[Vwdiesel] [Audi-VW-Diesels] Head Bolts and more

[James Hansen]

120 grit plumber's style emery roll to dress the sealing area. You want the
finished scratch marks to be entirely radial.

Replace the intermediate shaft bearings. Get the machine shop to press them
in for you after the dunk tank. They go in with an installer like a cam
bearing installer for a pushrod v-8. They are a wearing item, and the prime
cause for low oil pressure in a rebuild.  They see very little wear, yes.
They should be good, yes. Either you replace them using the same logic you
are using to replace the mains and rods, or you don't.  If you do one, do
the rest, dunk the block, pressure wash it until you are soaked, dry it with
applied heat and wd-40 the interior bearing surfaces, cam bearing journals,
oil galleries to prevent rust.   After teardown, with NO machine work other
than a light hone to prepare the cylinders for rings, I wash the block of a
stock car motor for over half an hour at 3500 psi to get it clean.  You
can't get it clean enough, get all that old paint off, inside and out, all
the stuff that will fall off later and be a problem.

Plastigauge. Is a guideline, nothing more.
Your eyeballs are worth all the plastigauge in the world.  Go here, read,
reference, etc.

http://catalog.mahleclevite.com/bearing/

there are 25 sections to look at there is lots to learn there. That one link
is worth all your internet service for the next ten years alone.

-james


-----Original Message-----
From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
Behalf Of Dave Cook
Sent: February-07-11 10:17 AM
To: VW Diesel Group
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] [Audi-VW-Diesels] Head Bolts and more

You recommend replacing the intermediate shaft bearings?

Bentley says these are subject to very little wear, and if they did wear
then engine block replacement may be necessary.  The manual does suggest
pulling the intermediate shaft at rebuilding, though, to clean that area up
too and make sure there is no gunk or particles in there that could do
damage.

Ok, so I guess I will get some plastigauge and the bearings, do
measurements, and determine what to do.  If the plastigauge looks OK, I can
return the bearings.  I guess I just turn the block upside down, unbolt the
caps, and lift it out, keeping track of where everything came from.
Correct?

Anyone have any thoughts about what to do about the flywheel end of the
crank having a little surface rust?  (The area of concern is where this
contacts the oil seal.)  Will steel wool be enough to clean that up so the
seal doesn't leak?

I'm hoping to seriously work on putting the engine together next weekend, so
I'm trying to learn as much as possible.

Dave Cook


--- On Mon, 2/7/11, Val Christian <val at mongo.mongobird.com> wrote:

> From: Val Christian <val at mongo.mongobird.com>
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] [Audi-VW-Diesels] Head Bolts and more
> To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> Date: Monday, February 7, 2011, 3:36 PM
> > I think the only question I have
> with this is, is there any reason besides =
> > "it might not be necessary" to consider *NOT*
> replacing the bearings?  =
> 
> Yes, I once had a replacement journal bearing fail about
> 500 hours after
> replacement.  It was a case where it was not
> necessary, based upon
> the wear pattern, etc.  My mentors admonished me,
> saying that these
> things happen, and I should not just going replacing things
> that are 
> working on an otherwise good engine.
> 
> Lesson learned.
> 
> The reality is that I rebearinged two VW diesel
> engines.  neither needed
> it, and I just thought I was buying mroe time and doing the
> job right.
> Later, after doing post-mortems on every high time VW
> engines I had
> owned since "0" time, I found that many of the things I had
> spent money
> and time on were pointless.
> 
> Bearings - with acceptable wear pattern and good plastigage
> readings,
> I will not as a matter of routine replace any more.  
> 
> Imtermediate shaft bearings - I think should be replaced
> when opportunity 
> presents itself.
> 
> I'm sure the group could create a list of these things, and
> we could 
> argue over where on the list any particular item
> belonged.  
> 
> Then again, I've stopped changing clutches, until they
> start slipping.
> In all my VW diesel driving, I have yet to wear one
> out...even with
> a car with 400 k miles, and one with 350k miles.  And
> even with my 
> wife and kids driving them.  I teach them to let the
> clutch out, then
> accelerate.  Someday, one will wear out.  I did
> do one clutch...on 
> a used Rabbit that I bought, where the PO or someone, had
> dumped a
> quart of ATF into the timing hole.  It was a mess, but
> I got the 
> car cheap...
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Vwdiesel mailing list
> Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
> 


      
_______________________________________________
Vwdiesel mailing list
Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel