Skip to content
Aussieveedubbers

why is the \'volkswagen\' an oil dripper?

0 likes
Share Share on Facebook Share on X Share on Reddit

bajachris88 The international telephone dialing code for Antarctica is 6

6,661 posts · joined Apr 2005 ·

#514807
Bad case seals? Crappy Mc. craps? since my engines in now... i got all these oil stains underneith it, and can see the drops slowly forming. its nothing alarming... i think. if so, will coat the seams between the engine casing in quick steel 😂
(ô_!_/ô) (ô_!_/ô)
69' baja: kombi box, thing spindles, irs, disc front, type 3 rear drums, 2 inch lift kit, 31x10 rears. 👍
New engine in process: 94mm p&bs, 74mm C/w chomol Crank, 35.5x39 SP heads, turbo. Wierd combo, hopeful torque monsta!

PurpleT3 Fahrvergnugen

880 posts · joined Apr 2003 ·

#514820
I wouldn't bother. First, if the case seam is leaking, yoiu can bet alot of other things are too, second, without a thorough degrease nothing will stick to the case.
Ain't nothin' like the wind in your hair.

shiftyvw Wolfsburg Wizard

523 posts · joined Sep 2002 ·

#514829
A well built engine wont leak oil, If its leaking between the case halves the only fix is a rebuild basicaly.
testing 1 2 3...

twoguns simply aircooled

4,275 posts · joined Nov 2002 ·

#514865
isnt it also to do with different metals. teh vw has both alloy and magnesium components (isnt the heads alloy and the case magnesium) and these components have different expansions and contractions when esposed to heat, so the tolerances needed are not as tight as they could be if it was all one metal. thus depending on how hard you work your motor, how many drops you get.

this is my understanding anyway.

and it is not an oil dripper as you put it... it is a TURF MARKER!. 😏 everybody knows taree is now my stomping ground, and i park here, and here, and here, oh and over there. not so often here. must spend a lot of time here...hmmm never get to this part of town, um is she finds out i spend time here *jsut clean that off*... :duh

[ Edited on 24/7/2006 by twoguns ]
Simply Cruzin'...

bajachris88 The international telephone dialing code for Antarctica is 6

6,661 posts · joined Apr 2005 ·

#514960
Haha 😀 Too tru 😀!

Just the dub marking the territory. :P I'm sure don't won't appreciate it when i eventually get the car on the drive way, Lol
(ô_!_/ô) (ô_!_/ô)
69' baja: kombi box, thing spindles, irs, disc front, type 3 rear drums, 2 inch lift kit, 31x10 rears. 👍
New engine in process: 94mm p&bs, 74mm C/w chomol Crank, 35.5x39 SP heads, turbo. Wierd combo, hopeful torque monsta!

68AutoBug Beetle Restorer - Experience over 138\% - YIKES --

11,654 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#515025
Yes Chris,
its mainly because back in the good old days before silicon and plastic gasket etc....
The engines get so hot and the cylinders are steel....
the rest alloy..... all the metals expand etc at different rates and because of different temperatures.....

BUT....
I did read with interest when someone said that VW engines were designed to leak a bit of oil, and the oil would cover the underside of the engine....
because in countries that throw chemicals & salt onto the roads to stop ice forming.....in the winter...
These chemicals would corrode the bottom of the alloy engine.... so VW made 'em leak.....

that is a bit hard to believe.....
but back in the 40s & 50s etc most car engines leaked oil and also used oil at an alarming rate.....


I saw a VW engine that was left sitting about 5 meters or so from a swimming pool.... for about 6 years...?
I don't know if the pool was salt water or chlorine....
but there wasn't much left of the alloy engine....
it was very badly corroded.....
so if it was covered in oil, it would have still been OK....

Lee
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---

Yogie Moderator Custom Title Time!

1,609 posts · joined Jun 2003 ·

#515229
They can leak around the pushrods as well. Ours doesn't leak from the engine but there is a little oil that leaks from the breather tube. We added a length of rubber to the end of the tube so that it bypasses the lower engine tin (the tin under the pushrod tubes) and it drops to the ground. This is very little. If you don't do this, the oil drops on to the lower tin and builds up there so it drops everywhere.

Yogie

aggri1 Insano Dub Head

824 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#515561
They're much tighter about this sort of thing in Switzerland (and I would expect most other Western European countries). No drippage allowed at the annual inspection. However, there are still air cooled veedubs getting around there, my mum tells me of two that live near her (Bay busses, one a lowlight). So they don't necessarily have to drip just 'cause they're a VW. Probably that heating/contracting thing, being that they run fairly warm as far as vehicle IC engines go, and the design of course (split crankcase, pushrods, etc...).

My busses leak very little, like maybe two drops of oil after a hard run.

Cheers, A.

PurpleT3 Fahrvergnugen

880 posts · joined Apr 2003 ·

#515614
Most of them leak because they're old. The seals are old and dried up and don't work properly, or the breather system has been compromised allowing excess case pressure to build up.
Ain't nothin' like the wind in your hair.

Menangler Custom Title Time!

1,991 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#515625
And crappy Brazilian gaskets sets, especially the flywheel oil seals and push rod tube seals, these go hard in the bag before even fitting them.
FAHRVERGNUGEN;
Description of a pleasurable sensation,
Experienced when a car and it's driver are in mutual harmony, A unique driving experience, Pleasure, Satisfaction,
A feeling experienced by Volkswagen Drivers.

68AutoBug Beetle Restorer - Experience over 138\% - YIKES --

11,654 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#515643
Yes,
Push rod seals are crap.... even VW ones don't last...
Only way to fit them....

coat both sides of the seals with Permatex or avaition jointing cement [non hardening]

then when the seals crack in a year or so, the permatex stops the oil leaks....

really works...

Lee

1 attachment · Log in to view

- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---

geodon Wolfsburg Wizard

478 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#515660
It's all relative.
I've owned heaps of old cars & VW's are pretty good once u've stopped the rockers & pushrod tubes leaking. Old BMC stuff is notorious & old Jags are just as bad despite having heaps of bolts holding things on -eg 21 bolts on the pushrod engine sumps! Maybe it's a pommy tradition thing- years ago u could always tell a Triumph m/c rider by his oil-stained boots!