Aaaarrrrrrggghhhh...

[sciroccos at earthlink.net (Jim Ruffi)]

Don't let this shake your confidence, Timbo!
:-)

Jim

>-----Original Message-----
>From: scirocco-l-bounces+sciroccos=earthlink.net@scirocco.org
>[mailto:scirocco-l-bounces+sciroccos=earthlink.net@scirocco.org]On
>Behalf Of Mark F.
>Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 11:14 PM
>To: Scirocco List
>Subject: Aaaarrrrrrggghhhh...
>
>
>I noticed yesterday that my clutch was slipping a bit when I "dropped"
>the clutch in 4th or 5th - the first signs that the end is near... 
>Since I'm heading to Baltimore this weekend to dolly home Mark Peele's
>82 I thought it'd be a good idea to swap out the clutch.  So today
>Sean and I rented a hoist a semi-local DIY garage to make quick work
>of clutch job #1044 of my DIY VW career.  I had a brand new pressure
>plate and clutch disc on the shelf anyways, as well as a complete
>tranny/clutch swap "kit" I bought at Waterfest (all bolts, seals,
>etc.), so what the hell...
>
>Everything came apart fine, with no rusted/seized bolts, and we had
>the tranny out (and both lower control arms/spindles to be swapped) in
>an hour.  It turned out the engine rear main seal was seeping a bit of
>oil, and had oiled-down the clutch (which still had about 1/2 it's
>life left).
>
>Things took a turn for the worse when we went to put everything back
>together.  The first sign of trouble was the dowel on the flywheel
>wasn't fitting in the slot on the new pressure plate.  Even liberal
>use of a BFH yielded only more frustration.  So, off came the freshly
>installed pressure plate, to be replaced by the used (still good) one
>I just removed.  Had it all torqued up, and flywheel bolted to it,
>before realizing I forgot to install the pushrod plate dealie...  
>F**K!!!  So, off came the flywheel.  Put the mess all together AGAIN,
>and prepped the tranny to reinstall...
>
>Not realizing the shop actually had hydraulic tranny lifts Sean and I
>struggled with the tranny, trying till our arms were about to fall off
>to get that fucker seated.  It just wouldn't slide home - even after
>spinning the shaft a bit in case the splines weren't meshing...  I
>then splotted the lift, and we tried again.  After much cursing it
>still wouldn't go, so I figured something wasn't right...
>
>It turns out the 210 mm clutch disc I had on the shelf was for a
>smaller splined shaft tranny...  I assumed that all 210mm 020 8v discs
>were the same, but I guess I was wrong...  The tranny is a DFQ 020
>from a 98 Jetta.  Anyone confirm this for me?  (I don't have ETKA
>installed on this computer)...
>
>So, since I was paying $12/hour for the hoist, and the
>dealership/flaps were no longer open I was forced to put everything
>back together again the way I drove it into the shop.  I changed the
>rear main seal, and used a bunch of brake cleaner to try and "de-oil"
>the clutch disc, and reassembled the works...  The clutch still slips,
>even after a long drive with several clutch-slip heat cycles.  SO, I
>now have to do the whole thing over again tomorrow...  We're going to
>see how fast we can do the job...  Who's got the time to beat?  :)
>
>Later,
>
>Mark - greasy and pissed...
>75
>86
>