Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 19:33:36 -0400
Reply-To: Tom and Dana Cates <dcates1@HOME.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Tom and Dana Cates <dcates1@HOME.COM>
Subject: Re: New Engine Oil Leak
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Peter,
If you are lucky, Karl Mullendore (thewestyman@mindspring.com) will accept
your case. You can trust him implicitly.
I have an AVP air-cooled rebuild in mine, 20K so far and no leaks. But, I
did send them my flexplate along with the core and they did the
installation. Any scoring on the seal area of the flywheel will cause almost
immediate failure of the seal.
I think that you might find the answer to your question within the text of
your email.
Tom and Dana Cates
Asheville, NC
83 Air-Cooled Westfalia, 'Hammurabi'
Member: http://www.fullmoonbusclub.com/ "Home of the World Famous Breakfast
Burritos"
http://www.type2.com/rescue/
http://members.home.net/fullmooninjoon/index.htm
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Krogh" <VW85Westy@AOL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 11:51 AM
Subject: New Engine Oil Leak
> Hey List,
> Please cc any response to Kroghphoto@aol.com, as I don't get to this
email address too often.
>
> I have replaced Zippy's old engine (at 190,000) with a new AVP rebuild.
I
> had the 2.1 crank installed, and I have to say I like the power
increase.
> It's not a Ferrarri, just a slightly faster Vanagon.
>
> I have a problem, however, and I seem to be in the middle here. I
noticed
> an oil leak from the area between the tranny and the engine at less than
300
> miles. The shop that did the work said that it was a leaky front engine
> seal, certainly caused by defective parts or work by AVP. AVP says that
it
> is most likely from poor flywheel installation.
>
> The shop charged me $95 for the flywheel, and I thought they said
something
> about having gotten a deal on it somewhere. After the leak, they told
me
> more specifically that it had come from a VW reman that was ordered for
a
> customer, and that the flywheel was removed when he switched from Manual
to
> Auto trans.
>
> AVP will only honor warrantee if the seal is not scored or "burned
looking"
> as this would indicate improper flywheel installation. Additionally,
they
> said that they will pay for 3.5 hours labor for the work, and my garage
said
> that is a 5 hour job. AVP will only pay $40 an hour (which I knew when
I
> bought the engine). So that's $140 on a $280 repair.
>
>
> The installer is a shop in Maryland that does a *lot* of Vanagon work.
> Judging by the parking lot that may be half their business. They seemed
to
> know all the little quirkiness of a Vanagon, and said that they had done
> hundreds of engine replacements.
>
> They did a pretty nice job overall, although slow. I put no pressure on
> them to do it quickly, just friendly weekly calls on the status. There
were
> two
> problems with the installation besides the leak.
>
> The first was that the motor quit within the first 12 miles of driving.
> They said that turned out to be a loose wire on some FI control that was
> flooding
> it out. The odometer indicated that they had test driven it for about
36
> miles. Fixed for free.
>
> The second is a temperture fluctuation that was greater than my old
engine.
> Idling quickly raises the temperture until the fan clicks on, whereupon
it
> stabilises at slightly warm. At 1000 miles I asked that to bleed the
> system, which they said they did. Within a few miles the heat problem
> returned.
> Upon inspection, I saw a missing hose clamp on the hose from the
expansion
> tank to the fill tank. Also, the bleeder valve in the engine
compartment
> was left open. This made me nervous about rushed/shoddy work.
>
> Questions:
> 1. Any insight on what is most likely to have caused the seal to fail?
>
> 2. Does the "book" indicate that dropping the tranny and replacing the
seal
> is only a 3.5 hour job? AVP stated at time of purchase that the
> reimbursement was based on a published time schedule for repairs.
>
> 3. Should I try to be there when they do the work to check out what
caused
> it (they have said that I can wait)
>
> 4. Does temperture fluctuation indicate air in the cooling system?
Should I
> insist on a full Bently-style bleed?
>
> Thanks for all your help.
> Peter & Zippy (now Zippier!)
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