You need to get out the Bentley and understand the workings of the thrust
bearing-washer arrangement. This is an extremely critical adjustment
especially for manual transmissions. There is a key thrust surface and there
needs to be three washers between the thrust plate and flywheel shoulder.
Three is important as once oiled that arrangement slips enough to be
non-wearing. When applying the clutch all that force pushes the flywheel
against that washer-thrust plate assembly. There should one thrust washer
that is larger in outside diameter and the other two will need to be the
correct thickness required to set the end play. If the end play is not
correct you can damage the case. Be sure to replace that O-ring in the
flywheel bore and properly torque the bolts.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Paul Rogers
Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2013 8:52 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Crankshaft thrust washer

Howdy,
I have the flywheel off my 2.1 and after poking around I discovered that
there is no thrust washer and no "funky" washer. I understand the latter one
does nothing once everything is assembled. My question is how important /
necessary is the thrust washer? I haven't used this engine yet am in the
process of checking the crankshaft end play prior to installing it. I'm so
close to starting the installation and don't want to blow it now.
Thanx,
Paul in Tracy

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