Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 10:09:22 -0800
Reply-To: Ben McCafferty <ben@KBMC.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Ben McCafferty <ben@KBMC.NET>
Subject: Re: Oil spraying on hatch (long)
In-Reply-To: <002801c1be26$4e3deb40$a17ba8c0@elcjn1.sdca.home.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
> tube. I waited for daylight and checked both areas today. The dipstick looks
> and feels fine and tight. The plastic top extension of the oil filler tube is
> not cracked but is very loose (is this supposed to be?
No, this should be snug and not move.
Not loose enough to
> pull off but lots of wiggle room) and the metal tubing leading to the engine
> has lots of fresh clean oil. There is evidence of fresh oil leading down to
> the connection and then back onto the frame of the car.
Sounds like you found your leak.
I guess the air going
> by at 65 mph could have whisked it up and against the hatch back.
Definitely. The air coming off the bottom of the van tends to boil up the
back of the van with a fair amount of turbulence, and I have experienced
what you describe before. Any oil coming off the bottom of the van would
tend to blow up the back.
There is no
> evidence of oil coming from the drain plug or anywhere in front of the filler
> tube or coming from the side of it where the filter is. Should I install a
> clamp where the plastic meets the metal?
Not sure without looking. I'd say you need to do what it takes to stop the
leak, whether it's clamping or replacing the part.
Should the alarm have sounded during
> this?
In my opinion, no it shouldn't have sounded. The pressure switches measure
pressure in the system, i.e. in the oil galleys and across bearings, etc.
Pretty much everything between the oil pump and the return to the pan. What
you're describing is not part of the pressurized system, and so a leak
shouldn't cause an alarm.
(I'm wondering if the second, higher rpm pressure switch died) I lost
> very little oil. In fact, I am now sitting on the max indicator having been
> slightly above it. The car dropped 2 or 3 drops of oil after being turned off
> which I think was residue leading down the pipe. But the engine sounds and
> runs fine. Oh, I also looked at the engine from the top and there is same
> spray on the distributer cap which could have been flung there by the belt
> closest to the oil filler tube. There is no other evidence of oil in the
> engine.
All this sounds consistent with a minor leak in your filler pipe. A small
amount of oil makes a deceptively large spray up the back. It doesn't sound
like something to be overly concerned with, just a hassle to clean up and
then fix. I understand being gunshy because of the alarm (I still have this
same problem, despite all the fixes mentioned on the list), but I think you
have two unrelated problems here. BTW, I have a factory-rebuilt engine with
25000 on it, and I have heard that some WBX engines just have marginally low
oil pressure, and therefore throw the alarm from time to time when pressure
is at its lowest. Hopefully I'm not in for a rude awakening about this!
When the buzzer comes on, you can stop it immediately by depressing the
clutch pedal and nudging the gas a bit.
bmc :)
