Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 12:03:40 +0200
Reply-To: Pabst Michael <Michael.Pabst@VT.SIEMENS.DE>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Pabst Michael <Michael.Pabst@VT.SIEMENS.DE>
Subject: Re: oil leak
Content-Type: text/plain
Well, after 15k the seal should be ok unless a backyard mechanic installed it. See my experience with a rebuild from VWoA was that after just months it kind of exploded on the freeway with blue smoke all over scaring the family inside to death (they thought it would just burn down). Turned out that bout a quart of 1 piston was gone because VWoA combined pistons/cyls with not matching color codes (the pistons were just too wide for the cyls). Was lucky to find and prove it that way - btw that was the 3rd engine (aircooled) and with the 4th that Westy got sold immediately.
Apart from that I fully agree with what Matthew is saying.
Have a nice weekend,
Michael, Germany
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peter [SMTP:printstud@bigfoot.com]
> Sent: Thursday, October 28, 1999 8:17 PM
> To: Pabst Michael
> Subject: Re: AW: oil leak
> Importance: High
>
> I've only got about 15K on a new rebuild from VW of America, it didnt start
> leaking slowly, it just all of a sudden leaked a 2-3" pool of oil,
> immediatly after refilling the engine oil, I'm now hoping that I may have
> just put too much engine oil in and it overflowed into the tranny a bit? ( I
> read the dipstick carefully, and added accordingly, but then it read too
> high.) Thats what another owner suggested to me: and it made sense since
> it didnt start slowly. I park on a cement pad and have not had any slow
> leaks there. this was his idea:
>
> hmmm. I don't have a syncro (yet...) but here is what i understand. you
> changed the engine oil and now she leaks between the tranny and engine.
> Ok, this happend to me a while back too :-( It was because the PO put too
> much oil in it! Ahhh! I drove it for a few years before gettign the time
> to drop the tranny and change the mail seal, etc. It was easy to do btw.
> This leak could be caused by a few things. First, it could be because you
> have the wrong weight oil. 10/40 will leak easier than 20/50,etc. Or you
> could have a clogged breather hose- forcing oil out any crack/seam
> available, etc. I doubt that the oil leak is from drying out a seal. That
> sounds pretty unlikly. You could have also added too much oil and now she
> is leaking out of the main seal, past the back side of the flywheel and
> out the bottom. It may also leak out of the top of the engine where the
> auto-transmission bolt entrance cap thing is. it is a small black (2.54
> cm diameter) cap.
>
> well, i'm late for class, but i hope this helped. Keep us tuned with your
> problem.
> Later
> Matthew
> 84 weekender
> Moscow
>
>
>
> Matthew Pollard http://www.uidaho.edu/~poll7356
> Dept. of Chemistry http://www.chem.uidaho.edu
> University of Idaho http://www.uidaho.edu
>
>
>
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