Engine case Problems

I have a air-cooled 1600cc engine I cracked the case to replacemall the bearings. The problem is i am putting back together and when I torque to 18mm and the two camshaft nuts front and back to just 12 foot pounds I have to put a wrench on the crack pulley nut to spin motor with a great deal of strength. I pulled it back apart atleast twenty times now and tried again. Bearings are all staying put nothing moving that should not be. I cannot figure it out why I cannot get it to spin freely and I am not even torqued all the way down. Any suggestions would be great.

Joe, sorry to say, but U R going to have to open the case again, U have something binding (U already know that) I would guess it is a dowl pin that did not line up or one of the lifters that has not exactly lined up.??
The only way to know is to open it up and take a look...also take a look at the cam and connecting rods if U did not put the connecting rods in correctly they will catch the case and bind up..
I know this is not what U wanted to hear.....
good luck...
Maybe someone else will chime in and have a better idea than me!!!!

Thanks katfish I took it apart again lastnight and notice the rod arms are hitting the case after I torque down. Going to change them
Around. Also noticed the cam bearings were spun out so I
Need to figure that out also. Thanks again.

[QUOTE=katfish16;59667]Joe, sorry to say, but U R going to have to open the case again, U have something binding (U already know that) I would guess it is a dowl pin that did not line up or one of the lifters that has not exactly lined up.??
The only way to know is to open it up and take a look...also take a look at the cam and connecting rods if U did not put the connecting rods in correctly they will catch the case and bind up..
I know this is not what U wanted to hear.....
good luck...
Maybe someone else will chime in and have a better idea than me!!!![/QUOTE]


I got it fixed it was the rods every third turn they would catch the case bought new ones and figured why not get a new set bearings also. It's turning smooth thanks for the help.

That is great Joe,,, it is easier to find the promlems now than later.. Keep us informed on how things are going.. Do U have a repair manual U r using to put the engine back together with???
Their is one out called the Original VW repair manual, it is very good, and not that expensive...
Also Hot VW's mag. is a good source to find vendors. Plus they have some good articles.. alot cheaper if U subscribe to it, than getting one at a time..

Good luck...and have fun

[QUOTE=katfish16;59810]That is great Joe,,, it is easier to find the promlems now than later.. Keep us informed on how things are going.. Do U have a repair manual U r using to put the engine back together with???
Their is one out called the Original VW repair manual, it is very good, and not that expensive...
Also Hot VW's mag. is a good source to find vendors. Plus they have some good articles.. alot cheaper if U subscribe to it, than getting one at a time..

Good luck...and have fun[/QUOTE]


I got the chilton and haynes but i also have and original something or another it does not have a title on it cause it is so old but it gives very good break down diagrams on how things are supposed to be. I will look at the other manual you suggested you can never have to many.

:banghead:It is very important to test fit all the bearings in the case before assembly begins...one trick I can share to avoid the pins from damaging your bearings is to make sure they are fully seated in the case...then use a scribe to draw a line on both side of the bearings back side, then go to insert the crank with the one piece bearings front and rear ones you will know exactly when they are where they should be...as for the connecting rods, the side that has the lump on the I-beam should face up, this is the correct orientation on the connecting rods as you look at the crank from the top.

VeeWeeThumbUp

[quote=vwjoe;59952]I got the chilton and haynes but i also have and original something or another it does not have a title on it cause it is so old but it gives very good break down diagrams on how things are supposed to be. I will look at the other manual you suggested you can never have to many.[/quote]

[B]Joe the one I was talking about was bright orange, and sold mostly by J.C Whitney for about $30 give or take..

Hot VW mag has a lot of interesting articles and suppliers in it too...

Best of luck..[/B]

[quote=katfish16;61562][B]Joe the one I was talking about was bright orange, and sold mostly by J.C Whitney for about $30 give or take..

Hot VW mag has a lot of interesting articles and suppliers in it too...

Best of luck..[/B][/quote]

No Katfish the one i got is from J.c Whitney but it is a Chilton they did not have an orange one when i was there.I will defiantly check i am going to try and head there this weekend but we got a VW swap meet so i am trying to hit both. The other one is and original repair V W manual for air cooled motors all though half the pages missing but what u gonna do it is ancient...

[quote=VeeWee;61552]:banghead:It is very important to test fit all the bearings in the case before assembly begins...one trick I can share to avoid the pins from damaging your bearings is to make sure they are fully seated in the case...then use a scribe to draw a line on both side of the bearings back side, then go to insert the crank with the one piece bearings front and rear ones you will know exactly when they are where they should be...as for the connecting rods, the side that has the lump on the I-beam should face up, this is the correct orientation on the connecting rods as you look at the crank from the top.

VeeWeeThumbUp[/quote]

Yea i did all that Vee Wee the problem was the connecting rod hitting the case. It was actually bent about three degrees so i just replaced it and we are all good.