Date:         Tue, 26 Mar 1996 16:01:00 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@gi.com>
Subject:      Re: End play (was: Siezed pancake on table)


>>   Take a big flat screwdriver and pry the flywheel away from the case. 
There
>> should be a tiny amount of endplay,   thunk thunk is junk.   rebuild that
>> bottom end.   You can seize yr motor by building it without ANY endplay.
>>
>Isn't this just going to bend the flywheel a tiny bit?  I tried to
>measure the endplay on my brand new engine before I installed but
>couldn't get anything to move.  I did the screwdriver plying bit but
>felt I was only bending the flywheel 0.004 or whatever.  I am hoping
>that when I have it out for a new clutch I will have been enlightened
>as to the proper way to check this.  I have the little measuring
>device.  I just can't seem to get ANY movement.  I assume there must
>be some or I wouldn't have gotten these last 3,500 miles.
>Please advise.  Thanks, Jim

For an upright engine (bugs, and '71-older busses) the factory spec is
.002" - .004". This is really small, obviously, and really tight-- about
the thickness of a human hair. I just looked in Bentley for wasserboxers,
and it says .003 to .005, with a wear limit of .006. Same for air-cooled
type-4.

A good, hard shove or yank on the pulley, is usually what it takes to
shift the crank through whatever end-play displacement it has. Brand-new
engines with new parts, are probably a little stiffer than broken-in
engines.I have found that, with my gnarly, banged-up fingers, if I can
*just barely* feel a slight shift when I Herc on the pulley, then that's
in the right ballpark. If I'm confident I felt movement, then it's probably
too much. But I can't get a reliable measurement by touch that way-- a
measurement device like a gauge or that screw-type gadget I mentioned
earlier, is a must. Unless the crank obviously shifts a LOT, in which
case you've got a problem.

The end play is adjusted by ring-shaped metal shims of different 
thicknesses,
which you put between the flywheel and the crank as you bolt on the 
flywheel.
But it the thrust bearing seat becomes badly worn, due to insufficient oil 
or
popping the clutch or whatever, then shimming won't be enough-- time for a
rebuild, and your crankcase itself may even be junk.

Usually things don't get that bad, tho... good luck.

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 Steve Maher   smaher@gi.com       '80 V6anagon w/Chevy 2800
                                   '66 Mustang Coupevertible, for sale

 Check out the cars at http://www.lookup.com/homepages/76242/home.html

     *** I'm a Native American, born in Illinois. Or does ancestry
                   make a difference after all? ***
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