7 thou. on endplay, can two thousandths be that critical?

[fortheloveofvdub]

2.1
Experienced vw heads please: on crankshaft endplay, Boston Bob says 5 thousandths is perfect, Bentley says 6 thousandths is the upper wear limit. Mine is 7... Can one/ two thousandths make that much of a difference?
My local VW dealer found seven different part numbers for the one shim I showed him in my Bentley (none of which he could tell me a thickness on) I'm wondering if he is a numbskull, lazy, or if they are that obscure?

gettin' impatient here

[morymob]

mike all of tours together now see if any 1 is the thickness u need,might make easier knowing how thick to look for, its the combination.

[fortheloveofvdub]

There are the three shims between the trust washer and the oddly shaped "retainer" shim (for lack of a better description). The bigger one mics out at 17 thou. and the other two mic out at 13 thou. My pop is an old machinist. I got him on the case and he's going to see if he can cut me a 2 thou. shim out of their stock, we'll see. I figure I could also get a 15 thou. shim too but trick is finding them. I may try another dealer or go back in there to my local one and respectfully yet sternly wait until somebody can give me some answers .
I'm haunted by my grandfather's wisdom: if you don't have time to do it right when you gonna have time to do it over!
Jere

[wbx]

[Wildthings]

You don't give your location, but if you have a local VW specialty shop I would go there first. VW dealers can be pretty worthless IMHO. I only check with my VW dealer after I have failed at all other sources.

[Volksaholic]

I haven't built a water boxer and I can't recall how the bearings are set up relative to the air cooled engines, but if your thrust bearing or surface is within its wear limits you can get the shims to set the end play correctly. Stick with the factory tolerances... a thou doesn't sound like much but the VW engineers weren't guessing when they came up with these numbers. You're in there now... take your time to find the right shims.
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1988 Wolfsburg Edition, 2001 Subaru EJ251

[OilNBolts]

[Christopher Schimke]

Like Morymob said, it's the combination of the shims that make up the desired end play.

From the Bus Boys

[fortheloveofvdub]

I forgot about the Bus Boys and thanks for the numbers. I live in Central Ohio now. I get used to ordering my stuff through the internet and never really talk to the vendors; I guess I figured the shims were a dealer item.
When I lived in Portland OR you couldn’t go ten feet without seeing a fine VW and could walk right into Wolfsburg west after a short surface street jaunt. Out here most people are wizzing around in everything but (gosh I miss the old rose city). Thanks for your inputs; I think pop decided to do the .002 shim because he knew he had that stock for sure where he works.
I may have to reconsider if it’s three… no more or less though, hmmm.

[tencentlife]

Geez, I posted last night with a tip to go to BusBoys. They're the only internet vendor I could find that sells the shims. But my post didn't post, apparently.

Your dealer isn't nuts; you can see there are indeed seven separate P/N's, for the six sizes and the complete set.

Seven thou isn't too terribly bad for an older engine, but since you're in there you might as well bring it back into spec. On a 2.1 the thrust plates are self-adjusting, so you don't need to worry that the play is actually a worn case or #1 thrust shoulder like on the earlier engines. But no way I would put a .002" shim in there. Much too thin to have the stiffness needed to stay in place in that location; it would probably disintegrate. Thank your Dad, but much better to swap one of your 13's for a 15.
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