Chris' Syncro Project. A bit of progress, a lot more questions!

[Chris-a]

I thought I'd gather all of my questions, issues, confusions, more questions and occasional progress into one thread.

I've owned a handful of Bay Windows(camper and non campers), along with a mess of campers(2 diesel truck campers and one sprinter), but Ive never owned a Vanagon or Syncro or TDI diesel. We live up in the mountains of PNW and four wheel drive is frequently required to access our home, almost always December to March, and Ive always admired syncros from a far and casually browsed them. This past December that search began in earnest and we found a van we thought would work down in CA. So we made our way down there, drove it, crawled over and under it, and struck a deal. It's a 87 Syncro Westfalia with a 1.9 AHU swapped into it. Lots of suspension/brake upgrades.

Being middle of winter we were cautious about the 600'ish mile drive back north through the mountains, but the weather window was amazing so we decided to give it a try. However a few hundred miles up the road we stopped for diesel and found she was leaking oil.

I couldn't see an obvious source of the leak, but it was substantial. So onto a trailer she went and a combination of uhaul trucks, a stop at my folks(where my pickup was waiting) and we got her home.

First order of business was dealing with the oil leak. I was never able to replicate the leak in the driveway, but I believe the ccv puck was the culprit. So I replaced the breather tubes, ccv puck, valve cover gasket(it was leaking a smidge). Then it was time for some driving to test her out. She got several 40-60 mile trips and the oil leak seemed to be resolved.

Unfortunately less than 2 weeks after buying her and resolving the oil leak I tore my rotator cuff and shifting into reverse was absolute agony. I tried a few errands and was being very careful about where I parked hoping I could avoid reverse, but reverse was needed. So she sat for almost 2 months.... I was able to do small jobs like replace all of the rollers on the sliding door, deal with the gasket on the engine compartment lid, replace struts for rear hatch, applied sound deadening material to some areas of the body.

Once I was out of the arm sling, I jumped back into the project. I knew the CV boots were torn and they would need attention.

First up was the passenger front. I got lucky and the outer cv came off with very little effort to spread the retainer clip. I found some scoring on the races, nothing terrible.

They probably would have been fine, but I wanted a fresh start. So I cleaned the axle shaft, sprayed it with some paint I had, and ordered a bunch of goodies from T3Technique.

Reassembling my first ever front cv axle shaft was pretty straight forward and went together well.

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I gotta have nice tools, just look at the cars I drive.

Current: 87 Syncro AHU Tdi Westy'ish?
Previous: 77 Westy, 72 Tin Top Camper, 69 Passenger

[Chris-a]

Getting ready to reinstall I noticed one of the bolts that connects the Burly upper control arm to the upper ball joint was shorter than the other...

Too bad I didn't notice that upon disassembly. Nearest hardware store is about 25 miles away, nearest auto parts(not great) store is 30+.

I got lucky with a ez out, and found a suitable replacement at the hardware store.

Passenger side is all back together now onto drivers side. Having removed and installed one axle assembly made this side significantly faster. First thing I noticed upon removal was the spacer for the inner cv joint was missing.

Oh yeah, and one of the two bolts that connects this sides upper control arm to ball joint was broken also....

That brings me up to speed for now. I can't think about the entire project, it's too overwhelming. Im working on a front to back approach! Trying to keep the projects manageable and celebrating each success!

Current priorities:
-Front differential isn't unlocking!
-Ordered a spacer for my inner cv, and then reinstalling drivers side axle assembly.
-Washer fluid pours straight onto the ground when I try to fill her up.
-The brake lines that immediately leave from the front calipers up front are in rough shape, replace those and flush system.
-oh, and I was hoping I just kept stepping in greasy snow and it was melting on my floor mat. But no, master cylinder/reservoir is leaking.

_________________
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I gotta have nice tools, just look at the cars I drive.

Current: 87 Syncro AHU Tdi Westy'ish?
Previous: 77 Westy, 72 Tin Top Camper, 69 Passenger

[Sodo]

Wow you're #notafraidofit.
Perfect Syncro owner.

[dobryan]

Yeah what Sodo said.

Those CVs were just getting broken in. I’ll take them off your hands.

Welcome to the club…
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2010 Subaru EJ25 (Vanaru) and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[Chris-a]

[Chris-a]

The passenger side came with this assortment of nut and washers. I opted for the new nut that came with the new outer cv and the thinner washer.

Regarding inner cv bolts, these are the bolts that came from t3. Standard hex, no prob torquing to the 33 ft lbs. Some of the bolts came out finger tight!!

_________________
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I gotta have nice tools, just look at the cars I drive.

Current: 87 Syncro AHU Tdi Westy'ish?
Previous: 77 Westy, 72 Tin Top Camper, 69 Passenger

[TomInAlaska]

Subscribed
_________________
'73 Super Beetle (formerly resto-mod/rally look with a healthy 1776, currently in another round of resto with a 1641)

'84 GL adventure van project [sold] (1.9L, 4speed) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=755844&highlight=

'86 Syncro tintop (2.0L Eurospec/ABA engine swap) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=800194&highlight=

[16CVs]

Keep one of those outer Cvs with you. When the JP group units fail in Bumfuck somewhere you can slap it back in and keep going.

Like others here I would have put those back in use, I'd of swapped them side to side.

Looks like you've got your self a true project.

Stacy
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

[Chris-a]

I had a little bit of time this morning to work on the van.

I got the new cv joints pressed onto the drivers side axle shaft and that is awaiting the new spacer from T3 for install.

My front differential is locked and won't unlock. I read somewhere about removing the actuator assembly and manually activating/freeing the rod on the drivers side of the case. I found the 10mm bolts that hold the assembly on but in my limited time I struggled to no success in removing them. There is a soft cylinder in between the two bolts that makes fitting a thin wall socket impossible and the small window I have for accessing with a combo wrench I can't get a grip on the bolt head.

Suggestions for removing those bolts, and Im hoping my thoughts of removing that assembly and freeing the actuator rod is correct.

While I contemplated the differential locking issue, I confirmed the fluid fill plug was capable of being loosened and then started draining the fluid. I will raise and lower the front end through out the day or so to try and get as much of the old fluid out as possible.

Final goal for today was to try and search out the brake fluid leak, I haven't had much time to search this out on the forums yet. The reservoir and master cylinder appeared dry. I couldn't get a good view of the brake booster. I have some aftermarket gauges mounted on top of the oem gauge cluster which complicates removing the gauge display for inspection.

I believe it's common for the master cylinder to leak into the brake booster, how can I diagnosis that?

Is going from the top the best way to access that area? Is it common for the brake boosters to leak fluid?

_________________
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I gotta have nice tools, just look at the cars I drive.

Current: 87 Syncro AHU Tdi Westy'ish?
Previous: 77 Westy, 72 Tin Top Camper, 69 Passenger

[SCM]

[OlisGarage]

Project looks great!! Post a few pictures of the engine bay if you don't mind. I always like seeing how people get TDI's mounted and hooked up.

From that picture, your brake master looks good. But of course it is only one picture from one angle, so I may not be correct.

You also have a clutch master cylinder that could be leaking. Just look up underneath the clutch pedal and you will see it. From there you should be able to tell if it's leaking.
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1981 VW Vangagon TDI (in progress)
1984 VW Rabbit Convertible (daily)
2003 VW Jetta Wagon TDI (recovering from a hit and run)

[MsTaboo]

First off nice project! Next, are you sure the front locker is engaged? Is the steering extremely stiff (as in not being able to turn)?
If this this is indeed the case then be very careful trying to remove the front locking actuator! It's easy to break off the tip. Have you first made sure you don't have any vacuum leaks?

A inexpensive hand vacuum pump is very handy tool to help test the system and activate the locker actuators.
https://www.amazon.com/Performance-Tool-W87030-Aut...amp;sr=8-5
By attaching the supplied tubing to either nipple on the actuator you can bypass the Syncro's vacuum system and check if the shaft moves.
(It also works for brake bleeding)
Helps to have one of the front wheels off the ground to allow movement inside the diff so locking fork does not bind.

Don't try removing the assembly by undoing the bolts holding the bracket to the front diff!
You cannot remove the actuator without first removing the roll pin holding the rod to the locking shaft!
If you just undo the two screws holding the actuator to the bracket and try pulling on the actuator body it may be possible to pull the shaft out, but most likely you will break off the tip. Then you are faced with trying to remove the broken tip and will most likely end up having to drop the front diff for access.

Thread about damage:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=646777&highlight=locker
And Syncrodoka's thread with more pictures of both the external pin and the internal parts of locker shaft/fork (the rear, but basically the same). The thread is about completely replacing the shaft so a bunch of extra stuff but a very good read to understand what's inside.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=591023&highlight=

Here are a some pictures of what's there.

(This is the rear but exactly the same) If yours is still original the cover over the shaft may be this black rubber/metal ring arrangement. If so it will be a bit of a pain to remove but it is doable. You need to pry the metal ring far enough aside to get a small punch onto the roll pin. It's two pieces of tubing with the metal ring in middle covering the gap. Do all this with both bracket and actuator bolts/screws secure, you don't want any movement or you'll break the tip (you can kinda see a theme here ).

Here's what's under that cover (clear nylon tube replacing stock black bits) so you can see what needs doing. There is a very small roll pin capturing the actuator rod; it's slightly offset from center. In the picture you can see a drop of sealant used to plug the hole through the clear tube. The roll pin needs to be driven out with a small punch. It's very important to get the roll pin out far enough to allow the rod to pull away easily. If you force it you WILL break off the small tip. It's fragile. Also, the small orange bellow covering the rod is NLA and is also fragile.

Here's side shot showing the offset hole in the locker shaft and the roll pin location. Roll pin is 3mmX10mm (available from BusLab)

Here's a shot of the various parts (this is for a decoupler, but again they are all the same)

After you get the actuator removed from shaft you can get a grip on the locker shaft and with some lube work it in and out until it moves freely.
Reassembly of the actuator requires starting the roll pin in it's hole just enough to stay while you insert the actuator rod, then drive home carefully. This is where having the clear tubing makes life easier. Drill a small hole through the tube for the punch before assembly. Make sure tube is big enough for the orange bellows. Seal the punch hole with a spot of sealant.
_________________
Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

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Resist Kleptocratic Oligarchy (and Idiocracy)!

[Chris-a]

[Chris-a]

[WestiT3_1986]

Please do also check the filler port of your clutch cylinder, that broke on my Vanagon also leaving such a puddle, it's connected via a line from the brake reservoir too...

[SCM]

[4Gears4Tires]

[MsTaboo]

[Sodo]

[jimf909]