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4Gears4Tires
Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2018
Posts: 4038
Location: MD
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 Posted: Thu May 22, 2025 8:49 am Post subject: Re: A 1991 Syncro L Single knob “Rome” rebuild |
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Awesome pics and adventures. Really just getting around most of the country in the van!
And yeah, going back and forth between driveshaft and no driveshaft, the driveshaft is noticeably more. Even when it's perfectly laser aligned, it's noticeable IMO immediately after swapping it in. But it should "disappear" after a few days when you get used to it. It might have been a bit smoother if VW had used a center support bearing and another joint in the middle.
_________________
'87 Syncro Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition
'85 Westy Sciuridae Domus Edition |
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Ceckert64
Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2015
Posts: 2097
Location: Huntington, WV for now
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| Posted: Sat May 31, 2025 8:26 pm Post subject: Re: A 1991 Syncro L Single knob “Rome” rebuild |
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| Shonandb wrote: |
I did the 91/92 Ski season in Vail arriving in Nov of 91 and left for Corpus Christie, Texas in June of 92. Good fun but the first few weeks in Vail were tough getting used to the elevation. |
I'm hoping to make one ski season out west after I graduate. Thankfully I never had to many issues with elevation on the trip.
| Xevin wrote: |
| Right on Aiden!! |
 It was a good trip no doubt!
| 4Gears4Tires wrote: |
Awesome pics and adventures. Really just getting around most of the country in the van!
And yeah, going back and forth between driveshaft and no driveshaft, the driveshaft is noticeably more. Even when it's perfectly laser aligned, it's noticeable IMO immediately after swapping it in. But it should "disappear" after a few days when you get used to it. It might have been a bit smoother if VW had used a center support bearing and another joint in the middle. |
Thank you! It was a fun test of the van for sure. Since before I got my first van, I had always wanted to do an out west trip in one so I was happy to get to do that, I'm sure its of many to come.
That's good to know so I don't lose my sanity over a small vibration. It seemed to be getting worse when I pulled it the second time so that was my big worry. I did notice today there was a ton of mud caked inside the rims, maybe that could add to it 
The last few days I started on the engine and transmission pull. It went fairly well, besides the exhaust  The exhaust pipes are all in good shape but the part where they all merge together is seized, the Y pipe (?). I was able to snap both ends of the bolt off since the shaft of the bolt was so seized
My plan is to start on the transmission and get it torn down to see if there is anything else I need. I got new synchros for 3rd and 4th as well as a slider hub, bearings, and a gasket kit.
For the engine, I'm thinking take the least amount apart as possible, it has zero oil leaks and the headgasket is the only leak. I found today where the gasket was split that caused the leak. I'm tempted to just remove that head and only do that since everything on the other side is fine. That may be a dumb idea though 
I drained the gear oil and I didn't find many shavings after 6-7k miles, I'd assume some were trapped when I originally changed oil. Also I found my alternator braket was broken 
_________________
1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Yellow Tin Top Westfalia -Sold
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop EJ22 swap
“Rome” 91 Syncro |
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Xevin 
Samba Member
Joined: January 08, 2014
Posts: 8483
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| Posted: Sat May 31, 2025 10:29 pm Post subject: Re: A 1991 Syncro L Single knob “Rome” rebuild |
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Bro, your brain and skills are amazing. If you ever make it out to my hood you  have a VW friendly driveway and or a room to hang in if you’re not allergic to cats. You know how I roll.
And I’m close to this. And other snow parks.
https://www.timberlinelodge.com/mountain/ski-area
You can slide this 10 months of the year. Meaning summer time too, usually.
Link
_________________
Keep on Busin'
| 67rustavenger wrote: |
| GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo! |
| Clatter wrote: |
| Damn that Xevin... |
| skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
I respect Xevin and he's a turd  |
| SGKent wrote: |
My God! Xevin and I 100% agree  |
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Chris-a
Samba Member
Joined: January 30, 2005
Posts: 121
Location: PNW
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| Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2025 6:10 am Post subject: Re: A 1991 Syncro L Single knob “Rome” rebuild |
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Vanagon ski meet up!
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I gotta have nice tools, just look at the cars I drive. |
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dobryan
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Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 17056
Location: Brookeville, MD
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4Gears4Tires
Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2018
Posts: 4038
Location: MD
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| Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2025 4:41 pm Post subject: Re: A 1991 Syncro L Single knob “Rome” rebuild |
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The GW alternator bracket is a great little piece. Anyone on a wbx should be installing them even if you don't have any cracks.
_________________
'87 Syncro Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition
'85 Westy Sciuridae Domus Edition |
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Sodo
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007
Posts: 10547
Location: Western WA
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| Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2025 5:50 pm Post subject: Re: A 1991 Syncro L Single knob “Rome” rebuild |
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| dobryan wrote: |
Do not use G gear for engine braking. It is known for getting broken under that use.
Do not use G or 1st for bump starting. Same issue. Use 2nd.
Try to avoid bump starting in R as well.
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My take:
Granny and Reverse are very high risk for bump starting.
You should never do it. Reverse gear is the highest risk.
1st gear is much much stronger, but if you have enough speed to use 2nd, such as being towed, choose 2nd gear over 1st gear As DoB wrote.
I have never heard of granny breaking when used "for engine braking: such as slowing your descent, with caution.
Don't "jerk" your tranny in reverse or granny.
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I saw the 1st gear oil change hairdo. That wasn't 'great'.....
I bet that was the factory gear oil.
The owners manual said the oil does not need to be checked or changed, and most owners thought "cool !" and complied.
And the Bentley manual does not even have one word about changing gear oil.
So the antiquers are bummed of course.
Its reasonable to change engines at 200k miles but gearboxes should go 400k.
If Previous owners maintained these gearboxes all you'd have to do is replace bearings, hubs, & synchros.
But the danged POs drove them hundreds-thousands with contaminated oil and thus sucked the second-life out of our gears !
Now we're re-using deathbed gears with our new synchros and bearings.
People should know better than to believe "lifetime fluids".
But it's convenient. And they trade-in for a new car.
The vehicle MFRs are happy the car is "injured' but the antiquers are bummed.
So this change, this hairdo, how many miles is this?
Is the oil a really dark oil (Swepco?) or is it blackened?
If it's blackened, it could be due to the front trans groundstrap beckoning electricity to come forward via your shafts, and it's crossing at the mainshaft bearing.
If it's electricity turning yur oil black, it's ruining your bearing too.
Get rid of that strap and ground the starter to the chassis directly.
It's a good idea to ground the alternator case to the chassis too.
_________________
'90 Westy EJ25, NEW oil rings (!) 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb
Last edited by Sodo on Sun Jun 01, 2025 10:44 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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dobryan
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 17056
Location: Brookeville, MD
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Sodo
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007
Posts: 10547
Location: Western WA
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| Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2025 10:41 pm Post subject: Re: A 1991 Syncro L Single knob “Rome” rebuild |
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| dobryan wrote: |
| Sodo it was a few years ago that one of our well respected members mentioned to not engine brake in G. Can’t pull up that post though. |
Diesel feller?
_________________
'90 Westy EJ25, NEW oil rings (!) 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb |
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Ceckert64
Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2015
Posts: 2097
Location: Huntington, WV for now
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| Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 8:01 pm Post subject: Re: A 1991 Syncro L Single knob “Rome” rebuild |
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| Xevin wrote: |
Bro, your brain and skills are amazing. If you ever make it out to my hood you have a VW friendly driveway and or a room to hang in if you’re not allergic to cats. You know how I roll.
And I’m close to this. And other snow parks.
https://www.timberlinelodge.com/mountain/ski-area
You can slide this 10 months of the year. Meaning summer time too, usually.
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I appreciate it! If I'm in the area I will definitely be stop by I appreciate the offer!
That would be awesome to ski there, hopefully I can make it out west again in the next few years
| Chris-a wrote: |
| Vanagon ski meet up! |
That would be awesome!
| dobryan wrote: |
Some trans advice.
Do not use G gear for engine braking. It is known for getting broken under that use.
Do not use G or 1st for bump starting. Same issue. Use 2nd.
Try to avoid bump starting in R as well.
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Good to know, I was wondering about it when I was using it. I would have had to ride the brakes in first though which is what worried me, not enough braking power from the engine in first.
I've heard about reverse before, not about 1st and low. I will try to avoid those if possible.
| 4Gears4Tires wrote: |
| The GW alternator bracket is a great little piece. Anyone on a wbx should be installing them even if you don't have any cracks. |
That's good to know about. I should have gotten that but I already got the VanCafe one. Maybe I will still upgrade it to the GoWesty one.
| Sodo wrote: |
| dobryan wrote: |
Do not use G gear for engine braking. It is known for getting broken under that use.
Do not use G or 1st for bump starting. Same issue. Use 2nd.
Try to avoid bump starting in R as well.
|
My take:
Granny and Reverse are very high risk for bump starting.
You should never do it. Reverse gear is the highest risk.
1st gear is much much stronger, but if you have enough speed to use 2nd, such as being towed, choose 2nd gear over 1st gear As DoB wrote.
I have never heard of granny breaking when used "for engine braking: such as slowing your descent, with caution.
Don't "jerk" your tranny in reverse or granny.
=========
I saw the 1st gear oil change hairdo. That wasn't 'great'.....
I bet that was the factory gear oil.
The owners manual said the oil does not need to be checked or changed, and most owners thought "cool !" and complied.
And the Bentley manual does not even have one word about changing gear oil.
So the antiquers are bummed of course.
Its reasonable to change engines at 200k miles but gearboxes should go 400k.
If Previous owners maintained these gearboxes all you'd have to do is replace bearings, hubs, & synchros.
But the danged POs drove them hundreds-thousands with contaminated oil and thus sucked the second-life out of our gears !
Now we're re-using deathbed gears with our new synchros and bearings.
People should know better than to believe "lifetime fluids".
But it's convenient. And they trade-in for a new car.
The vehicle MFRs are happy the car is "injured' but the antiquers are bummed.
So this change, this hairdo, how many miles is this?
Is the oil a really dark oil (Swepco?) or is it blackened?
If it's blackened, it could be due to the front trans groundstrap beckoning electricity to come forward via your shafts, and it's crossing at the mainshaft bearing.
If it's electricity turning yur oil black, it's ruining your bearing too.
Get rid of that strap and ground the starter to the chassis directly.
It's a good idea to ground the alternator case to the chassis too. |
Good comments with the engine breaking, as above I will avoid using those gears in those cases. I was very gentle with it engine braking in granny. I also had 3 of my friends in the car, the 16% grade that was looong, the heavy Vanagon, and a lower compression ratio engine so granny was the best bet even though risky. I shouldn't be in that situation too often, though, either
But for the comments on gear oil. I'm guessing I drained off the factory gear oil, maybe it was changed at 140k miles when it had an engine replacement done by the dealership but doubtful. It seemed the owner took car of it and took it to the dealer, but he took it to the dealer, meaning a low chance the oil was ever changed 
The original oil was replaced with Swepco 202 and was still a little blue when I drained it off, but it was also a bit dark. The inside of the case is black with dirty oil, but it all wipes clean fairly easily. The oil was drained again as seen in the picture with roughly 6K miles on it, traveling cross-country on that oil change and pushing it up many steep mountain passes.
I will definitely make sure to ground the starter and alternator to the body! That's a good tip to know and should be fairly easy while I'm working on everything.
With my plan for the trans, I am replacing most of the bearing and trying to give it a good refresh. I have had two mainshaft bearings go in my other vw transmissions out of 5, in fact, the only bearings I've had fail on the entire cars are those.
_________________
1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Yellow Tin Top Westfalia -Sold
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop EJ22 swap
“Rome” 91 Syncro |
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Ceckert64
Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2015
Posts: 2097
Location: Huntington, WV for now
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| Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 8:19 pm Post subject: Re: A 1991 Syncro L Single knob “Rome” rebuild |
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So the last week or so I've started tearing into the transmission and getting some work done to it. Thankfully, I have a cool roommate that doesn't mind me tearing apart a transmission on the kitchen counter or storing the pieces behind the couch It's a very small apartment too, but I guess it works well for a clean space
I ordered most of the bearings for it. I ordered a bit of the parts I needed from Van Cafe then I just placed a huge order with Weddle, the both love me as a customer I'm sure  I decided to skip the idler bearings in the nose cone since they are a pain to do and rarely see loads. I am replacing all the mainshaft and pinion shaft bearings since those see higher loads, and the mainshaft gets less oil. I am also doing the tailshaft bearing. I also ordered the pinion nut tool but the sidescrew tool for the diff was out of stock so I may try to make something.
Overall as I've torn down the transmission, it all looks fairly good. I haven't seen signs of a lot of wear or anything wrong. Hopefully I don't find anything. I was also able to figure out why the locker didn't work. The selector shaft was seized and one I got the bushing out of the transmission, I had to tap the shaft out of the bushing with a hammer. It looks like the locker was hardly used.
Here are a few picture of the work and new parts. A new 3-4 slider and hub, front suspension bushing, some bearings, and misc parts. I had thought I heard the peace pipe was NLA but Van Cafe had it for a good price.
_________________
1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Yellow Tin Top Westfalia -Sold
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop EJ22 swap
“Rome” 91 Syncro |
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