Alaskan 85 Weekender, 1.8T (AWM), 5 speed conversion

[onwardtothestars]

[Alaskaberrys]

[akmush]

Will do it this way, thanks!

[xoo00oox]

If you have the tool to compress the tensioner you can do it without disturbing the cams. Just put the tool in, remove the bolts holding the tensioner down and you raise it up just enough to slide out the seal and half moon piece.

[akmush]

Thanks Andrew! Once again your knowledge is proving invaluable. I was not considering this as a culprit. Some follow up questions-

-You are referring to me needing to replace the cam tensioner seal and the half moon seal both?

-Do I need to loosen the cam itself to do this or just the tensioner? Online there seem to be two schools of thought and I sure would like to leave the cam alone. (Setting the cam chain timing was the single most challenging process for me )

[xoo00oox]

[akmush]

Fast forward to the present. I am tracking down what I believe to be a crankcase ventilation leak. At first I thought it was this cheapo t fitting that had melted and cracked. I replaced with a much sturdier version.

The other tell tale sign is a leaking valve cover gasket. The symptoms are periodic blasts of engine fluid smell (not exhaust) in the van when I am on the road. Also, if I remove the oil filler cap with the van running, there is pressure being pushed out. I have replaced the "puck" and my pcv valve.

I have my block breather port connected to my valve cover port with 3/4" hose. This continues over to PRV "puck" and then into the turbo inlet pipe. The PCV valve is inline with the block breather port and connects directly to the intake manifold.

The smell is not overwhelming but definitely noticeable. Some questions for the 1.8T folks-

-Am I correct in my thinking about the crankcase ventilation that air pushing out of the oil filler cap means I have "negative pressure" and I want "positive?"

-I have a new valve cover gasket but need to install. Could the saturated valve cover gasket be the source of the ongoing smell now that I have replaced the puck and pcv valve?

- Is there somewhere else I should be looking?

[akmush]

I am now a checklist guy after all this. Tranny filled with new gear oil. Check. Tranny bolts reinstalled and torqued to spec. Check. You get the idea. This time I was super cautious about the test drives with multiple checks along the way. Eventually I was confident enough to take the 3 hour trip to the Alaska Range for the first overnight since starting the project-

And then took the van clear across the state to go dipnetting on the Copper River. Alaska has a personal use fishery and we brought home 80 Red salmon after only 6 hours of dipnetting! The van ran flawlessly tackling hills with a big load flawlessly.
We did have a scare in Glenallen when we smelled burning plastic! A quick look under the van and I saw that the zip tie holding my wiring to the tail lights had come lose and they were crisping on the exhaust. Here is a view of the Copper River. We haul our fish out on bike trailers!

[akmush]

The new tranny was shipped up from Washington and the guys at the auto salvage even drained the fluid and looked it over before they would allow me me yo pick it up. He said the gear oil was so clean it looked like it had been pulled from a new vehicle! I guess one positive from all of this is that I can pull the engine and tranny alone in about 3 hours. Here she is once again back on the lift.

Old and new-

Pulling the hubs-

Ready to join engine and tranny...

[Alaskaberrys]

Oofta! You’re a good candidate for R&D testing

And persistence training! Certainly shows your a long time teacher - thanks for keeping the posts up and helping folks avoid the pain. And very inspirational for us ‘longer term projects than anticipated club’ members. The time dilation/forget stuff is very real - good lessons for those taking things apart (i.e. me in 2020)
_________________
'91 Westfalia, Bordeaux Red Pearl 2.1L 2wd Auto
'91 T3 Syncro Doka, Escorial Green 1.9L TD AAZ “Gremian” (to provoke, irritate, exasperate, vex...)

[OlisGarage]

[Wellington]

Let me take that Darwin award!!!
Akmush stick to it, will love your van, you are doing great.
It has been 10 years since I initially picked up my converted 1.8T motor and transmission from Andrew. It was originally going to be shipped, but i decided to pick it up.
I spent some time installing everything, checking things twice, and the 1.8T at first intimidated me, so I was checking the motor really carefully. Got out driving it, watching oil level, temps, listening to every sound.
A couple hundred Kms later I decide I'll change the transmission fluid. NOTHING drains out! DOH. Andrew drained all fluids so it could ship. Stupid me. Well I put new fluid in the transmission and drove like that till this year. No problems.
This spring I installed a NOS transmission I was able to pick up, that is how much I love this conversion. My first test drive,....wow so quiet. So I think my original transmission took some serious wear while I ran it dry, but it still performed. New transmission was filled prior to installation, and I still can't believe how quiet it is. Old trans will go to the scrap.
And 10 years later Andrew is still there answering my emails if I have a question, and recommending parts I'm considering maintenance.
Andrew is genious to have come up with this combination, and a true gentleman in his dealings.
I'm 10 years on this conversion, proving its reliability. Andrew is longer, and more miles. I'm so glad I was one of the lucky ones to have gotten this conversion.

[xoo00oox]

Oh man! Well rest easy knowing that you are not the only one that has ever done that. I sent a transmission to one guy here on Samba and he also just assumed it was full of oil. A few miles later, he found out it was not.

[akmush]

But there is a silver lining to this whole story. One of the beauties of this conversion is the widespread availability of replacement trannies. A trip down to the local wrecking yard and the guys helped me find a replacement with only 50k in Washington state. And maybe this was a blessing in disguise. If the donor vehicle was driving around with so little gear oil I'm guessing there might have been some real problems down the road.

[akmush]

This is the total amount of gear oil that drained out! The tranny was pulled from the donor vehicle and through this whole journey I had never taken the time to check the fluid level. I even had purchased the replacement gear oil and it was sitting on the shelf in my garage! Feel free to heckle me, I deserve it...

[akmush]

Those are my vans rear tire skid marks you see on the road surface
Here is what happened. I am excited to start the process of road testing and ironing out the final details to have the conversion running optimally. The Parks highway connects Fairbanks with Southcentral AK and begins with a steady 5 mile climb. I am revelling in the vans newfound ability to accelerate in 4th gear up a climb. Engine temps look good...Suddenly I hear a distinct whirring sound and then my rear wheels literally lock up! The van gods are looking out for me and I am able to guide the van safely to the side of the highway. At first I think I have toasted the motor but it starts right up and sounds great. I am able to drive forward but a horrible metallic noise is coming from the rear drive train. I get the van hauled back to my garage and raise the rear of the van. The wheels spin perfectly. So I drain the tranny fluid

[akmush]

Thanks Andrew! You are going to roll your eyes when you hear about the final hurdle...

[akmush]

Everything is looking good for a summer of road tripping around AK with the reversed 1.8T. Except the van gods did not want to grant me that satisfaction quite yet

[xoo00oox]

Hey! I am very impressed! You have an amazing amount of determination to stick with it after the issues you've had! Great job! I am glad to see you are up and running with it now and able to enjoy your work.

Andrew-

[akmush]

My blower was cooked so I ordered the 10 cent life / Vanistan front heater valve and the go westy heater box reseal kit.