[T3] New Oil Leak

[Jim Adney]

On 25 Feb 2012 at 13:12, Toadpipe wrote:

> I've developed an oil leak on the left side of the engine.  I've had 
> ample time to watch it while fiddling with my idle and the oil seems to 
> pool up on the sheet metal under the left pistons and drip from either 
> side where it meets the engine case.  Seems to me this indicates that my 
> rocker cover gasket is bad so I'm planning to replace both of them.  
> However, it also occurs to me that I could be dead wrong, any other 
> cause of the leak I should be on the look out for?

You could check the rocker cover gasket for some obvious flaw, but 
leaks there always drip down to the heat exchanges and then straight 
down to the ground.

Your leak is much more likely to be from the oil cooler gaskets, on 
top of the left side case half. Leaks here are generally made clear 
by an area under the oil cooler which has been washed "clean" by 
leaking oil, unlike the solid black dirt that covers the rest of the 
case.

It could also be a leaky oil pressure switch, on top of the oil 
cooler, or a pushrod tube which has rusted thru.

If it's the cooler seals, email me for my faq, which explains the 3 
different versions of oil coolers, seals, and spacers. You have to 
use the right ones for your engine.

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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