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Date:         Thu, 28 Apr 2005 16:50:25 -0500
Reply-To:     jake beaulieu <jbeaulie@ND.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         jake beaulieu <jbeaulie@ND.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Rear of engine sitting too low???
Comments: To: Tom Young <tomyoung1@COMCAST.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <000901c54c3a$830cde80$1102a8c0@athlonxp3200>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

That sounds strange to me. I just pulled the engine and tranny from my 1982 AC vanagon last weekend. The boot you speak of is always a pain in the butt to wrap around the attachment point on the body, but it sits pretty naturally between the alternator and body (at least on my van). If the engine was sitting low by a couple of inches you should be able to tell by looking at the cooling tin seal that runs around the perimeter of the engine. If the seal is doing its job the engine compartment often gets dirty and develops rust below the seal, and remains clean and rust free above the seal (at least in the Midwestern rust belt). If the engine has dropped you should be able to see the rusty/dirty part above the seal.

What about the alternator mounting brackets. If I remember correctly the fan shroud thing that the boot connects to is held to the alternator by one or two bolts. Are these tight?

Good luck, BTW I dig your website.

Jake

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of Tom Young Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2005 4:38 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Rear of engine sitting too low???

Hi all:

This is kind of weird.

A couple of years ago I rebuilt and installed an engine in my '82 Westy. Intallation went fine, no problems that I can remember, engine ran strong.

About a year ago I decided to remove the transmission from the Westy without removing the engine (something I'd never done before, and wouldn't do again) and, in doing so, slightly tore the rubber boot that goes between the fan on the alternator and the body. I removed the torn boot and ran without it for several months.

Yesterday I decided to install a good boot in the vehicle, and damned if I didn't have a hell of a time installing it. Not that I don't know all the tricks, it's just that the alternator seems to be sitting too low in relation to the boot's attaching point to the body. I finally got it installed, but the boot's distorted by its "reach" up to the body. (If you hold one of these boots in your hand - I've got 3 different ones - and tilt it so the front mounting point is vertical as if it's attached to the alternator you can see that the top of the rear mounting point is just about level with the top of the front mounting point.) It's as if the entire rear of the engine is sitting too low, buy a couple of inches. Naturally, I can't find anything to account for this.

The engine carrier is tight up against the frame. The rubber mounting points are still there and look to be intact. The front of the engine can't be "too high" because there's only the one mounting point. The only explaination I can even dream up is that I somehow damaged the rear engine mounts, but that typically results in one part of the mount seperating from the other part and can't result in a "settling" of the engine unless a piece entirely disappears.

What the heck is going on here? Can somebody stick their head in the engine compartment and confirm to me that the boot in question does, in fact, sit fairly "naturally" between the alternator and the body. (I'd check my other Vanagon, but I've got the engine and trans out right now.)

TIA. --------------------------------------------------- Tom Young Lafayette, CA 94549 ---------------------------------------------------


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