<div dir="ltr"><div>Jim :</div><div> I changed the oil today, used Valvoline VR1 , had enough left for one oil change. <br></div><div>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. <br></div><div><br></div><div> 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. <br></div><div><br></div><div> 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. <br></div><div><br></div><div> 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. <br></div><div><br></div><div>William <br></div><div> <br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Jun 20, 2020 at 9:57 AM Jim Adney <<a href="mailto:jadney@vwtype3.org">jadney@vwtype3.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">On 20 Jun 2020 at 9:08, William Jahn wrote:<br>
<br>
> where I do see fresh oil is on the bottom tins and of course the floor,<br>
> especially if I have the engine running <br>
<br>
Once upon a time, I had a rather moderate leak on an engine that I had just <br>
rebuilt. Eventually I discovered that this was around the oil sump plate. <br>
When I had bolted the engine case halves together, I assumed they would <br>
line up perfectly on their own, but on that case, the 2 sides didn't quite <br>
match. There was a "step" at the case seam, about 1/2 mm high. The oil <br>
change gaskets couldn't quite seal that much of a mismatch. This step was <br>
easily felt when I ran a finger around that gasket surface, but I had not <br>
thought to do that as I assembled the engine.<br>
<br>
At the next oil change, I was able to loosen all the nuts along the bottom <br>
case seam and work the 2 sides back into alignment. It didn't take any real <br>
effort, so I don't know what I did wrong in the original assembly process, but <br>
this is something I always check now. <br>
<br>
Of course, I've also come across sumps where someone left half a gasket <br>
stuck to the case. That's also something a new gasket won't seal.<br>
<br>
-- <br>
*******************************<br>
Jim Adney, <a href="mailto:jadney@vwtype3.org" target="_blank">jadney@vwtype3.org</a><br>
Madison, Wisconsin, USA<br>
*******************************<br>
<br>
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