C clip on IP advance lever

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

While I have the cyl head out and everything apart, I took the IP out to replace the o-ring on the advance piston (manual advance).

Here's the new green o-ring 



I am having a hard time getting the c clip on the manual advance lever. There is a wafer spring under the washer (circled) that needs to be compressed to get the c clip on.. What's the safest way to do it? I tried pushing on it with an open end and it didn't go well the c-clip went flying and was lost. I have a spare c clip and don't want to lose it again.  Looks like I may need to make a mini valve spring compressor. Is that the way?

[damac]

I think I have shot one of those away thus far   Never really thought about it much.  I sandwich the clip on the sides with my thumb and index finger on my left hand while holding a flathead screwdriver up to the clips edge sideways.  Then I just take my time and get a good hammer whack in with my right hand and it seats?


On another note it looks like you are missing the 2 bushings that seat that cylinder that holds the cable to the arm.  In my brief experience I would get those replaced as it allows you to line that cable up the correct way so it doesn't tweak at an angle and/or hang up along the way! 

I had that happen to my old pump and it wasn't so obvious at the time, but sometimes it wouldn't return all the way and would get hung up in wierd angles depending on what was going on.   I had it tweak enough to hit a glowplug oddly enough.

[ORCoaster]

You need some bushing in around that keeper for the cable as mentioned.  I found some at the local hardware that were just a tad to small but with a little fine sand paper and a wooden dowel the sized right up. 

I use a pair of needle nosed pliers and my fingers.  I set the c-clip in the slot and hold it there while I come in with the pliers.  One side on the shaft the other over the top of the clip.  A gentle squeeze generally gets the job done.  I have sent them out to the nether world at times.  Pays to have a few extra of these really small ones on hand.

[fatmobile]

 Setting the c-clip in the slot is the hard part.
 I found a small, flat screwdriver and pried that into the a slot then pushed the clip in next to it, had to do it for the other leg too.

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

Thanks for the headsup on the missing bushings. What material are the OE bushings made of? I took some measurements of the lever. The bushings must be very short to fit, about 3.5 mm with a shoulder of 0.5 mm thick.

The spring washer takes quite a bit of force to compress to expose the c-clip slot. Kind of difficult to do with 2 hands. That spring  washer presses on a seal via a cone ring from what I can see.

Thought I mention this. The torx bolts on the lever as well as on the advance piston cover are very shallow. I partially stripped the one on the lever (using a torx driver bit on a ratchet) and then tried a bolt out which did not get it off. It's good I had an impact driver with me (the woodworkers kind) with a 3/8 drive adapter and was able ti get the partially stripped bolt off..

[ORCoaster]

I think the bushings are made of nylon.  I replaced them with that kind of material and haven't had an issue with getting the lever to move or work correctly.

[fatmobile]

 The bushings are a vw dealership item,.  I don't have a part number for you
 . but people have come up with homemade solutions.

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

I made some bushings out of aluminum. Will see if it fits. Went to Sears hardware and got a few extra clips. They are called E clips BTW as opposed to C clips. C= 2 points of contact. E= 3 points.

[ORCoaster]

C or E  who can even see that little nub there in the middle anyway.  Good to keep our terms correct though.  Thanks.  Have you managed to get that clip on and have that middle tab not in the slot in the shaft?  Kind of overlapping the shaft itself?  Man I hate that.

All that struggling and have to take it apart, and do over.

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

C or E  who can even see that little nub there in the middle anyway.  Good to keep our terms correct though.  Thanks.  Have you managed to get that clip on and have that middle tab not in the slot in the shaft?  Kind of overlapping the shaft itself?  Man I hate that.

All that struggling and have to take it apart, and do over.

I have not installed mine yet. I have plenty of E clips in case they take off. I think the problem you described is due to not derpressing the spring washer fully thus not having a the slot fully exposed causing the E clip to go in "cocked". I'll be using a clamp to compress the spring washer to prevent that from happening.

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

I made a spring washer compressor using a short piece of aluminum tubing (old ski pole). Using a small clamp to compress the spring, the slot is fully exposed for insertion of the E clip with needle nose.  Went right in and didn't go flying. Didn't need the spare E clips. That shiny round thing under the aluminum tube is a donut magnet in case the E-clip went flying.

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

Not sure if crappy cell phone can show enough details but the E clip is installed in this pic.

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

Here it is all buttoned up. Can you see the aluminum bushings? I also installed a new o-ring in the advance lever shaft, in addition to the 2 advance piston cover o-rings and the drive shaft seal. Are there other seals I should replace? Maybe I should replace the throttle shaft seal? It's not leaking at the moment but with all the leaks I've had, probably not a bad idea?  Oh the distributor o-ring was done a year or 2 ago (with IP in engine)

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

Forgot to ask this. There's a line on the advance shaft as well as on the lever. Should they be lined up? When I took it apart, I dinn't notice these marks and how they were oriented.

[ORCoaster]

Nicely fabbed.  Not sure about alignment of shaft and lever. 
Should work much smoother now with the bushings in place.