Wanted - tips on swapping out water cooled petrol motors

Post by **ghost123uk** » 29 Aug 2008, 14:00

OK this weekend I will be taking my tired DG motor out and putting in the new ( second hand ) good one.

Whilst I am a pretty experienced amateur mechanic I have not swapped a VW T25 flat four out yet.

Having asked around, it seems the easy way to do it is to raise the rear of the van on axle stands to a minimum height of 2 feet and take the engine out complete with the gearbox. Apparently it makes the job much easier to re-fit the gearbox etc when it is out of the van.
Would this be good info ?

Looking for any tips...

Do I need any special tools ?

Post by **T'Onion** » 29 Aug 2008, 14:21

Take off as much of the ancillary's as you can , alternator, carb and manifold in one , dizzy , etc basically the more of the height you take off the less you have to rise the van , and i take it your putting on 'known' ancillarys just in case it doesnt start ,

a good trolley jack or bread cart to pull the engine out on / with

you can just do the engine but if it pleases you to do the gearbox at the same time then happy days for you , depends on whom is helping you

I'd do the clutch at the same time ,

and mark up any wiring ,carb , dizzy etc and the lpg stuff , a little time doing this could save you hours of hair pulling

good look , try doing a write up/picture's about it for the wiki

Post by **Ian Hulley** » 29 Aug 2008, 14:51

As Mr T. says .... is the replacement from a manual ? If not and if yours is a manual you have the issues of the flywheel and spigot bearing.

Ian.

Post by **Laurie** » 29 Aug 2008, 16:04

3x2 is the answer. Inside the bearing shells at the outer edge of the drive shafts, put some short pieces of 3x2 timber.
Then, when you let the engine and gearbox down, the gearbox will sit at exactly the angle you need to re-install the engine. You don't need to drop the box. With a decent trolley jack and axle stands, you will be able to drop the engine in a oner.

Don't play silly buggers with safety... Good jack, good stands.

Post by **ghost123uk** » 29 Aug 2008, 16:30

Laurie wrote: Don't play silly buggers with safety... Good jack, good stands.

Totally agree. I was once under the back of my Scirocco on it's standard OE jack when it rolled forwards off the jack, I have never moved so fast !! I escaped injury. I will NEVER do that again without proper stands.

Ian Hulley wrote:
As Mr T. says .... is the replacement from a manual ? If not and if yours is a manual you have the issues of the flywheel and spigot bearing.

Ian.

Yes it is a manual one and comes with all bits attached too, including a good exhaust system !! ( after I went and bought a new one - as yet unused !! )

Laurie wrote:3x2 is the answer. Inside the bearing shells at the outer edge of the drive shafts, put some short pieces of 3x2 timber.

Thanks for that, I read it in the wiki Laurie but I don't really understand where to put the 3 x 2 ( I do have some

) I reckon it will become obvious when I get under there - Obviously you prefer to leave the g/box in place. I wonder which is easier, yours probably and as I write this I an thinking I will go along with that method.

.
.

Post by **clartsonly** » 29 Aug 2008, 17:33

make sure you photograph everything before, during and after.. not only will it help make sure it is joined up correctly, it would make an excellent record for these ere forums

Post by **PEET** » 29 Aug 2008, 18:19

Easiest way? Jack the a*** up and drop the engine n box onto a pallet truck - in and out in minutes - especially if you have a wooden jig to drop it into n out of...

Post by **Mocki** » 29 Aug 2008, 18:27

unless you need to change the box, leave it where it is, why make work?

spend more time markinh and making sure you know what goes where to save time after figuring out wht went where........

make sure you switch the heater to cold before you drain the system down, saves ages later bleeding up, and be carefull of the clutch drybollock pipe, they are known to split if you are rough with them, its a job you dont need on top of a engine change, save it for another time....

Post by **T'Onion** » 29 Aug 2008, 18:50

oh and while its out why not clean and treat for rust and then re-paint the engine bay , makes sence , thats why i didnt do mine or anyone else apart from the guy who did peppersausage 's

Post by **ghost123uk** » 16 Sep 2008, 02:24

Thanks for all the tips folks.

It all went OK really.
Didn't use the 3 x 2 timber in the end ( couldn't find it ).

the only tricky bit was getting the angle of the g/box right on offering up the engine to it. I left the manifold and carb on so the angle was a bit steep, plus I was doing it on a surface made of paved brick so manoeuvring the trolley jack with the engine on it was noh too easy.

After connectiong all up and changing the oil and filter the big moment arrived.

Whoopee - no smoke, no funny noises, in fact it runs very well

There is one downside though.
During a slight bit of confusion re the dizzy being different to mine, it came to light ( via a post on here ) that it seems my new motor was fitted with an earlier dizzy. Err not so - it turns out on inspection that I have bought a DF motor not a DG

see my new post re this dilema at =
https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... 563#312563