Removing the Slider

Continuing down my path, today's post is about removing the sliding door. Sure, the Bentley has a section about it (5.11), but like the front-door window removal, there's always a little something to clarify.

Getting at It
We start with the splash guard that covers the rail running underneath the rear window. The Bentley (section 5.10) is right in that there are 3 fasteners to concern yourself with, but at least in my case, one of the Phillips-head screws in the Bentley picture is actually a bolt and nut. The first 2 are obvious. They are Phillips head screws and come from below the guard at the rear and just front of the middle. Depending on your individual case, you may need to hit these with PB Blaster to get them to come free.

rear catch

At the front, there is a difficult-to-access nut. This is not shown in the picture in the Bentley. At least on my 1972, there is a Phillips head bolt head inside the bus that threads through to a 10mm nut where the Phillips head screw is in the Bentley picture. If you put a 10MM crescent or box-end wrench on the nut, you can remove the bolt from inside using a Phillips head screwdriver. This is not in the Bentley instructions.

Once the fasteners are removed, tap on the underside of the cover with a rubber mallet. It should free relatively easily. Within the instructions in the Bentley, a cinch-down bolt and bar is pictured. It has a Phillips head, and should be loosened first. In my case, no amount of PB-Blaster would free the cinch-down bar before I got the cover removed.

There is a simple seal between the cover and the side of the bus body. When the cover comes free, this seal will come free with it. The existing one looks fair, but a pair of replacements would be $15 at BusDepot (see here). I tossed it into the keep pile, delaying the decision until the other end of the painting effort.

Door Off
Once the splash guard is off, removing the door is actually pretty easy, but you need a buddy. Again, though, the Bentley falls just a little short. Maybe it's my reading of it (section 5.11). Before you start pulling the door off, there is one step the Bentley forgets: removing the rear catch. If you slide the door all the way open, the inner handle catches on a bracket. That bracket needs to be removed before you try to remove the door. It is held on with 3 thick Phillips-head screws.

rear support in the channel

Now, like the book says, open the door halfway. There is a break in the channel in which the rear support runs. The rear support slips through that opening. Have your buddy hold that end of the slider, taking care to keep the rear support from banging against the side of the bus. The two of you now roll the door all the way to the rear. While holding the rear-end of the sliding door (and facing the side), have your buddy take a single step back away from the bus. Then, while you hold the front edge, your buddy lifts upward, tilting the door. Keep tilting until the front top roller can slip out of the upper channel. Hold the door firmly now and pop the bottom roller out through the gap in the bottom channel (picture 5-37 might help). Set the door on something stable that won't scratch it. I used the passenger seat I'd removed and set against the side of the bus.

Inspect and Prep
With the slider fully removed, you can see all of the little rust spots which were barely visible before you removed it. The bottom edge of my door had a fair amount of surface rust, but no holes. The edge of the body, however, wasn't quite as fortunate. The front corner of the door, under the seal, has some rust spots and a few tiny holes. Some work with a Dremel got the rust removed and the holes clarified, but I need to think about how I can contain the inner side of the rust hole so the rust doesn't spread. Something I'll have to figure out soon.

I removed the door workings to make sure no rust had appeared underneath them. Other than the bottom edge, the door looks clean. I scuffed the paint and got after the rust. More work is needed there before the door is ready.

workings removed

The lower roller channel was filthy. 40 years of mud, oil and grease had made quite a mess. Using a putty knife, I scraped the bulk of it off. Then, with Goop-Off, I scrubbed it clean enough to sand without grime gunking up the sandpaper. Happy to see there wasn't any rust (just patina), I lightly sanded the lower roller channel.

Last, the body panel under the door had some caked on grey gunk that looked like concrete. Neat. After chiseling off the worst of it, I sanded the rest and roughed up the paint. The drip rail on the bottom had some surface rust, but no holes, and nothing remotely structural. A moderate sanding effort later, that area is ready for priming and painting. I removed and sanded the cinch-down bar, concluding that it will need paint to keep it from being patient 0 for the next round of rust in the slider area. I'm not sure it will work as well with paint on it, so I will look for a new replacement.

That's it for today. I still have to finish the rust sanding on the slider, but otherwise the door and door opening are ready for the next step. As always, thanks for following along.

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!

Brake Switch, electrical research

This weekend was possibly the most beautiful 2-day weekend we've had in the Pacific NorthWest since the middle of last Fall. We had mostly clear skies with temps in the mid 60's on Saturday and into the low 70's on Sunday. It was perfect be-outside weather, so that's exactly how it was spent. Today, I'll talk about the brake switch installation I did on Saturday, and flap a bit about how the rest of the weekend was spent. Last, and certainly not least, my good friend from Kentucky (Andy) forwarded to me the net result of 9 months of researching circuits for the ALH TDI engine. Great stuff.

Brake Switch
In the bracket that holds the accelerator pedal to the VW NewBeetle, there is also a switch that is activated by the movement of the brake pedal. Recognizing that VW wouldn't put in a washer if they felt they could get away with it, we have to assume it has a purpose. It does, but not much of one for my implementation. First, the pedal switch turns off the cruise control. This is for safety, I believe. Second, the ECU (car computer) compares the signal from that switch with the other (and the brake lights) to see if there is a problem in the lighting. For my purpose, though, if there isn't a signal that acts like a brake switch, the ECU throws a code, and the check engine light pops on.

Fake it or Make it
There are 2 ways to handle the brake switch in a conversion. Many of the vanagon conversions have wired into the master cylinder switch and trigger the brake switch signal via a relay and a variable resistor to get the singal voltage right. I call this a "fake", but it seems to work very well for those that have done it. I actually got a switch from the donor car, so I figured I'd try fabricating a switch bracket and put it under the floor pan where the accelerator rheostat is. The picture to the right here shows where.

Clamp, Test, and Go
I took a short strip (less than 6 inches long, about an inch wide) or galvanized sheet steel that I had laying around from the radiator work. I got under the bus with the switch in hand and found a spot that allowed for the switch to open and close with the pedal motion when I held the switch against the lever. The switch button is activated / deactivated by pressing against the floor. I cut the mounting bit off of the old donor bracket, and pop-riveted it to the strip of steel. I then bend the strip of steel into an old-style capital "C" shape with little wings sticking out the end. I was able to get the clamp around the brake lever so the wings were about 3/8" apart. I removed it, drilled a couple of pilot holes, re-installed it and tightened the ends together with sheet metal screws. The clamp and the switch don't budge, and they will be covered by the same belly pan that will be covering the accelerator rheostat, so it should be weather-safe. Now, the switch opens and closes when the pedal is pressed and released - just like the donor car.

Present in the Mail
If you have followed my thread on the TDIClub, I have been anticipating a packet from one of the members there (AndyBees) containing the wiring diagram research he did for his vanagon TDI conversion project. His donor engine is from a 2002 Jetta, so much of the wiring is the same as my 1998 New Beetle donor. This significantly reduces the amount of time I will have to spend trying to figure things out. It doesn't completely eliminate my research though because there are some differences between these 2 configurations. For example, the 1998 New Beetle did not have an immobilizer, so I don't need to use the ignition key from my donor engine. Andy will have to. The circuit that deals with the starter is therefore different between our engines. And so it begins. I have barely started reading through his drawings and notes. I had some of the drawings in my Bentley for my Jetta, but his hand notes will prove to be very useful. Now, to find a wiring diagram for a 1998 New Beetle TDI without having to buy the $80 book.....

Weekend Fun
So, I did the brake switch over the course of a few hours Saturday afternoon. I spent the morning first at T's lacrosse game and the helping build raised garden beds at my kids' school. The evening was spent playing with C and reading Andy's notes. Sunday morning we skipped church to work in the yard. It was the first mow of the season, so there's the whole tune-up of the mower first. The grass looks terrible, but at least its shorter, and we were able to enjoy a picnic lunch on it. C had a lacrosse game too, so we all watched him play and then went out for ice cream. Overall, it was a great weekend with a great balance of volunteering, housework, kid time and a little project work on the old bus.

up next...
ALT belt, battery isolator, camping battery install, main battery install and, hopefully, wiring up the primary electrical (ALT-starter-battery).

pictures:
top - brake switch installed with the accelerator rheostat for positional clarity
bottom - close-up of the brake switch. Hard to tell how the action works. I'll take another one from more off the side so its more obvious.

transaxle out

Like the title says, the transaxle (transmission) is now out of the bus. In terms of steps, its pretty easy... once the engine is out. The Bentley is accurate, and the Muir book is not. ell, I found the Muir book confusing on this, and the Bentley simple, so maybe Muir is right. I loved that book when I first got my bus. He explained everything in such conversational terms, it was easy to follow. Now that I've gotten used to the service manual and the terms for the different parts, the Bentley manual is easier to follow. Of course, the Bentley assumes you have this long list of weird VW tools that nobody has, so you have to use a blending of the 2 books for most things. The removal of the transaxle was one of those cases.

First, undo the clutch cable. This means spin the wingnut on the end until it falls off in your hand. You'll have to put a vice-grip or hold the end of the cable. I used a screwdriver in the end of the cable (it has a little slot for that). Pull the cable free of the clutch engaging arm (not sure what the real term is), and put the wingnut back on the end of the cable. Don't tighten it, but make sure it doesn't fall off either. Then, remove the 2 bolts that are holding the next secion of the cable to the transaxle housing. This is called the bowden tube, and it helps you adjust the clutch cable movement. It is held on with 2 13mm nuts. One of mine was so rusted on, the bolt unthreaded from the transaxle. I'll have to fix that later. Anyway, at this point, the cable is not longer connected to the transaxle, so we move on to the CV joints, then the shift linkage.

The CV (constant velocity) joints need to be unbolted from the sides of the transaxle. Now, a few years ago, that would have been a very scary sentence to read. But now, its just a matter of finding the right Allen wrench (6mm) and going to it. Before you do, check the travel of the axle. Hold the axle right at the transaxle and try to move it front to back. Does it move? That CV joint needs replacing. Check the other end too. I got lucky and didn't have to replace any of them. Pull all of the Allen bolts off, or at least enough to separate the bolt from the transaxle. Pop the joint into a plastic bag, tape it up so water and dirt can't get in there and move on. You can either wire the axles up in the air or let them hang free. Somewhere in the pictures, you should see one of each.

Disconnecting the shift linkage is eerily easy. The Bentley says to have the transaxle in 3rd gear. Muir says neutral. I went with the Bentley, and put it into 3rd. Then, slide under the bus, cut the safety wire and unscrew the little square bolt that holds the shifter coupling to the front of the transaxle. Now, all that's holding the transaxle in are the 2 mounts. Grab a support. Bentley says to use some weird VW tool. Muir says to use a board and some chain. I used an ATV/Motorcyce jack - I bought it for engine drops, and it works great for transaxles too. If you do the same, slide the jack in the rear. Jack up the transaxle just a touch - just enough to support its weight. Disconnect the front transaxle mount. Mine had a 17mm and a 16mm head bolt. I thought that was pretty strange, but that's what fit.

Bentley described the next step as just sliding the rear support bolts out. Well, they failed to mention that the bolts threads work into threads in the top of the transaxle. Unwind them, and the bolts work their way out. Then, drop the transaxle and pull it on back.

Since I changed my transaxle gear oil less than 4k miles ago, I didn't drain the transaxle first. You might want to do that if you don't know when your oil was changed, or if you know it due (which, if you don't know when it was done, its due). Well, that's it for today. With the transaxle on the ground, I need to replace the rear main seal on the new engine, and I'm ready to start mating the transaxle, and the new engine on my garage floor. more later--

tank ok, panic past

Fuel tank interference resolved-ish, ready for welding mounts.

I took a look through the Bentley manual and figured out what was sticking over the flywheel: part of the cooling system. Above the flywheel are 2 different bits that stick out. First is a cooling pipe (outlet flange, according to Bentley) with 3 glow plugs sticking out of it. This, I believe, was to help get the engine warm for cold temperature engine starts. The glowplug bit is attached to a pipe fitting that bolts to the engine. Coolant passes from within the engine (water jacket) out through that pipe. The coolant is then optionally warmed before passing through the EGR cooler. An alternate route for the coolant is to the top of the radiator. The bugger in the system is the pipe that sticks straight out from the glowplug thing that routes to the EGR cooler. In the Bentley drawing, the glowplug thing isn't there, so its a little confusing.

I am going to look into 2 different alternatives to resolve this. First, I'd like to try to re-route the connection from the block to the outlet flange. I think with a small stretch of pipe with a 90* bend in it, that whole operation can be moved around to the side. This should be relatively easy to do, once I source parts.

Second, I want to see just how important the EGR cooler is. I can see how the high heat of exhaust gas entering the engine would be bad. My real question is "how necessary is the EGR in my install?". I mean, I'm going to run BioDiesel, and that produces considerably less pollutants than regular diesel. The aircooled engine I pulled out was probably a bigger pooluter than this new engine will be without the EGR and without the catalytic converter. Lastly, this bus does not require smog testing.

Technically, I could pull all the smog stuff off this engine and drive perfectly legally. Ethically, though, I'm struggling. The whole point of this project is to embrace the "leave lighter footprints" concept and removing all of the pollution control devices seems to fly against that. I'll talk with Justin the TDI magic-man and see if he has any strong ideas. At this point, though, I am leaning very much in the direction of removing the smog control devices.... if I can confirm my suspicion that the pollution produced after its removal would still be better than the old aircooled engine when running at least b50 (50% BioDiesel / 50% dinoDiesel) as I must in Winter.