1987 Volkwagen Vanagon
WasserBoxer Engine Rebuild Photo Album
148,790 original miles


This is my VW Vanagon complete with oil and coolant leak, just like yours if it's past 140k miles.

Dirty engine in prep. I pulled off the AC and wired it out of the way. Don't dismantle the AC hoses in any way.

Engine OUT!
What a joy to have a wasserboxer engine laying on your garage floor, so easy to clean : )
break out the old toothbrushes!
     

Corrosion of cylinder heads, what to look for. Replace heads if yours look anything like this!

Initial split case.
Not really too dirty inside, the previous owner never changed the oil, always change your oil!

Cleaning the case halves.
Lucky I have this deep steel tub to work in.

     

New pistons installed. This is very tricky because you must partially pre-install the piston in the cylinder, then magically insert the wrist pin through the coolant port.

About to re-install engine

All shiny and clean!

No more leaks?

I realized I needed to go ahead and replace the heads on my Vanagon, they were too far gone as you may see in the photo above. I got a really good deal for new heads (German heads, as opposed to Brazillian). That makes all the difference in the world.

The main thing to consider if you are doing the rebuild yourself, is experience. The second is tools. I had rebuilt many air-cooled bug engines, and this one is the same with the exception of the water jacket. This difference though means you need some special tools. You will need a STRONG circlip plier to install the retaining clips of the wrist pins. I would suggest installing the distributor drive gear as you put the case halves together. I installed it after the case halves were sealed and had an extremely difficult time getting the gear in the right spot. Oh Volkswagen, I love you, I hate you.

I now have more than 20,000 miles and the VW engine is still running great. I had a bunch of oil leaking from the oil pressue switch and the leak stopped as soon as I had it replaced (like a dork I reused the old one instead of replacing it while the engine was out!). In fact, if you have an oil leak that seems to come from the main pulley seal area, go ahead and have the oil pressure switch replaced using new gaskets. It is an effective and cheap first step to detirmining if you do need to rebuild.