On 26 Nov 2001 at 18:30, Dan Snow wrote:

> Howdy all (especially diesel folks)-
> Let's just say hypothetically I know this dumb idiot who, in the course of
> rebuilding his diesel engine, neglected to notice that one should always
> replace the bolts that attach the flywheel to the crankshaft. Oh, and lets
> just say the whole darned drivetrain has been reinstalled after the rebuild.
> Assuming (again hypothetically) that the guy used the right loctite and
> everything else, could he expect an atomic explosion inside his bellhousing
> in the future? Anyone? The reason I didn't put diesel in the subject line is
> that I think the answer should be the same for gas folks, as well. Should I
> just light the thing on fire and walk away now?

I've had the flywheel/pp off in my Jetta twice now, and never replaced the
bolts. The first time I didn't use loctite, although I think I did the 2nd time
around. No problems so far after 450k km. Just lucky I guess...

ps: I see now that the Jetta Bentleys does say the bolts should be
replaced as they appear to be stretch type (torque= 1/4 turn). The diesel
section of the Vanagon Bentley says to replace them, but only lists a
single torque of 54 ft.lb., with no 1/4 turn following. Perhaps the Vanagon
diesel does not use stretch bolts...?

I'd say if you used Loctite, you're probably ok, but I'm sure others have
more to go on than my two instances...

Shawn Wright
http://zuiko.sls.bc.ca/~swright
'85 Jetta TD
'88 Westy 2.1L