Splitting the crankcase

[irish.david]

I know this is a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" type question but....

I'm half way through an engine overhaul and have got the heads off and the pistons out. What i'm now debating is whether it's worth splitting the crankcase. There doesn't seem to be any play in the big ends or main bearings so i'm pretty sure they're ok. Only reason i can see to do it would be to check out the camshaft and clean out all the gunk at the bottom of the sump. Is splitting the crankcase an easy thing to do or is it going to be more trouble than it's worth?

Dave

PS: Is there a gasket between the 2 halves? I had a look on Vagcat and couldn't see one.

[VWCamperfan]

More trouble than its worth! This is definatly a case of 'If it aint broke, dont fix it!'.
Would use an engine flush to clear out any crap when reassembled, then put in new oil and filter.
There's no seal/gasket between the two halves, just a smear of jointing compound. Make sure both halves are clean before re-sealing and smearing though.

[wasserleaker]

if you do decice to go the whole way, remember that DJ big end caps have stretch bolts which can't be re-used, and will set you back about 60 quid to replace! or you can use the rigid 1.9 type bolts if you can get some secondhand cheap, also check the cam lobes very carefully with a bright light for signs of pitting on the lobes, remember these cams work twice as hard as an inline 4 engine cam, as each lobe has to move two pushrods!
mine was pitted and a bit undersize on the lobe height, and was very expensive to replace from VW, but i wanted to do it right, all in all replacing anything remotely suspect and doing it yourself is, i think, a much better option than risking a cheap 'recon' engine, and will still be cheaper, if you can do most of the work yourself

[wasserleaker]

if you do decice to go the whole way, remember that DJ big end caps have stretch bolts which can't be re-used, and will set you back about 60 quid to replace! or you can use the rigid 1.9 type bolts if you can get some secondhand cheap, also check the cam lobes very carefully with a bright light for signs of pitting on the lobes, remember these cams work twice as hard as an inline 4 engine cam, as each lobe has to move two pushrods!
mine was pitted and a bit undersize on the lobe height, and was very expensive to replace from VW, but i wanted to do it right, all in all replacing anything remotely suspect and doing it yourself is, i think, a much better option than risking a cheap 'recon' engine, and will still be cheaper, if you can do most of the work yourself

[wasserleaker]

if you do decice to go the whole way, remember that DJ big end caps have stretch bolts which can't be re-used, and will set you back about 60 quid to replace! or you can use the rigid 1.9 type bolts if you can get some secondhand cheap, also check the cam lobes very carefully with a bright light for signs of pitting on the lobes, remember these cams work twice as hard as an inline 4 engine cam, as each lobe has to move two pushrods!
mine was pitted and a bit undersize on the lobe height, and was very expensive to replace from VW, but i wanted to do it right, all in all replacing anything remotely suspect and doing it yourself is, i think, a much better option than risking a cheap 'recon' engine, and will still be cheaper, if you can do most of the work yourself

[wasserleaker]

oops! sorry, dont know why it did that, must have been worth saying thrice.