Club 80-90 Forums

Hi,my 82' 2.0 Aircooled has always had a very slight oil leak on both sides of the engine from somewhere above the heat exchangers,but today the leak on the drivers side has got a whole lot worse and is now producing a lovely plume of smoke around my van.Does anyone know the most likely place the leak is coming from and how easy/expensive it will be to fix?
Cheers for your help.

mad372 wrote:Hi,my 82' 2.0 Aircooled has always had a very slight oil leak on both sides of the engine from somewhere above the heat exchangers,but today the leak on the drivers side has got a whole lot worse and is now producing a lovely plume of smoke around my van.

Hi mad372,
The usual suspects are firstly: The rocker box cover gaskets, one each side directly above the heat exchangers. Obviously the gaskets need replacing occaisionally, usually when the r/box covers themselves have been off for some reason. It has been known for the covers to need replacement if they become out of shape due to being banged etc.
Secondly, the push rod oils seals have a habit of leaking. They did this even when air cooled vehicles were fairly new. I was told that if the leak is small then just live with it but if it gets more serious then get the seals changed.
The seals are available from places like JK & GSF. The seals come in two sizes small/large @ 65p/£1.98 & a push rod costs £3.95 each. Rocker box cover gaskets are 95p each.

Hi Mad372,

there is tons of useful info on oil leaks on these pages, and thesearch facility is very good. Bowton-lad has highlighted the two usual suspects...

Now you have to identify which. Several more learned members always begin with cleaning and watching where the oil is coming from. May require you to remove some tinware. Once the ladsnlasses know where the leak is, they will be able to offer you all sorts of advice.

Photos always help

Good Luck!
Emma

wiki'd

Thanks for all that.Had a look today,looks like it is the pushrod tube seals.hopefully can get it all sorted before the weekend as i was planning on going to bristol volksfest!

Hi again,

would be very interested in knowing how you get on....I have Aircooled 1980 with a recon engine.....but always useful to know where you got the parts from and how you repaired it. The first bit has been wiki'd - would be nice to see the answer there too!

Emma

Hi,removed the pushrod tubes today,found it all came apart quite easy.have cleaned all the parts up and given them a fresh coat of paint while i was at it,have ordered the parts from GSF hopefully they will turn up in the next couple of days & it all goes back together easily.Have found this website v.useful www.ramva.tk
Will let you know how it all goes. Cheers for now.

Hi,parts turned up today,so replaced the oil seals and put it all back together.Found if i put a small amount of grease on the seals the pushrod tubes pushed back much easier.Just took it for a test run and it was all leak free! just need to do the other side when i have the time.Thanks for all the help and advice i received.