Headflow Masters Turnkey Engine

[Jivermo]

Yes...we need to know. Pinpoint this oil leak, please.

[lilpig88]

Looking forward to a story!

A related question: is there a recommended place on this forum for road trips stories/photos? Is camping and fishing the best option?
just curious...

Andrew

[hambone]

Camping & Fishing is where most of them seem to get posted, or Clubs & Events.

[the miz]

Yes...we need to know. Pinpoint this oil leak, please.

I think I found the leak:

...this would be at cylinder 2, exhaust.

I wiped everything up pretty well...fired her up and this started to drip almost immediately, I wiped and watched and it pooled and dripped again...and again. It also seems to allow oil to run into the heater box somehow...which causes a lot of smoke. I am wondering if this is the only leak...it seems to be, at a somewhat quick glance, but could it really allow oil to get pretty much everywhere on the passenger side and up into the fan causing this?


...this is the atomized oil spatter that collects on the tailgate...

-miz

[asiab3]

Good detective work. Cleaning the are thoroughly, replacing the pushrod tube seals on that tube, and giving it some time will tell you if that's it. Keywords: cleaning thoroughly, before and after.

You lucky T4 folks have it so easy when it comes to leaky pushrod tubes!

The turbulent slip stream of any VW type2 is odd. I had a valve cover leak two years ago and I drove a long way before I noticed. I got it all taken care of underneath, but I hit a 26-mile dirt road without cleaning the back of the car. Oil "showed" itself through dirt in the strangest places and patterns.

Robbie

[airkooledchris]

very rarely you can get lucky with a leaky pushrod seal and simply turn/twist it into a new position, without removing it, to find a better seal/seat/home.

[the miz]

Good detective work.
The turbulent slip stream of any VW type2 is odd. I had a valve cover leak two years ago and I drove a long way before I noticed. I got it all taken care of underneath, but I hit a 26-mile dirt road without cleaning the back of the car. Oil "showed" itself through dirt in the strangest places and patterns.

Robbie

Thanks! ...the photo is after one of several "clean-ups" performed over the course of the Colorado trip...it has looked worse, certainly, in the last few weeks...

miz

[the miz]

very rarely you can get lucky with a leaky pushrod seal and simply turn/twist it into a new position, without removing it, to find a better seal/seat/home.

Thanks for the tip...certainly an option to potentially invest a minimal amount of time for the same ultimate effect as removing the push rod tube altogether...

[Mulcheese]

I wiped everything up pretty well...fired her up and this started to drip almost immediately, I wiped and watched and it pooled and dripped again...and again. It also seems to allow oil to run into the heater box somehow...which causes a lot of smoke. I am wondering if this is the only leak...it seems to be, at a somewhat quick glance, but could it really allow oil to get pretty much everywhere on the passenger side and up into the fan causing this?


...this is the atomized oil spatter that collects on the tailgate...

-miz

I doubt that the oil on the back is from that leak. I have had a leak from the heads for some time. Not enough to drip to the ground but it does collect on the tin and I have NEVER had splatter on the back. Not sure where it is from but maybe rich running and exhaust leak?

Glad the trip was a success. I am now home also and we had an awesome time. We are looking forward to the next rip in 2 weeks. Love camping!!!

[the miz]

I doubt that the oil on the back is from that leak. I have had a leak from the heads for some time. Not enough to drip to the ground but it does collect on the tin and I have NEVER had splatter on the back. Not sure where it is from but maybe rich running and exhaust leak?

Glad the trip was a success. I am now home also and we had an awesome time. We are looking forward to the next rip in 2 weeks. Love camping!!!

I guess I'll find out for sure after I take care of the leak...which is substantial...probably a tablespoon after less than 10 minutes of garage idle!
To be clear...this spatter photo was taken after we were "professionally tuned" for altitude and had the exhaust leak(s) remedied.

I'm hoping to see a write up on the Yellowstone trip...I'm interested to hear about other performance notes at the altitude of the Yellowstone plateau...this is a trip I was hoping to do next year...so my interest is piqued!

Thanks for the input...I'll be sure to post after I've tinkered with the push rod tube seal.

-miz

[Bleyseng]

I'd reinstall it after coating the O ring with that teflon sealant. That stuff works pretty darn good and filling in the little spots.

I just have a tiny valve cover leak and now one from the fan hub seal....It's a never ending battle to stop the oil leaks.

[the miz]

I'd reinstall it after coating the O ring with that teflon sealant. That stuff works pretty darn good and filling in the little spots.

I just have a tiny valve cover leak and now one from the fan hub seal....It's a never ending battle to stop the oil leaks.

Thanks for the tip!

Now, the whole point in the new "turnkey" engine was to gain some ground in the battle against oil leaks.

I'd been battling oil leaks on the old engine for a few years...and almost had them sorted out...for the first year I owned Vana...she would foul her rear end in the same manner she does now.

Really, the biggest problem with my old engine could have been solved with new heads...the second biggest problem (relatively minor case seam oil leak) could have been fixed with a new long block...the third biggest problem (minor oil leaks from filler neck and breather tower) required some new, hard to find parts. "Heck", I thought, "let's just go whole hog and fix all of the problems and drive on, leak free!" ...yeah, right...

miz

[Randy in Maine]

I'd reinstall it after coating the O ring with that teflon sealant. That stuff works pretty darn good and filling in the little spots.

Teflon sealant = Locktite 565

[the miz]

...so I'd been hoping to have something positive to report after another weekend of work on this new engine...alas, I'm very nearly back at square 1. So, whereas I think I've got the oil leak on the #2 exhaust pushrod tube fixed, now I can't keep the engine running long enough to tell for sure(let alone long enough to go for a drive). She starts up, then I can rev her up and can then hold an idle for 5-10 min., if I keep my foot on the accelerator...but then she slows down and dies...as if being suffocated/asphyxiated. The symptom seems a bit familiar...like maybe the exhaust is plugged??? That's what I decided to chase after.
I devoted the weekend to trying to put on the new Ernst exhaust I'd bought months ago. It won't fit as is, right onto the heater boxes, as the heater pipes from the alternator fan don't allow it enough clearance. How did this exhaust fit on the European models, I wondered? So, I tried crushing my pipes into a flatter oval, to allow clearance...but to no avail, I couldn't get them flat enough. So, I set upon a quest to find some kind of tubing that would be more malleable, yet able to withstand the heat of the muffler it would be resting on...this took some doing...the average auto parts store employee/manager is not very imaginative or very well versed in what all they actually have in their store.
Finally I hit upon a hot prospect at Napa: Ballkamp flexible exhaust repair kits....2-1/8" dia. for the driver side...2-1/4" for the passenger...so I drove all over the southern TC metro collecting these things...and then cut the 2-1/4" too short...after it had been too long. The 2-1/8" side looks like it is going to work...the muffler might just need a little rubber mallet persuasion to seat all of the way. By the time I'd realized the other side was too short, it was too late to get to a Napa that would have what I needed in time(I'd already bought out everything in a 20 mi radius). So, at least I know what part I want...and I have a little practice on the fabrication/destruction of it. Hopefully it will work...if not I'll be back in the throes of deciding whether to buy an EMPI exhaust(which I'm not too excited about) or if I can rehab/create a system around my old rusty leaky federal exhaust cross pipe...hopefully with out the cat.
Perhaps the biggest bummer of the day was lying beneath the engine (after having given up on the exhaust job for the day) and noticing an oil drip on the head side of the exhaust pushrod tube on#1... aargh...Aaaaadriiiiaaaannnnnnn!
Miz

[Amskeptic]

...so I'd been hoping to have something positive to report after another weekend of work on this new engine...alas, I'm very nearly back at square 1.
an oil drip on the head side of the exhaust pushrod tube on#1... aargh...Aaaaadriiiiaaaannnnnnn!
Miz

Hang in there. Break it down into fun little digestible morsels of swearing, washed down with an occasional beer.
Colin hth