Transaxle Re-assembled

Last weekend, I got the transaxle put back together and back into the bus.  Fast sentence to write.  Lots of effort to do.  Today covers the first half of that 'effort to do': getting the transaxle ready.

Slinging Oil

slinger by hole in bell housing
where it's supposed to be attached

The bellhousing for the 002 and 091 transaxles are supposed to have this ringed collar around the input shaft to help guide the hypoid oil away from the input shaft seal and back towards the gears.  There are a few names for this bit, but the boards call it an "Oil Slinger".  According to the Bentley, this was supposed to be a non-repair item that was pressed into the bellhousing with a 4-ton press.  If it separates, you get a new bellhousing or re-press it in.  Well, the VW world has discovered that's not exactly right anymore.  Instead, you create a rough edge on the inner edge and along the rear (engine side) of the bellhousing.  I used a chisel and a file for this.  Then, rough up the lip and outside of the slinger near the lip.  Peanut butter the edge with JB Weld and press it into place by hand.  I treated the excess like caulking, and ran a gloved finger along the edges, pressing it in and making the edge clean.  Last, hold it firm with a simple weight and gravity.  Once its cured (18 hours), its ready.

Install Input Shaft Seal

roughed up edges

This was actually quite simple.  Lightly brush the inner and outer edge with hypoid oil.  Set into place by hand, and press it enough by hand so it sits still.  Find a short section of 3/4" PVC pipe (I used a 3/4" - 1/2" T from Home Depot).  With a rubber mallet, smack the seal until it seats flush with the face of the bellhousing.

Into One Piece
When the transaxle was built by AA Transaxle in Seattle, the bellhousing was sealed to the transaxle body with what looked like clear silicone caulking.  Not a fan.  I scraped all that out and instead ran hi-temp form-a-gasket along all of the mating surfaces.  Once it becomes tacky, set the 2 sides together and set the bolts in.  Rubber mallet the bellhousing into place and finger-tighten the bolts.  Following the jump-the-center torquing process, set them to 18ft-pounds (if memory serves. check the Bentley).

Topped Off and Ready

slinger with JB Weld

Before I put the bellhousing on, I made sure the oil drain plug could be loosened.  I had vaguely remembered that it was frozen in-place.  I was right.  After some hard torquing, I got the nut out.  I cleaned off the tiny metal filings off the attached magnetized rod, cleaned the threads and re-seated it.
Once the transaxle and bellhousing were one piece again, you need to give the form-a-gasket time to cure.  I gave it 24 hours and then opened up the fill hole.  It took all the gear oil I had on hand, and was still a touch low.  I'll need a fresh bottle to top it off before I take much of a test drive.  Remember, the tranny is full when oil spills out of the fill-hole when the tranny is on level ground.

That's it for today.  The tranny looks good, the input shaft has almost 0 wiggle to it and the seal / form-a-gasket are holding oil.  Hazah!

Bearing Bang On

As the leaves start to change color, and the sunsets arrive sooner each day, the pressure to beat the rains increases.  Accordingly, I have spent the last 2 evenings trying to get the bus back together.  A quick update today, recognizing there will be great progress over the weekend.

Clutch-less

note the band on the
inside-left making it thicker
than original bus bearing

Wednesday, I had about 45 minutes between the time I got home and the time I needed to pickup C from soccer practice down by his mom's house.  I figured that wasn't enough time to get the pilot bearing in, but I'd just see how far I could go.  I was pretty fortunate, actually.  The 13mm bolts loosened pretty easily.  I held the clutch in place with a thick bolt slid through the pressure place and clutch center hole, and removed the 2 as a single unit, noting the position of the pressure plate on the flywheel.  The flywheel looked and felt abrasion-free.  a wipe with a paper towel brought it to a scuff-less shine.  Since it has been less than a thousand miles since I swapped tranny's and less than 2 thousand since I put on the clutch, I expected nothing less.  I looked at the clutch face next.  It still looked new, so I switched to installing the bearing.

Bearing Bang On
About this time, T was messing around on his skateboard, so I asked him to hand me the pilot bearing I'd picked up earlier ('98-'02 Jetta/Golf/Beetle 1.8T bearing).  Unlike the original bus bearing, this one delivers pre-packed with a yellow-ish grease.  For the first few millimeters, it slid in, and then required some setting after that.  I used a ratchet extension against the bearing and a lightly-tapping framing hammer, (following a figure-8 patterns) to slowly set the bearing flush with the flywheel.  I did a quick time-check and had about 15 minutes left.

Clutched
I grabbed the extra input-shaft I have lying around for my clutch alignment effort.  I aligned the clutch/pressure plate such as they were when I removed them and loosely fingered in the bolts.  Unlike the first time I did this 2 years ago, the input shaft slid in tightly.  There was very little wiggle for the clutch, helping me understand how much wiggle there used to be without the pilot bearing.  Everything held firm, and I finger-tightened the bolts.  Following the jump-the-center torquing model, I first tightened with the socket in my fingers, then a short ratchet and finally my torque wrench (set to 18ppi).

After a quick tool put-away, wash-up and change, I headed south to collect C from soccer practice.  I arrived as practice was ending.  Perfect timing, and now we're one small step closer to having the bus in one piece again.  That's it for today.

Engine Drop Thoughts

Over Labor Day weekend 2012, I dropped and re-installed the TDI engine so I could swap transaxles.  I had bought a newly rebuilt one from AA Transaxle in Seattle (See Transaxle Transition).  This Labor Day weekend (2014), I dropped the engine again to remove that transaxle so I could replace the input shaft seal.  In both cases, I leveraged the notes I made in 2011 when I removed and re-installed the fuel tank (see Engine Extraction).

In preparation for the drop, I re-read the notes and realized that I didn't explicitly state whether the bus had to be put on stands for the engine drop.  So, I thought I'd try it this time with the bus on the ground.  It can be done.  Once the engine is down, unless you're going to work on it right there, you still need to lift the bus to get the engine or transaxle out.  Admittedly, you only need to jack-up the passenger side so the transaxle can slide out, but still, its worth noting.  To get the engine out, it is a big hairy deal.

I am seriously considering changing the rear-end to have a removable valence like the early bay and the split-window buses.  Consider, I have a thick steel bar running across the rear from frame-to-frame, holding the engine.  This is creating increased stiffness at the rear, which (reportedly) was the motivation to eliminate the removable valence.  My thinking is that if I can remove the valence, I could lower and remove the engine/transaxle as one unit without having to lift the bus 3+ feet into the air or parking over a ditch (yes, I did that to install it the first time).

The transaxle is still on the ground in my garage, and the engine is still on the ground (on the ATV jack) under the bus.  I have pulled together all the bits and parts I need to fix the leak and re-install, and I hope to start some of that before the weekend.  For my own future reference, here are a couple fruitful notes on parts:

The pilot bearing for the KEP flywheel (all 200mm clutch adaptions): '99-'03 VW (Jetta, Golf, Beetle) 1.8 Turbo bearing
The stud / mounting bolts from the transaxle to the adapter are 3/8", standard (not fine) right-hand threaded.
The Circlip which holds the input shaft tight to the reverse gear is part number 004 311 317.

That's it for this time.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get under the bus tonight or tomorrow night to get the clutch/pressure plate off so I can seat the pilot bearing.  As always, thanks for following along-

Removing an Input Shaft Seal

I have a bigger post in the works for the engine drop, transaxle input shaft seal replacement, etc.  For now, I have the engine lowered onto an ATV jack, and the transaxle in pieces on my garage floor.  I removed the old input shaft seal in a unique way.  Everywhere I looked, the advice was to get a seal removal tool, hammer it into the rubber seal and pry away.  I did something else, and that's what I cover in today's post.

Identify the Seal as the Problem
After separating the engine from the transaxle, and before moving the transaxle into a clean location, look at the inside of your bellhousing.  Does it have a bunch of oil residue lining it?  Maybe a small pool of oil?  Dip your finger in it and sniff it.  Does it smell like your engine oil?  Does it look like engine oil?  Lighter color?  Maybe slightly different smell too?  Yep, you have a leaking input shaft seal.  Now, remove the throw-out bearing like everyone says.  If you have the sleeve behind it, remove that too, exposing the input shaft seal.  Look at the seal.  Wiggle the input shaft a little bit.  Does the seal cling to the shaft or do gaps appear?  Is the seal smooth or does it have a pinch in it?  Mine had 2 small pinches along the outer edge and the shaft did not cling to the seal.

Removing an Input Shaft Seal
This is the point where everyone else says to remove the seal the brute-force way.  For some transaxles (those without a seal housing), it may be the right method.  I took a different tack.  Remove the bellhousing.  Its held on with 13mm bolts.  3 on each side inside the bellhousing and 2 on the bottom.  With a rubber mallet, lightly smack the bellhousing to free it from the transaxle body.  Mine had been silicone sealed but the seal didn't hold up much.  Place the bellhousing engine-side down on top of a shop towel.  Pointing up, you will see the seal housing.  Smack it with the rubber mallet and out pops the input shaft seal.  Easy peasey.  EDIT: Through further research, I believe the housing should not separate from the bell housing.  If you were able to get your seal out this way, by lightly tapping on the housing (like I did), you have a new problem: how to get the "housing" (some call it an oil-slinger) re-attached to the bell housing so that it doesn't re-free itself.  I'll post a picture of what my driveshaft looks like after less than 2 thousand miles like this.  I am assuming it wasn't like this when I got the transaxle from AA. End EDIT.

New Seal, Torn Seal
I have been unable to successfully get a seal back into the transaxle, to the point where I tore the only replacement I had.  All of the advice on the interweb seems to exclude transaxles with a seal housing, making their "slip it over the input shaft and drive it in by alternating sides" unusable.  I have tried setting the housing first, but that hasn't worked.  I got close, though, using a 13mm socket to press the seal.  I made the mistake of trying a larger socket and tore the seal.  I need to hit Discount Import Parts (DIP) for another one.  Once I get the seal onto the housing and into the transaxle, I'll close the loop on how I did it.

That's it for today.  I picked up a pilot bearing and a replacement mounting stud for transaxle re-install at the local FLAPS during lunch today.  They didn't have a suitable input shaft seal.  Off to DIP when the next opportunity presents itself.  Thanks for following along, and Hapy Birthday, C!

Drinky drinky, not wet and sticky

After 10 years of owning Flash (silver Jetta), I have finally replaced the broken drink cup holder for the front seats.  It was broken when I bought the car, and I didn't think much of it.  Looking back, I'm amazed at how used to not having a real drink-holder I became over such a long period of time.

Drink Cup Management the Broken-Holder Way
We would jam hard-sided cups between the driver seat and the e-brake handle.  I'm sure that put unwanted pressure on the handle, and it was then unavailable as an emergency brake because there was a cup jammed in there making it harder to grab the handle.  Sometimes, I'd fit a cup between the driver seat and the door.  If the cup was slickery, it would topple over and slide to the base of the seat belt, spilling contents under the seat.  Fantastic.  Lastly, I'd drive, juggling it from hand to hand or parking it between my legs.  Memories of that Seinfeld episode with Kramer and the hot coffee.  Ye-ouch.

Old Holder

old holder in pieces on the ground

The original 1999.5 to 2002 cup holder was poorly designed (sorry German designer, but its true).  It had multiple weak points that couldn't stand up to American drink sizes.  In my case, the slider mechanism broke where the plastic holder met the thin steel.  If you set a light drink in it, it would appear to be capable of holding it until you started driving uphill or accelerated quickly.  Then, the holder would take flight, bathing your shifting arm with beverage.

New Holder
In 2002/2003, VW designed a new, more sturdy cup holder.  Rather than 2 fixed diameter holes, the new design has spring-arms which flip outward to accommodate varied cup sizes.  It is also much stronger at the slider with thicker metal and thicker plastic, making the joint-point much beefier.  I got mine from AARodriguez operating as FixMyVW.  I doubt it will hold one of those ridiculous super slurpy cups from 7-11, but it holds a standard tall-coffee just fine.  After installing, we tried a full quart bottle of Dad's root beer.  It strained, so we pulled the bottle back out.  It grips a can very well, almost too well.  I was unable to quickly free a can of coffee energy drink, creating a small spill.  Basic drive-thru paper cups, however, are ideal for this new holder.  The arm will flip back with the back of your pinky or the base of the cup while you place the cup in the holder.  It doesn't over-grip on the waxy-paper cup, so it pulls out easily too.  Have I over-rev'd on the cup holder yet?  :)

Extraction / Install

Both cup holders are held in place the same way.  There are 2 small metal tangs on either side close to the cabin-end of the holder.  With a thin slotted-screwdriver on each side, press the metal tangs towards the center while pulling on the holder.  You may need a partner.  In Flash's case, the holder was so mangled, only one of the tangs was holding on, so I was able to free it by myself.  Clean the slot with some window cleaner or something.  This will be the one time in years you'll have this cavity open.  Installation is simply slide the new holder in until the tangs click-in.

I've had the great pleasure of hosting 2 nephews and a niece from Montana (the MT3) over the last 2 weeks.  It was a crazy time, but now we miss them terribly.  It did distract us from the approaching school season, though, so now we're scrambling to get kids ready for school, soccer and all the other things that seem to arrive with Labor Day's passing.  Before I know it, it'll be snow-season again.

Lastly, this past weekend, I officially took the bus off the road to replace the transmission input-shaft seal.  I haven't decided if I'll do anything else before returning him to service, but I've thought a lot about addressing the electrical short in the dash.  I'll post an updated "how to drop the TDI engine" complete with what tools are needed for each step soon.

That's it for today.  As always, thanks for following along.