im reading it with great interest Steve, and im subscribed.

i just didnt see much point in cluttering up your great thread!

Totaly agree with this statement..

Boring the crap out of me.. You not finished this yet?

You not helping him yet?

No, but if he's not finished it by next weekend I'm going to go over to laugh and point..

Right, a little progress this evening - and some good news for me!

Started to strip the front of the engine to change the cambelt, but realised that I'd left the timing tools at home! DOH!


So that was all for the evening!

The Good News

The VW diesels are renowned for their reliability, but the AAZ has a famed weak spot - the crank pulley, specifically, the bolt that holds it on can come loose. Once this starts to happen, you have to get your crank machined before the whole lot falls off and wrecks the engine.

It's known as Crank Pulley Wobble, and can be seen from above as (surprisingly!) the alternator pulley wobbling.

The pulleys looked good when I bought the car, but I finally got a good look at it for the first time today...



Absolutely perfect. The bolt is still tight, and the pulley is spot on, no movement at all!

WOOHOO!!

More tomorrow!

Glad you're enjoying the writeup 1nkling!

So after forgetting the timing tool yesterday, I decided to spend some time on it tonight, and get loads done...

*crappy phone pics, camera battery died*

Timing tools;


Timing dervs is a bit different to petrols, as there is no ignition to time, it's all done statically. As the engine was running sweet, I thought i'd check the timing before taking the belt off. There are three points to check; the crank (done in a similar fashion to an SJ, with a mark on the flywheel, and an inspection port on the bellhousing), the cam (via a slot on the back of the cam) and the injection pump pulley (lining up a hole in the pulley)

IP pulley, note the small hole in the pulley, with hole behind it;


And the locking tool in place;


I removed the cam cover, and these two lobes tell you that it's at TDC on piston 1, which is where the engine must be to be timed;


This is the slot on the back of the camshaft;


And this is the tool in place;


As I'd already set the crank to the right position (piston 1 TDC) and the tools lined up perfectly, the engine was exactly as it should be. (there is more to timing the AAZ, but I'm not doing that just yet)

So, I undone the tensioner, and popped the belt off. All good...



A new timing belt kit, that I got last week from the local motor factors...

I opened the box, and there were TWO tensioners, neither like the one I had... I looked on the end of the box - 'To fit; Toyota, Peugeot, Citroen'

Dammit. they were shut by the time i realised. So that was the end of me timing the engine today

So, as I had time (and after I stopped swearing), I made this;


I should explain; The AAZ crank is timed through the hole in the bellhousing, to a mark on the flywheel (couldn't get a decent photo). With the acme kit you replace the flywheel (in the kit) and the bellhousing (standard vitara). As the Vit bellhousing has no hole, you have no way of timing the crank. So the answer is to create a new timing mark on the alternator pulley, and have a point to line it up against, like so;


It's bolted to the bracket that holds the power steering pump, and I made it a nice fit on the bolts, so removing it shouldn't affect re-timing at a later date.

I've not made the mark on the pulley yet, as I want to get the belt on then tighten the pulley first, but you get the idea, right? I thought silver would make it nice and visible (for timing purposes) on the predominantly black engine.

That's all for tonight. More later!

Very interesting project. Plenty off diesel engines available in holland. I will watch this one closely. Keep up the good work. And bring on the pics

Cheers Tukko (and welcome to SS! )

I'm really looking forward to having diesel in the Vit - Are VWs common in Holland? I chose the acme kit as (I'm hoping) it's the most straightforward way of doing a Derv swap. Hope I'm taking enough pics for everyone!

No pics, but the timing belt is on

Just found time to pop it on, to make sure nothing was disturbed/damaged with it off.

And when I got home, there was another package waiting!



I didn't think I'd see this for a while! This is Hetty below, she decided the bag looked tasty, and thought she'd have a peck at it. I guess wires do look slightly like worms?




Those are standard VDO sensors - High quality, and easy to get replacements, the EGT probe, and wiring. The small brass block is a T piece, so that I can run two sensors off the same location (in this case, both the standard Suzuki and the VDO oil pressure switch - both in the back of the head)


This performs a couple of functions, and will give me confidence that all is well with the conversion!! Beside the fact that it means I don't have to find places for LOADS of gauges, it gives me;

Battery volts
oil temp
oil pressure
coolant temperature
low coolant level
Electric fan control Via coolant temp
Exhaust gas temperature (VERY pleased with this!)
And fully adjustable alarms on each (buzzer & LED).

I've ordered a separate boost gauge, as I've decided to use this for oil pressure.

Full marks to Landyonline in South africa, it got here in one week!

SO, Nothing now for a while; I'm at British Dirt at the weekend! I've then got a week off work, and have to have it back on the road by the following monday...

So, tune in on monday to see how it REALLY begins

Created a new timing mark on the alternator pulley;



Tidied up a bit, and popped the valve cover back on.

Made the decision not to go to British dirt This truck is my daily drive, and I HAVE to have it finished by next monday - don't want to risk not having it finished! So it all starts tomorrow

You big copycat! You can still go just because I'm not ya know!

Update;

Dropped SWMBO off at airport yesterday, so by monday I'll be hungry and smelly (yes, yes. smellier!)

So, now the timing mark was made, i could FINALLY take the gearbox off. I undo the bolts and it pops straight off:


Then the flywheel comes off (VW put this stuff on back to front; the pressure plate is bolted to the crank). Not hard, but those are 12 point 9mm bolts. Luckily my ratchet spanners have that, so off they come:


A couple of seconds with the pliers and the clutch is off too.

Then the pressure plate - short work for Mr. Windy Gun



Aaaaand then the scary bit. In order to fit the custom Acme flywheel, you have to make this...:


...look like this:


A job for Mr Angry the angle grinder (copyrite Mr. D. Jones ) and a 1mm cutting disk. I cut most of the way through, and finished it off with a hacksaw.




Note the bolt holes are plugged with paper so that no cuttings enter the engine. I was careful not to get it too hot, so that I didn't damage the seal, nor any heat treatment on the crank itself. The Acme flywheel needs about 4mm clearance, so with a flap wheel, I took the nub down to 2.5mm:


Quite pleased with that . The two tubes on the outside of the block simply pop out with a hammer and punch - they need to be removed for the adapter plate to sit flat.

I offered up and bolted on the Acme adapter plate, and then the flywheel. all goes together perfectly, so I torqued the flywheel up.


And the clutch goes on (the flywheel had a light layer of rust, but a minute with a sanding block had it looking like new):


And off to bed I went (leaving the camera at the garage ).

I was up bright and early this morning . I've decided to use the Acme sump - I've opted for the easiest route possible, to make sure there are as few problems as possible.

Not many photos, as it's all as you'd expect. Lots of little bolts to take the sump off, two allen bolts holding on the oil pickup (careful not to lose the O-ring). The new ones bolt on without drama; with a new gasket:




So I start to bolt the kit up to the AAZ. All the holes are there and threaded, but as most have been unused for the past 17 years, and have a healthy layer of rust/oil/road grime, I thought it best to run a 10mm tap through them.


It then all bolts up beautifully with the Acme bolts:


I particularly liked the hole in the bracket for the Turbo oil return bolt.

I moved to the other side of the engine, and started ( ) to swap the oil filter housing.

And encountered a problem. the angled housing in the Acme kit fits on the 1.6 block, which has oilways like this;


...but the AAZ has an extra oilway at the top, which moves the top bolt up:


Which means the angled filter housing won't fit!!!

I made a call to Pete (Mud and Diesel), to see how he got around the problem (cheers Pete!), but his had bolted straight up .

This is why you need the angled filter housing (I've bolted up the left engine mount and mocked up the Mocal oil cooler sandwich plate, with an engine mount):


It kinda fits, but you can't take the filter off now, as it's touching the engine mount, and it's all too tight for my liking.

So, in a huff I go off to walk the dog...

I walked the dog, had lunch, and considered my options;

1. try to modify one of the oil filter housings (almost impossible?).
2. find another angled oil filter housing, with the correct oilways (does one even exist?).
3. use a remote oil filter (added complication, but easy with ££).
4. use as it is, but find a smaller 3/4 oil filter.

Pete mentioned that he thought some later engines had an angled oil filter housing, so I spent a few hours searching the web for suitable housings. I found a likely looking housing on e-bay, off of one of the later TDI engines (AHU), it looks like it has the right oilways, and is angled the right way... so i bought it for £25; it should be here in a few days.

If it doesn't fit I still have options 3 & 4.

So I done a few more little jobs, and I'll whip the Vit engine out tomorrow, and start to get the AAZ in. HOPEFULLY, that was my only problem...