T.O. bearing
surface. this prompted a review of bentley. there i learned of the change
in diameter of T.O. bearing surface width to 2-13/16". i sourced a new
pressure plate, new wide version T.O. bearing, new release fork and clutch
actuating lever (original froze onto the release shaft - had a welding shop
grind out the release shaft); also ordered all the bushings, seals,
circlips, etc. and reassembled the beast.
changed out the tranny fluid (messy but easy with tranny out of the
van)....oh, btw, after reading lister emails regarding removing blind
bushings, e.g. the release fork rightside bushing, i had reached a point of
"high frustration and low ethics": jammed a small-bladed screwdriver between
old bushing and bellhousing seat, buckled the bushing and pulled it out with
a needlenose - sorry, guys, not very elegant but it worked.
got tranny back in van with much grunting, grimacing and "wood management"
(used large sailboat blocks to stabilize engine including a jig for
hydraulic jack)....need a better method of getting the beast in and out for
next time when i send it to u for overhaul, daryl?
van now works great; clutch pedal travels to floor with easy pressure but
releases the clutch no more than halfway down. had forgotten what it should
feel like? no more grinding gears. still a bit sticky shifting into 1st
and 2nd; separate problem with either shifter rod bushings and/or need for
tranny overhaul (gotta be done after 220K?).
lessons learned?
1) shop that did last clutch job obviously used wrong T.O. bearing; it
appears to fit the pressure plate when new. but aged and unevenly worn
release shaft will tend to push the T.O. bearing unevenly toward pressure
plate and ultimately wear right thru fingers (failure happpened in less than
10k!!).
2) clutch components are obviously being kitted up incorrectly by some
suppliers; my shop guys just ordered what they thought was proper kit for
the van; i don't see it as their fault.
3) welding shop inadvertently lost the slave cylinder bracket; dealing with
non-automotive types we must communicate v..e..r..y clearly? cost two weeks
of phoning, searching and re-ordering (back-ordered part). btw, daryl at
AAtransaxle has used parts, reasonable pricing; wish i'd thought of calling
and asking b4 buying new. add'l note: used PC-7 to rebuild base mount for
bracket to ensure it wouldn't wobble; worked great. also, daryl routinely
rebuilds clutch fork shafts. think about that b4 buying new...:-). (not a
job for your local blacksmith.)
4) when ordering circlips for the release shaft, got O-rings instead.
passed by a different dealership another day and placed a second order (they
don't cost much). got O-rings again...:-) had one of the dealers do some
sleuthing: turns out the VW warehouse everyone uses is located in TX and
they threw some O-rings into the circlips bin; correct part number, wrong
part, so be alert; this cost me a week in fussing around.
'nuf said. keep u'r stick on the ice.
pete....and glad to have so many fine vanagon friends out there
'91 carat, 220k mi.
