[joakimsk]

Hello everyone, I started dismantling the T4 before it dawned upon me that it could possibly take more than one day to get the oil sump off, re-gasket it and put it back on. And here I sit on the end of my 3rd day, and wish in one way that I spent the money and let someone professional do this. I have a T4 2.4D AJA aluminium oil sump / pan.

I have found much help in:
post 146178 - 2.4 d sump removal
post 87489 - t4 sump removal
post 120754 - 2.4 T4 1994 sump removal
Some slight help from Haynes manual VW T4

I have learned the hard way that I should have:
A very very long 5mm allen / unbrako / hex with ball head - to remove hard to reach 5mm bolts on the sump
13mm offset ring spanner - to remove hard to reach 13mm bolt behind speed sensor
Maybe also 6mm allen / unbrako / hex with ball head - to reach the one up behind the speed sensor, but this may be a stripped 5mm, I am not sure
Besides that, a well equipped workshop and a lot of time or experience, of which I have neither.

An overview from aggie and some of my comments, on bolts:
3x 13mm headed bolts (two vertical easy to see and reach from below. one last is deep inside near speed sensor, a pain)
3x 6mm allen / unbrako / hex bolts (two horizontal in from gearbox, visible from left. one last is deep inside near speed sensor, a pain)
Many 5mm, some are easy to reach. One needs dismantling of left drive shaft to get to. Two are placed within flywheel so you need to crank the engine till they are visible, and use preferably the very very long 5mm with ball head.
I would also recommend looking at the gasket image to help identify what bolts you are missing, but it is not the full picture. There are more bolts, but in other directions. Google Image search for oil sump gasket

Since mine was done with a gasket before, I had to leverage it out and pry it open, and probably damaged it a bit in the process, before I realised - it was still stuck up in one corner. After painful fiddling, I got out the 13mm bolt behind the speed sensor. Thought I was in the clear, only to realise yet another 6mm allen / unbrako / hex bolt was located very close to the 13mm bolt.

It is so tight in there, and I realise I need to hit the 6mm tool to get inside the bolt, I think it is partially stripped, or in other ways, full of dirt. Does anyone have suggestions here? No natural space for any tools to hit. The only solution I can come to think of, is maybe 70 cm long allen / unbrako / hex bolt with a ball head - but I have no idea if I can get enough torque on that to break it.

I still have no idea how I will be able to get all the bolts back on, but I guess it is easier, that part.

In advance, thanks for your help.

 

[joakimsk]

After a rough four days of finding new bolts, using the wrong tools and dismantling more than I think was necessary, I got the sump off.

I had to losen the torsion bar ( too if its very rusty), remove the right front wheel assembly, take out the driveshaft, and remove the speed sensor to reach everything. The bottom engine mount also had to come off to give access to bolts behind the flywheel - the upper engine mounts should be able to hold the engine for a while, but I put a solid piece of wood below the engine to support it, in the floor.

Please do not start this job without a ballhead 5mm and 6mm allen / unbrako / hex and enough extensions to reach at least 30 cm. I did, and it was a very painful experience.

I had trouble finding the "special tool", a ballhead 5mm, 288 mm long with 1/2" socket, that is sold by, among other, 288 mm long ballhead, so in the end, I purchased a simple long armed one with a ballhead long armed unbrako. I cut off the angle straight, and used a fitting 5mm and 6mm socket together with my 3/8" ratchet, and several extensions. The only downside of this makeshift tool, was that it easily slips out of the 5mm and 6mm sockets. You could either spotweld it or maybe use some kind of glue for a more permanent tool.

This saved my day.

Cleaned up the mating surface with brake fluid, strong alcohol and whatnot, trying to dry out the upper sump as much as possible to avoid oil leaking down on the gasket as it is healing, scraping off the old gasket with the nails (best tool I could find) and a hard plastic scraper.

Now, I used a simple generic liquid gasket, it was also bad to get the sump in without messing up the gasket, so you may want a helper to pry out the cover below the driveshaft pulley, and hold any hoses away. Attached a few bolts on the corners, and fingertightened them all, plus a little bit. Waited about an hour for it to start drying, and torqued them in fully.

Started reassembling the car, and waited 24 hours. Had a hell with the rusty torsion bar bolt and nut, and damaged threads on the nut on the lower ball joint.

It took quite a bit of oil to fill up the sump again, but seems so far to do its job. It leaks less, but not as little as I had hoped - and I think the oil seal on the crankshaft pulley is the culprit - but I think I will leave that to professionals, as time is more valuable, and I obviously spend quite a bit there on just the sump.

It was very educational, though.

 

[Or_GazM]

You must have a DAMN well paid job in Norway to be able to ;
"but I think I will leave that to professionals, as time is more valuable, and I obviously spend quite a bit there on just the sump."

LOL: