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Date:         Tue, 9 Aug 94 21:02:54 PDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Schwarze <schwarze@io.nosc.mil>
Subject:      Re: 79 bus

H Steven Dolan writes: > > As Joel said, the leak is almost certainly push rod tube seals.

Hey! I resemble that remark! In fact, I think I was the one that said it. :) As long as were talkin abou pushrod tubes, lemme comment a little... *ahem*

There seem to be two schools of pushrod-tube mythology. School A says that you should put a light coat of permatex on the seals before installing them - not much, mind you, or it could goop up and block a critical oil journal. School B says you should NOT apply any sealant, but just coat the seals with a bit of grease, and install, so that when the motor expands and contracts with temperature changes, the pushrod tube seals can "go with the flow". Oh, I forgot to mention that there is a third school (University of Maryland, I think... they have campuses everywhere!) that completely covers every exposed surface in site with a 1/4 inch thick layer of permatex. I don't know which of these is the correct way to do it, but I just got done replacing the drivers side seals, which were leaking, and I went "school B". I'll let you all know the results. For what it's worth, I have my *own* idea about how to solve the problem. I have noticed that most of the time, "older" pushrod tubes tend to snap into place quite easily, while brand new ones take considerably more effort. Both using new seals, of course. My theory is that, as pushrod tubes age, the surface that the seals sit on gets smashed in ever so slightly, and after a while there is not enough pressure to make a seal. They are kinda thin, after all. I say, if your pushrod tubes are leaking oil, REPLACE THE TUBES in addition to the seals! They are only about 5 bucks each. Then use "school B"'s method. I was too cheap to replace my pushrod tubes THIS time, cause I will be replacing my heads soon. Then, I will use new tubes, cause dammit, I want heat that don't smell like oil!!!

-David

============================================================================= David Schwarze '73 VW Safare Custom Camper (Da Boat) SAIC Comsystems, San Diego '73 Capri GT 2800 (Da Beast) schwarze@nosc.mil '87 Mustang Lx 5.0 (Da Bruiser? Soon...) =============================================================================


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