Hi Graham,
although it might theoretically be possible to remove the heads without disturbing the barrells, they are nearly always stuck to the heads, and will lift off their seats.
This will damage the base gaskets and allow coolant to leak into the crankcase, necessitating a complete engine rebuild.
Budget for the extra couple of hours of labour. "Do the job properly, and you only need to do it once."
Only use a mechanic who is familiar with these engines. Anyone else will take twice as long, charge extra for the labour, and probably stuff it up.
The first time I did it I spent several hours making the tools to remove and replace the gudgeon pins through the coolant ports, and to support the con-rods during re-assembly [see manual].
While you're at it, freshen up the heads and have a look at the clutch and flywheel, replace the water pump, starter bushing, oil cooler and all the coolant and fuel hoses. Since you're paying for a new gasket kit anyway, replace the distributor drive "O" ring as well - a common source of oil seepage.
All these parts are cheap and easier to replace with the engine out.
Replace the flywheel oil seal, but don't disturb the pulley oil seal until you've checked out the price of a dedicated Syncro oil seal first - they cost an arm and a leg. Some engines have already had the seal replaced with a 2WD oil seal, which will work fine until you drive through a river. It is only a one-way seal, designed to keep fluid in, not out. The Syncro oil seal has a larger internal diameter to fit over a mud-shield which is pressed onto the pulley hub, and an outer lip to prevent water ingress.
If the seal in your gasket kit is the same as the one in the engine, you have a 2WD seal. The 4WD seals are only available from VW specialists.
You might have to order or fabricate some new muffler clamp straps as well.
When it's finished you'll be able to go off the beaten track with confidence.
Cheers, Roger [Beetle Bayley].
Roger. When my motor was done about 4 years ago the syncro oil seal was $300, the 2wd $20. I can tell you it was bloody tempting to use the cheaper option. On the odd occation i do a deep water crossing i'm glad for spending the extra. Some times ya just gotta pay. Bill
Too right!
Roger [Beetle].
It must have been made for VW, because, from memory, it had the VW logo and part number on it. I'll check back on my records, and see if there is one on the spare motor in the shed.
There is a similar two-way seal fitted to the selector shaft on the transmission.
They are a double-sided oil seal, with a lip and radial spring on the outside similar to the one on the inside of a conventional oil seal, obviously designed to keep water out when fording.
They are guaranteed to make the counter-jockey at the local bearing-supplier scratch his head till it bleeds.
The blokes I showed it to didn't even know what to call it.
The Ekta diagram and part number for the selector-shaft seal is no help.
When I was trying to source one for my gearbox, I rang all the usual VW outlets in NSW and Victoria, including workshops that claim to specialise in reconditioning Syncro transaxles, and was assured that they use the same seal as the 2WD's. Obviously this is because the original seal is unprocurable.
The phantom transmission seal definitely DID exist, as they were originally fitted on both my syncro transaxles.
I am currently negotiating with an overseas supplier who claims he can supply them - and there is one "in the mail". If it is what it purports to be, we should probably order a heap of them. They should be reasonably priced, and cheap to send in the post.
As for the Syncro crankshaft pulley seal, I bought mine from Muller & Muller. I would check with Tooley's to see what they are selling them for before going overseas.
The only time I have seen a similar double-sided seal is on a Range Rover, which puts us in good company.
They even had a waterproof starter motor, in case you wanted to stop and water the polo ponies mid-stream.
It might be useful to speak to a parts supplier for tractors and earth-movers, as they might have something similar. All you need when ordering an oil-seal is the outside and inside dimensions, and thickness, in millimetres. This is usually stamped on the seal - for example, "55-45-8".
I'll hunt out the dimensions of the seals in question and let the group know.
happy hunting, Roger [Beetle Bayley].
Good idea Graham. With the barrells out he can check the bores, measure the ring gaps and grooves, and the piston to cylinder clearance.
MV pistons, rings and bores seem to last forever, but it pays to check.
While you're at it it might be worth throwing in a new set of cam followers, as they are usually the first things to play up.
Don't forget to check the thrust race and spigot bearing as these are both ridiculously cheap and easy to replace, and have a good look at the engine and gearbox mounts. The former will probably need renewing.
A new coolant pressure cap is cheap insurance.
Have a good look at the 4 air intake hoses [039 133 241] which often crack and perish. I bought some from Autohaus AZ.com, or you can take your old ones to your local Pirtek hose outlet and have some turbocharger hose cut to size.
Tooleys were doing a good deal on a genuine VW Fuel Injector Replacement Kit a while back, 025 198 318A , which included all the injectors, hoses, seals and everything.
Carry a spare accelerator pedal and pivot pin, or at least an old gate hinge and 12 volt drill so you can repair the pedal when it comes adrift.
The fan-belt stone deflector is essential on outback roads.
I like the oiled foam "Unifilter" air filter with a spare "sock" so you can always have a clean one on hand for a quick changeover. After spending all that money on an engine rebuild it's worth changing the filter daily in dusty conditions.
Make sure your shock absorbers are in good nick, check the mounting bolts regularly on corrugated roads, and carry a spare.
Sounds like a good trip, and at a good time of year.
Cheers, Roger.
Great work Ken, Michael and Greg.
Looks like "Superseals" might be worth a call.
Looking at my old Mullers receipt I paid a weeks rent for 025 105 248A, described as a "4X4 crankshaft pulley oil seal".
The steel collars are re-usable, although it is handy to know that you can buy them to convert the engine from a 2WD to suit the 4WD.
Alternatively, if you can't afford the 4WD seal, just prise off the steel collar, use the 2WD seal, and avoid deep water.
When fitting a new oil seal, linish the shaft lightly with emery paper to help the new seal to "bed in" properly.
Roger.