Club 80-90 Forums

Well ive desided to take the plunge and have a go at repairing my engine its got leaking water jackets on both sides and there getting worse and as i'm booked in for an lpg conversion in about a month i thought id better get it done before i go or i might not get there, any tips welcome ive pulled lots of Aircooled engines out of bugs and busses but not a watercooled 2.1 with all the injection system i feel a little out of my depth
I suppose gen vw seals are the best to get or is there an aftermarket up grade ?
Ive not had the bus two minutes and its allready being stripped down im getting too old for this

There was some talk about the quality of gasket sets on here a while ago, I believe beaker will know which is the best set to go for, or Mr Baxter.

If you have dropped a Aircooled, then a 2.1 wont be any prob, just a few extra wires and pipes, the engine remains complete if you want, or you can strip it as required.

Hi Auto, I know exactly what you mean by getting too old for it. I spent years and years swapping out and rebuilding bug engines and I find it just that bit tougher now getting back out from underneath even if all the knowledge is there.

Its all familiar territory once you get down to he block except that parts are extortionate compared to bugs. I did succesfully fit a bug lump in a crewcab in the early 90s with an obvious advantage in terms of repair but have to concede that modern engines are far more efficient now so will be going for major transplant the next and hopefully last time. Its about time someone came up with bullet-proof gaskets tho.

Thanks for the quick reply ive only a haynes at the moment is it worth getting a bentlys book ?
my engines done around 70,000 miles and runs ok but when its been stud for a while it sounds tappity on start up then once warmed up it goes quite are there any other little jobs that i might do to to keep it alive wilst its out? any tips on the difficult bits,
Oh and its bolted on to an auto but not me

Auto wrote: when its been stud for a while it sounds tappity on start up then once warmed up it goes quite

Perfectly normal the answer is to run it.

Ian

Brickwerks has a good range of engine gaskets and seals available (or very soon to be available!!)

Auto wrote:Thanks for the quick reply ive only a haynes at the moment is it worth getting a bentlys book ?
my engines done around 70,000 miles and runs ok but when its been stud for a while it sounds tappity on start up then once warmed up it goes quite are there any other little jobs that i might do to to keep it alive wilst its out? any tips on the difficult bits,
Oh and its bolted on to an auto but not me

I would very strongly recomend a Bentleys as there are many areas which are not covered by Haynes and some of which can cause problems if not attended to. When removing my transmission assy I built a timber bridge over the engine access aperture and used string hoist to support the engine. I would try the same approach if changing the engine and would be interested to hear the views of others. I believe they all sound tappity but provided it goes away in a mile or two no harm can be done providing the oil is good. I am a grea believer in photographing stuff as you pull it down and marking up even the most obvious connectors. My Modeo nearly defeated me by having two identical connectors on the same wireing loom limb!
Cheers
Ken

Give us a shout if you get stuck

Cheers Mark thats very kind of you i might have to do that but we will see how it goes

got a bentley as well , but the haynes covers it all apart from the injection system which you wont be touching really

Thanks again Mark but ive just posted a wanted ad for one, im sure if i do get one it will be very useful
But if i cant get one i may need to borrow yours if thats ok

Are there any other little jobs that i might do to help keep it alive whilst it's out?

Check end-float of crank, crank oil seal at flywheel end for any signs of leaking, spigot bearing not broken, or rough.
Be careful bashing any of the solid coolant pipes, check the long one down n/s from oil/water heat exchanger looks OK from all angles (they develop pin-hole cracks), normally rust from inside out so you could pop a hose off and see how good it looks, but if corroded on outside you can wire-brush and paint to put a stop to that.

Gearbox, check play (wobble) in input shaft, input shaft bearing in bellhousing for leaking. Freeplay of clucth operating arm in bushes, grind any burrs off the operating forks. Clutch thrust bearing for roughness, an opportunity to change clutch if you want to. You could also fully drain and change oil in gearbox, checking for 'big' bits coming out through sieve as well as the fir-tree on drain plug, but at least inspect all the casing joins for corrosion, esp. around the bolts. Lightly check that all those securing screws are tight, if you find one will tighten a bit then look closer for corrosion, any oil weep between casings or at bolts means bye-bye box in a year or two at best.

If you want the DJ system to remain trouble-free, remove, clean, deal with any salt/green/corrosion and re-make all the engine earths, apply vaseline or Holts No-Crode and check the condition of the wiring to all the temp senders, oil pressure and water temps, esp the thermostat region.

If you want fun, a good opportunity to replace all the exhaust studs/nuts/bolts with new ones, and have a good look a round.

Every hose you remove is a potential for trouble in future, so ensure the ends aren't perished badly on the inside and go back onto a good clean stub, with a decent clip.

Drain and change the whole coolant volume, rad'n all. Try not to get rubbish in the coolant system.

Generally, wherever you go on electrical connections, inspect for corrosion products, usually white salts.. try to clean without removing the original plating, e.g brass brush, electrical cleaners, not brutal treatment with coarse emery cloth!

Re-make good engine and gearbox earths, can be quite brutal with them, but protect with grease or paint afterwards

Wish you hadn't asked