Russell O. Gunter wrote: > > Fellow Vanagon Nuts, > > (I sent this message earlier but it was returned but here goes again, sorry > for taking up the bandwidth with a repeat.) > > I purchased an '84 Vanagon 1.9L engine recently. It had developed the > inevitable head gasket leak at 73,000 miles and the owner disassembled it > hoping to fix it himself but got cold feet and sold it to me. Unfortunately, > he extracted the cylinder sleeves for some reason. > > My question is this: is there a way to re-install the cylinder sleeves > over the pistons without either taking the rods loose from the crankshaft or > the pistons from the rods? Is there a ring compressor (or has anyone > improvised something) that will get into that small space and facilitate the > re-installation of the cylinders and heads without further disturbance of the > pistons and rods? > > Thanks for your assistance. > > Russell Gunter > Woodbridge, VA Russ, That happened to me and I was able to get it together with a lot of patience, a bottle of mystery oil, a piece of banding wire and a small pair of needle-nosed grip pliers. Get a piece of banding wire to make a ring compresser which is wide enough to cover the rings but is narrow enough to allow the sleeve to completely push it off of the rings as you tap the cylinder sleeve on. Bend the wire at the ends and use the grip pliers as the clamp. Compress the wire enough to allow the sleeve to fit over the rings but don't compress the wire to where the sleeve can't push it down the piston. Oil the heck out of the piston, the cylinder and the banding wire with the mystery oil and patiently tap the sleeve on. The sleeve will push the banding wire off of the ring as it displaces it. Be patient and take your time. You might have to reset your compresser a few times as you may accidently move the sleeve backwards after you have started to cover the ring with it. It took me a while but I was successful, and it saved pulling the engine. I did it at 130,000 miles and I now have 194,000 miles so it must have worked without damaging the rings. GOOD LUCK!! Ralph 85GL Spokane |
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