Hello all,
Continuing the uncovering of the mystery......
Well, I had a long chat with the old timer Mechanic whom I was inviting
home and also took the starter motor which came off the bug to him. We examined
it together and deduced that there was nothing broken or missing off it. We
reached the conclusion that we would have to pull the motor to get to the
bottom of things. As the clutch felt 'normal' to press and release, we
concluded that the likely thoery of a loose and dropped thrust bearing pin
would not hold in our case.
So on the 20th of May 2011 with the odometer showing 29597 Kilometer (yes,
its a Kilometer speedo!) the two of us pulled the motor in our driveway. The
findings were:
1. Leaky main oil seal indeed. Lots of oil under the engine but just a light
skim inside the bell housing. Only the engine side of the clutch plate had a
light coating of oil.
2. Clutch plate lining was good. However, the four rivets holding the center
part were coming loose. So we averted another disaster.
3. Nothing wedged between the flywheel and bell housing.
4. Now the motor sat on the ground and was inspected. It just would not turn.
We decided to be gentle with it and put a 36mm socket with a standard handle on
the gland nut (no breaker bar). It would not turn. Just a bit of a nudge and it
came free!! It proceeded to turn anticlockwise without any issues but again at
about the same point, it would not go any further.
We deduced that for about 20 degrees of the revolution, it does not go
round. You can take it the other way round but not thru the 20 degrees.
Another thing we noticed. I had stuffed a plastic bag down the intake
manifold with the carb off. During part of the revolution, the plastic bag
would come flying off!! It should mean that at least one intake valve was not
closing.
I have yet to reexamine the valve train with the engine sitting on the
floor. I am guessing I missed something. I should rotate the engine by hand and
see how the valves operate. Maybe its a broken intake valve??
5. We examined the oil cooler after taking it off. The old timer said it
*might* be chocked though he was not sure. He said wed run kerosene oil thru it
to make sure. An old school method of checking is to assess the weight. A
heavier oil cooler points to a chocked one. I have yet to run oil thru and
check. Dont think its likely as we had put on a brand new oil cooler during the
rebuild and Ive kept the oil clean. Still, $hit happens. Who knows.
The engine now sits on the driveway floor. I shall get my hands dirty again
probably tomorrow and let you know the findings. Any thoughts to check other
things???
Someone said it may be a broken crank but I tried to rotate the engine with
one hand on the crank pulley and one on the flywheel. I cant feel any relative
play which probably must be there in case of a broken crank.
Also a suspect is a broken or bent con rod.
I consulted another VW mechanic who said it is most likely a spun number one
main bearing which would need me to repair the block. Hope not.
Thoughts, ideas?????
Best regards,
Asad
Karachi, Pakistan.
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Thu, 19 May 2011 00:01:01 +0000
> Subject: Re: [vintagvw] Motor locked up.
>
>
> Thanks to all of you for the warm welcome back!!
>
> I am most grateful and amazed that I/we (my brother and I) were actually
> being missed by many. This feels like returning home after a long time to
> family, our VW aircooled family!
>
> My Hotmail account is no longer my primary email but I do read the posts
> every once in a while and do wish I chime into the discussions more often.
> Can share a lot of the local VW happenings here which would be of interest to
> all.
>
> I read all comments and pondered over. Seems like the two top
> possibilities are something wedged between the flywheel and Bell housing
> (maybe like you say a TO bearing clip which came loose when I pushed the car
> while in gear to disengage the starter motor??). Or something to do with the
> Valve train assembly. Have still not had time to dig deeper into this mystery
> as my work hours are odd nowadays. I plan to crawl under the car and take a
> good look with the valve covers off. I did try to turn the crank pulley good
> though not really in the opposite direction but it did not budge even a
> fraction of a millimeter.
>
> I dont know why but have been having this 'gut feeling' it would turn out
> to be something stupidly simple rather than something as horrid as a broken
> crankshaft. Lets see, shall share definitely.
>
> I have invited an old timer Vdub mechanic over to my place tomorrow and
> would see what he has to say. Id like to inspect the valve assys before he
> comes to narrow things down.
>
> Now I'm sitting planning a bit ahead. I did have quite a few things lined
> up so if I do need to pull the motor, Id have plenty to do. Im thinking maybe
> this is an opportunity thrust upon me, very politely, by the VW gods! The car
> lives up to its nickname of 'Trusty', not breaking down on the road to leave
> me stranded! Below is a list of 'things to do' if I pull the motor:
>
> 1. Replace leaky main oil seal (have a German replacement in my stash, just
> arrived from Canada)
> 2. Fix some mysterious exhaust leaks. Seem to be from one of the joints as
> all components are solid. Bug has stopped fweeming lately.
> 3. Toss out the J tubes we had used as no decent heat exchange boxes were
> available. Now I have a pair of good heater boxes in the attic.
> 4. Inspect the clutch. Have brand new Brazilian clutch and pressure plate in
> my stash (a lucky local bone yard find from an unfinished project which ended
> up with the scrappers. Half price!).
> 5. Maybe, just maybe pull the heads off to fix some oil leaks and fix a
> single stud which was bad after the overhaul several years ago. This was
> perhaps the only corner we cut, after great contemplation back then.
> 6. New piston rings etc if no 5 happens.
> 7. Have nice push rod tube seals too in from Canada which can go on if no 5
> happens.
> 8. Put in a new starter bushing. Btw, folks may find it interesting that some
> local Dub specialists can change this with the engine on the car. Its a neat
> trick I can describe.
> 9. Maybe I'm forgetting something?? But I know if I put my hands into this,
> one things going to lead to a lot of things!!
>
> This is not all. I have a 'spare' 1967 vintage engine and gearbox in my
> stash too. Engine can be bolted right on till the current unit gets the
> needed TLC so car is not off the road for long.
>
> Also, have some issues to sort on the gearbox itself. The nose cone has
> miles of play in the hockey stick. The brass bushing even comes loose and
> wiggles around. Sloppy shifter to which I'm used to, unfortunately. Sometimes
> the reverse gear slips to neutral. Any thougths whether this is due to a bad
> reverse or may be a consequence of the hockey stick play?? How can I be sure,
> without tearing the whole box open, something which gives me nightmares as
> not familiar with the intricacies.
>
> Some questions: Can I swap the nose cone off the gear box with the unit
> on the car?? I have a small collection of nose cones now. How hard is it to
> take the gearbox off?? Its a swing axle 68 bug. Would the rear wheel
> alignment get disturbed if the gearbox is taken off or played around with?? I
> also must change all the three mounts while I'm at this.
>
> All thoughts shall be highly appreciated.
>
> Best wishes and warm regards to all,
>
> Asad
>
> Karachi, Pakistan.
>
>
>
>
>
> > From: [email protected]
> > To: [email protected]
> > Date: Wed, 18 May 2011 04:08:27 -0700
> > Subject: Re: [vintagvw] Motor locked up.
> >
> > my friends 63 panel bus had "locked up" right after he turned off his
> > engine. upon pulling engine we found a throwout bearing clip wedging the
> > flywheel. reinstalled the throwout bearing with new TO clips and driving it
> > everyday 20 miles each way.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [email protected]
> > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of No Quarter
> > Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 3:30 PM
> > To: Air-Cooled Volkswagen Discussion List
> > Subject: Re: [vintagvw] Motor locked up.
> >
> > Hello Asad! Haven't heard from you in a very long time so I'm glad to see
> > you're still with us!
> >
> > It is entirely possible that something has fallen into the flywheel gear
> > teeth and wedged itself between the teeth and the bell-housing.
> >
> > I would just pull the engine and while it's out, fix that starter bushing in
> >
> > the transmission.
> >
> > Then to remedy your hard start issues with the increased resistance in the
> > wiring causing the solenoid to not want to activate, go here and read up on
> > this rather cheap fix:
> > http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=421220
> >
> > Keep us posted!
> >
> > NQ
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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