Cheryl’s first bus

TLB the home of PTFE..

 

Was it blue E10 PTFE.?

 

Well I did some Googling and a lot of people say the yellow is petrol resistant so that’s what I went for in the end.

hoping to get it all done by Tuesday.

Monday morning I will be going to the A47 classic auto jumble

 

Tbh...
I was making it up... ...

 

Busy day today.

Changed the oil filter, strainer, spark plugs, leads, dizzy cap, set the valve clearances, had 2 do oil strainer twice as it poured oil out the first time I did it lol

when I set cylinder 1 in place, the cylinder 2 valves wouldn’t move which is correct, however when I sent to cylinder 2, one of the valves on cyclinder 1 would move, not sure if that’s an issue or not?

 

You don't need to change the strainer on Type 4 (it has a proper filter) and I hope you didn't overtighten the nut – the crankcase can be damaged if you do. The torque is only 12Nm (9lb/ft).
By the way, there is no problem having gas dampers at one end and oil filled at the other but they must have the correct travel to prevent bottoming out or being overextended.

 

not going to lie I probably have overtightened that but but it was tight anyhow, it doesn’t leak now anyhow so all good lol

out of curiosity why do they sell it as a service part of you shouldn’t change it?

 

You have a perfectly good spin on filter. The strainer generally doesn't need touching because it doesn't block up.
They sell it because its traditional.
The reason you dont over tighten the bolt is that the metal it goes into is only strong enough to take the rated torque, sufficient to hold the cover on. Over do it and it's an engine out , strip down and welding job to repair. Something that traditionally was beyond economic repair.. or used as an excuse to spend thousands on a Subaru replacement as you just damaged an Type 4 engine block with a simple noddy mistake ( no new T4 blocks have been made for a long time)

If your bus is simply lowered by adjusters then it will bang with stock shocks. The bang comes from the stock shock absorbers bottoming out and trying to rip the top off the suspension beam towers.. think cracks..

There are alternatives.

1. Go back up. Still no bump stops at the front, those got chopped off.

2. Fit heavier dampers with same spring rate but more damping. Helps somewhat but there are still some bumps that will defeat it.

3. Fit Beetle rear shocks at the front. They are shorter so they dont bang. Instead your tyres will rub on roundabouts and bumps.. everywhere you see marks from oil and truck tyres skipping expect pain.

4. Fit coilover shocks. Have additional springs and more damping. Only rub under more extreme cornering. Bang if the suspension extends suddenly instead... Still risking cracks in the front beam but less because its not from banging just higher suspension force on the top of the front beam..

My choice is coilover shocks as I dont have the adjusters to go up. Increasing spring preload allows me to go down 100mm on cut n twist and up 25mm on coilover preload.

 

It's not that you shouldn't, you just don't need to.
However as it was the first time for you on that engine it probably wasn't such a bad thing to do.
Assuming there were no chunks of metal on it you can now let the cannister filter do the job on subsequent changes.

As above, it's potentially pretty serious as the case is easily cracked internally.
Leave it alone from now on and keep your fingers crossed it hasn't cracked the threaded boss.

It'd be advisable to read the book and respect the torque figures given by VW. Its easy to swing on a spanner, more so on a ratchet, and do expensive damage.

Then again if you don't see it, it hasn't happened

 

thank you for the advice, it was tight to take off, I don’t feel like I tightened it up as much as it was, also I didn’t use the end of the ratchet for leverage, I tend to just use my hand just over the socket with limited leverage until it’s tight.

should be ok, if it’s broke it’s broke, I’ll just get it fixed, all part of the journey and learning curve lol

 

thank you for this. I want to go lower, basically I want to get it as low as I can before I think about hydro’s lol definitely suspension upgrade is next, maybe I could find a used red 9 kit somewhere

 

The other valves will move because each cylinder is at a different point in its operating cycle so that the four cylinders take it in turn to fire. So some other valves will be in the process of opening or closing while the two in the cylinder that is firing are both fully closed.

 

... but none should at any point move more than the gap you are setting. If you find one swinging about - you went wrong earlier. If you find one requires more than a tickle of adjustment, stop and scratch your head - you're going wrong.

 

The pic is what can happen if the strainer nut is overtightened, looking up at the middle cam bearing saddle, the broken thread is where a casing bolt screws into and where the strainer is hung off. It can be repaired but it needs the engine to be stripped and it's better avoided.

It's a poor design and it's a mystery to me why VW carried over a hole in the sump from the Type 1 when it isn't necessary to inspect the strainer when there is an oil filter. Also a mystery why so called service kits include a strainer – it makes money for the suppliers of course so they won't say it isn't required.

 

Many years ago I abandoned a 1700 because it dropped a seat. I took it apart and found almost exactly as Mr Westy shows above, but mine had the tiniest ledge left - call it one thread. Useless without care and cunning, a bolt had been cut off sharp to finger tight it carefully then apply the 9lb downward torque on the plate bolt to hold it in place. It had never leaked, but I'd never touched that bolt and was glad I hadn't!

 

they wasn’t out by much, they probably didn’t even need adjusting, but it was something else I learnt so all good lol I’ve got a mate coming tomorrow to check everything so will see what tomorrows results say lol

 

it does seem completely pointless now it’s been explained, I just thought it was part of the service lol I won’t touch it again then

 

More tinkering. Cleaning the engine bay, underneath, I have zero leaks, fan belt changed.

Air leaking at the manifolds though, so need manifold gaskets, which ones are the best?

hoping gaskets fixes the issue. Could air leak from anywhere else around that area?