oil leak?

Jan 04, 2007 11 Replies

I have a 79 SB with an oil drip. Yes I know "VW's mark their spots." Anyway I rebuilt the motor awhile back and it has been leaking ever since I reinstalled it. It's not the case, or the heads, or the push rod tubes. My guess is the oil cooler. It doesn't drop much oil and is more of an eyesore on the garage floor. Short of removing the engine again, does anybody have an idea for a simpler fix? Thanks, David


A drip tray when you park up ?

Rich

Or some o' this:

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:-)

Well, on a standard 70 beetle, you can easily replace the oil cooler without pulling the engine. It just requires taking all the crap off the top of the engine first. :) Maybe you can't do that with the engine in place when you have a doghouse style cooler?

My sincere apologies. The Stop Leak ad was meant as humor. I don't think I'd use it in my engine...

I don't think the FI is *that* much harder to pull; make a good sketch of where everything went.

Can you pull the fan shroud in place? Yeah, but I would almost rather pull the engine out :-) The hood AND the hinge brackets come off. After you get all the fasteners and thingies off, there is still one 10mm bolt holding the doghouse way down at the bottom.

Judicious use of a prybar should enable you to lift the fan shroud.

That said, I would wait awhile and think this through. Is it going to be worth all that effort? What will get broken in the process?

Jim

to add to Speedy's reply, I wouldn't want to pull the shroud in car if i wasn't SURE it was the oil cooler...it is a large hassle....just my half nickel(inflation)

I had a leak similar to what you're describing and I thought it was the oil cooler. It turned out to be a seepage from the mating surface on #3 cylinder to the case. I know you can get a decent look at the cooler area if you just remove the 2 pieces of tin that directs the hot air from the cooler toward the transaxle then use a flashlight and inspection mirror.

I'm not m> I have a 79 SB with an oil drip. Yes I know "VW's mark their spots."

Is the general consensus then that this oil leak is not worth the effort? This is a driver that I also take to shows. Am I being to obsessive? David

And boy, I was sure liking that Stop Leak idea. David

SNIP>>>>

Does that stuff really work? I have an oil leak which is very very minor (1971 super beetle), about 1 drop every few days when the weather is hot, but it is annoying enough for me to want to do something about it. If that stuff actually works it can save me a lot of bother.

it's all depends how obsessive you are. If it is as small as you say, I would aggree with Jim, it's probably more trouble than it's worth.

Don't pull the fan shroud in the car, you will have a very nice backache after. Plus it's going to be quite painful to wrestle with the flap link and putting tin screws for the oilcooler deflectors.

Ant> Is the general consensus then that this oil leak is not worth the effort?

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