[Vwdiesel] pulling pistons for bearings and rings

[James Hansen]

You can't say enough about changing the intermed shaft bearings.
Unless you know you had REALLY good oil pressure before teardown, I wouldn't
trust the intermed shaft bearings.  Lots of folks have been burned by this,
namely by doing an in frame overhaul and had no oil pressure at the head
after from bad intermed shaft bearings losing all the oil.
-james

> -----Original Message-----
> From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com]
> On Behalf Of Rudy
> Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2009 1:15 PM
> To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] pulling pistons for bearings and rings
> 
> Just pull the Engine and Transmission out the top as a unit and work on
> it
> on the Floor.  It'll only take a few more hours to do that and much
> easier
> to work on than it will be to do all that in frame.
> 
> If Engine is out you can also change the Intermediate Shaft Bearings
> and
> also won't have to fight with the two or three Oil Pan Bolts that are
> between the Engine and the Transmission.  I've done a few in frame, now
> I
> always pull the whole mess and put it on the floor, much easier.
> 
> Rudy
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com]
> On
> Behalf Of Erik Lane
> Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2009 12:06 PM
> To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] pulling pistons for bearings and rings
> 
> Yeah, very easy to pull the pistons without pulling the crank out. In
> fact
> I'm pretty sure it's standard to pull the pistons first and then the
> crank.
> At least that's always the way I've done it because I don't want too
> many
> pieces loose and able to fall out at once. I don't want to score the
> cylinder walls or any other machined surface.
> 
> As far as the honing grit, I would put old plastic bread bags or
> shopping
> bags over the crank to help deflect them. Just kind of stuffed in
> there,
> nothing fancy. At the very worst it couldn't be any worse than leaving
> it
> off.
> 
> I've never tried to hone it in the car, and if it were me I'd be super
> careful about getting anything down on the crank. And then go crazy
> cleaning
> it after. Though if it were me I'd be very reluctant to hone it with
> the
> crank still down there. It is a lot of extra work to get the crank out
> if
> you're not wanting to pull the engine out, but then you can't get to
> the
> rear main seal, and possibly not the front, either. I would definitely
> want
> to replace those on a minor rebuild like this, especially that it was
> worn
> and using oil. If you just pull the tranny you can get to the crank and
> do
> just a little more of a rebuild on the engine, which is what I would
> do.
> 
> Good luck!
> Erik
> 
> On Sun, May 17, 2009 at 9:29 AM, mikitka <mikitka at embarqmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > You can pull the pistons out from the top no problem.  I did to
> > re-ring my 1.6l TD 91 jetta. I did it in the car as well.  There are
> > several that have done it and even rehoned it while in the car. You
> > just have to clean up the cylinders really well when you are done.
> > Some have used Total Seal rings, I just went back with standard rings
> from
> Hastings.
> >
> > I would replace the bearings as well. Not hard and since you are that
> > far may as well.
> >
> > Nic
> >
> >
> >
> > The old pickup 1.6NA is torn apart on the stand.  It was burning a
> ton
> > of oil, smoking and starting to run away.  I was expecting to do a
> > full rebuild.
> >
> > (Engine was running when pulled)
> >
> > The valves in the head are very loose, and the exhaust ones are quite
> > worn.
> >
> > As for the block, there's just a little carbon at the ridge - I can
> > catch my fingernail on it - but not much else.  I can still see
> > hatching in the cylinder.
> >
> > The block has an official VW reman sticker on it, makes me wonder
> what
> > size bearings and pistons I've got.
> >
> > I pulled #3 main, and the green plastigauge says it's within specs
> for
> > NEW bearings.  I pulled the #1 rod bearing and the green plastigauge
> > says it too is within specs for NEW bearings!
> >
> > I suppose I should pull all the caps and plastigauge them, but...
> >
> > At least I'd like to throw on new rings while I've got it apart.
> >
> > According to the book I've got to pull the crank to get the pistons
> out.
> > (and according to my mechanic buddy, I should pull it before honing
> > the cylinder wall anyway)
> >
> > Or is there a way to pull the pistons out the top and run a quick
> hone
> > in the cylinder?
> >
> > This is my first try getting into the engine guts.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Will.
> >
> >
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