WITW - Andrew's Irish Green

[strummagnet]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

On with engine removal. In keeping with the generally cooperative nature of the car so far, only two screws on the electronics box are seized. One can be recovered, and this rusty one will be replaced

Is the co-operative nature down low miles or dedicated regular maintenance??

[MikkiJayne]

Its a combination of usage, maintenance, and storage conditions leading to particular characteristics of each car.

Evergreen needed 14 hours for the timing belt because both bumper bolts were utterly seized, and thats only on 80k, but the front end hadn't been off in a long time.

Regular maintenance helps if done well, but the Murple was regularly maintained to an abysmal standard so that was utterly ruined.

Using them really is key - the urban daily drivers are usually better to work on than the Sunday specials because the former get nice and hot regularly and burn off the moisture. Both of mine suffer from not being driven much, but round here they would just get trashed if used every day.

[MikkiJayne]

Suspension off before removing the engine. Its pretty much standard now that anything which hasn't been replaced in the last few years will be seized solid, and compliant as this car is being, the tie rod ends are stuck in the uprights. I didn't even try the pinch bolts. Luckily the tie rod ends came out of the tie rods, which is a rare treat, so just unscrewed the ends rather than having to cut them off.



Both corners off, ready to be broken down



One of the sleeves came out of an upright - fairly common, but I thought it was worth showing as it cropped up the other day. This steel sleeve is used to create the taper in the aluminium uprights, as the aluminium wouldn't hold it on its own. They are pressed in and usually solid, but do pop out from time to time.



Put the arm in the vice and then attach the 3-jaw puller



Then mount the puller itself in the vice, otherwise it just flops about



and the sleeve pops off with quite a bang. Its worth noting that the A6 C5 and A4 B6 both use the same sleeves as the D2, so if you lose or damage a sleeve, its much easier to find donor A4 or A6 parts from which to remove the sleeve than it is to find D2 parts



The sleeve will knock back in to its hole easily enough, and I will coat it in a thin film of Loctite 638 retainer which will stop it ever coming out again.



The junction box is undamaged! More amazingly, the little stud which holds the starter cables (on the right) didn't snap off I think thats the first time that's ever come apart cleanly!



The lower strut braces have taken a big hit at some point. The bar is quite bent and will need straightening. The bolts all came out without a fight too, which is a rare treat.



The impact on the bar has cracked this lower mounting plate. These are getting very hard to come by these days so this will be repaired rather than replaced.



The head was almost completely ground off one of the gearbox mount bolts!



Some dressing with the grinder removed the mushroomed-over head and left just enough spline to get a tool in it



The gearbox rear output seal is dripping without the shaft even moving



Whoever did the seal previously seems to have dilligently cleaned up all of the CV joint grease and not replaced it! Luckily this joint doesn't see much deflection so it hasn't caused any damage so I will re-grease it before putting the drivetrain back in



Engine coming out







Lots of pieces to tidy up in the morning, then I can split the engine and box

[Ronin]

Smooth sailing for once!
And a productive day at world D2 headquarters

[MikkiJayne]

Another good day today, although I did start off with a bit of a challenge. I stripped all the wiring and plumbing off and then realised I'd put the engine on an arrangement of pallets where I couldn't get it off again



The engine crane won't fit past the pallet to reach the engine



Since I've been using a pallet truck to get the engines out, I've had a constant struggle trying to get an arrangement which works. The wooden trolley was better for post-removal handling so I need to build a new thing which is a compromise of the two.

I balanced it on a couple of 2x4s so I could get the pallet out, and then the engine crane could go underneath



On the separating machine



Oil draining



I'll suck the old oil out of the converter too. This takes a few days, giving it a few pumps every time I walk past, as the oil is very slow to drain out of the vanes to the centre hub



Engine and gearbox on stands ready for cleaning tomorrow

[HPsauce]

If anyone wonders why I'm being quiet for a change, two reasons:
1. I've been away, incommunicado, with family until today.
2. I've been waiting for this for years and am in total awe!

PS The strut brace damage underneath was prior to my ownership.

[HPsauce]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Another good day today, although I did start off with a bit of a challenge. I stripped all the wiring and plumbing off and then realised I'd put the engine on an arrangement of pallets where I couldn't get it off again

A Trapezoidal pallet at the base that the crane fits round (with more normal ones on top) might do the job? Probably fairly easy to make from an existing pallet.

[MikkiJayne]

Originally Posted by HPsauce

A Trapezoidal pallet at the base that the crane fits round (with more normal ones on top) might do the job? Probably fairly easy to make from an existing pallet.

The pallet jack doesn't fit in the engine crane that way either. It needs to be a solution which allows the crane to come in perpendicular to the car so it can grab the assembly in line with the bellhousing. I have some ideas

Cleaning today:







Draining the front diff



The engine is a bit grubby at the front



The oil cooler pipe is still intact, but was leaking past the o-rings





Nice and clean



Well, apart from under here! I realised at this point I still haven't bought a replacement shop vac, and this gunge is far too nasty to be sucked up by Henry so it'll have to wait a few days



FSI what? Laughs in Port Injection



Acorns!



Nice and golden brown inside, no carbon buildup or sludge



Taped up the inlet ports so no fod gets in there while I work on everything else

[strummagnet]

Is it new tensioner time or just pads?

[HPsauce]

Working on a Bank Holiday.
I'd just assumed the oil cooler pipe had cracked from the leakage, though it does look distorted. As for acorns, yes we have Oak trees by the driveway.

Originally Posted by strummagnet

Is it new tensioner time or just pads?

I'm assuming/budgeting for both unless the Doctor says otherwise.