engine rebuild trouble

[itchyfeet]

Well they are not an elastic seal, they are soft metal so I'd say they are a one time use seal, once you have torqued the head they will be distorted to the imperfections.
I'd also check the top barrel green seals look in good condition.

[agnew1985]

Damn, thats a pain. I'll try and find some that are in stock. Thanks for telling me!

[itchyfeet]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/025101343B-Ba ... 43c41bfa8b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.vwbusshop.de/epages/GuenzlCl ... rchButton=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You may get away with refitting the old ones but I wouldn't do it, not worth my time and the hassle if it fails.

[agnew1985]

There's life!!!! Just! I put the new seals in and put the head back on and the van is now starting However, it only stays running while the throttle is open. As soon as i take my foot off the accelerator it cuts out. Also I now have more problems with the starter. When I turn the key, more often than not the starter fails to turn. There is a click at the solenoid but no action! Sometimes it goes so its intermittent. I get 12 volts at the solenoid but further than that I don't know as it got dark! I really feel like I'm getting somewhere and I'm so grateful for the help getting here.

[agnew1985]

Also, the starter is new and I did experience this same fault on the old starter when I first got the van a year ago but it just stopped happening so I ignored it at the time.

[silverbullet]

No idle still points to an air leak. Split servo hose is another hidden culprit. A torn diaphragm in the distributor capsule can also pass a lot of air...

[ermie571]

woohoo!!!

Em
xx

(12v at the idle cut off on the carb? if not...it won't idle...)

[itchyfeet]

And a woohoo from me.

Run it a while with brick on throttle, and check compression, keep doing it over the next few weeks to see whats happening.
Bleed the cooling system.
Check timing with a strobe
Go looking for those airleaks with wd40
Check earth strap on gearbox and battery
Try a fused bypass wire to the solenoid, this bypasses ignition wiring, need a fat cable if coming from battery

[lefty67]

Out of curiosity did you get the engine sorted Nick? Great to see all the advice and your perseverance got it firing but did you get all the other issues fixed?

[agnew1985]

Hi everyone, so sorry for silence, I've been swamped with work. I haven't really had a chance to spend any time on the van the last couple of weeks but hope to be back out with it soon. I really am so grateful for all the advice and I will certainly let you know how I get on.

[agnew1985]

Hi everyone, I know its been ages on this but here's an update. After my last post the starter stopped turning completely. I had 12 volts arriving from the battery, but nothing from the ignition switch. I live in Devon but had been doing the work at my parents in law in Birmingham. Obviously this was making my time on the van limited after a summer break. In the end, I passed the van to a garage I thought I trusted but... after nearly 3 months with them it has arrived back at my parents in law, not fixed and with smoke now pouring out of the dash! I wont go into the details of the garage but needless to say I'm unimpressed! This is the reason for such a long gap on this thread, so sorry about that - its not that I didn't want to keep everyone who has helped me updated, I have just had no update!

So, I have taken the dash off to try and find the source of the smoke (only appeared when the key was turned and battery connected) but typically, now the dash is off there is no smoke! No idea where it came from in the first place - certainly wasn't there before the garage got hold of it! Then took the starter off to check it on the bench - it worked - put it back on and at the moment it is turning the engine! So now I'm back to the issue of the engine not idling (as previously mentioned). I wont be able to do anymore until Christmas but I didn't wan't to appear discourteous to everyone who spent time helping me out.

[itchyfeet]

Good to see you are still at it.
Sorrg to hear you trusted it to a garage, very few around that know anything about old vehicles anymore.
smoke will be wires or connectors melting due to a short circuit.
fuses only blow if the short is after the fusebox, there are no fuses befors the fusebox so many wires are essentially unfused, short thdm and they get verg hot until the plastic burns off.
look where the smoke came from for melted wires, they may still work but may touch again causing a fire so worth investigating.

[itchyfeet]

Oh yes, too late now but don't bench run wbx starters you can damage them, they only have a bearing one end, the other bearing is in the gearbox so they need to be fitted to stop the armature hitting ths body as it spins.
looks like its not damaged it if its working, probably just bad contacts on the starter motor.

[agnew1985]

I've managed to get a couple of days on the van as I'm visiting the in-laws for new year! Obviously the electrics are still playing up but I've started another thread for that. However, when the starter turns (which was most of the time today!) I can get the engine to fire, but 75% of the time it won't idle but cuts out with a thump and when it does idle, it either cuts out after a minute or so on its own or when i try to give it some revs. I've put a couple of vids on youtube and the links are here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frs7l37 ... vewO_LINKw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRvG18U ... Kw&index=2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I know there's not a alot to look at but I thought it might give some idea of the sound of the thumps when it gets close to cutting out and also a curios hissing/ whistling sound which can just be heard in the secnd link. It seemed to be coming from the left side of the engine but I was struggling to pin it down. I sprayed a bit of carb cleaner around various seal points on that side but nothing changed. I'm wondering if it could be the brake servo non return valve? I took it off with its opaque pipe but cant see anything obviously wrong with it. Does this sound like an air leak? I was thinking about replacing the valve along with all vacuum hoses...

Happy New Year to everyone and thanks for any thoughts.

[kevtherev]

That's a cold engine yes?
So is the choke working, is the flap closing over the venturi?