VW T3 1.6TD JX - tuning up and maintaining

[epowell]

I posted here a few months ago requesting advice on how to adjust the injection pump timing on a Vanagon 1.6 TD JX engine...    ...since then, between a couple of long trips away from my van, I managed to get a start on this work with a lot of help from the guys at The Samba, in particular Andrew Libby. The problem however, at The Samba is that few people over there have Diesels, so I have decided to document my work over here.

I am a complete newby to this kind of work, so if anyone can offer any comments or advice (even seemingly obvious stuff) I would very much appreciate it.

The initial GOALS:
- change timing belt (TB) / tensioner
- adjust valve lash
- change cam seal
- change waterpump
- adjust injection pump (IP) timing
- adjust TB tracking
- adjust aux. belts tracking
- flush, refill, bleed coolant system

The WORK:

this is my van "GEorge"



this is my engine



this is the wierd place for the air filter



these are the anti-vibe clips I made (super-glued and marred the threads)

[epowell]

this is the TB before removal - notice how the belt is tracking to the outside.



aux. belts before removal...  they are also not tracking well - I would like to get the pulleys aligned much better.



removing crank pulley



crank pulley off



special helper making sure everything's ok



alternator is out, now removing brackets



waterpump exposed



waterpump is out



waterpump

[vanbcguy]

Looking good! Appears someone used a bunch of RTV on the pump for some reason.... Eewwwww.....

Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk

[epowell]

Looking good! Appears someone used a bunch of RTV on the pump for some reason.... Eewwwww.....

Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk

I now have the waterpump apart - and am still undecided if I will:
1) simply put this pump back together and back in the van
2) purchase a new pump and keep the old housing which seems fine
3) purchase a new pump with new housing

the reason I consider simply putting the old pump back in is because when I removed the bolts to separate the pump from housing, those notoriously seized bolts just came off like butter. And the pump inside looks very good and new...   ...and knowing how easy it is to change a waterpump, it might make sense for now just to keep this one in there.

But if I do that I need a new gasket - O-ring - and to figure out the right kind of sealant to use.

[the caveman]

Not sure whether you know or not, but the worse thing about the T3s is how to bleed the cooling system. Do lots of research before driving it after replacing the water pump etc. Libby has a good trick using some plumbing to make a filler pipe stack, works great.

[epowell]

Not sure whether you know or not, but the worse thing about the T3s is how to bleed the cooling system. Do lots of research before driving it after replacing the water pump etc. Libby has a good trick using some plumbing to make a filler pipe stack, works great.

Yes, most certainly I will use the "LIBBY BONG" method to bleed the coolant system!

[Toby]

You have bigger fish to fry. The corrosion on the water pump and visible in the other pics indicates that you have acidified coolant. That is caused by acid formed from combustion products in the cooling system. Nothing else will do that. Fix it now before you have more problems down the road.

If you still have the old coolant check is "coolant voltage" with a DVM and a piece of brass. Set the DVM on the lowest DC volt scale and hook one lead to something brass. Put both leads (including the one with the piece of brass) into the coolant. You get a "brass/acid" acid battery that way. The voltage read indicates how much acid is in the coolant.

.050 volts DC an you are golden.
.300 volts and you have trouble.
.450-.700 volts and you are toast.

[epowell]

You have bigger fish to fry. The corrosion on the water pump and visible in the other pics indicates that you have acidified coolant. That is caused by acid formed from combustion products in the cooling system. Nothing else will do that. Fix it now before you have more problems down the road.

If you still have the old coolant check is "coolant voltage" with a DVM and a piece of brass. Set the DVM on the lowest DC volt scale and hook one lead to something brass. Put both leads (including the one with the piece of brass) into the coolant. You get a "brass/acid" acid battery that way. The voltage read indicates how much acid is in the coolant.

.050 volts DC an you are golden.
.300 volts and you have trouble.
.450-.700 volts and you are toast.

Thanks Toby...   I have had the coolant out for a long time already so not possible to check it. Yes you are right...  the PO did not have ANY anti-freeze in the coolant at all!  So it was corroding the engine (what an idiot!).

Anyhow I have not updated this thread for ages...  since my last post I have done a huge amount of work - mostly with the help of Andrew Libby and some other great guys over on the Samba.

Here are the highlights:

cam out, checking valve lash


pulling IP sprocket


removing IP


removing glow plugs


IM shaft sprocket off


problems found


oily rear seal


crank sprocket off


ugly mess


working conditions


troubles removing oil pan


injectors out


hacked tranny mount


damaged muffler


turbo welded to exhaust


messy turbo


bent oil return line out


IM shaft out


fried bearing


crank plate off


a look at my turbo inside


oil inside turbo to intake hose


dip stick stuck into turbo from above shows that oil is not pooling inside turbo.


checking oil pump


oil pan off


making IM shaft front bearing pulling tool


new oil rtn pipe comes...  too small ID


...so I drilled it more wide


pulling IM shaft bearing


new bearing installed




im shaft plate ready to install


crank plate ready to install


new FEBI (in spec), ready to install


crank plate installed


im shaft, seal, and plate installed


oil pump installed


oil pan installed






oil return line installed


crank bolt installed (ouch!)


crank and im sprocket


installing new shims


cam ready


cap #1 ready


cam in


second hand turbo found, considering rebuilding and installing

[billclark]

Thanks for great documentation... gives newbys i can do it too attitude.

[epowell]

Thanks for great documentation... gives newbys i can do it too attitude.

Thanks... glad you enjoyed it - I should update!!! 

[byronEsset]

I have a white engine serial number vg 3439271 d2300 x222 and a deutz serial number f3l912 can i swap them in a truck do they make a trane that will bolt up any help would be helpful