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Date:         Wed, 20 Jun 2001 21:29:54 -0500
Reply-To:     John Rodgers <jhrodgers@CHARTER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Rodgers <jhrodgers@CHARTER.NET>
Subject:      Re: New Engine Oil Leak (long)
Comments: To: Ed DeBolt <eddebolt@NETZERO.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

A leaky rear main seal or a leaky flywheel seal can kill your clutch on a manual tranny. I know. I just had to replace mine with only 18 moths since brand new.

John Rodgers 88 Gl Driver

Ed DeBolt wrote: > > Hi > > I purchased an avp engine 2.1 wbx last december.... I have been thru the > exact same thing you have described.... > > the bottom line is that avp installs a cheap flywheel seal. there are 2 > seals with the same vw parts number. one of the seals is much beefier and > does not leak. I did a bunch of research on this and found a shop in nevada > that installs a lot of avp motors. the first thing they do is replace this > seal. the stupid thing is that the better seal only costs a few dollars > more. > > My leak was not that bad however. it would drip a little and slime the > bottom of the motor. A couple of things I noticed. > > if I overfill the motor with oil then it tends to leak. In the process I > learned that the wbx motor becomes less efficient when fully filled with > oil. its best to have the oil level halfway between the high on low marks on > the dipstick > > The other thing is that over time the leak has decreased and now is leaking > so little I am not going to do anything about it. I now have 7K miles on > mine and even run synthetic 15/50 oil. I was concerned about using synthetic > after the break in period. I thought its slippery nature would increase the > leakage. fortunately that's not the case. > > I had been giving some thought to changing trannys since mine has 175K on > it. so anyway I decided to wait and see if the seal seated better and lo and > behold it did. I still have a slight slight leak now. It will accumulate a > slight amount on the bottom of the motor but never drips onto the ground... > > I have heard that a leaking seal can be as bad as to fling oil up onto the > rear window..... > > avp made the same claim to me that the flywheel was not prepped correctly > etc....excuses excuses. > > I like my engine now that it is broken in. early on the power was not so > great. btw the best valve adjustment seems to be 1 3/4 turns. another thing > I am not so impressed with is that my valve adjustment screws were reground. > I found that to be very unprofessional. I replaced the screws but I wonder > where else they have cut corners. > > good job finding that open snorkel valve. I too had this done by a vw shop > in tucson az and it probably contributed to wearing out my old engine. my > motor would run hotter and tucson shop said it was because of the coolant > mix blah blah. I should have taken it somewhere else to get another opinion > > feel free to email me if you have other questions > > ed > > -----Original Message----- > From: Peter Krogh <VW85Westy@AOL.COM> > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> > Date: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 9:10 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!) > > > > NetZero Platinum > No Banner Ads and Unlimited Access > Sign Up Today - Only $9.95 per month! > http://www.netzero.net


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