Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 07:16:14 -0400
Reply-To: Bulley <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Bulley <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Subject: Re: Tight Engine
STOP CRANKING!!!
If your battery is fully charged, your connections are good, and your
starter is okay, then something isn't right inside your rebuild, and needs
to be straightened away before you wreck things.
When you adjusted the valves, was it "tight" then? What about after
mounting the flywheel? After each of these, you should still have been able
to rotate the motor 360 degrees without much effort (plugs out). With the
plugs in, you should have been able to rotate it with a little intermittent
strain as each cylinder comes to TDC.
If it is universally "tight" SOMETHING IS WRONG.
It could be something as simple as not having the crankshaft endplay
adjusted correctly (not enough shims), or something as horrible as a piece
of schmutz behind one of the main bearing saddles. "Tight" can't be caused
by torquing the case too tightly. Sorry.
It is a fairly universal building practice to rotate the crank 360 degrees
during each phase of mating the two case halves. On my first rebuild, I
didn't do this, and had the same problem you do, except it wasn't tight, it
was LOCKED. A dowel pin had come out of it's seat, and I squashed it into
the bearing when I tightened the block.
In the grand scheme, no harm. Cost me a 2nd teardown, a new set of gaskets,
and a new set of main bearings to set it right. Also started me on the path
of my philosophy that it is always better to have good knowledge of the
problem, and pay a competent expert to fix it... :)
Let us know what happens.
G. Matthew Bulley
Bulley-Hewlett & Associates
www.bulley-hewlett.com
Cary, NC USA
888.468.4880 tollfree
-----Original Message-----
From: Brad Spear [SMTP:SSGSPEAR@AOL.COM]
Sent: Friday, May 21, 1999 11:16 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Tight Engine
Now that the list seems to be up again, for now, I need some help from the
air-cooled people among us. This is about the '72 Westy that you always
see
under my name.
I finally, or as my wife would say, FINALLY!, got the engine in it last
week.
Between work and being Planning Committee Chairman of our Boy Scout Troop,
205 Apple Valley, MN, I have had other priorities with my time.
Well, like I said, I got it in but it turns over REAL slow. It didn't turn
over all that fast when I didn't have the spark plugs in, but with them in
it's REAL slow. The battery and starter are good, even put the
starter/charger on it to help. It didn't.
Could I have over torqued the case? Suggestions?
I know this should be on the air-cooled list but I'm not on it any more.
The
account I was using for it didn't want to work for a while and I kind of
got
bumped. Too many returned messages.
Thanks for any help!
Brad Spear
'72 Westy (Engine in, but.....)
'87 Syncro GL
