Date: Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:01:03 -0800
Reply-To: Joel Cort <joel_cort@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Joel Cort <joel_cort@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Engine oil leak mystery - solved !
In-Reply-To: <d4b.5bd3d4d7.385cfcfd@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Thanks for the heads up Frank,
I have a Boston Bob powering my Syncro as well and guess what.
It leaks from somewhere back in there. I had just replaced the flywheel seal when I reinstalled the tranny about 6 months ago and it started leaking shortly after.
I am planning to take it apart in the warmer weather to "replace the flywheel seal" but if it is this plug I will replace that too.
Warm wishes in journey and for the holidays.
May the 4 winds blow you safely home! (R Hunter)
Joel Cort
Rochester NY.
89 Syncro Westy (CinnabarVan)
87 Syncro Transporter (Stella)
73 Westy Campmobile (agent orange)
Founding Member of the Empire VW Camping Club
&
Westies at Watkins - www.westies-at-watkins.org
________________________________
From: Frank Condelli <RAlanen@AOL.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Fri, December 18, 2009 10:42:53 AM
Subject: Engine oil leak mystery - solved !
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
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