Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 23:00:01 -0400
Reply-To: Lon Bordin <lonbordin@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Lon Bordin <lonbordin@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Main crank pulley problem 85 Vanagon
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
*Prologue:
I’ve owned VW’s since I’ve owned cars, they’re like a virus you can never
get rid-off, just live with… We sold my 78 Westy (sniff, sniff) for a safer
vehicle and we weren’t using it much as we had a baby but we loved that Bus
and the trips we took… So here we are two wonderfully reliable vehicles a
95 Ford F-150 and a 98 Ford Windstar. But I forgot my meds because I start
looking for a Pop-Top and after a couple of months searching I Google an 85
Wolfsburg Westfalia Weekender for $750 off Craigslist in Pennsylvania. The
spouse says OK and I tow the Wolfalia back (4 down) with the F-150 marveling
how well the Ford does it.
*Intro:
So the Wolfalia has the typical dents, well worn upholstery and a not so
coherent story about the main (crank) pulley. Apparently the pulley has
been coming loose and a fix proposed by GoWesty (previous owner swears but I
don’t believe it!) is to weld a large washer on the face of the pulley.
This does not work and the owner decides to sell the Wolfalia as he is
moving to Oregon for work. I get home pull the pulley and notice the lack
of a Woodruff key and a slight chip on the crank keyway. I go to my local
incredible hardware store (Kliendorfers) and they have keys both metric and
English. I buy a bunch and find one that seems to fit well. I remove the
ugly weld job (talk about out of balance) and the washer, install the pulley
and put on new belts all-around. Everything works well and I take it to my
local VW specialist who proceeds to give it the once over. He gives it a
clean bill of health with some minor ball joint work needed upfront.
Hooray, buy of the month award!
I proceed to begin the slow restoration while driving process while putting
my F-150 on the market. We are often 4 people traveling together and the
Single cab does not accommodate that and we can’t afford three cars. It
sold today (sniff).
*Heart of Darkness:
Well, I’m coming home from depositing the cashiers check for the truck and
the steering stiffens, the Alternator and OXY lights come on… I pull to the
side and see three belts off their pulleys?! I feel to see if the main
pulley has any play… it does not?! I decide as we are less than a mile from
home to go as is. I pull the belts out and take a hard look. The main
pulley is slightly (very slightly) out of alignment with the water pump
pulley but everything else looks ok… I decide to remove the main pulley and
check it out. The Woodruff key looks like it was in a fight (it lost) and
the chip “seems” to have grown slightly. There is damage on the back of the
pulley.(See pictures of the items at my blog:
http://lonbordin.blogspot.com/) (Disclaimer- my Bentley and other manuals
are in the mail but I’m working off one of those Mitchell On Demand CD’s and
my shade tree history, not bad but not great!)
*My questions:
What parts are there from the end of the crankshaft to the bolt and am I
missing something? It looked like everything was ok and worked for ~2 weeks
before, kablooey!
Any suggestions where to get a replacement pulley or high performance pulley
(stop snickering at my 1.9!)?
I found a possible fix (quoted below) any other ideas?
“Lenny, the crankshaft flywheel pulley bolt on my golf diesel recently
sheared off completely throwing the injection and alternator belts off as
well and probably the timing belt as well. My local specialist tells me I
will need a new crankshaft as it is impossible to get the rest of the bolt
out of the crankshaft. Is this correct? Are there ways of getting this bolt
out economically or do I need to replace the whole shaft? Lenny, the
crankshaft flywheel pulley bolt on my golf diesel recently sheared off
completely throwing the injection and alternator belts off as well and
probably the timing belt as well. My local specialist tells me I will need a
new crankshaft as it is impossible to get the rest of the bolt out of the
crankshaft. Is this correct? Are there ways of getting this bolt out
economically or do I need to replace the whole shaft?Graeme Biddle.
Graeme; I can answer your question but I just wish I could get people making
inquires to tell me simple stuff like the year of the car , tranny type,
size of engine etc. Anyways , here goes. We see this problem every so often
and each time the car was of a certain age and type that the owner couldn't
justify a complete overhaul which require pulling the transmission in order
to replace the crankshaft. This is what we did. We rigged it, with the
owners full understanding of what we were doing and each time it worked.
First off the crankshaft pulley will deliberately not bottom out when it is
installed so we have always been able to get it out. It is made of a
different hardness of of steel so it does not readily want to gall or
combine with the softer steel of the crankshaft. It takes a little time and
patience, less than an hour, but we have always in the past been able to
back the remnants of the crank pulley bolt out by taking a punch or a chisel
and carefully tapping on the bolt remnant in a couterclockwise direction
until the shaft eventually spins out. At this point I would be very
surprised if the crank gear were not damaged so you probably will need to
replace it. Also the keyway on the crank is probably damaged. With a new
crank gear you usually can realigne the gear very close to the original
position it should be in. Use lock-tite on the bolt. If the key way on the
crank is damaged and it usually is you will want to add some JB weld and let
it setup overnight. Also another trick to keep the gear from slipping would
be to drill with a small drill bit into the seam or mating surface of the
inner portion of the gear and the outer diameter surface of the crankshaft
as tho you were drilling a new keyway and then breaking the drill bit off
inside the crank and gear. I have done this on diesels and gas engines and
have never seen one come back yet. WARNING This is not the "proper " way to
make the repair but it can work. By the way do you think the valves in the
cyl head got damaged when the bolt came loose? Lenny”
(http://www.lennysvw.com/vwforWAT.htm)
I already miss my truck (sniff, sniff).
Thanks for any and all assistance.
-Dave Wilcox
1985 Wolfsburg Westfalia Weekender (I’m thinking of calling it Cranky)
Bloomington, Indiana, USA
|