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Re: Ugh Type 4 problems

> My boyfriend lent me his 79 westy (auto with a type 4 engine) while he > replaced the transmission on my bug. The bus has ran perfectly for the last > week without any problems at all. She started up everytime, purred perfectly > but I noticed she was really going through oil. He instructed me "Check the > oil everyday before you go to work" when I told him this. Well yesterday I > was running late so I didn't get a chance to, on my lunch break I checked it > and noticed it was below the first line so I added some so it was at the > second line. On my way home from work a few hours later there was huge > clouds of grey/whitish smoke pouring out from the back of her and the smell > was horrible. I opened the engine compartment and felt like I was staring at > a waterpumper. I had no idea what anything was! I mean I saw the coil, and > the distributor, and where the oil and tranny fluid goes. But it seemed like > most of the oil was coming out and pooling down in the front around where > the fan belt is. There's that big open fan and the oil was pooling inside > there. It seemed to be coming down off the right hand side at the top. I had > one of the guys from my club come out and take a look at it and he said he > thought maybe it was the oil cooler or the main seal went. But he wasn't > exactly sure because he had never worked on a type 4 before really. > > Never in my whole life have I been so scared to phone my bf and tell him > what I'd done. Especially because I didn't know what I'd done. He was pretty > angry with me because he thinks maybe I put too much oil in. I'm a bit > skeptical of this, the problem seems a bit more extreme then that. > Especially because there is oil all over the engine compartment on the right > side and all over my driveway. Anyway we have to find a way to get the bus > to his place tomorrow and we have to take two ferries to get there. It's > going to be an interesting weekend. > > I think I have bad vw karma or something. > > Anna. > 65 Bahama Blue "Bebe" > 79 Auto Green Westy "Avy"

You didn't do anything (IMHO). If it was "using" oil the thing had a bad problem long before you got in the seat.

Speedy Jim

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Reply to
Speedy Jim
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There's a reasonably good chance that it was overfilled. On mine, the difference between my parking spot at work which appears level and my parking spot at home, which appears level, is two quarts! It was always very frustrating for me to find that it was a quart low and then find that it's 2 quarts overfull after I add a quart! After saying all that, though, when I had my previous engine with the bad oil pickup, I ran it two quarts over all the time and didn't have any oil blowing out.

It actually sounds like it may have been headin' for the last roundup and you just happened to be the one who drove it that day! Usually oil gets blown out of the dipstick tube when there's badly worn rings or worse. There is a little rubber connector bellows behind the fan housing that connects the outer dipstick tube with thw inner dipstick tube and those deteriorate in time and if the oil level was very high and that bellows is shot, you'd get a whole buncha oil out there just as you described. Leaving the filler cap off would possibly pump some oil but not as likely. The fan throws the oil everywhere, so it's tough to detect the source, but if the engine is in good shape (you didn't say it made any bad noises - just bad smoke) the main culprits are (in order of liklihood): (1) dipstick tube connector (2) oil pressure sending unit (3) valve cover gasket(s) (4) pushrod tube seals (5) loose or stripped oil cooler attachment (6) loose oil pump cover (7) loose case studs If the engine was getting on in miles, then there is a whole new set of parameters: Blow-by suddenly made worse by a broken piston blowing oil out any available opening!

I'm thinking it was an over-fill oversight and maybe a hill thrown in for good measure and a trashed dipstick tube connector... these CAN be installed without taking everything apart, but it may require a female-sized hand to reach up there and slide it on! Then use nylon tie straps instead of metal clamps. Think positive! Good luck.

it was at the

there was huge

her and the smell

like I was staring at

saw the coil, and

But it seemed like

front around where

pooling inside

at the top> skeptical of this, the problem seems a bit more extreme then that.

compartment on the right

way to get the bus

get there. It's

Reply to
Busahaulic

You didn't say if it was making noise like something in the engine blew like a rod etc. If no noise you may have just blown an oil cooler or your pressure relief valve is stuck. It happened to me the valve has a spring that cuts into the case and sticks then pressure goes nuts and oil comes out of everwhere. No noise is may not be a big deal. I cross my fingers for you. Does the car run? Joe Cali - Next Generation- usa

Reply to
Joe Cali - Next Generation-USA

Well I didn't want to bring in the fact the overfilling of oil may be a coincidence and the engine throw a rod through the case and there is a big hole the oil is coming from, but I was trying to be positive and I hope I am wrong.

Reply to
Joe Cali - Next Generation-USA

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