Date:         Wed, 22 May 1996 22:39:43 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         ddes@anet-dfw.com (David Schwarze)
Subject:      Re: Pushrod tube seal question

>Hi All,
>Part of my preventive maintenance chores for this year are to change out
>the (slightly) leaking pushrod tube seals on my 81 Westy, which I did
>this past weekend.  Noticed that there was lot of silicon sealant around
>the seals, but chalked that up to sloppy work on the PO's part.  Well now
>they leak MUCH BETTER than they did before and I'm wondering if there's a
>technique to this that I'm not aware of.  Any advice would be greatly
>appreciated as I plan on staunching the flow this coming weekend.

Make sure the pushrod tubes are TIGHT when you put them in.  They should go
in with a good solid *snap*, even with the seals slubed with oil (which I
would do so you don't pinch one while putting it in).  It shouldn't be easy
to do by hand - use a rag to help you grip them and do the inner two first.
What ever you do, don't use pliers or vice-grips to push in the tubes!!
They will just bend and you will be back to square one WRT oil leaks.  With
a little oil, a rag, and a good twisting motion they should go in by hand.
If any don't fit tightly, replace them.  Old beat-up ones always seem to
have a loose fit, in my experience.  Also check the bores in the head and
make sure they are smooth and free of pitting.  You should be able to find
new pushrod tubes for about $6 each.

Finally, make sure you have the thin metal spring clips installed properly.
Look down the tubes into the engine and the flat part of the spring which
is perpendicular to the end of the tube should be sitting on the bottom lip
of the pushrod tube.  If you just put them in without checking this, they
very often are not pressing on the lip of the tube, but rather hanging over
the edge inside of the tube.  This results in two things:  The spring does
*nothing* to hold the tube in place, and the spring will probably rub
against the pushrod itself.  If this goes unattended for very long, the
hard steel spring will wear a nice deep notch in the soft aluminum pushrod,
all the way around.  I've seen tons of pushrods damaged like this at the
junkyard.  Some looked like they could snap any time.  Oh, I see I am
mistaken - you have an '81 which *probably* has the steel pushrods, so not
to worry.  But those of you with earlier type IV engines - watch out for
those pushrod tube retaining springs!


-David

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David Schwarze                   '73 VW Safare Custom Camper       (Da Boat)
Dallas, Texas, USA               '73 Capri GT 2800                (Da Beast)
e-mail: ddes@anet-dfw.com        '87 Mustang Lx 5.0          (13.986@100.81)
http://www.teleport.com/~des     '93 Weber WG-50                  (Da Piano)
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