[T3] Oil cooler seals.

William Jahn willjahn975 at gmail.com
Wed Jul 1 12:39:50 PDT 2020


Mike:

 I was talking about replacing the rear main seal, you know that huge bolt
that holds the flex plate to the crank , the one that requires something
like 275 ft lb's .

William

On Wed, Jul 1, 2020 at 12:34 PM Mike Fisher <fisherfarms at gmail.com> wrote:

> I didn't use a torque wrench to tighten my flex plate bolts.  They are
> still fine after 12 years!
>
> On Wed, Jul 1, 2020 at 12:07 PM William Jahn <willjahn975 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >  I've seen oil drops for quite a while now. I thought it was the oil
> cooler
> > and I did feel something in that area is leaking a bit.  Fixed the oil
> > sump, no leak there. I drove today about 10 miles. Got home to see if the
> > sump plate was still dry, it was . While I watched for a minute or so I
> saw
> > two small drips dead center front of the engine where it meets the auto
> > trans diff bell housing.
> >
> > Sounds like the rear main seal. I have to live with it. No way I can deal
> > with pulling the engine which if I did I would leave the trans/diff in
> > place. Plus as some know the flex plate has to come off and the issue is
> I
> > don't have a torque wrench capable of tightening that to the proper spec
> > and being a flex plate it's very difficult to secure the engine to do
> this.
> >
> > Yet it being a 73 with all the FI wiring horror which earlier FI didn't
> > have everywhere. I'll live with it and keep an eye on it. I'd rather deal
> > with oil cooler seals.
> >
> >  Wish there was something to pour in to seal it yet that's not a very
> good
> > idea and only a butcher would do this.
> >
> > William
> >
> > On Sun, Jun 28, 2020 at 7:24 AM Jim Adney <jadney at vwtype3.org> wrote:
> >
> > > Sounds like you did a nice job. It's amazing how that thick plate gets
> > > deformed over time, even though no one ever overtightened those nuts,
> but
> > > most of them are at least slightly deformed by now, and, yes, the
> > > aftermarket
> > > replacements are all junk.
> > >
> > > I also like to take a tapered reamer to the holes in the strainer.
> Those
> > > get
> > > pounded inwards over time, making the strainer hard to remove. Taking a
> > > bit
> > > off with the reamer makes R/R of the strainer much easier.
> > >
> > > Jim
> > >
> > > On 27 Jun 2020 at 17:51, William Jahn wrote:
> > >
> > > > Jim :
> > > >  I changed the oil today, used Valvoline VR1 , had enough left for
> one
> > > oil
> > > > change.
> > > > What I never checked was the sump plate and I used the one off the 72
> > > which
> > > > has the drain plug. I needed it because the 73 plate was really
> > butchered
> > > > and because I wanted to add a VDO temp sensor all I knew about were
> the
> > > > ones they offered for the sump.
> > > >
> > > >  I drove the car to get the oil really warmed up then it drained
> better
> > > and
> > > > while I cleaned the screen and plate I decided to check the plate for
> > > > flatness around the 6 holes. I always just cleaned it , never over
> > > > tightened the  cap nuts. I decided to check it and the 6 holes were
> > > dimpled
> > > > . I did the best I could with a ball peen hammer , plate on hardwood
> > > > striking the ball peen with another hammer. It was better yet still
> not
> > > > flat so I filed each hole flat and then polished the surface with wet
> > > /dry
> > > > 600 . I also discovered since I didn't want to ruin the sender I
> > removed
> > > it
> > > > and it was too easy maybe 3 ft lbs. I had good copper drain crush
> > washers
> > > > and replaced that. Today I put it all back together. This time I only
> > > used
> > > > a nut driver and 10 mm socket and did the same star pattern three
> times
> > > > with maybe 20 minutes between just to allow the gasket Felpro brand
> to
> > > > compress. I didn't file off much. Maybe .010" the plate is still
> plenty
> > > > thick. I had an old Empi chrome plate yet it was complete garbage,
> > > nothing
> > > > like the original and certainly not what I would consider flat.
> > > >
> > > >  I don't know why I never checked the plate around the holes, I just
> > > looked
> > > > at it, cleaned it and back on it went. I just assumed since I never
> > over
> > > > tightened it it was fine.
> > > >
> > > >  I know there are other leaks yet the plate always seems to develop
> oil
> > > > drops on the 6 cap nuts. Maybe now this will slow things down.
> Nothing
> > > > looked like much gray sludge, just a bit of black bits that were not
> > > > magnetic, Turns out I had to tighten the two cap breather and I did
> > this
> > > > after the last oil change and as you know to get at the nut you need
> to
> > > > remove the barrel and washer . I cleaned those yet some of that crud
> > had
> > > to
> > > > drop down in the sump just pulling them out.
> > > >
> > > > William
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Sat, Jun 20, 2020 at 9:57 AM Jim Adney <jadney at vwtype3.org>
> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > On 20 Jun 2020 at 9:08, William Jahn wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > where I do see fresh oil is on the bottom tins and of course the
> > > floor,
> > > > > > especially if I have the engine running
> > > > >
> > > > > Once upon a time, I had a rather moderate leak on an engine that I
> > had
> > > > > just
> > > > > rebuilt. Eventually I discovered that this was around the oil sump
> > > plate.
> > > > > When I had bolted the engine case halves together, I assumed they
> > would
> > > > > line up perfectly on their own, but on that case, the 2 sides
> didn't
> > > quite
> > > > > match. There was a "step" at the case seam, about 1/2 mm high. The
> > oil
> > > > > change gaskets couldn't quite seal that much of a mismatch. This
> step
> > > was
> > > > > easily felt when I ran a finger around that gasket surface, but I
> had
> > > not
> > > > > thought to do that as I assembled the engine.
> > > > >
> > > > > At the next oil change, I was able to loosen all the nuts along the
> > > bottom
> > > > > case seam and work the 2 sides back into alignment. It didn't take
> > any
> > > > > real
> > > > > effort, so I don't know what I did wrong in the original assembly
> > > process,
> > > > > but
> > > > > this is something I always check now.
> > > > >
> > > > > Of course, I've also come across sumps where someone left half a
> > gasket
> > > > > stuck to the case. That's also something a new gasket won't seal.
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > > *******************************
> > > > > Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
> > > > > Madison, Wisconsin, USA
> > > > > *******************************
> > > > >
> > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > VWType3.Org mailing list - type3 at vwtype3.org
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> > > --
> > > *******************************
> > > Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
> > > Madison, Wisconsin, USA
> > > *******************************
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> --
> Eugene, Oregon
>
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