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Date:         Sun, 14 Apr 96 13:25:27 bst
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Andy Erskine <a.c.erskine@lut.ac.uk>
Subject:      Clutch fixing marathon (long, far too long actually)

I've just spent three days solid on a job I'd expected to take one at the most. Oil was leaking from somewhere and making the clutch judder so I took the oportunity to use the four-post lift at work while everyone was away for Easter. I thought the oil must be coming from the transmission because: 1)it smelt like gear oil, 2)I'd changed the oil in it only a month or so ago which might have lead to the leak, 3)the transmission is well past its best anyway, 4) I'd replaced the crank oil seal only 18 months ago. So I spend 10 minutes getting the engine out (lots of practise by now), most of a day trying to get the old seal out (eventually had to drain the transmission and take off the bell housing to drive it out from behind), and 10 minutes to get the engine back in again. Oops, forgot the throwout bearing! Out it comes again and then I go to start it up. The occasional oil drip that existed before has turned into a gusher and it's definitely engine oil this time. So back at the FLAPS I get a German silicone crank seal at twice the price of the Brazilian one I put in there last time. If I keep buying parts at the rate I've been doing recently, (all 3 of my VW's have been MOT'd this month) they'll give me my own parking space. Now the flywheel bolt won't come off, despite bending two lengths of angle iron trying to hold it still. I have to take the extractor exhaust off, which takes forever, so I can put the engine on the ground and get really brutal. Up to now it has been on a transmission jack, which makes a perfect VW engine stand BTW. Eventually the flywheel gives in but I have to spend most of the next day fixing the sheared or stripped exhaust studs :(. After wrestling the exhaust manifold back into place I put the engine back in. I'm in the home straight and everything's looking good until the end of the throttle cable comes off in my hand when I'm connecting it up. Well, at least it happened now and not in the middle of nowhere. Back to the FLAPS for a cable, the Beetle by now finds its way there automatically by following the tramlines worn into the road from its zillion trips there and back. It takes the rest of the day to thread the cable and then all that remains is to sweep up those mysterious, but inevitable, left over bits and tidy up before everyone comes back to work on Monday. I dread to think how much longer it would have taken, and difficult it would have been if I didn't have the workshop facilities to use. It seems I've spent every minute for the last two weeks working on either the bus or the beetle, and now I have to get the buggy ready for a show in two weeks time. I'll be glad to get back to work for a rest.

Andy E.

A.C.Erskine@lut.ac.uk


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