Author |
Message |
akmush Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2012 Posts: 276 Location: Fairbanks, AK
|
Posted: Wed May 31, 2023 10:00 am Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
Now I could fine tune my adjustments. My next realization was that my connection point at the tranny was pivoting every time I shifted. So I made this-
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
akmush Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2012 Posts: 276 Location: Fairbanks, AK
|
Posted: Wed May 31, 2023 10:02 am Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
Next I realized my L shaped arm needed to be lengthened on one arm. I made it extra long so that I could reinstall it and then mark where I wanted the "ball" located.
Last edited by akmush on Wed May 31, 2023 10:07 am; edited 2 times in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
akmush Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2012 Posts: 276 Location: Fairbanks, AK
|
Posted: Wed May 31, 2023 10:06 am Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
And finally I learned that my other bracket was too short and forced the ball to pop off when shifted into certain gears. So Andrew was once again right on the money- I had to do a whole bunch of adjusting. In fact, I basically had to rebuild the entire linkage system to get it right Now it shifts into all five gears and reverse!!!
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
akmush Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2012 Posts: 276 Location: Fairbanks, AK
|
Posted: Wed May 31, 2023 10:25 am Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
So here is where things stand right now-
I have done multiple laps around the block and hearing the turbo and feeling the acceleration is AMAZING!
I still have quite a big checklist-
-I realized I am missing two of the four crank pulley bolts so these are now ordered.
-I need to continue burping the cooling system. From what I have read I should be able to get close to 4 gallons of coolant into the system. So far I have a little less than 3 gallons. I have been watching coolant temps closely throughout this process.
-My alternator and O2 sensor lights are lit up so I need to do a bit more wiring troubleshooting.
-My power steering is working only intermittently. I have no leaks and adequate fluid in the reservoir.
-I need to go back over the engine and check ALL my fasteners! While the cam toner ring was the big one, I keep finding lose fasteners!
- I need to fabricate the raised bed / engine cover.
-I need to fabricate the metal cover for the shifter, complete with built in cup holders
And likely more... |
|
Back to top |
|
|
soissisc Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2007 Posts: 621 Location: Western Pennsylvania
|
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 5:45 am Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
awesome! I hope to someday tackle this into a bay window! Nice Job! _________________ Mark
68 Westy
92 Jetta (oh it is retired)
99 Eurovan
05 NBC
06 Audi A3
72 Westy (I am going to fix it up) |
|
Back to top |
|
|
xoo00oox Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2010 Posts: 2672 Location: East Nassau, NY
|
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 6:56 am Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
AMAZING JOB! Congratulations on your work! It's been fun watching your progress. I just took my Westy out to the Cape for the holiday weekend, it is so nice to have this engine and the matching 5 speed when traveling on the highways. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
DuncanS Samba Member
Joined: October 17, 2013 Posts: 4580 Location: New Hampshire
|
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 11:20 am Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
'91 2.1 WBX which is fine, but I wish I had a five speed which would ameliorate the revs a bit at speed. Wouldn't do a Syncro spacing. Start with first just as it is in the 4 speed and progressively work up to taller ratios. My tires are 4% more on circumference as it is, but I'd like to see 70ish MPH at around 33/34.
Duncan |
|
Back to top |
|
|
akmush Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2012 Posts: 276 Location: Fairbanks, AK
|
Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2023 8:56 pm Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
Thanks! Can't wait to take that highway drive...
Worked on the raised engine cover this weekend. Once again Andrew, your designs served as the benchmark and guide. I followed the offset design and attempted the
inside coping notch method of joining angle steel. After a quick introduction on youtube I gave it a try. In the 2nd picture you can see my first try (bottom of pic), which was cut incorrectly and left a gap then the second one (top of pic) which is correct. I also chose an easier but less esthetically pleasing way to weld in corner gussets.
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
pahrumphandyman Samba Member
Joined: March 25, 2021 Posts: 37 Location: pahrump nevada
|
Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 6:28 pm Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
Nice work Alaska!
I am a driver (caretaker?) of one of these reversed engines, and wasn't involved in the process but I've been into, under and around this one and have total respect for you, or anyone else who braves The Process. Quite an undertaking.
I wanted to mention something you probably are already planning for with that raised deck lid.
This van has one also, and in looking at it I noticed that someone made sure to have all the corners and edges and underside of it very well sealed. I realized as I was looking at it that this is something I probably wouldn't have thought of, and in the winter time with windows up I wonder if I would have noticed the intrusion of carbon monoxide/whatever else I would have added to my blood stream.
Anyway Great job ! And enjoy your transformed van.
In reading the last page about your cable shift adventures it reminded me of the post-it notes I found in this van that said stuff like "Bending and curves are the enemy. Straight as possible." |
|
Back to top |
|
|
akmush Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2012 Posts: 276 Location: Fairbanks, AK
|
Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2023 10:40 am Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
Thanks. I used camper foam tape to seal under the raised cover.
Feels like 2 steps forward, 1 step back. I was about to update on test drives (which have been a blast so far) and ask about a whrrrring noise that has been present at acceleration. When I was checking the engine after a drive last night the little hairs gave it away. Now I know where the noise was coming from. Obviously my timing belt was rubbing against something (belt cover?) .
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
akmush Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2012 Posts: 276 Location: Fairbanks, AK
|
Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2023 10:44 am Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
Moved motor to TDC and pulled the belt. The damage is all on edge of belt facing belt cover (rear facing edge). All the pulleys spin smoothly although there is about 1/8" play in the tensioner pulley. Now to figure out the cause. Is it possible it is as simple as me not instilling the belt far enough on to the cam pulley? In the previous pics it seems way towards the edge of the pulley.
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
xoo00oox Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2010 Posts: 2672 Location: East Nassau, NY
|
Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2023 10:47 am Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
It looks like the belt was being forced to walk to one side rather than something rubbing on it.
This can happen if any one of the sprockets or pulleys are not running true. That pulley with play could be the culprit. Very good tho g you caught this before the belt broke. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
akmush Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2012 Posts: 276 Location: Fairbanks, AK
|
Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2023 11:20 am Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
That makes much more sense given that the cover show 0 evidence of rubbing.
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
akmush Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2012 Posts: 276 Location: Fairbanks, AK
|
Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2023 11:39 am Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
Paper shows the gap in the tensioner pulley. Its less than I originally thought but is clearly noticeable when the pulley is torqued down. Seems like this might be the culprit?
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
OlisGarage Samba Member
Joined: June 01, 2022 Posts: 121 Location: Indianapolis, IN
|
Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2023 5:29 pm Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
I dug through your thread, and on page 11 it looks like your belt always ran a little bit towards the outside of the pulleys.
I would expect the belt to walk some when it runs, but at the same time you started off with the belt already biased towards the outside (away from block).
Maybe replace the pulley and belt and this time center the belt on the pulleys.
I just did a timing belt on my tdi but haven’t started it yet. Still some loose ends to tie up. _________________ 1981 VW Vangagon TDI (in progress)
1984 VW Rabbit Convertible (daily)
2003 VW Jetta Wagon TDI (recovering from a hit and run) |
|
Back to top |
|
|
akmush Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2012 Posts: 276 Location: Fairbanks, AK
|
Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2023 7:05 pm Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
I went back through my thread as well (its been over two years since I started the project) and I now believe the timing belt coming apart is due to two rookie errors on my part. THis also seems consistent with Andrew's observation that belt is "walking" to one side.
1. I now remember I ordered the wrong tensioner pulley so I ended up re-using the pulley from the donor vehicle w/ 95,000 miles on it). I believe the pulley has started to develop some wear which accounts for the play. This was one contributor.
2. In addition, I did not tension the belt correctly when I installed it. You can see where Andrew posts on page 10 of the thread that the tab is not oriented correctly. Now that I have read about this procedure on the various 1.8T forums I see that it takes more than just shifting the orientation and tightening it down. According to the ECS write up for timing belt installation I want an "8mm gap between the tensioner body and the roller bracket." Whatever I did 2 years ago , I know I didn't measure for an 8-10 mm gap
So I have ordered new tensioner pulley, belt and tensioner piston and will install exactly as instructed. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
akmush Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2012 Posts: 276 Location: Fairbanks, AK
|
Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2023 4:27 pm Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
Well, Andrew was correct, It is walking the belt off the cam pulley. The million dollar question remains what is the cause?!
Here is what I have done-
Parts arrived and I re-installed the new tensioner pulley and belt, precisely following step by step timing belt installation instructions. With the belt positioned as shown in the 1st photo, after manually turning the motor over multiple times, the second photo shows the belt already walking its way to the outer edge of the pulley
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
akmush Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2012 Posts: 276 Location: Fairbanks, AK
|
Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2023 4:44 pm Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
I had originally speculated it was play in my tensioner pulley. The new pulley is machined with play, although it seems like less than I see in the old pulley. So I do not believe this to be the cause.
In order to route the belt properly for the reversed motor, I had to install two additional pulleys, above and below the water pump. The one that is located below the water pump, I had to actually drill and tap for the stud. I'm wondering if my issue has to do with one of these pulleys "not running true" The water pump, cam and crank pulley are the other three in the system.
It does not seem likely that my cam pulley or crank sprocket "not running true" would be the cause...Water pump? I'm gonna ponder this for awhile but welcome any input.
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
tristessa Samba Member
Joined: April 07, 2004 Posts: 3992 Location: Portland, OR
|
Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2023 9:13 pm Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
Are teh surfaces of those idler pulleys perpendicular to the block? If one of them, particularly the one between the WP and cam, has a "lean" to it, that might explain your belt walking. Got a little carpenters square you can check with?
Just spitballing and thinking out loud. I just got my CCW 1.8T back out on the road after years of hibernation, haven't been camping or even properly driving it since 2020. I hooked up some new batteries, turned the key and it fired on the first crank like I'd just driven yesterday Felt great! |
|
Back to top |
|
|
akmush Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2012 Posts: 276 Location: Fairbanks, AK
|
Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2023 7:59 am Post subject: Re: Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion |
|
|
Thanks for the input Tristessa.
I did a little test last night and mounted the belt without the idlers in its stock set up. Sure enough in this configuration the belt stayed put (when I manually turned engine over multiple times). So it seems to clearly be one of the idler pulleys. I will lay a straight edge on each one. Given the number of bolts that I have missed checking my final torque, it is very possible that these were also on that list |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|