Club 80-90 Forums

Aidan wrote:vacuum unit is on upside down Patrick, spigots face down on the gearbox, up on the front diff, not so much of a problem on a diesel (or il4) but on a wbx the starter motor is where your spigots are now facing

Poo! I spent ages deciding it as well, but no photo taken or memory of how it was. Getting the pin in was a fiddle as well! That's first job this morning.

Betterer! At least I could just swivel it around without driving out the split pin.


So the inspection port gets repurposed as the upper breather hole?

I haven't got the hoses so thats another bit to order.

Can't put tank back in today as forgot to order replacement fuel lines. Bliddy annoyed with myself. The breather valves on the new tank are not broken, so thats one cost saved.

Bentley page 20.34 (not in the contents page annoyingly so I had to look at every page to see if this was documented), pictures the fuel line routes so I now know its the return line which comes in through the sender onto the strainer bucket.

Will spend the day painting the rust out of the engine bay and popping new bits onto the AGG - oil and water pumps, plugs, thermostat cover, timing belt etc.

top inspection port would have a steel tube in it for the rubber hose, you could just get the plug for that and put a blanking plug on the lower one, you will still have the drain hole in the bottom which probably doesn't have the brown plastic wading plug in it so it's not watertight and the AGG won't stress the clutch as you are running 228mm so breathers for bellhousing probably not necessary, which "pooh" plate are you using ?

Did the vac unit need turning? I thought the fuel tank had been changed for a td one as this is an inline, so everything external should be derv-a-like, not wbx stylee.

If you grind the other captive nut off the actuator bracket and assemble with nuts and bolts , bolts from the top, nuts under, if you have probs with the difflock the actuator can be removed without removing the driveshaft

Hope that makes sense !!!

Regards Baz

Aidan wrote:top inspection port would have a steel tube in it for the rubber hose, you could just get the plug for that and put a blanking plug on the lower one, you will still have the drain hole in the bottom which probably doesn't have the brown plastic wading plug in it so it's not watertight and the AGG won't stress the clutch as you are running 228mm so breathers for bellhousing probably not necessary, which "pooh" plate are you using ?

Hum, don't like the ideas of not being watertight and not having a breather. I've got the plug for the top hole, so will buy the hose for the lower hole. For the drain hole, can I tap it and fit a bolt? Anything special to do when tapping a bell-housing?

silverbullet wrote:Did the vac unit need turning? I thought the fuel tank had been changed for a td one as this is an inline, so everything external should be derv-a-like, not wbx stylee.

Yep its a derv tank, so starter up out of the way. You're probably right, but no harm in swivelling it around to the correct orientation, just in case there's a problem further down the line. I am somewhat reliant on the people who've been there before me sharing their wisdom.

Syncrobaz wrote:If you grind the other captive nut off the actuator bracket and assemble with nuts and bolts , bolts from the top, nuts under, if you have probs with the difflock the actuator can be removed without removing the driveshaft

Hope that makes sense !!!

Regards Baz

Now that sounds like a good idea. I do get sick of removing driveshafts, so anything that'll reduce that activity is welcome.

Fuel hose - what to buy? I'm confused. Help!
BW sell:-
5.5mm Overbraid Hose
3.2mm FPM/ECO Hose
5.5mm FPM/ECO Hose
7.3mm FPM/ECO Hose
11.5mm FPM/ECO Hose

5.5mm overbraid for the two tank breathers I understand.
3.2mm FPM is not used on a Syncro.
5.5mm FPM for engine return to sender?
7.3mm FPM for the fuel pump to filter, plus from filter to engine?
11.5mm FPM for tank to filler breather, plus from tank to fuel pump?
I ask as I've measured the ID of the removed hoses and some are 6.5mm, so neither 5.5 or 7.3. Either the wrong sizes had been fitted or my measuring isn't very good, but I can't find definitive info.

Overbraid can give problems if frequently wetted, I have yet to inspect mine several years down the line to see if its still ok. Something to do with the ethanol content of modern bleifrei...
5.5 will go onto a bigger spigot ok, you dont want them to be a loose fit.

sealing the bellhousing is like everything in life a compromise, if you seal it and you have an oil leak into the bellhosuing you will quickly contaminate the clutch
land rover way is to have a braether bung leave out and a hole in the dash where it screws in handy and before you do a ford or river crossing you put the bung in and take it out after you have dried the brakes out and put it back in the dash
We have underbody protection that is in the way of accessing the bottom of the bellhousing
on a wbx there is a gap for the oil to escape on the block and on the syncro there was a very special rubber flap fitted there to allow oil past but to limit water suck in the event of immersion in cold water and there is a breather pipe at the top to allow for air pressure equalisation - flap nearly always missing now
The original diesel syncros would have been silicon sealed at the edges and starter motor and the bellhousing was totally sealed effectively - by 1989 VW had decided this wasn't right, either overheating or contaminating clutches or water ingress in cold plunge situations or something I know not so they modified it and came up with what you have - I think the steel pipe for the top may still be available from classic, then 2 rubber pipes like ships breathers up to top of engine acting as air path through bellhousing fan assisted by the flywheel and clutch itself and the bottom drain hole in the case of oil weep into bellhousing, leave it out and fit when wading, but you can't easily get at it like you can on a land rover axle so left in , most are missing, you could tap it but any small plastic bung will do
Do any of the diesel boys with the late breather pipe set up notice clutch dust being deposited out of one or other rubber hose ?

5.5mm for a 6mm spigot.
7.3mm for a 8mm spigot.
FPM is what you want, suitable for 100% ethanol or 100% RME.
We only use the yarn overbraid stuff for vac hoses now, old standard and not suitable for modern fuels.
Epdm for coolant.

Don't the AGG use polyamide fuel lines? 8mm feed, 6mm return?
We have adapters to shrink down the outlet from the syncro tank to something sensible.

I've never noticed any dust coming out the breathers, one day I'll climb under and see if I have this bung at the bottom..

Adapter was already on the webshop, thought it was one of those things we had here that never made the shop.
Its here.
Terrible picture but it's here in place.