Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 19:39:32 -0800
Reply-To: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: off with her heads
In-Reply-To: <CAFNeVpF+s3CzZ_noCVvkYbM1FxjVMTxrRrK6VtKStiMDr-VYYA@mail.gmail.com>
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Tom,
It sounds like this engine was put back together with epoxy.
There have got to be better engines in your area to work on than this one.
Cut your losses and look for one, or buy Scott's.
Life is too short for this.
Stuart
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Tom Carchrae
Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2013 3:49 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: off with her heads
Dear List,
I finally got to spend some time cleaning the heads up today. They appear
in good condition; absolutely no pitting (they are replacement heads) and as
far as I can see, no cracks between the valves (I'm aware that sometimes you
can't see the cracks).
I suspect the stuck head/cylinder is the one that was causing the issue.
Unlike all the other head/cylinder holes, there was a large amount of
carbon on the edge (rim?) of the head (where the sleeve slides in - ie,
above the compression gasket - which was also difficult to remove),
particularly on the bottom of it. Does this mean Dennis was probably
correct?... that tightening the head would have cured that - quite likely!
However, the same cylinder had a broken piston ring - but that could have
been caused by my failed prying efforts.
Some questions:
* I'm not sure what gunk they used on the water jacket, but it sure is hard
to remove. Any suggestions? I've been using brake cleaner on the heads,
which worked well on the carbon, but not on the gunk. I guess I need some
kind of heavy duty solvent, acetone or something like that?
* I don't have any equipment to measure the cylinder or any special tools
for measuring the cylinder wear or piston play. I'm likely just going to
skip this. :/ Are there any useful checks I could do without any special
tools? I presume the main reason to do this check is to get an idea of how
much life is left in this engine.
* I'm pretty sure the flywheel oil seal is leaking - or something down that
way (oil pump cover seal perhaps). I have the seal in a head gasket kit,
but then I read this: http://www.gowesty.com/library_article.php?id=535 - is
this true?
* I snapped the heads off the bolts (#12) on the thermostat housing
(annoyingly, these are bolts that I shouldn't have touched in the first
place). They are connected a plate (#10) which connects the short hose to
cylinder #4 (an 84 van). This shows #10 & #12:
http://www.jimellisvwparts.com/images/parts/VW/fullsize/004016050.jpg -
I've tried to pull the plate off so I can replace the bolts, but it is very
stuck on there with some kind of goop. When I peeled a bit of goop away
with a screwdriver, it resembles grey chewing gum and has lots of fibres in
it.... asbestos?!?... hmm and crap. One option is stick it back on without
the bolts as it is so stuck. Part of me really does not like that but that
seems simple/easy/hopeful. Or, I chisel away at this asbestos/gum material,
grip and remove bolt remnants, and then replace bolts and goop. Or I try
and source an 84 thermostat housing - boo - they seem rare. My current
thinking is to see if I can somehow 'creatively' add some fasteners to this
plate and then I'll fix when/if it leaks - not happy
about this. It also appears someone did some somewhat dodgy work on this
thermostat housing as I also noticed there was no yellow gasket seal where
the pipe that crosses past the flywheel goes - it looks like someone just
squirted a bunch of goop in to seal it...
It seems one step forward, two steps back. But at least I am moving on.
Maybe this van will run before the year is out.
Tom
