Engine Problems

[Dub-Diva]

Our splitty has been deaded... :(

Mr Diva drove her to work on Monday, came out at 4pm and she wouldn't start as her starter motor was jammed... he arrived home on a low-loader (oh what fun we had getting her OFF it! :rolleyes:) much later on... he took Tuesday off to sort out the starter motor - with lots of help from Shamrockez :cuddle: - we managed to get it off and found a twisted piece of metal jammed into the teeth - we swapped the motor with GSF (it was new in December) and put the new one back in... went to start her and.... cough... cough... cough... click... nothing... tried again... cough... cough... cough... HUGE metallic clunking.... then clicking... bugger (or words to that effect) we said...

We took more advice and tried to take the engine out, but were stuck on how to reach a bolt (in steps Shamrockez again! :)) and had to leave her with her engine half-unbolted until today..

So, today comes (Mr Diva's birthday) and after taking the children to school we start to remove the bolt we were stuck on... out it came, off came the engine and we found this :eek:... horrid, twisted shard of metal (like we found before), lots of shards of metal from the flywheel, a worn (brand new on Tuesday) starter motor and a clutch release bearing with chunks out of it...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/luton1971/IMG_0136.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/luton1971/IMG_0138.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/luton1971/IMG_0141.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/luton1971/IMG_0146.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/luton1971/IMG_0151.jpg

Holy cr*p... all this after a "vw restoration specialist/garage" charged us TWICE what they quoted us for the work... which included the lowering and some other work - which entailed taking out the engine and replacing the gearbox, front beam, clutch release bearing and an alternator conversion and a couple of tiny bits more. Since we got her back, we have had problems with: brake hose clips not being put on, driveshaft bolts only done up finger tight, clutch cable not being tightened properly, petrol leak dripping onto the heat exchanger, battery strap not done up, petrol sender not connected and being told it had burned out... the list goes on and on :mad:

So, right now we are faced with a massive repair bill from another garage to put the work right - and even if we do it ourselves, it's still going to cost a few hundred to fix her up. Looks like DubFreeze will be a dream for us this year... :(

[Shamrockez]

Quickest fix would be to just bung a 6v starter on in the 12v system :) Otherwise you have to find a 12v flywheel, and clutch that will fit with your release bearing. What year is the 'box from?

[Dub-Diva]

ummm I bought an "AC" coded g/box from VolksMagic... I dunno the exact year of it tho...:o

[Shamrockez]

If it's a 12v box then you won't need to clearance it for a 12v flywheel if you wanted to put one on. Otherwise you have to grind the box down as the 12v flywheel is larger. It's best to do this with an air powered die grinder tho cos it produces no sparks (opposed to an electrical drill etc that do) as the box is magnesium. Remember magnesium experiments at school where you couldn't look at the magnesium when the teacher set it on fire cos it was a massive white explosion? Imagine a gearbox made out of that! :eek:

[MrYellowbug]

Seems theres alot of so called ac specialists that are no more than rip off merchants to me

Whats that now petal, harry (when he had his "tune up") and now your split

This is why I try to do as much work as I can myself then I know things are done up properly put back together as they should be

Feel for you Diva hope you get it sorted soon :(

[Shamrockez]

Unfortunatly that's true sometimes :( There is a few little gems out there tho. The garage we took Joey to for his first MOT were very good with him. Steve's family have been using them for over 40yrs and never had a problem with them :)

The garage we took Joey to for his MOT is again very good. The chap who runs it has a Buggy some Bugs, T25 etc so he knows what he's doing. Only charged us 30mins labour to adjust Joey's rear brakes and adjust his handbrake cables - and we know that's a big job on Joey cos his wheels are a nightmare to get off the back cos of lack of clearance due to IRS conversion and the offset of the EMPIs. Very pleased :)

[Dub-Diva]

There are some good guys out there... but for each good guy, there's loads of bad ones...

Unfortunately the guy we used is one of the most respected a/c restorers in the Home Counties... his knowledge of vw's has no end... Shamrockez knows who he is, and she was knocked over with the problems he's caused... he was brilliant with Vinnie - and that's why we trusted him with Doey... he started off really good and we supported him when he was first starting up (we couldn't have gone to VW Action as our petrol tank was leaking and he took a tank out of one of his ovals and lent us it so we could take the bug, that's how good he was to us!) - but now he has too much work, not enough time and has to rush jobs to finish them... I think that's why we've suffered :( Boils my blood and makes me so angry... Granny died suddenly last year and left us some money - we bought Doey as an investment and something to remember Granny by when we have endless camping holidays and so we can visit shows all over the UK , it's all thanks to her - now I'm starting to think maybe we should have just blown it on a couple of fantastic holidays and a new car... Sure, Doey will get sorted - but it's left a bitter taste in my mouth :(

[Shamrockez]

Yep I would have happily sent any of our cars to him and wouldn't have had any worries about leaving them with him - until now! It has really suprised me how someone that I know has a wealth of knowlage and experiance can make such amature mistakes! I would hope that it was someone else working for him that made the mistakes - but still, all work should have been checked before the vehicle was given back to the customer.


Don't worry - Doey will soon be fixed and you'll be off enjoying her in no time :D

[yellowbug]

have you spoken to them about the problems?

are they saying its nothing to do with them?

i hate stuff like this, cus you feel like there is bugger all you can do about it

Like us with the whole van engine thing, we have taken that to court and stuff, and its just dragging on and on

Hope you fix it....some how :D
Just try to focus on all the nice trips you can take in doey when its all sorted :)

[Dub-Diva]

Well. we e-mailed him and have heard nothing. that was before we took the engine out and found the damage! purposely haven't sent him anything (letter, or e-mail) as we're so angry we can't trust ourselves at the moment, need to cool off a bit, ahem, alot!

[yellowbug]

lol
fair enough!
well i hope you have more luck then us, this going to court business is a nightmare, costs a fortune and you feel like everything is against you :(

[1958 Harry]

Looks nasty, what was actually wrong with it? Was the flywheel loose? Looks very similar to what happened to me (below) but luckily my starter was OK, I just had a nasty grinding noise from the gearbox area! Is there a lot of endfloat in the engine all of a sudden? If there is check how tight the flywheel is :)

From my 'Tune up' with MAD (well they get you mad) they hadn't tightened my flywheel, resulting in a nasty clutch judder, shards of metal ground out of the gearbox case and the rear oil seal leaking (which is leaking again I think :( )

Despite them having the car twice again, replacing the release bearing they still didn't spot they hadn't checked the flywheel was tight when they replaced the engine!

[Shamrockez]

This was a case of 12v starter with 6v flywheel. The 2 have different teeth so didn't quite match up :(

[1958 Harry]

Ah bugger, I didn't realise it could do that!

[Dub-Diva]

lol, nor did we!

We are really curious as to what the heck that piece of metal is and where it's from!

[Dub-Diva]

Ok, took some more pictures of the damage...

The dreaded piece of twisted metal...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/luton1971/IMG_0213.jpg

The Clutch Release Bearing (supposedly new in December)...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/luton1971/IMG_0212.jpg

[Shamrockez]

Release bearing looks a bit manky for being 2 months old!

I have no idea where that twisted bit of metal has come from tho - most odd!

[1958 Harry]

I agree that release bearing aint two months old! Mine was in Harry nearly six months and other than a bit of the paint worn away on the mating face it looked brand new :)

And you said you'd already replaced the starter just before Xmas? Maybe that metals part of the old starter?

[Dub-Diva]

I agree that release bearing aint two months old! Mine was in Harry nearly six months and other than a bit of the paint worn away on the mating face it looked brand new :)

And you said you'd already replaced the starter just before Xmas? Maybe that metals part of the old starter?


When we had the straight axle conversion we needed a new gearbox, so I bought an AC coded (1500) one as requested, for some reason they couldn't use the super-de-dooper starter we already had (used to start before the key had finished turning!) and traded it in for the brand new Bosch one. Never understood why they needed a different starter motor... :confused::confused::confused:

[Dub-Diva]

Well... would you credit it... am absolutely bowled over... Mr Diva had a telephone call from the garage responsible for the work - the owner saw our engine trouble post on the Split Screen Van Owners Club (SSVC) website and realised it's ALL THEIR FAULT and they didn't check everything was ok before they put the engine back on, and just "assumed" it should have a 12v starter on it! So, they are renting a trailer and coming to collect Doey and her doomed engine and they promised to have her fixed for the weekend... result!

Now we've just got to see if they keep their promise about having her back on Saturday, but after the trouble they've caused,and admitting its their fault, I don't think they'd let us down again.

[Shamrockez]

Fingers crossed for you Hun! :D

[1958 Harry]

WOW! RESULT!!! Good news, I hope its all sorted now for ya! :D

[yellowbug]

oh that sounds positive at least
fingers crossed they manage it :D

[MrYellowbug]

Fair Play to them for admitting fault, good to see someone account for there work usually they just admit to nothing

Good news for you too, it will be running mint now as i'm sure there reputation is very important to them and it only takes something tlike this to lose it

Wish my old garage was like that :)

[Pure]

Its crap when things like this happen ain't it... Goes to show though that even good guys can drop the ball. Although you've had these issues, its good that the guy has actually created a chance for himself to put it right. That all feels pretty rare to me. If the guys got pride in his work and his reputation, you stand a good chance of getting it all sorted. Hoping that it all goes well and gets there in the end!

[Dub-Diva]

Awww thanks everyone :ghug:

[Dub-Diva]

Well.... am now totally transport-less! :eek:

The splitty has gone to the garage to be fixed, and Vinnie is off having his release bearing done... and it's half term... and we live miles away from the town...:rolleyes:

Roll on the weekend when both are supposed to be back! :D

[Dub-Diva]

Bus update:

We now know the problem with Doey's engine... the report from the garage is here...

"I found the problem with the bus to be the clutch release bearing friction surface. Basically, the clutch has been adjusted too far in, so the release bearing is in constant contact with the clutch pressure plate and it wore the friction surface away and what was left dropped off and jammed between the flywheel and starter pinion teeth - this is the piece of metal you found. The flywheel on the bus engine was indeed a 109 tooth 200mm 6v changeover one so the starter was skipping on the teeth."

She's in for her MOT late this afternoon... fingers crossed! I am really nervous already but she should go through without any problems - never had an "oldie" up for an MOT before... it's scarey!

[1958 Harry]

Ooooh good luck! Harry flew through his MOT, so I'm sure you'll be fine! :)

At least you know what was wrong now, and explains why the release bearing looked so nackered! Are they fixing it for free?

[Dub-Diva]

:D they certainly are, they said it was their fault as they hadn't checked her over before releasing her to us.

[Shamrockez]

Oooh good luck for the MOT! :D She looks a good bus so I'm sure you'll have no major problems :)

[1958 Harry]

:D they certainly are, they said it was their fault as they hadn't checked her over before releasing her to us.


Thats good, I have no problem with companies making mistakes so long as they own up and take responsibility. Good on them for being a decent honest company :)

[Dub-Diva]

:omg: WE HAVE AN MOT :yay::yay::yay:No advisories either :D

[1958 Harry]

Yayyyy!!!!!

Congrats :D

Is he all fixed now?

[Dub-Diva]

Most certainly is.... she FLIES along! zoom zoom zoom

I was driving behind... and I couldn't keep up!!!

:D mega huge smiles all round :D

[Shamrockez]

wooosh :D

[Duggy]

I'm glad its all sorted for you now.
:D