I am currently pulling down my spare ea81 and this mourning i have stripped off the heads and all the other stuff. I am just stuck cause i cant lock the flywheel off to remove it and the crank pully, is there an uber trick i cant think off? Hehe at leats with all the bashing on the socket wrench on the flywheel i got my pistons unseased in the cycinders . I am surprised how easily it was going as this is my first big engine pulldown and hopeully rebuild depending on condition of internals.

use either a box end, or a rachet and a large hammer! its the poor mans impact wrench. thats how i tighten them too

 

seriously!

so they aint reverse thread? and you dont jam something to stop the flywheel from turning.

I'm having the same problem, and the poor mans impact wrench didn't work, so I 'm just going to borrow the real thing tommorrow.

i found u can put a screw driver thru those small angled holes in the flywheel thru the hole in the bellhousing where you check the timing, locking it off. i havnot been able to put this into action as my dad is having a siesta (afternoon rest) and theres not oneelse to hold the engine.

If you have the heads on still, just take some skinny rope and feed it through a spark plug hole.. That will stop the motor from turning without damaging anything.

take the pin punch you use to push the axle roll pins out, and insert it through the timing hole into one of the holes in the flywheel....

i use a box end 10 or 12 mm wrench here's how.

the wrench has an open and box end. use one of the pressure plate bolts to hold the box end to the flywheel. butt the open end against the bellhousing stud. you can use this method forward or reverse, for unbolting or torquing up! very easy

even better, use the REAL thing

http://www.drivewerks.com/catalog/shopcart/TOOL/POR_TOOL_CAT291_pg30.htm

 

I used it and had no problem

MUST have a GOOD air supply

i have since gotten off the flywheel and crank pully and oil sump. I am gunna wait till next year to split the crank case, hehe tomorrow, happy new years eve. Any one got any tips for splittin the case?

hm, splitting the case on new year's day? i'd say that calls for at least a 12-pack.

i use a box end 10 or 12 mm wrench here's how.

the wrench has an open and box end. use one of the pressure plate bolts to hold the box end to the flywheel. butt the open end against the bellhousing stud. you can use this method forward or reverse, for unbolting or torquing up! very easy

For future reference (like when reassembling): I do something similar, but less likely to get a metric combo wrench in my forehead (bad things happen to good people ). I use a length of chain between pp bolt and stud (or bolt in hole).

On my EA82t all I did was take a pair of vice grips, and clamped it onto the flywheel where the starter sits so that the grip pointed twards the firewall, and turned the flywheel until it wedged on the bell housing...works fine if the flywheel is bolted to specs anyway.

 

 

 

Rick

i have since gotten off the flywheel and crank pully and oil sump. I am gunna wait till next year to split the crank case, hehe tomorrow, happy new years eve. Any one got any tips for splittin the case?

If the EA-81 is like the EA-82 you have to pull the pistons before you can split the case. I learned that one the other day breaking down one of the blocks I got from Tex, I guess I was thinking that they would go out the bottom of the bores like a V8... I've been inside enough VW engines to know better.:-\

 

Gary

I can't remember exactly how my trick works, but when you try it, it's really easy to figure out.

 

Put one or two of the pressure plate-to-flywheel bolts back in, and wedge a long prybar or similar device between the bolt(s) and the studs that extend backward from the flywheel housing. This will hold it there so you can remove the crankshaft pulley as well as the flywheel.

If the EA-81 is like the EA-82 you have to pull the pistons before you can split the case.

any verdict true or false, or else i will need to buy an allen to get out the gudgeon/wrist pin covers?

Yes, you must pull the pistons out the top. 4 allen plugs allow access to the wrist pins and clips.

 

 

Snowman has the technique I use. I use a small heel/pry bar and rest it on the lower bellhousing studs. Thread one of the PP bolts in about half way and rotate the engine until the pry bar is wedged between the bolt and stud. You can remove and install the flywheel this way. You can even get an accurate torque this way.

4 allen plugs allow access to the wrist pins and clips

for your imformation there is only 2 plugs on the water pump side and just holes on the other hehe just nitpicking but thanks for the quick replies

one of the plugs is behind the flywheel

 

northwet the chain method is a smart idea

for your imformation there is only 2 plugs on the water pump side and just holes on the other hehe just nitpicking but thanks for the quick replies

Are you sure about that? Those holes would causes major oil leaks. The EA82/EJ27 engine has 4 plugs. At the back, they're behind the flywheel and the oil separator cover (revealed when the flywheel is removed). I see no reason why the EA81 should be different.

 

Instead of buying an allen key, you can make do with a bolt that has the right size head. I think it's 14 mm, but don't hold me to that. If you're willing to sacrifice the bolt, just stuff its head into the recessed socket of the plug and then use visegrip pliers to turn the bolt. If you want to preserve the bolt, use a couple of nuts on the thread, tightened against each other. Turn the bolt by using an open-end wrench on the bottom locknut.

Instead of buying an allen key, you can make do with a bolt that has the right size head. I think it's 14 mm, but don't hold me to that. If you're willing to sacrifice the bolt, just stuff its head into the recessed socket of the plug and then use visegrip pliers to turn the bolt. If you want to preserve the bolt, use a couple of nuts on the thread, tightened against each other. Turn the bolt by using an open-end wrench on the bottom locknut.

heh easier said then done these things have been in there 20+ years and they want to stay. tried grinding flat spots in a bolt for vice grips but it shreared. Tried lock nut but we only had odd nuts and bolts from a honda ct110 shreaded the tread off the nut. was about to the destroy the 14mm hex head on my puller but i decided to wait till tues when the tradie tool shops open again.

 

Are you sure about that? Those holes would causes major oil leaks. The EA82/EJ27 engine has 4 plugs. At the back, they're behind the flywheel and the oil separator cover (revealed when the flywheel is removed). I see no reason why the EA81 should be different.

yeh i am sure i can take a photo if ya want. Well on the aussie ea81 anyhow and any oil that does come out the gudgeon holes can just go down into the oil pan which bolts to the bottom of the fly wheel housing.

Could you take a picture of that? Sounds funky.

 

 

Also, even though I am a huge fan of "creative" tricks (Voodoo Engineering is my "company" after all), I have tried the 14mm allen wrench substitute twice and it didn't work either time. I even used thread locker on the bolt to no avail. Just buy a wrench (they're not that expensive) and it will make your life much easier. Some tricks like that work, but not this one.

when i took apart my EA82 i used a long 14mm hex head wrench, and they are stubborn.

so american ea81's have 4 gudgeon plugs? nah its just that 14mm allen key is not a standard size in Australia and no good tool shops are open on Sundays (today) or Public Holidays (tomorow) so i have to wait till Tuesday to get one. So I was trying to make do with what I had and failed miserably.

 

Yeh those photos where taken with the flywheel housing off and engine up side down heh and i even lined up the pins for ya. Damn its a beetch trying to upload photos resizing n such.

so american ea81's have 4 gudgeon plugs?

No just the two on the front of the engine. It's the EA82 and later engines that have 4.