Date:         Wed, 17 Apr 1996 22:57:56 +0000
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Charlie Callahan <charliec42@ilinkgn.net>
Subject:      "Shakey State'd" Engine De-gunking

A basic question about engine cleaning:

As me '85 is making the death knell noises (Rings, 
bearings possible) And I don't want to kill it, I am
doing slow surgery on it. Working on the outside and 
taking as much off as rational w/o pulling the engine..
Anyways, my happy discovery on pulling the valve cover
is a sludge pit that makes a mess of its own as I carve 
out sloshes of this crap by hand and toxic fingernail..
the dreaded quacker state syndrome. Ugh! I contrast this 
to that $50 bug with the textbook clean head.. 
I figure this thing's been running it's own valve timing 
for awhile, depending on accumilation of this stuff in 
there.. I saw one small,tiny trickle of fresh oil amid 
this sludge.. 
	So: given this telltale sign, Should I expect:
that this sludge is everywhere in the engine (oil ports)
likely clogging that convenient oil screen, I heard..
and just about everything, or does it accumilate 
especailly here?
What's a safe solvent to try and at least soften this 
gunk as I progress inwards? I've heard kerosene in the 
oil, I'm not too keen on that; what I have been doing is 
wd-40'ing the general area of sludge and scooping..

..and try to ignore my neighbor down the street driving 
the syncro I could have got for $1200 more.. At least 
he's still going.. :) or the other extreme, the '79 bus 
that was rust-free but needed fresh mechanicals-$300.
Those were my choices, but I got this. Same day I get 
the formal title, the motor goes terminal klacky.. oh 
well, it was a fun 500 miles.. :)
	..a bit of an effort to get to the next 500.. :(

Another q:
	I have a few holes in the floor of me aircooled; I have 
fixed the leaks that caused the holes :) but still 
have the holes. Will my two-sided duck tape fix (one on 
top, one below) be adequate until I can fix it right 
(months, years(?)), or am I creating a potential 
moisture-trapped duck-tape sized rust farm? 

Making time the best I can wind,

Charlie "air-fooled" Callahan

P.S. Folks buggering about vw's new engine choices:
On
 http://www.beetle.de/E/Facts.htm
	the nifty new beetle web site,
	" At customer request, it is conceivable that
other engine transmission units could be fitted. "

There's a dangerous idea...