smelly heat exchangers

[drewsuth]

hello everyone
im trying to get my 1982 t25 2000cc A/C back on the road after it had been sat still for a few years. i have pretty limited mechanical knowledge but from reading what you kind people have put up on here i have managed to get it running nicely and have fixed a lot of the problems, and have almost got it MOT worthy again.
i have recently been having a bit of a nightmare though, i had an oil leak from my rockerbox. i replaced all my pushrods, seals, rocker covers and gaskets but that didnt stop it. i think i need to get a new clip as this is the only thing i havent replaced yet, and it doesnt seem quite as tight as the one on the other side which is not leaking...
however, my heat exchanger is now covered in oil and makes a lot of smelly white smoke when the engine is running. and im paranoid that if i let it get hot enough then my engine is going to catch fire. it seems like oil is inside it aswell as on the outiside.
does this mean i have got to replace the heat exchanger now, or is there another way of solving this little problem? they seem like expensive little fellas and i could do with saving as much money as possible for mot/insurance etc...
any help would be massively appreciated.
thanks for reading,
drew

[sarran1955]

Hello,

You can clean your heat exchanger outer case with paraffin , hopefully the rest of your engine, (you haven't let us int the secret of what motor it is, and my crystal ball needs charging) is also clean.

Q: have you got your rocker box spring on round the right way, What I call 'Spring up', ie: the curvy central bit is sad not happy!!

As we don't know the engine type, I can't comment on pushrod tube oil seals, or whether you have your zig zag spring in place,

I'll go and put my crystal ball on charge, (USB)

Cordialement,

[drewsuth]

hi sarran
its a 1982 2.0L CU Aircooled engine.
the clips are deffinatly sad and not happy. i have ordered a new gasket and clip for my leaky rocker and all the new tubes and seals seem fine now.
just this smelly old exchanger that im worried about now.
does anyone know where you can get one for a decent price? (i know, thats a daft question)
cheers peoples.

[72BUG]

Try putting an add in the wanted section on here. They sometimes turn up at shows or on ebay. Word of warning though. Changing them is not for the faint hearted and will often lead to one or more snapped manifold studs. Which will mean you will then need to drill and helicoil the head. Absolute ball ache of a job.

[drewsuth]

yeah i read some pretty nasty stuff about that. thats why i was hoping to just be able to find some kind of magical way of cleaning it, and not have to take it off. cheers bug.

[CovKid]

Loads of Gunk and scrape tops of heat exchangers as it tends to accumulate along with grit. May take a few washes and a few hot runs to finally rid yourself of the pong!

[sarran1955]

Hello,

Have you used proper VW green oil seals for the pushrod tubes?

Have you got the zig zag spring holding the tubes in place.

Got to go Tea's up.

Cordialement,

[drewsuth]

i didnt use the green ones. mine were black but seem to be doing the job so far. although i havent driven it any distance yet.
and by the zigzag spring, do you mean the wire thing that goes up against the rocker assembly and into the tubes inside the bocker box?
if so, i did put it back. i didnt see any other zigzag springs.
thanks for the tip covkid. i'll give it a try once i have stopped the bloody oil leak.