Rocky Mountain Westy SVX conversion journal

wcdennis · Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 6:44 am Post subject:

Sounds like you did everything right. I wonder, however, if you opened up the heater valve while you were bleeding the radiator. If not there may have been quite a bit of air in that line that got pulled into the system when you went on your tragic ride.

ftp2leta · Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 7:26 am Post subject:

Bummer! Been there once and once was enough, made an error on rod bearing. Low oil pressure. The engine doesn't create enough energy at Idle so i never saw it coming. The rest of the story is similar to yours.

On top, the SVX is a complex engine, way more than the 2.5L SOHC. This one is such easy to work on and in. Not that I rally need to.

You where kind enough to share your whole experience with us, thank you for that. Believe me, i really feel you pain, so much work involve.

It's like doing a very difficult body work job, your work hard for 2 weeks, when ready to paint, you make so much paint runs that you feel that you have to start back all over.

Does the engine still crank, sorry to ask but i'm curious.

Cheers, Ben
_________________
Working with rust, grease, dirt and dust is a sad truth.
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insyncro · Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 8:26 am Post subject:

Justin,
I have a few EG33s laying around.
Let me know what you need after you are settled in CO.
I'll help out with what I have to offer.

I really need to see your van run and drive after the time spent on it.

Give me a ring once you have made your move.
Safe travels.

dylan

Vanagonner · Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 8:37 am Post subject:

I'm really sorry to see this happen to you man. Probably take a while to breathe deep and try to forget it for a while. I hope you can play some more guitar, look forward to coming out to Colorado, and just leave it be for a while. That is the worst kind of "gumption trap" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumption_trap
which can only be overcome by walking away from it for a while. I had to leave my broken syncro 1000 miles behind when I moved back to Colorado some years ago. I eventually got it back.
I hope to meet you sometime this summer, maybe at RMW's event.
_________________
Sage
'82 Westy 1.6 D
the mighty n/a

Rubber Tramp · Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 9:04 am Post subject:

wcdennis, yep I sure did open the heater valve. I jacked up the front and bled the air with the engine off, topped the fluid up. Turned the heaters on high and bled at idle. Let it warm up and held the revs around 2000rpm and bled again. Drove it down the street and repeated the whole process. I don't know where I went wrong Rolling Eyes

Ben, hey thanks man. I'll just have to wait until I do some surgery on the motor to find out what went wrong. It does still crank, very smoothly, but it won't turn over or even sound like it's trying to.

Dylan, thanks a lot I really appreciate it! I'll keep in touch with you. Might now get to do any work on it for a few months but I'll let you know when the day comes.

vanagonner, thanks man. yeah it's going to be nice for a change to take some time to focus on other things. I've learned this is simply the way of the vanagon Laughing

I'll be at RMW, look forward to meeting you!

Well guys, I'm over it. Thanks for the support, it has really helped! At least I have a syncro waiting for me in Colorado Very Happy

_________________
1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^

insyncro · Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 9:12 am Post subject:

"At least I have a syncro waiting for me in Colorado "

Sweet!!!!
A couple Syncro excursions and all will be good!
Creeping around, doing some offroadin' will help ease your mind.

dylan

BlackDogVan · Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 12:34 pm Post subject:

Heartbreaking man, I really mean it. Hopefully once the burn cools down you can let us know the cause of the fault, it sounds like it might be an oil issue & not a overheat?

Rubber Tramp · Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 12:44 pm Post subject:

yeah man I can't wait to get my hands on that syncro!!! A couple years ago I thought a syncro was something I would never be able to have, I'm super stoked! And I'll be fortunate enough to have the mountains in my backyard to play around in with it.

blackdogvan, yeah I'll revive this thread when I get the motor apart, I'm really curious to see what all happened inside... it sounds like it was ripped to shreds. could be oil related, I don't know I'm stumped. This is my first time messing with a motor so you would think I might have easily missed something, but I'm so very confident in the work I put into this I KNOW I didn't miss something... so I really have no idea what happened. For now I'm just saying bad luck, but we'll all find out soon enough.

At least I got a little taste of what a 3.3 in a vanagon can do Wink

hopefully next time I'm able to drive it I'll have my syncro conversion finished and then I can REEEAAALLLYYY enjoy it.
_________________
1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^

multivan · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 1:05 pm Post subject:

Some of the major mechanical car things I have done such as and engine rebuild have had initial problems but its been my experience that when you discover more about the problem/failure it's not as bad as you thought.

Here's you your motor problem being a bad spark plug or loose wire.

nomados · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 1:24 pm Post subject:

Yep. I had a van camper with a 400 small block long ago. Failed smog, so I rebuilt the 4 bbl. Tested it out and the cam was gone. Replaced cam and ran great for 10 minutes then steam out the tailpipe, cracked head. Replaced the heads, fired it up, was running for a few minutes then:
knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock
Shut it off, I was done. Sold it for a fishing rod or something.
Buyer found that I'd forgotten to tighten the power steering pump, and that's what was banging. He said it worked great. Evil or Very Mad

Sometimes it's not as bad as it sounds.
_________________
'86 Westy auto
'84 Westy 4 spd previous
'75 wing, watercooled boxer 4 motorcycle.

Rubber Tramp · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 1:40 pm Post subject:

wasserbox · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 1:58 pm Post subject:

Rubber Tramp · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:59 pm Post subject:

This might be a bad case of the VW demons.

nahhh it was an oil leak from my rear main seal, got that fixed right up though and had no more leaks. Never had coolant leaks to begin with.

Keep rooting for me! I'll be back with a vengeance! Just need some money first Rolling Eyes

haha

I'll be up in good ole Fort Collins. You're in CO too right? what area?
_________________
1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^

Howesight · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 4:34 pm Post subject:

Hey Rubbertramp:

I must say, you've got a lot more balls than I do (and maybe more time too - -who knows). I've had my SVX sitting on my engine stand over a year now trying to find the time to stick it into my Syncro Westy. If it were just that, I'd be done by now, but I will be getting my trans to Darryl for a freshening up and 0.77 fourth gear and my front diff for a rebuild. In the meantime, my original WBX keeps plugging away at 225,000 miles, enabling my wife and step-daughter and I to get into the boonies.

While watching your thread, I wondered many times just how far I should go in freshening up my 1994 SVX with 90,000 miles. I had committed myself to replacing the head gaskets and was simply going to soak the cylinders with Marvel Mystery Oil to help clean up the rings and ring grooves, since these SXV's seem to like to gunk up rings.

Once I saw your main bearings, I thought again whether I should do a complete teardown, since the factory honing equipment and piston/ring fitting is actually very, very good for these engines and I would not want to replace rings unless I absolutely had to.

Anyway, the one thing that came to mind for me when watching your incredible thread is I know the tremendous difficulty in these engines in getting the piston pin retaining clips in place at all, let alone making certain they are properly seated. If I had to wager on the cause of your problem, I'd wager a pin clip let go as number one probability and valve keepers letting go, dropping a valve, as the second most probable cause.

You have already done the most time-consuming parts of the conversion and re and re on a JDM engine will not be too hard for you, given your obvious skills. Keep the faith!!

Rubber Tramp · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 5:10 pm Post subject:

Hey thanks a lot Howesight! Very Happy

A year!! How can you look at that beautiful engine for a year and not drop it in the van already??

I suggest you definitely replace the head gaskets. It's very simple going in that far and very simple putting it all back together. If you do the head gaskets I'd also do the valve stem seals, I had a leaky one and the rubbers were all hardened. Good time to clean up the valves too.

My engine is supposedly a 90K JDM(but really, who knows...). If it was a 90k, my rings definitely needed to be replaced.. I had exhaust leaking into the cylinders and oil leaking into the explosion chamber. Not that this was a huge problem, the motor could go a very long ways in the condition it was in, but I wanted it to be fresh and get as much life as I could out of it. So I guess it just comes down to how much life you're expecting out of your motor. Of course, as cheap as the JDM motors are you could always just go as far as the head gaskets and buy a spare motor for when your main dies.

Ya know my neighbor told me it could be the piston pin came lose, which could definitely account for the horrendous sound I heard. It actually wasn't hard at all getting the pins seated. I ground the lip on the piston so it'll slide in easily, used some really long and skinny tweezers to install the clip... got both sides done in 30 minutes. I installed retaining clips and made certain they were seated properly, but I guess there's always that chance it could let loose somehow.

Well hey if there's anything I can do for you, questions or whatever, to get your rebuild moving along faster just let me know!

..which reminds me, I still need to scan and post up all of my receipts for you guys. part numbers are your best friend Wink

_________________
1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^

izzydog · Samba Member Joined: April 28, 2005 Posts: 665

Yes! Part numbers, please! Very helpful!

Hang in there. You will learn something very valuable about your engine and laugh about it in 6 months despite how you feel now.

Thanks,
Jeff

Rubber Tramp · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 5:58 pm Post subject:

I'll get those receipts tonight.
I also have *cough*specialwiringinstructions*cough* that could accidentally fall onto the scanner as well if anyone wants to PM me Wink

Ya know Jeff, I'm already laughing about it. Just another bump in the road, a reality check... it's all fun and games. The vanagon gods are just playing naughty Twisted Evil

I'll show them!
_________________
1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^

j_dirge · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 6:03 pm Post subject:

Man... oh man!

Can NOT beleive.

Gotta say RT.. you've got some positve attitude there.. I am sure hoping we will hear more from you.

And yeah.. part numbers. That would be much appreciated.
_________________
-89 GL Westy, SVX.. finally.

-57 pan f/g buggy with a 67 pancake Type 3 "S"
"Jimi Hendrix owned one. Richard Nixon did not"
-Grand Tour, Season 1, episodes 4 and 5

vwkelso · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 11:31 am Post subject:

Man that is horrible very sorry to here that! Crying or Very sad

I just don't understand why people don't use vac suction bleaders when they do ANYTHING with a cooling system! That is all i will use, if there is a leak it won't hold vac, and you won't get any air traped in the system... Well life goes on live and learn.
_________________
86 Syncro
73 Westy
69 Sand Chariots Vaquero

Farfrumwork · Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 1:21 pm Post subject:

Wow - yeah that SUCKS dude. Sorry to hear it.

I second (or third...) the thought that this is something internal and not related to the cooling system. Good luck when you get back into it.

Just to make you not feel alone ->My hazardous conversion first flight story: I had a Batt+ wire at the starter ground on me on my maiden voyage. I made about 3mi before I started romping on it (couldn't hep it Laughing

) when I hit a large depression at an intersection in my 'hood with MUCH to much speed. Felt nearly airborne - then all was silent and DARK (engine cut off, no electrics), pulled over and saw a flikering light in my engine bay (cover was off for the initial running). I ran back with a fire extinguisher in hand to find the insulation on the Batt+ wire burning at the starter. I just blew it out. Re-routed wires the next day and all was ok (luckily!!)

Welcome to CO!! (soon enough)
Hope to see you around. Many svx sycros around here it seems...
-Chad


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