oil leak 1981 air cooled

[skins]

New to vw and club 80-90

Symptoms - losing oil about 1l/100miles or so - oil residue all over underneath of engine and oil dripping very slowly from drive shaft.

OK - after reading the relevant parts of the haynes I have removed the fuelsystem and can now see at least one of my problems - towards the left-back of the car there is a hole in the tinware and there is something on the other side with a rubber seal that is covered in oil - (this might be the oil sender that someone on a previous thread mentioned). I tried to take the tin ware off to get to this component but I was not able to remove the screws - it looks as if these have never been removed. Anyone any good ideas how to loosen these screws - a bit of wd40 d'you think? - also what is this thing covered in oil and is it likely to be the cause of an oil leak?

I also had a look underneath the engine - the two tin plates that sit on either side of the engine seem also to be covered in oil - couldn't get these off either as screws were not budgin - so I looked through the gap towards the push rods (i think) and two on one side and at least one on the other side were half covered in oil.

So this is probably completely wrong but my diagnoses is that I have a dodgy oil sender that needs replacing, and leaky seals on the push rods (but wouldn't this cause oil to go in the engine and blue smoke, which I don't have?) that also need replacing.

I think I will be ok with the oil sender but not sure at all about the push rod seals - can these be replaced without taking the engine out? The oil around the drive shaft...I think this is the cv and the oil seal within the joint - althougb I am half guessing here!

[camper]

Some of your questions i might be able answer .The oil dripping off the drive shaft possible it is a flange seal on the gearbox that has failed.This is one of two seals that the flanges come out of the gearbox and the drive shafts bolt on to.The oil is a diffrent grade and type to the engine oil and has a funny smell to it.You can replace the push rod seals by removing the rocker covers these have a large clip to hold them on the cylinder heads.You also need to take the tinware off from under the heads as to gain access .To remove the screws try mole grips with WD 40 or a small chisel like punch tool used counter clockwise against the head of the screw.Once you get the screw to move then try it again with a screw driver.After the screws are removed use a thread cutting tool .Once you have the bottom tinware removed and the rocker covers off you are then in a position to remove the rocker assembly and the push rods for each tube this then allows you to pull out the tubes.Important read up with a workshop manual as there are procedures as to valve positions and adjustments to do when the seals are replaced. Others on here will advice you .

[skins]

cheers for that - will read up and give it a go