AAZ vanagon project thread

[Syncroincity]

I'd use a new diesel-vanagon oil pump.  They have the correct 36mm gears (same as the AAZ) with the correctly sized pressure relief valve.

I also wouldn't try to use a JX pump.  They are hen's teeth in the US and take JX specific injection lines which are somewhat rare and expensive in Europe and moreso here in the US.  The JX pump also has the wrong camplate for the AAZ and has a less tunable LDA than the typical TD injection pump.  Modifying the engine lid is very quick and easy and does if done in a reasonable manner does not add perceptibly to the engine noise.  Many of the AAZ pumps are also poor.  They have a joke LDA assembly with a very poor boost pin setup.  The best option, IMO, would be to use an AAZ pump with 1.6TD LDA top or similar. 

If it's even remotely in the budget, spring for this;

http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=34847.0;topicseen


A Giles pump is THE ticket for power, economy, and reduced-smoke performance for the AAZ. Regular price on these is about $1300.

[zuhandenheit]

I was just preparing to time the motor, and encountered a weird problem: the cam won't turn!

The head was rebuilt right before I bought this motor. I had not tried to turn the cam until just now. The crank turns without a problem.

I loosened the cam bearing caps a little and then the cams turn fine . . .

[zuhandenheit]

I fussed with it some more. If any of the caps are tightened close to spec, the cam does not turn. I assume this means that the caps are mismatched for the cam. Again, the head was rebuilt before it was sold to me.

 I guess I'll be pulling the head and taking it to a machine shop.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Any suggestions are very welcome!

[Renax]

JX pump on AAZ works great with up to aboat 15-18psi, over that you are right the AAZ lda is better with 1.6 pin in it...
Fuel lines usually sell with the pump here?

The fact that its rare does not make it a bad choice.

Check that all the cam caps are in the right place the right way. Lubricate and retorque to spec.

The caps should follow the head, i have put the caps from same head as the cam over in another head, same result. Caps from the head and just replace cam works great:-)

Sent from my cheapchinaphone using Tapatalk

[zuhandenheit]

The guy who sold it to me had some trouble getting parts together (he gave me an AHU turbo, and no oil feed line a 1.6td injector, 1.6td intake manifolds, all of which were surprises). He's a long time member of this forum and a solid guy, but I'm guessing he keeps a disorganized garage.

So, yeah, I'm pretty sure that the problem is a bearing cap - cam mismatch.

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

I was just preparing to time the motor, and encountered a weird problem: the cam won't turn!

The head was rebuilt right before I bought this motor. I had not tried to turn the cam until just now. The crank turns without a problem.

I loosened the cam bearing caps a little and then the cams turn fine . . .

I am confused. Is the timing belt on? If so and you can turn the crank, then the cam has to turn, along with the crank. If the belt is not on, then you should not be turning anything.

[zuhandenheit]

The timing belt is not on. The cam was 180 degrees off of where it locks for timing, and I was trying to turn it to where it needs to be. When I say it won't turn, I mean it won't budge a mm when the caps are torqued.

I moved the crank 180 degrees away from TDC, and with slightly loosened caps the cam turns and the lifters move with no problem. So I'm pretty sure it's the cam bearing caps. But I'd really like it to be something else, so if you have any ideas, please let me know.

[zuhandenheit]

Check that all the cam caps are in the right place the right way. Lubricate and retorque to spec.

The caps should follow the head, i have put the caps from same head as the cam over in another head, same result. Caps from the head and just replace cam works great:-)

I'm pretty sure that the caps are in the right place, and everything is well oiled. I'm uploading some pictures right now . . .

[zuhandenheit]

[zuhandenheit]

. . .

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

The timing belt is not on. The cam was 180 degrees off of where it locks for timing, and I was trying to (very gently . . .) turn it to where it needs to be. When I say it won't turn, I mean it won't budge a mm when the caps are torqued.

I moved the crank 180 degrees away from TDC, and with slightly loosened caps the cam turns and the lifters move with no problem. So I'm pretty sure it's the cam bearing caps. But I'd really like it to be something else, so if you have any ideas, please let me know.

ok thanks for clearing that up.  I say take the cam out and inspect all bearing surfaces, look for trapped debris. Maybe try some plastigage? Hard to tell from looking at your pics.

[zuhandenheit]

Thanks for the response - I'll take the cam all the way out and look at it a little more closely. Maybe I'll try plastigage, too.

The thing is, as soon as I start to tighten ANY of the caps (like 5 lb-ft), the cam sticks. I have a strong feeling that the seller used the wrong caps. The shame of it is that I thought the head, having just been rebuilt, was the one part of the motor that I didn't need to worry about . . .

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

Turning the motor by hand is part of a rebuild. The rebuild is not complete.

[zuhandenheit]

Hah, right. Well, my guess is that the owner took out the cam before he sent it to the machine shop.

[Gizmoman]

Hah, right. Well, my guess is that the owner took out the cam before he sent it to the machine shop.

Hopefully the machine shop didn't "face" the head.