Correct crankshaft positioning

[Howard H]

Help -- I'm in the process of assembling my 2.0 engine after a rebuild. When I place the crank in the right case half (the half w/ the distributor) I can't get the two dots on the crank's gear to line up with the parting line, like the Wilson book shows.

With cylinder #1 (which is the 2nd rod journal from the flywheel) in the TDC position (i.e. perpendicular to the case parting line), the dots are at about the 12:30 position. The parting line would be the 3:00 position. Since the gear is positioned on the crank with a Woodruff key, I can't understand how things don't line up the way the book shows.

Can anyone who has rebuilt a 4 cylinder 914 engine please give me some guidance here? After all of the cleaning, measuring and machining that I've already done, I thought that reassembly would be the easy part.

Thanks again to all who have responded to my other emergencies in the past. I could sure use your help again now.

Howard Henneman

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I believe that part of the instruction is specific to Type I-III engines, and not to the Type IV.

As far as I can tell, the two dots on the crank gear are to help get the cam gear in the correct position. The cam gear tooth with the single dot goes in between the two crank gears with the dots. Haynes says that you "Rotate the crankshaft so that the two punch marks on the side of the camshaft drive gear are horizontal, and install the camshaft so that the pip mark on the camshaft gear fits between the two marks on the drive gear."

Please note: I have not dug into the bottom end of any 914 motor, so what I am reporting is second-hand. Mostly from other people on the 914 mailing lists and the 914 Club's forum.

Good luck!

--DD

[djs]

If memory serves, all you need do on the Tyep IV engine is to make sure the cam gear mark is located BETWEEN the crank gear marks when you lower them both into the case half containing the distributor drive. This takes care of the crankshaft to cam timing. I usually install the distributor drive AFTER this step.

For correct distributor timing, you then install the distributor drive so that the offset female groove in the top of it is at a specified angle to the longitudinal axis of the case when piston #1 is at TDC. Haynes illustrates this very clearly in their 914 and Type 4 VW manuals. I rotate the crank to the #1 TDC position and then carefully insert the dist. drive gear so that it rotates into position. If you do this before you assemble the case halves, it's easier to correct the placement if you're a tooth off either way. Also, there is a thrust washer that goes under the distributor drive that you need to make sure stays in position and doesn't fall into the sump. Again, this is easy if the case halves are apart and a bit of grease is used.

As far as I can recall, you don't have to align anything with the parting lines, like on a Type I-III motor.

The reason your crank may not appear to align properly is that, if you have the distributor drive already installed, the crank/cam or distributor drive may rotate slightly as you drop things into place. The helical-cut gears on each may tend to want to mesh by rotating a bit.

Sorry for the long-winded reply. I have rebuilt my Vanagon aircooled and 914 2.0 motors (the same motor, basically), and have always had good success doing it as described.

[Howard H]

Wow! Thanks for the fast responses and the good insight.

It seemed to me that there was either an error in the book, or that Wilson was refering to a different model/size of engine than I am dealing with, or (God forbid) that I just didn't understand. This helps to eliminate (ar at least reduce the possibility) of the latter.

Well, I'm going to dive back into my project. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

Thanks again.

Howard

[Tim Polzin]

I think Wayne talked about that error in his tech section somewhere on this site. I had the exact same question when I rebuilt mine a year ago. Other than that, Wilson's book was great.