[T3] Oil cooler seals.

William Jahn willjahn975 at gmail.com
Sat Jun 20 09:08:13 PDT 2020


I don't see any area around the cooler that is is any cleaner like it has
been washed. Basically when I replaced the runner boots and had the IAD off
the top of the case where you can see it looked like built up oil and dirt
from years yet the area around the cooler seals had more crud and was more
fresh /wet looking.

 Since I did that work the rest of the engine still looks the same but near
the cooler seals it is wet yet not pouring out and the area bell housing
side of the cooler has more new buildup than the rear , which is what it
looked like before I scraped the top of the engine and wiped it off. Also
the left super cooling tin around the cylinders is oily and seems to hold
oil. If I recall the cooler is centered almost between # 3 & #4 . where I
do see fresh oil is on the bottom tins and of course the floor , especially
if I have the engine running and it's backed up to the rear of the garage
floor where I don't have cardboard . I see one fresh drip about the size of
a quarter. I never see it actually dripping. The cardboard becomes oily
from what seems to be oil that has been hanging there after it's shut down.
I'll need to let it run and see if I can determine if there is a drip I can
see at that time. If I do that would indicate a drip from oil pressure. I
have looked while running and didn't notice any oil running out from the
cooler, yet the front of the cooler is difficult to see. The hose from the
left head across the top to the oil bath was not soaked, it did have some
old caked on stuff ,  it's still the old braided hose and I plan on
replacing those from both heads and couldn't locate that size when I did
the work I have found it since. The sides of the case as well as the rear
have old buildup that looks the same everywhere.

 I'll see if I have any photo's before and after I did the work showing
what I see around the cooler at least the rear of it. I don't have a stock
pressure switch. I have a VDO  for the light and pressure gauge, it has the
banjo fitting and it's dry there as well as the top of the cooler where it
fits.

 Yes the left side of the trans including the left CV shaft and brake back
plate have much more buildup than the right side.

On Fri, Jun 19, 2020 at 10:17 PM Jim Adney <jadney at vwtype3.org> wrote:

> If you have leaky oil cooler seals, it will look like the area around
> the leak and down the side of the case has been washed off by the
> relatively clean oil that has come out of the leak. Tiny leaks may
> cause the accumulation of dirt, but those won't be important.
>
> So the thing to look for is an area that is wet and cleaner than the
> rest of the dirty engine around it.
>
> In all honesty, leaky oil pressure switches are much more common than
> leaky oil cooler seals.
>
> You probably won't see a washed area around the governor cover
> because that is such a complicated area, but you will notice that the
> whole left side of the AT, and the CV  joint there, is dirtier than
> the corresponding parts on the right side. Leaky governor cover
> O-rings are extremely common. If yours has never been replaced, it's
> worth doing regardless. You'll probably be surprised to see how hard
> and oval it is.
>
> --
> *******************************
> Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
> Madison, Wisconsin, USA
> *******************************
>
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