Viscous Coupler rebuild

[ghatid]

Did anyone on r3v rebuild their vcs on their transfer cases?

I just bought a 325ix with a bad vc and I was considering my options:

Buy used tcase - ~$500-600 with no guarantees
Buy new VC - ~$600 from a few online retailers (bma and bmwpartstore)
Buy new tcase/reman - $1,800 - $200 core (but...I would guess it would cost about $200 to ship a tcase...)

So I was looking at the e30 forums and found the guy who remanufactured his own VC. Looks doable if I have a friend with a lathe and a friend who can weld.

Guy who rebuild vc - http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=96804

I was thinking of trying to do the rebuild with:

60,000 cst silicone - http://www.amazon.com/Team-Associate...ref=pd_sim_t_5
100,000 cst silicone - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...A1YLD6DK9B7ZV6

My plan is to first try rebuilding the vc, and if that fails, I'll buy a new VC.

Does anyone have any input on whether this stuff is what they're talking about in the thread? Is this something I shouldn't be trying? I would appreciate any helpful input.

[jute91]

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=296569

[spdracrm3]

someone with new ones for sale

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118123

[ghatid]

someone with new ones for sale

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118123

Yeah, I saw that, but he's charging about just as much as if I bought them directly from people who take credit cards:D. But that's my back up plan if this goes badly.

[spdracrm3]

i have a VC cut apart to rebuild and have the seals but haven't got my hands on the fluid yet(and time to work on it), i think there are many that want to rebuild them for themselves but it would be difficult to warranty them for anyone else to use as seen by the long "anyone want a rebuilt VC" post on E30tech. they decided liabilty wasnt worth the effort.

[nando]

I'm not sure what liability there could possibly be. I think at some point rebuilding them by the community itself will be the only choice.

[jute91]

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=296569

You can see from here how to rebuild your VC.

[nando]

yeah I have a couple that I'd like to rebuild one day.

the rear VCs will need rebuilt too. mine is finally shot after a quarter million miles. :(

I have a brand new TC VC but need one for the rear too. the rear is the same price, $550 or so. I want to get a new chain and front sprocket first though.

[ghatid]

i have a VC cut apart to rebuild and have the seals but haven't got my hands on the fluid yet(and time to work on it), i think there are many that want to rebuild them for themselves but it would be difficult to warranty them for anyone else to use as seen by the long "anyone want a rebuilt VC" post on E30tech. they decided liabilty wasnt worth the effort.

Do you think that the team associated stuff (meant for RC cars, I think) would be the right stuff for the fluid? It seems readily available with short lead times and reasonable costs...

[spdracrm3]

I'm not sure what liability there could possibly be. I think at some point rebuilding them by the community itself will be the only choice.

just the "who pays " the R&R if it fails or doesnt work.......it pretty labor intensive to R&R. dont see how it could cause a wreck if it failed so no real liability there..everyone wanted to know the warranty from the E30tech guys who tried rebuilding them which scared em away..

Do you think that the team associated stuff (meant for RC cars, I think) would be the right stuff for the fluid? It seems readily available with short lead times and reasonable costs...

dont know as nobody has tried the stuff ,the E30tech rebuild used the real "dow corning " stuff and the fellow in finland used Heavy truck viscous fan fluid (which blew apart) but that could have been the weld quality or fill quantity causing fail. i think unless you use the real stuff from dow corning youre being a guinea pig

[nando]

I don't think a community this small could possibly warranty something like this. it's going to either be - we figure out a way to rebuild them ourselves, or we just don't have working VCs.

so far it hasn't been worth it because they are still available new but that won't last forever.

[spdracrm3]

I don't think a community this small could possibly warranty something like this. it's going to either be - we figure out a way to rebuild them ourselves, or we just don't have working VCs.

so far it hasn't been worth it because they are still available new but that won't last forever.

Totally agree

[nando]

I'm just noticing something in the last year or so - lots of cars got parted out, or are being totally trashed. there were about 6k imported - who knows how many were crushed during Cash 4 Clunkers. There are few online for sale and most are in not great shape. So how many are left? 500 or so?

even on ebay, there are few used parts for sale, such as TCs or transmissions. lots of common parts like diffs, oil pans and CV shafts though.

The parts are starting to dry up, the cars are disappearing.. not good. :(

[z122643]

i'm just noticing something in the last year or so - lots of cars got parted out, or are being totally trashed. There were about 6k imported - who knows how many were crushed during cash 4 clunkers. There are few online for sale and most are in not great shape. So how many are left? 500 or so?

Even on ebay, there are few used parts for sale, such as tcs or transmissions. Lots of common parts like diffs, oil pans and cv shafts though.

The parts are starting to dry up, the cars are disappearing.. Not good. :(

dito!!!

[ghatid]

Hmm, so I better get started on this project fast, or there might not be a back up VC to buy...