Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:10:24 -0500
Reply-To: Ken Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Ken Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Engine oil leak mystery - solved !
In-Reply-To: <d4b.5bd3d4d7.385cfcfd@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
Frank, glad you figured out your oil leak. Bob and I discussed the use
of these plugs over the years. He thought they were less prone to leak
than the standard metal ones. He was always trying to perfect his
engines and these little things were always part of his re-engineering
the water boxer that he did up until he could no longer work. When you
try things some times they work out in the long run and sometimes they
don't. I guess this was one of his ideas that in your case (no pun
intended but you have to admit is a good one) didn't work out.
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com
Frank Condelli wrote:
>
> Folks, this a excerpt from my Travel Blog, _www.westfaliatravels.com_
> (http://www.westfaliatravels.com) , about the engine oil leak which you all
> should know about.
> Yesterday I spent the day, starting at 8am, at Volks Café doing
> maintenance on the van. As you may know there has been an oil leak for some time now
> and I suspected it was the front main crank seal as the oil was dripping
> out from between the engine and tranny cases but only while parked and
> engine off. Never any oil leaking while the engine was running so this was a
> bit strange. Well after removing the tranny and then the flywheel it was
> quickly apparent the cause of the oil leak. See photos on the Blog site. The
> engine, built by Boston Engine for me back in November of 2003, had a
> rubber plug in the place of the original VW engineered cam end plug in the case.
> That rubber plug had become cooked brittle, cracked and that’s where the
> oil was leaking from. Perplexed, as I was sure all VW waterboxer engines
> had the metal plug so why did Boston Engine use a rubber one and more so
> what to do about it ? Another mechanic in the shop and I discussed what kind
> of glue may work, meanwhile I went to tell Peter the story and he tells me
> he has these rubber plugs ! They were made for aftermarket beetle engine
> cases that did not have the groove cut in them for the metal plug. Why
> Boston Engine used this rubber plug is still unknown and I guess we will never
> know as Bob, rest his soul, left us over a year ago. So, the fix ended up
> not too difficult, just dug out the old seal and pressed in a new one. I
> did cover the seal and surrounding case lip with JB Weld just to add some
> security. Then, changed out the dried out pilot bearing, put new seals on
> the flywheel and put the clutch and tranny back. Then onto the noisy CV
> joint. Turns out it was the inner right that was making the noise. I replaced
> both CVs on the right, packed them and the left ones with new grease,
> rotated the tires and was done by 5 pm.
>
>
> Please note that I will be away from my business travelling in the USA and
> Mexico from November 18, 2009 until April 30, 2010. Parts orders will be
> processed although not as quickly as usual. I will always be available by
> E-mail. If you phone, your call will be addressed by Greg T. Brown here
> and he will either call you back or advise you to contact me directly by
> E-mail. See my _www.frankcondelli.com_ (http://www.frankcondelli.com/)
> website for complete details. Travel Blog at _www.westfaliatravels.com_
> (http://www.westfaliatravels.com/)
>
> Cheers,
>
> Frank Condelli
>
> Almonte, Ontario, Canada
> '87 Westy & Lionel Trains (_Collection for sale_
> (http://frankcondelli.com/trainsal.htm) )
> _Frank Condelli & Associates_ (http://frankcondelli.com/busindex.html) -
> Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley
> _Vanagon Stainless Steel Exhaust Systems_
> (http://frankcondelli.com/exhaust.htm)
> _BusFusion_ (http://www.busfusion.com/) a VW Camper camping event,
> Almonte, ON, June 10 ~ 13, 2010
>
>
| 
