Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2016 14:55:18 -1000
Reply-To: "SDF ( aka ;jim lahey' - Scott )" <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "SDF ( aka ;jim lahey' - Scott )" <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Oily Oily Clutch. FW O Ring Failure? and: Problem Solved? (
clutch disk hanging up )
In-Reply-To: <CAB2RwfgHAsrU=4YRz3NSc7QaX9ecQuEvCngzrXHyi4x1cT63MA@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
was there some form of a good Threader Locker ( I use blue lock-tite )
on the flywheel bolt threads ?
Mandatory IMO.
also ...o-ring on the inner circumference of the flywheel ..
the one that seals flywheel to crankshaft ....is that o-ring there and
supple and working ?
if checking end play ...do that first , before undoing flywheel bolts.
Tricky to do without a dial gauge,
when it is around .004" or a tiny bit more like it should be, it 'feels'
like barely any.
If it's anything 'noticeable' like say 10 to 15 thousandths, that's
excessive.
a trick I like to do to check if the rear main bearing is tight in the
case is.....
assemble flywheel onto crankshaft with too many shims ..so it's locked
to the crank.
then see if crank turns a tiny bit...like 1/8th inch rotation.
if rear main brg is solidly clamped by the case, there won't be any
flywheel rotation.
if it's loose...the rear main brg will rotate slightly on the locating pin.
It 'better not' be loose at all !
of course, excessive oil clearance between crank and rear main bearing
could allow enough oil to overwhelm the rear main seal and other sealing
things there.
on your pilot brg picture..
I can't tell exactly what you've got, but I can say I've seen dozens of
pilot bearings with the felt seal Not in place ..which lets the pilot
brg little rollers get all clutch-dusty and fail before too long.
there is a little metal ring that holds that felt seal in place..
many are probably lost on the floor of machine shops ...if I recall
correctly, it's pressed into the flywheel, and needs to be removed to
surface the flywheel, then they get forgotten about.
a slick upgrade is use the 82 diesel vanagon pilot bearing ..
which as a 'real' rubber lip seal.
The flywheel needs to be modified slightly to allow clearance for the
brg as it sticks out of the crank just a tiny bit.
'sticking' clutch is often worn out/shot pilot bearing.
oh yeah ...I also lube the cross shaft and all pivot points, including
ends of the cross shaft until it pivots very freely ..
and all contact points..the guide sleeve for the TOB.
the ends of the fingers ..if it is a sliding or moving surface, I lube
it. I use 'black slimy' moly grease for that, a tiny bit on the clutch
splines,
and some high quality synthetic grease on the pilot bearing.
Often I just clean up the flywheel surface with waterproof sand paper
and carb cleaner.
if it's badly glazed, or overheated..or cracked..then it needs real
machine shop surfacing,
but I can't even think of the last clutch I had to do that on.
'the ones' to use, IMO are the Sachs kit...
they are rebuilt in Mexico...but I love 'em.
I would not use a Luk or anything else...Sachs only.
I also bleed fresh brake fluid into the clutch slave cylinder,
and I lube ALL pivot points there too.
really fussing over every possible detail...is fun, and takes a little
while.
this is One place you really don't want to just 'slap it together.'
Scott
On 3/29/2016 1:06 PM, Neil N wrote:
> hi all
>
> I'm replacing the clutch, engine oil seal, tranny input shaft seal on
> my '88 Westy.
> When removing the flywheel bolts, oil poured out each bolt hole.
> There's oil or grease "spray" marks (pilot bearing area had excess grease)
> from clutch disk splines. OD of engine oil seal was dry. (I assumed it
> was at fault).
> I'll attempt to check crank end play. (first time doing this)
> The largest end play washer was against the crank face.
>
> Did a failed O ring at flywheel allow oil to leak on to clutch?
>
> Images of flywheel, clutch here:
>
> https://picasaweb.google.com/musomuso/BlueBusClutchOilSealMarch292016
>
> Does it look like the flywheel needs resurfacing? That surface is 2 mm above
> the unfinished surface. There wasn't a lot of clutch shudder.
>
> Prior symptoms:
>
> A consistently sticking clutch disk at start up. As I drove the bus
> more miles, it would
> be hard to get into 1st quickly and it got tougher to change gears.
> I'd thought the clutch disk was hanging on the input shaft, managed to
> lube it but this didn't improve things.
>
> Neil.
>
> --
> Neil n
>
> Blog: Vanagons, Westfalia, general <http://tubaneil.blogspot.ca>
>
> 1988 Westy Images <https://picasaweb.google.com/musomuso/New1988Westy>
>
> 1981 Westfalia "Jaco" Images, technical <http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/>
>
> Vanagon-Bus VAG Gas Engine Swap Group <http://tinyurl.com/khalbay>
>
