If the release bearing turns easily, but doesn't spin a lot and/or it rattles while doing it) then it should be fine. I'm pretty sure that under normal conditions, a release bearing should be good for *at least* 25k miles. Is the needle (pilot) bearing in good shape? IIRC, that part is not too much money and is something easily overlooked when one replaces the clutch. Personally I replaced that and the felt ring when I did my clutch. Hopefully a receipt of work you had done will show if this part replaced or not. Cheers, Neil. -- Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia - "Jaco" (Bustorius)
On 10/26/07, vanagonvw <ac.vanagon@gmail.com> wrote: > I have the Bentley and a Clymer manual. Bentley shows great details, but > gives little info on 'how to' The clymer offers some how-to, but > incredibly, when it comes to the release bearing, it refers to pictures > that are not in the book :-) > > Mine is an 81 air cooled. The clutch and bearing were replaced about 25K > miles or so ago and have shown no indications of any issues. Yesterday, > I took the engine out for head replacements, and since its sitting > right there staring at me, I figure its time well spent to take a look > at the bearing. I am reticent to play with anything that is working > fine, so I seek advice as to what to look for, how to possibly remove > the bearing for inspection if that is deemed necessary, and what kind of > lube and/or cleaning to perform on it, or on the input shaft. Bits and > pieces of manuals declare "do not grease" parts of the assembly, so I > just want to be sure what is right and what is wrong. > > Its been two decades since I was tearing apart motors and transmissions, > and even then, none of them was a VW, so I am hoping there may be some > writeups, or pictures on a link somewhere, and maybe someone can share > what they know about inspecting the parts. > > Please note that if I could afford it, I would just replace the bearing > and call it good, but that is not an option, as the van's budget is > already over the top with a new clutch slave cylinder and CV boot on top > of the head replacement. > > If I have my way, I will be able to do a Boston Bob or some other new > engine in about a year, and I am confident that if I don't mess up the > bearing by checking it out, it will be fine until then. > > Any advice or suggestion would be gratefully accepted. > > Thanks a lot, > > John > |
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.