Help! - Rocker misery...

[orangebooboobearcrew]

Hi,

Been changing the push rod tube seals on the van this morning and all was going well until I tried to refit the rocker assembly. I set my torque wrench for the 11 lb specified in Haynes manual (for 2.0l petrol Aircooled) and commencing tightening to that torque but as torque wrench was one the missus got as a recon from work, I think I may have overtightened as I noticed I was turning the wrench on one of the nuts for ages and it wasn't tightening!

Got a horrible feeling I may have stripped the thread of the rocker shafts . I can't now get the rocker assembly off again as the nuts are just spinning on at least 2 of the 4 shafts!

What do I do now? Its all gone horribly wrong....

Any urgent recommendations would be greatly appreciated...

Many thanks,

Chris

[bigherb]

Hopefully is has only stripped the thread on the nuts. Try gently prying the rocker shaft out wards whilst undoing the nuts.

[orangebooboobearcrew]

Hi,

Tried levering out and turning at same time and no progress - nut just spinning on the thread.

Looks like 3 of the 4 nuts are doing the same - on the other one, a nut is turning but is the actual shaft which appears to unscrewing from the head.

Is this bad news? Seems pretty woesome to me....!!!

[Grun]

Hi,

Tried levering out and turning at same time and no progress - nut just spinning on the thread.

Looks like 3 of the 4 nuts are doing the same - on the other one, a nut is turning but is the actual shaft which appears to unscrewing from the head.

Is this bad news? Seems pretty woesome to me....!!!

Don't panic .......Don't panic



They are only studs, (Item 5 in image?)....(Like a bolt without a head, or a bit of rod threaded at each end).
Best thing to do is remove the one that is unscrewing from the head and you will see how they fit.
Normally if you can run another nut down on to the original nut and tighten the two nuts up against each other you should be able to unscrew the stud from the head, which seems is happening with the one that is turning....'the actual shaft..appears to be unscrewing from the head'.
With the damaged threads this may not be possible. May have to split the nuts if all else fails, and use mole grips or something similar to get the studs out if their threads are damaged.

Mike

[orangebooboobearcrew]

Thanks Mike - you have made me feel much better now that you put it like that.

I'm still kicking myself though for being such a t*@t though!

I will have another go in the morning and try and remove the stud that's spinning using your double nut technique and will probably go and buy a nut splitter to crack the others off.

If I do need to replace the studs - where can I get these from? Also, if it's not damaged, what do I do, just screw it back in to the head with some Loctite on it? (Sorry, this is all new territory for me!)



Cheers,

Chris

[Grun]

Chris,
Item 5..........Part number 021101397 (in 'VAGCAT')

They are probably a general sort of stud........ should think they could be found in a motor factors.
Don't know though, never had a 2 litre Aircooled,
got a 1600 in my old Bay, and a 2.1 waterbiscuit in the Autocreeper.

A bit of loctite should do no harm on the head end of the stud, don't strong arm them though, head is alloy after all.

Mike

[CovKid]

Easily done, so don't chastise yourself too much. 10lb is actually a light nip up with a 10" socket bar pulling with fingers rather than whole arm. I used a torque wrench many years ago when I first started but quickly got a'feel' for it and no longer need one now. Its still in the drawer for anything over 30lb tho

[Grun]

Chris,

The drawing in this link.............

http://www.vwheritage.com/vwh/VW-Camper ... lateID=vwh" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

seems to show the stud having a larger diameter thread at the end which screws into the head, in which case they may not be so easy to find in a motor factors for instance. (But what do I know?.... in the sticks here!) And it won't be so easy to get out the stud as it will not go through the shaft support (mounting) There appears to be two parts to the rocker shafts on the 2 litre according to the only book I have. Best get those nuts off!!

Heritage may be one source. (5..... Stud, rocker shaft, T4 1.7-2.0 [021-101-397] £2.40)......... looks like the one to me.

Mike

[Rozzo]

PLEASE THROW THE TORQUE WRENCH AWAY IMMEDIATELY
just get a feeling for when things are tight,,,, try to remember how much effort you needed to remove it and use a similar ammount to tighten it up.
hope everything works out ok.

[HarryMann]

the 11 lb specified

Don't throw away the torque wrench, just use it for anything above 20 or so lb.ft (and try testing it on the bench to get it to crack at a sensibel figure first)

They have a habit of sticking, depending on the type or the therad was indeed weak, but always be prepared for the pit of the stomach feeling, and STOP turning

Specialist small lb-inch torque wrenches are used for 11 lb-ft (= 132 lb-ins) or work it out by feel (a 9" is 3/4 of a foot, so pull about 16 lbs on spanner (not much))

[Rozzo]

yeh carry on using it and strip yer headstuds etc too

[HarryMann]

Check it with a fishing spring balance...

Youwouldn't be doing diesel head studs up by guessing

[highlander]

DONT guess torque settings!!! that is shocking a good quality torque wrench used properly is what you need!!!!

[orangebooboobearcrew]

thanks everyone - particularly Mike for all your help and looking up where I can get the studs from,etc - it is very much appreciated!

I couldnt find a nut splitter at Halfords - my local store only had one that does 12 - 16mm nuts.

Is there another way to get the nuts off? I'm wondering whether there is enough room to get a nut splitter in?

Regarding replacing the shafts, has anyone done this or know how to do it? Is it simply(?!) a matter of unscrewing the old shaft and screwing a new one in or is it a head off job / job for a mechanic? I was hoping to avoid costly garage bills hence why I had a go myself (plus wanting to learn how to do it) - but that doesn't seem such a good idea now!

Thanks,

Chris

[orangebooboobearcrew]

Sorry, also - what size would these nuts be - 10mm?

Many thanks,

Chris