Date:         Thu, 3 Jan 2008 18:31:28 -0500
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Subject:      Re: Dropped my motor...almost..

Ok, thanks all for the input.  Seems like the cross-brace is not crucial,
but does do something for the whole package.  As I looked more closely at
Bently, I now see another 'brace' for lack of a better description.  This
one seems to come along the passenger side of the pan, about 3" from the
rear where the Oil drain plug is located and attaches to the pan, also.  My
pan has a casting to accept a through bolt there, but there is nothing in
that hole, either.  In the illustration in Bently, this bracket looks to
attach somewhere along the front edge of the bumper?
  The drawback of buying an already "complete" conversion from someone far
away...And it is not a help that I am on my first ever Vanagon, so I have
not seen a complete one...So of course, I can't really be sure when
something is not there on this one.
  Whatever, the van went in to the local shop today and I was encouraged to
speak to the mechanic who was doing the work and to find him 'vanagon-
savvy' or at least he knew the right words...
  I drove it about 15 miles to the shop with the motor hanging from some
tie-down straps holding a two by four brace under the pan...It worked so
well I almost blew off the real repair...not really..
  Thanks, all..
  Don Hanson

On Mon, 31 Dec 2007 18:34:35 -0800, Mark Drillock <drillock@EARTHLINK.NET>
wrote:

>Exactly right. The lower crossbar bolts in place with a single bolt at
>each end and touches nothing else. It does not support the oil pan in
>any way.
>
>Mark
>
>Mike wrote:
>>  I haven't personally seen the crossbar that you're talking about, but it
>> would appear that it's there to add a structural tie-together of two side
>> mounts.  I really doubt that the oil pan contacts it at all.   It can't,
>> really, or the engine mounts would have no flex to dampen vibrations away
>> from the frame, plus it'd chafe where it does contact and eventually
wear a
>> hole thru the pan.  This cross-brace would also serve to protect the
torque
>> rotation of the engine (and off-road bouncing of the chassis) from
>> straining
>> the mounts' bolts.  This is what appeared to have happened to your rig,
and
>> would have been prevented by the installation od such a cross-brace.  The
>> looseness that you describe may have been flexing of the long mount and/
>> otr
>> it's mounting hardware, due to a lack of this part.  My guess is that
when
>> you finally get it properly repaired and add this cross-brace, that
>> looseness will be gone.
>>
>> HTH,
>>
>> Mike B.
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "dhanson@gorge.net" <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
>> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>> Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 3:49 PM
>> Subject: Dropped my motor...almost..
>>
>>
>>>  Yesterday I was running through the desert in my 84 Gas/diesel inline
>>> four conversion and enjoying
>>> the dips, then I came to a stop sign and noticed my exhaust note had
>>> changed..The gear shifting was
>>> not right, either, so I pulled over and crawled under to find the
>>> passenger side of the motor was
>>> hanging low...Hmmm!..So I tossed out all the stuff in the back hatch
>>> area,
>>> after inspecting all the
>>> motor mounts underneath..
>>>  Now, this motor has always seemed a bit "loose" in the van, ever since
I
>>> bought the already-done
>>> conversion about 30k thousand miles ago.  I've repeatedly checked the
>>> motor mounts, bought new ones
>>> and stached em after I found the current ones to be just fine...I simply
>>> assumed that it was normal
>>> for the inline four to be able to rock around back there...Not great,
but
>>> perhaps just a poor design.
>>>  I found the right side rear cast aluminum motor mount had sheered the
>>> mounting bolts right at the
>>> block..leaving the right side of the motor hanging.....As I began trying
>>> to see how to fix that, I
>>> happened to find, in the Bently, a short 2 page write up on the diesel
>>> motor install/remove...and
>>> Whoa!..right there in the book it shows a thing they call the Engine
>>> Support mount...Mine NEVER had
>>> one...And I, for one, have never encountered any installation that uses
>>> the oil pan as a stressed
>>> mounting member..a weight-bearing part of the engine mounting set
up...It
>>> is kind of a transverse
>>> strap, from rail to rail that the flat bottom of the diesel motor oil
pan
>>> just sits on...takes up
>>> some of the weight, I guess and keeps it from rocking?  We shall see...
>>>  So anyhow, I limped back to my campsite and using some construction
wood
>>> I had around and some
>>> extra motorcycle tiedown straps...I have now a fine looking '2x4 engine
>>> support mount'...Gotta love
>>> the vans...
>>>  If I were home with all my tools, I could have done a permanent fix
with
>>> ease...but since I am
>>> camping, I will have to depend on the local mechanics to try to
>>> "easy-out"
>>> the broken mount bolts
>>> out of the block, and to fabricate a strap to sit the pan onto rather
>>> than
>>> my 'special' 2x4 racing
>>> mount...
>>>
>>>  Happy new year everyone,
>>>  Don Hanson
>>