quote:

Originally posted by Steve VW:
This is what I found when I removed it. What the ??? There is an irregular blob of something remotely tubular and barely pliable holding the shaft.



Closeup view. Anyone got ANY idea why someone would use this?

Coulda been left over from a home brew oil pump primer lash up. You know, "a piece of 3/8 rod stock with a flat on the end. A rubber hose sleeve keeps it centered on the oil pump shaft"..... Maybe the piece of hose slid down.

You're probably close to right, except there isn't room for a tube to slide down that far!

I'm thinking someone used a piece of Tygon tubing for a sleeve, which swelled (a lot!) in length and diameter. It was loading the shaft sideways and caused the shaft to wear where it shouldn't be touching.

The inside of the engine was fairly clean, oil changes were probably OK. Several non GM items indicate it was worked on, and by a careless mechanic unfortunately. When I see stuff like this I get into the "look closely, replace everything, take no chances mode."

There was grit and metal in the pan. The non GM pump pickup was rubbing on the bottom of the pan. The sleeve was obviously not OEM, there was excess RTV all over. (You have to use some in the corners where the gaskets overlap, but this was all over.) The rear main bearing had been changed to a .001 undersize, the others were STD size.

The bearings were actually pretty good (other than the thrust faces) but had some dirt in them, mostly the rear main.

There was dirt (grit) in the pan (careless mechanic). Ferrous metal from the crank flyweights hitting the main bearing supports and non-ferrous metal from the thrust bearings.

Soo, it appears that when the person "replaced the rear seal" they changed oil pump, rear main bearing and left behind a strange pump shaft coupler, pickup too long, lots of dirt and RTV. Lasted long enough to become my problem.

It's a good thing I didn't try to limp it to Milford. I think the crank and block would have developed serious interference with engine failure not far off.

Yesterday it was 86 here. This morning it is 48 degrees! I'll get back to the Barth "salt mine" later.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve VW:
When I see stuff like this I get into the "look closely, replace everything, take no chances mode."

I salute you sir!!!

Engine and trans are back together and sitting on the mounts. No more jacks!

I will reinstall the driveshafts and call it a day!
Photos to follow

Steve, I have done a rough calculation on man hours, difficulty of work, knowledge and experience needed, and come to the conclusion that you can't be a day over 40. Otherwise, one or the other of the factors would have doomed this very successful endeavor.

Man I wish... I am 58 years, too old for this stuff. Last time I did this stuff was 20 yrs ago.

I changed the seal in the front of the trans.



This was my rear end/trans jack rig:



Nobody asked how I lifted the front of engine:





Didn't get the driveshafts in, but tomorrow is another day. Thanks to all for the encouragement!

Steve,

You just think you're 58. You gotta be maybe 30...think of all the money you saved...x many hours at $60 hour...plus there's probably
1 in a 100 mechanics who could have done what you did and do it right....it's sad to say, but most mechanics today wouldn't have known what to do since they couldn't replace a few modules to fix it....if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.....

Steve my hat is off to you GOOD JOB !!!!!!!!

Excellent work! The one comfort I have when working underneath: At least it's shady...

Steve, I sincerely admire you (and what few others could accomplish what you have done there)

Thanks everyone for the comments. Must admit this job is beginning to get old, too!

As was mentioned, I have saved a bunch of money by DIY but man what a job. I wouldn't do it again for $10,000. The problem appears to be common, finding a wrench you can trust, especially one foolish enough to work under a coach! Obviously whoever worked on mine before was not very careful. I don't know of any local RV wrench and went back to my old days. Besides I didn't know if I would be ready for Milford unless I was in charge.

Mechanical aptitude can be a liability... in high school most of my friends drove crap cars. When they broke in the boonies, guess who got to fix them. (Better than walking home or always driving my car, I guess.) Much later it can trick an old guy into a huge job under a coach...

I started working on cars with my Dad as soon as I could hold a wrench and fetch tools. Cars, boats, lawnmowers, etc we were too poor to pay someone else. I talked to Dad yesterday about this project and he said he could not remember anyone putting a CRANKSHAFT in from below. (No one else is that crazy I guess!)

It should be done soon. Only have to hang the driveshafts in the back end, then finish the front and put in radiator.

My son-in-law, Dan, is the only wrench that I would trust with a job like this. Problem is that he has one wife, three kids all age 6, seven horses, two barns, one house, thirtyfive acres, one tractor, one bush hog, one mower, one hay rake, one hay fluffer, one baler, one dually, one van, one four runner, one Impalla, one Camaro, one Honda, two old dogs, four cats, and a cranky father-in-law to take care of, not to mention flying corporate jets 50% of his time.
Jim

As a new Barth owner, all I can say is that I'm glad to hear others say they couldn't or wouldn't undertake such a project. My DW has been following this post and kept asking if I could/would undertake such a project. Then when you said how old you were I pointed out that I have a daughter your age she quit asking.

quote:

Then when you said how old you were I pointed out that I have a daughter your age

.. My daughter was born in 1954, maybe I'll have to find someone else to shape up the glas-nose ...58 frking puppy!

Yeah but you got to admit puppies are fun to watch!

(And here I was gonna offer to help with the Glass nose.. oh well.)

I got both driveshafts installed (new u-joints), center bearing and rear crossmember bolted down. Trans dip stick tube, shift linkage, etc.

Torque converter bolted to flex plate, starter, torque converter cover, new wires to starter, installed power steering pump and mount, alternator brackets, harmonic balancer.

Tomorrow belts, hoses, radiator, trans cooler and lines, electric cooling fans and oil cooler lines. I can see the light ahead!