hi all , November 2009 i bought a T3 1982 transporter to save my mid life crisis (big 40 ) much to my wife's dismay. Anyway in the first week of driving the auto kept sliipping so i sent it off to jkm auto's at wynnum brisbane and they rebuilt it ($3000)great job and verry happy with there work .Then 6 days later the engine died on the way to work so got it towed to pheionx engineering at wooloongabba pior to xmas . Have found out the crank shaft is split in two and looks like a rebuild of the engine or a reco engine is the go. Has anyone got any idea's , thoughts, same stories, anything as i cannot get any sleep and my wife keeps on laughing at me . cheers vw friends.

looks like a nice van,is it air cooled or water? you say the crank is split,it is unusual to break a crank on either one of these. you have a couple of options,one is a used motor,or rebuild what you have with another crank.Either way it is going to cost a few dollars but you will have a reliable van and your wife will still be smiling as the VW drivers all wave as they go past. Cheers Les
ps just out of interest where is Woolongabba?

sorry misspelt it the van is at PHOENIX ENGINEERING SERVICES - 26 BURKE ST Woolloongabba qld 4102 (near the pa hospital ) these guys have been around for years so they know there stuff. The van is a 1982 air cooled 2.1 lit , auto,8 seater . cheers TC

ouch man. thats a bummer.

If it is apart i would put a new crank in and give it a freshen - bearings, hone, seals

Looks a SWEET van
I had one exactly the same - not as nice though

Yep. Check with Boozo on here, his family has around 2 million km on their kombi of the same vintage. Needles to say they love em. Rebuild it as best as you can afford and cruize.

I have about 300,000ks on my air-cooled '82 (same as yours only yellow) and agree with the previous advice that a rebuild of the engine would be the way to go. My engine is starting to get a little tired but maybe this year I will convert the van to diesel with a 1.9 TDI to go in but that is another story and much bigger project.

Also I would not swap it out for an earlier camper as the handling is so much better and bed just that little bit bigger. Raised to the height of a syncro and fitted with a locking diff gives me a great camping vehicle. If I want just nostalgia etc then I can take my IRS'd '62 SC for a run.

Ian

Danny i would have thought you would be tucked up in bed with a good book at 11.30 on a friday nite, not reading my hard luck story....anyway the big fella say's crack in the engine case & the crank shaft is split (did i mention that before) hmm,so to rebuild engine $2000 in labour & may be $3000 in parts (2nd hand case & crank shaft). Well i 'm thinking that a rebuild of the lucky old motor will NOT be happening . I'm searching for a 2nd hand motor (like looking for a left hand screwdriver or a Torquay hotel manager who is not rude) or most likely will pack up the bits in the old girl and give it a good thrashing with the biggest tree branch and push it home and buy a ford laser. My wife asked me have i got the VW thingy out of my system. yours disgruntedly tc

You can tell whether a T3 Kombi is air or water-cooled at a glance by looking at the front. Air coolers - like this one - only have the one grille, between the headlights. The '84 and on watercoolers have an extra lower front grille, at the same level as the blinkers.

This looks like a beautiful bus and well worth persisting with - pity about the breakages not long after you got it. The same thing happened with my older Kombi - it needed a new engine and gearbox not long after I bought it. It happens, but it's not the end of the world. These engines are very similar to the 2.0-litre engines fitted to '76-'79 Kombis, and have extremely strong bottom ends. It's most unusual to have breakages like yours, but I guess you have no way of knowing whether the previous owner abused it (running with low oil, overheating, etc). $5K for a rebuild is about right; PLEASE save up and have them rebuild it properly for you. Then look after your new engine and gearbox with proper servicing, and you'll get another 20 years out of it. Second-hand engines for these will be very hard to find due to the low numbers sold - and who's to say it wouldn't be worn out anyway.

T3s are very unappreciated - please look after yours !

thanks for your reply, yes i have taken what remains of the engine home on a trailer and now have a rolling resto . I should have checked with a vw mech. about T3 but any way there's no looking back now. Rebuilt engine will have to wait a while and I will check out if a suby motor could work , have heard it's near $11 grand for one.Yeah it's funny i have a rare van and it's worth next to nothing.Hope to hear if anyone else has split a crankshaft.I'm going to mount mine on a piece of wood and show off my rare splitty at the next VW meeting.cheers

PLEASE don't put a Subaru engine in it! The later T3 Kombis aren't so much a problem as they already have all the water-cooled ancilliaries - yours doesn't.

A rebuilt (exchange) 2-litre Type 4 engine should be around $5K from a VW specialist - grab the latest VW Australia magazine from the newsagent and ring around some recommended VW workshops close to you (there are plenty of adverts in the mag). They aren't a complicated motor like the later Wasserboxer - it should be a straight-forward rebuild based on a replacement bottom end. They are the same basic engine as the '76-'79 T2 Kombi engine, except for having different heads, and hydraulic lifters.

My Dad once snapped a crank in his '59 in the early '70s, but 36-hp cranks were a little weak. Type 4 cranks (and the whole bottom end) are normally bullet-proof so this is a very surprising failure. The scoring on the centre main journal looks rather interesting - it should be mirror clean, like the flywheel-end journal. Might have been stuffed when the crank broke, I suppose, but I wonder which came first?

My old 73 bay bus was an 1800 auto and did exactly the same thing but snapped the crank right at the back of the motor near the flywheel. I could actually start the motor with the broken crank - but no drive.

Sounded terrible though with the shaft flying around everywhere.

A second hand motor and we were off and running.

Most of your donk ancilliaries should still be OK. Try getting a long block reconditioned version then swap over all your good bits stick it back in the kombi and away you go.

My old 73 was far too rusted to bother fixing so we sold it for parts. Yours however looks great except for the motor.

Note you still have a really good shell, gearbox, brakes, wheels/tyres, steering and interior. Hence I would just do the motor and off you go into your midlife crisis.:

Good luck,

Cheers,

Skot

Yes but that's how it works - when you spend money on an old VW, you will never get your money 'back'. You spend the money on the vehicle because you love it and you want it to be the best it can be. If you're going to hang onto it, it doesn't matter what it's 'worth'. I am sure nearly everyone on this forum have spent lots more on their VWs than they'll ever get back, should they sell them - I know I have.

This bus is certainly not a write off - don't forget it's already got a freshly rebuilt transmission, and what looks to be a nice straight body. It just needs another $5k for a new long block.

Yes that's right, it's a shame to be hit with big up-front costs like a new motor and gearbox, but once they're done - properly - they won't need doing again for many years and you can 'amortize' the cost over a longer period. Kombi engines are more expensive to rebuild than Beetle engines (and Holden red motors!) but I'm sure the Porsche 911 resto guys wish their rebuilt engines were only $5K !

Stick at it, get a good replacement longblock from a reputable VW shop and enjoy your T3 Bus over the years to come.

Nice looking Kombi! Such a shame to hear about all the mechanical hard luck. Funnily enough I once pulled down a 1200cc Beetle engine which had broken it's crank through the middle just like that. Funnily enough though, it had still been driven around for a while with the broken crank as the two halves were pushing against each other and the motor was still running! Good luck with the rebuild, hopefully you get approval from the minister of finance!

Even 5k will only be a so so job IMO. Make it 7 and you'll have an engine for the next 15+ years.

Try for a good secondhand one from reputable business-Mick Motors may be able to help.
If no go - go for the rebuild.
Also T3 or Wedges are becoming more popular-you only have to see the UK prices

sad to say but the good wife say's let it go & cut my loss..... I'm selling her

Uppps, another one bites the dust. The power of pussy, I have the same dilemma. Only I have got 12 cars by now and I am still married. Don't know why my wife has not shot me by now or strung me up by my balls. Remember, all they want is "our best". With some blokes it's the wallet but such is live. I am very sorry to her that your bus has to go. I got mine with a blown engine. The crank on the old engine snapped just behind the fly wheel. I bought a good 2.1 litre water cooled engine (as the old one) through ebay from a terrific Welch bloke. $1000 later and the car was on the road again. Not rebuild, risk of a doggy motor, risk of being ripped of altogether, but I love my vans and I have been lucky so far to keep them running cheaply. Of course doing all the work myself saves big money and if something gets messed up I have got only myself to blame. If I were you I would have put a 1.6 liter air cooled engine in. Much cheaper to get, much simpler, plenty of spares. I had a bay van once,bet vehicle ever. I am kicking myself today that I have sold it. Not a race car, but the gruntiest engine you could think of, a true pleasure to drive.

Mike

You cant use a 1.6 engine...reverse engineering...

sold