[T2] Bad Clutch and Twisted Flywheel: Thanx and Summary

[Roger Lemberg]

Greetings,

Thanks to all of your help, Phrogbus is back on the road.

So here’s the story.

Over the course of a few miles, the clutch got “grabby” to the point where it got really hard to shift. My first thought was the clutch cable. They seem to not last very long on Phrogbus but the pedal free-play seemed normal. When I got home the cable looked fine but the plastic end of the Bowden tube had broken off. I was hoping that was the problem so I ordered a new one and put some value on my Metro TAP card while I waited for it to arrive. Once it arrived, I installed it but that wasn’t the problem.

I put more value on the TAP card and as soon as I could, I pulled the engine. There seemed to be a bind when I was separating the engine from the transaxle and when they came apart, I saw that the pilot bearing was shredded. My assumption was that it was acting like a Chinese finger trap and grabbing the pilot shaft. The clutch plate seemed OK (big mistake) and the disc looked worn. So I got a new release bearing, disc and pilot bearing. (I hadn’t known they sell them separately. I’ll do almost anything to avoid removing the gland nut.)

Naturally I didn’t even come close to getting the old bearing out so it was back to the local VW parts place to replace it for a gland nut/bearing. I replaced it, torqued it as best as I could (breaking my breaker bar  and torque wrench in the process), jacked the engine back in and…

…the grabbing was worse. (Duh. The clutch disc is thicker.) And everything feels weird after driving it for a mile or two. This time it sinks in that the pedal doesn’t feel quite right. It is now apparent that the problem is that the clutch plate isn’t opening enough and the new disc made matters worse.

So I pull the engine again and see, horrors of horrors, that the gland nut came loose and the flywheel as twisted loose trashing the dowel holes on both the flywheel and the crankshaft. (BTW, this has happened to me before. I think that it was because I forgot the lock washer that time.) But fortune smiles on me and when I pulled the flywheel off, I saw that the crankshaft has eight holes. (If there were only four holes, I’d be riding the Metro for several months.) Using the advise on this list I ordered a new plate and flywheel intending to install the latter at a 45 degree rotation from the old one. I also ground the face of the crankshaft to get it as flat as possible. Putting extra value on the Metro TAP card becomes a routine for me.

Once the parts arrived I couldn’t get the flywheel on the shaft. Again, with the advise of this list, I ground the circumference of the shaft until it fit on snuggly. At this point I bought three new dowels and promptly managed to jam them in so they protruded about 0.5mm too far. Yet again, on the advise of this list, the grinder spoke and I finally got the flywheel on and was able to measure end-play.

This list was able to confirm what I suspected: I was measuring the end-play shims’ thicknesses correctly and they had indeed worn down. I bought the appropriate shims and measured the endplay multiple times: Right On The Money.

At this point it occurred to me that with using the old gland nut and lock washer to press the flywheel on that, maybe, dunno, I should use a new lock washer? So I bought one and was immediately shocked: the new one had at least five times the “waviness” of my old one.

This time I marked off 18 inches on my new breaker bar and lowered my 180 lb (with iPhone in pocket) on to one foot on the far side of the mark and lightly bounced: this should be at least 270 foot-pounds. I reinstalled the clutch plate making sure I held the pilot tool so the disc would stay centered and wouldn’t droop while I tightened the plate.

Reinstalling the engine, I was having problems getting past the last inch so I decided to take a break and consult this list again. The list seems to be divided into two schools of thought as to what to do: rotate the shafts or wiggle the whole engine. I next decided to lay down level with the clutch and look. Unquestionably the disc was not centered. In fact, it was high and to the left. Either I supported the tool too much or my first attempt to mate the engine to the tranny moved it. I loosened the plate again and this time made sure it was centered. I jacked it in again and ran into a major obstruction. Apparently, just as I finished torquing the plate and before I started rolling the engine back into position, my wife pulled into the driveway and distracted me (while fully dressed, strangely) and I forgot to remove the flywheel lock tool. (That was the D’oh! Heard Round the World.) This time I decided to use all the tricks mentioned. I put it in fourth gear with the handbrake off figuring that any pushing on the engine would cause the car to move thus rotating the pilot shaft. And I wiggled the engine and made sure the gap was even all around. This was probably the fastest it’s ever slipped together.

I assembled all the other stuff and prepared to start it up. I had been charging the battery but it was weak and soon there was a horrible smell of sulphur dioxide. I was off to Costco where ’70 Transporters aren’t listed. After agonizing for about half an hour, I settled on their group size 35 battery which more or less fits. It started up and runs fine. But I’m still getting used to how the new clutch feels. The pedal needs more force and it’s got to go to the floor. (Which is probably the way it should be.)

So here’s the moral of the story: if the gland nut comes off, USE A NEW LOCK WASHER.

I’m a little disappointed that the person at the local VW parts store (“performance” oriented) didn’t suggest replacing the lock washer when I bought a gland nut. I’m pretty sure a place like Sherwood Auto (i.e. Jim Thompson) would have suggested it. (Damn I miss that place.)

Again, thanks to everyone on this list who contributes and to the admins that keep it (and Phrogbus) going.

Peace
Phroggie and Phrogbus
(’70 Sportsmobile conversion)
Northridge, CA