Date:         Sun, 12 Nov 1995 18:28:40 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         rickgo@halcyon.com (Rick Gordon)
Subject:      Arrrggghhh! New heads?

Geez, if its not one thing its another. Just got the van back, running
correctly again. I received a replacement VDO head temp sensor last week
and wanted to stick it back on plug #3 today. Simple enough operation,
right? But no - the plug got stuck. I thought this was really weird, but
remembered that the machine shop had put helicoils into a couple of the
cylinders, so I figured this was one. I mean, a plug that was inserted 3-4
weeks ago should come out pretty easily, no?

Well, as Mr. Zimmerman  would say "... but I used a little too much force."
Damn threads *broke* right off the plug. Now I can see right down into the
cylinder, through the plug hole nicely lined with the brass threads of the
plug! I've tried a couple of tricks using screwdrivers, visegrips and WD-40
but its not coming out. And I think I see metal in there too - which means
I can't limp it on 3 cylinders to someone with a warm spacious garage in
which to pull out the motor.  I figure at this point the engine is going to
have to be dropped, and the head pulled and drilled out.

I know, I should have backed off when the thing put up such resistance. (Or
maybe I just don't know my own strength!) But I didn't really think a spark
plug that had been in for 3-4 weeks would fail in this way. I haven't
decided if it's entirely my own fault, or if really the head had a problem.
(I mean, I was going to have to pull that spark plug sometime wasn't I?)

Questions:
- just how high do you have to jack up the Vanagon to get an AC engine out
of it? (It's currently in my garage but there's not a lot of room in there
- and the overhead door is only maybe 12 inches above the van right now!)
So I'd need to have the door open to pull the engine out, but with the door
open I can't jack it up too high. And the rainy season's started here so I
have to do this I'd like to do it indoors!

- how long did it take to R&R the engine if you've never done it before?
Oh, and how do you support the transmission when you don't have ready
access to VW tool #785/1 or even a clear picture of what one looks like?

- I'm pretty annoyed at these Spanish heads that the PO put on here now.
The fact that they seized up on the plug is just icing on the cake.
Who sells "good" rebuilt heads? Am I overreacting here?

- any other suggestions for removing this thing? Did I overlook something
obvious?

-rick

P.S. I'm going to be down in San Jose for a few days, and may not be able
to get onto halcyon (cheaply) during that time. If you were going to reply
to me directly, please also cc: 'rgordon@adobe.com' and I'll be much more
prompt in my reply!

P.P.S. I'd love to hear of any good/bad stories from the EV owners of this
group. Particularly EV Campers. Just how bad is that 5 cylinder?
If you had a chance to back out, would you? If you totaled this one, would
you replace it with another?
Local lot just got a used one from Jim Ellis VW down in Atlanta. I wondered
why someone would trade-in a car like that with only 16K miles on it.

Rick Gordon
Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
-------------------------------------
rickgo@halcyon.com
http://www.halcyon.com/rickgo/
finger for PGP public key fingerprint
-------------------------------------