I cranked over my kombi. not enough to start it. Battery is pretty cactus.

Anyway, something caught my attention. Even at very low cranking rpms the motor managed to make a small puddle of oil.

I remembered I saw the oil leak just after the motor went funny. It was a nice quick drip.
The leak seems to be coming down the right hand side (looking at the motor from behind the car) of the engine case.
This is especially odd because the awful squeaking noise that the engine made (at running speed, not cranking) was coming from the left side.
Two seperate failures in the motor? One on each side? Or are both related somehow.

Where could this oil be coming from? I can't see a source from underneath the van.

I know the van was not out of oil either. still plenty in it. So it wasn't a dryness problem causing damage.

Probably from the fuel pump gasket or the bakelite insulator between the fuel pump and case. They can get a crack in them, or be put in backwards. This will let oil flow out pretty easy as it is very low in the case.

If it is more towards the back of the bus, then it may be the dipstick tube bellows. The tube stops just before the case and there is a rubber connector for about 30mm between the tube and the case and they can leak pretty bad. Again because it is low it will leak even without running.

i hate that little tube!!!! took me ages to get on right. Where abouts on the right hand side is it leaking? Could it be rocker cover leaking? Push rod tubes leaking? Fuel pump(like hellbus said)? Thats about all there is on the RHS side of the engine...

I stuck my head under quickly today. A bit too quickly. Copped the muffler bracket in the head!
Anyway, the oil seems to be coming from towards the front of the van. It's dripping from the little 'stand' on the right hand side, bellhousing end.

The fuel pump would be the most likely candidate. Didn't occur to me. Don't I feel dumb. I was going to pull it out and put a blanking plate in anyway, because it leaks fuel anyway. And I don't like fuel leaks. If you are wondering it leaks fuel from around the diaphragm. I fixed the leak between the output brass pipe and the alloy body.

Thanks for reminding me about the dipstick tube rubber bit (Hmm..really technical name). I really need one. where do I get one?
When I dropped the motor out last it tore and crumbled. I also managed to bend the assembly. Fixed it all though after some trial and error. The rubber bit was repaired with lots of superglue.

I should be able to pull out the fuel pump without dropping the engine, shouldn't I? I may have to drop it out anyway though.
Time for the old 8mm multihex.

I looked under the van quickly. The result was slightly inconclusive. There was oil on the fuel pump and spacer, but it didn't look to be the main source of the leak.

There was oil above the fuel pump too. It seemed to be running down from the back of the engine. Or at least further up somewhere. maybe there's a problem with a case/barrel seal too.
Didn't look to be coming from the bellhousing.

for the dipstick thing i just used a bit of tube because volksbahn didnt have any of the proper bits, it hasnt broken yet or cooked.

Sounds like you got a few problems happening with your engine, its probably worth taking out the engine and fixing everything, its pretty easy and quick to remove the engine. Makes working on everything else ALOT easier.
you can take the fuel pump of pretty easily with the engine in there but im not sure if oil will come out when you do (never taken it off with a full sump).

As for the oil leak i got no idea. There isnt much up the front RHS on the engine that will leak besides the fuel pump. Get a can of spray on degreaser and spray it and hose off after 3 mins, then crank it over and see where the oil is coming from.

If you got a helper maybe they can crank the engine while to watch for the leak.

good luck

could be coming from worn out rubber seals between oil cooler and block, this spot lets a lot of oil out when it's leaking

just read your 2nd post again, that sqeeking noise may be associated with the dizzy? could it be an air leak whilstle?

The squeak is up the back of the engine bay. Good theory though.
It emanates from somewhere around the head and one of the barrels. I even did the stupid thing and stuck my head in once when it was running to try and source the sound. Unfortunately my hearing isn't amazing, so that was as local as I could get it.

It is possible it was a pressurised air leak causing the squeak. Sometime in the next few days I'll finish paying of the compression tester on layby. I think that should show me if there's a compression loss like a stuffed head gasket, buggered piston etc.

It is possible it was coming from the intake manifold too. It seemed okay when I pulled it off to look for metal filings in the inlet port. No way to tell without starting it again.

I do know that I couldn't tell if it was mechanical or pneumatic. When the engine revs went up higher, it almost sounded like a clunk, but that could have been because the air was going through faster. When I say higher engine revs I mean about 2000rpm. The engine didn't want to rev. Turns fine though. Nothing impeding it. The only trouble I have is because of the new rings casuing higher compression. New rings which I may have wrecked perfectly good pistons with. Grrrrr...