1.9DG Oil pressure gone

[silverbullet]

Indeed they are sold for just that. Chris Corkins warned me off using the 30mm unless the engine has piston crown oil jets (turbo), all it will do on an otherwise standard engine is overwork the oil and then you end up wasting hp to have even hotter oil...

[Tee Three]

The saga continues.....

Silver bullet was right in the concerns for the bearings

I fitted my new standard pump and oil pressure was up over 2 bar with a hot engine...but..there was a very faint bottom end knock down there

Being totally fecked off and with the previously well running engine not really having the horses to get me up steep hills, I had decided to bring my long term plan of going Subaru into action.

I've acquired a nice 2001 EJ25 Normally aspirated Legacy with tons of FSH main dealer receipts, serviced every 7-8000 miles, runs great and soon to have Head gaskets etc done prior to transplant.... However, RJES is waiting on some bell housings and Iv'e been given round about a month or so until I can get my greasy hands on one.

Given the need to have my bus for a long planned (site booked and paid for) trip to the French Alps, I decided to get the DG apart and address the issue.

I took the engine out last weekend and whilst stripping it down was surprised to feel and hear something rattling around inside?? The only thing I could think of was the pick up pipe/strainer..
as the casings split I could see it was indeed so! The pick up strainer had cracked just where it bolts down to the crank case.
Luckily I see the hole the pipe fits into is below the oil level, and this is obviously the culprit to my 'oil pressure light comes on whilst braking hard' post from last May!

Inspecting the bearing shells they don't look too bad, they are worn a little but there's no deep scores and the crank looks fine.

I ordered my new bearings for big end, mains and camshaft together with new flywheel bolts and oil pump nuts....Just ready to rebuild and I've realised the con rod bolts are the stretch type I know I shouldn't really need to ask this but I'm chomping at the bit...has anybody had a problem re-using the stretch bolts?

[Tee Three]

Oil pick up pipe/strainer repair...

[silverbullet]

My DJ was wrecked due to the strainer mesh being clogged with silicone clag, after a prevous part- rebuilder used the wrong sealant on the oil interwarmer...

Make sure that the pickup is spotless (wash in brake cleaner and blow out with an airline once dry) and bond it into the case with hydraulic sealant

[Tee Three]

Cheers SB

There was quite a bit of sealant on the strainer mesh, I got rid of the bulk of it though you can see there is still some more to shift

Any comment on the con rod stretch bolts? I suppose I should get some ordered in and not take the chance of broken bolt/rod trashing all the hard work

Incidentally, I spoke with Heritage who were sincerely sympathetic to my plight regarding the oil pump (I had spent quite a few quid with them during the rebuild) and whilst the pump was not up to scratch It was two years since I had bought it. (And I'm fully aware of who's to say the engine was in great bottom end condition anyway?... Not that that was said)
The pump drive shafts are a common part with schadek and my shaft must have been pushed onto the gear too far

As I was just wanting to sell the DG and any internal damage was an unknown entity they kindly agreed to donate a full gasket set to the cause for me to throw in with the sale. I gratefully accepted and was happy at that.... I will remain a customer of theirs in future

1983 Westy Pop Top DG1.9

[Bubble Meister]

I have similar issues: oil P light under braking or after motorway driving. You say the strainer is attached to the crank case, can you elaborate: can it be tightened from the outside? Why was it causing the pressure drop? Could you attach a photo please? Ive never seen inside the engine. Thank you.

[Tee Three]

Hi Bubble

Please see attached pic, this is how I found the strainer upon separation of the crankcase halves

You will see the small lug with the protruding thread just above the round disc shaped strainer, this is held on by a socket head screw which when the engine is fitted is located on the underside of the the crankcase/sump not too far away from the sump plug. If this screw would have worked loose the sump wouldn't hold any oil as it would drain out through the hole.

The reason I suspect my oil light was coming on is that the hole the oil pick up pipe fits into is on the rear end (oil pump end) of the engine. this hole sits below the oil level and during sedate driving the pump would be drawing oil through the hole. Once braking hard, the oil would surge to the front of the sump thereby temporarily taking the oil away from the hole and oil pump and causing a flickering on of the oil light.

At first, before engine strip down I checked the oil pressure with a cheap gauge of ebay. As this would be the first thing to check. The pressure was good (before the oil pump problem) and so I didn't worry too much about it. I also recently noted the different coloured (and rated) oil pressure switches and realised mine was not the recommended 'blue' one. Thinking this may have been the cause of the oil light flicker, I changed it for the blue one.

It wasn't until I stripped the engine I realised it must've been the pick up pipe/strainer that was causing the problem.

I would think this quite a rare thing to happen, though I'm new to working on the WBX boxer.

Hope this helps.


1983 Pop Top westy DG1.9

[Bubble Meister]

Thank you, that's spot on. I suspect my strainer / pick up is loose to or cracked hence the temporary oil light flicker on heavy braking. I think I'll live with it though.

[silverbullet]

Con rod bolts. Are they available again? The last source was vwbusshop (gunzl)
Its actually cheaper to buy nos rod sets - while they are available - than recon old rods. Then always benefit from re-sizing the big end and the little ends will need bushing & sizing.
BW get them in from Classic Parts on request but Heriyage may have stock ready to go, but sometimes dearer.
PS dont re-use stretch bolts. Its just not worth the risk.

[Tee Three]

I'd be checking my oil pressure though for peace of mind.....

See below the very sound advice from Itchyfeet from my old post 'oil light comes on when braking (very) hard' from last May:

If the revs drop below normal idle when breaking or for any other reason then the light can flicker on, you can try adjusting up the idle stop screw slightly but it may be a sign it's not running quite right, timing or air leak or something similar.

still worth checking oil pressure on any wbx even if you had no reason, just to know what condition it's in.

You can buy a wet portable guage for 30 quid, better than paying somebody as you can monitor it every year when you service.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Engine-Oi" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 3f2ece50aa

Bentley states 2bar min at 2000 rpm with oil at 85degc, thats after a good run, switch off fit guage ( need to remove tin guard beforehand) start up and temp will be about right
worth taking measurements at idle and 3000rpm also

I have not bolted my tin pushrod guard back to exhaust, on late you have studs and guard can stretch over, on early
not so easy as its bolts.

P.S. There is also two good pictures showing the gauge in place on the post but I don't know how to paste em' on to my post

Cheers

Greg

1983 Pop Top Westy 1.9 DG

[silverbullet]

PPS the NOS rods come with bolts and nuts

[Tee Three]

Cheers Sb

I see heritage are out of stock or they're discontinued

Brickwerks have some listed for the ? diesel? AAZ or th 1Y?

I have emailed the question to them and I will now look at Gunzl's, though as you say, a rod set maybe the way to go as they come with new reamed out small ends and new bolts.

My quick repair bill is starting to make my eyes water

[silverbullet]

Diesel bolts are completely different. Pretty sure that wbx rods are on the BW webshop.
Convert it to a 2.1 with a crank and pistons, you wont regret it. Cam is required but yours is probably worn out anyway.
WBX are expensive to rebuild properly, but try Subaru for oem spares.
The EJ is now a classic engine too...

[Tee Three]

Thanks again sb

As my EJ25 is waiting in the wings I'll just get the new rods for the DG and re-build as standard, even though I haven't measured the lobes, visual inspection of the camshaft looks excellent....It is a vw factory recon unit and still has the milled finish on the pistons.

All I did on the previous rebuild was change a couple of valves and regrind the seats. I didn't explore further into the bottom end as top ends looked so good, though I replaced all ancillary components- water & fuel pumps, that ridiculous 30mm oil pump. The flywheel was re-faced. And I rebuilt the Pierburg carb with all new diaphragms, seals and gaskets and valve, new choke pull down unit and auto choke unit. The manifold heater is brand new too, though I've bypassed the operating relay with a dash mounted switch. I just switch it on for 10-20 seconds when starting from cold.

With the crankcases finished with a nice coat of satin black, the vapour blasted heads and induction manifold it looked really neat....Freshly spray painted tin ware and a new exhaust finished off the ensenble...It looked that nice I wanted to get me willy out and rub it all over it....Ahem...sorry, I was getting carried away there

After transplant of the EJ25 I'm not sure whether or not to put the DG to one side as a standby emergency engine or sell it to recoup some dosh....probably the latter I think

1983 Pop Top Westy 1.9DG

[silverbullet]

I have tried in vain to get a quart from the pint pot that is a DG. Its just not man enough to move the bulk of a 1-ton van (although pretty much unburstable)

A good fresh 2.1 really is a delight, the MV that I built for Aidan ended up in a syncro Westy California on ovetsize tyres and it really did go quite well.

DJ motors have that bit more "punch" but really need 97 octane and a timing tweak at the very least.

The cam should always be checked with a micrometer. Base circle is 31mm, DG have slightly more inlet lift than exhaust. Can't recall the numbers just now.
If it looks anything other than a uniform grey across the lobes i.e. speckled or pitted, then it's done.