Bus your bus leak oil, or does it just mark its spot?

I decided to replace the engine in the bus in early December.  I had built a new one with good parts, new AMC heads, Webcam Camshaft, used and polished standard crankshaft, reworked rods with all new bearings.  I had good used pistons and cylinders, but replaced the rings with new ones.  I didn't realize there is currently a worldwide shortage on VW Type 4 crankshaft bearings, but fortunately I have a couple extra sets stored away.  (Word on the street is that a company is tooling up to reproduce the bearings in China - Go figure!)  Crankshaft bearings that used to sell for $50-$60  are now going for up to $400, if you can find them.  This is an excellent running gem of a motor, smooth, with a good power band.  It should last many years - hopefully.  The three month old engine is now the spare, and is also an excellent running motor.

Well, within a short time of replacing the engine, a small oil leak developed.  In the old days, that would have meant immediately pulling the engine out and fixing the leak as quickly as possible.  Now, given my busy work schedule, coupled with the fact I have lived with leaks for so long, I have grown accustomed to their presence (as much as it still irks).  Still, new engines should not leak oil, period!

This new leak was suspiciously in the area of the center and flywheel end of the engine, meaning it could be a flywheel seal, crankshaft seal, or oil galley plug seals. Type 4 VW engines are notorious for leaky oil galley plugs.  That’s why, when the engine case was inspected by the machine shop, I had them remove the oil galley plugs and drill and tap the holes for threaded plugs.  The thought of the possibility of one or all of these new plugs (or even one of the new seals) leaking was enough to keep me awake at night.

So, on the first Monday evening after Christmas, I pulled the engine out of the bus and removed the flywheel.  The oil galley plugs were dry.  What a relief.  The lip of the flywheel seal was suspiciously wet.  I inspected the surface of the flywheel where the seal rides and it was perfectly smooth.  Not a scratch.  It just did not make sense.  I pulled the seal out of the engine case and inspected it.  I compared it with a couple of extra new seals I had in my spare parts pox (it’s always good to have spare parts).  This seal has a black outer rubberized surface, with a brown inner rubberized surface.  According to the molded-in manufacture information, it was made by “Elring.”  One of the extra new seals was identical.  The second new seal was a bright orange rubberized seal made by Victor Reinz.  The Victor Reinz seal was much thicker, and in fact was similar in thickness to the engine case surface that it is set into.  The Elring seals were much thinner than the corresponding engine case surface, causing it to be possibly installed slightly “cattywampus.”  Aha! Perhaps this was the problem.

I searched a couple of trusted Internet sources for information on the two seals and discovered the “Elring” seals used to be made in Germany and were considered to be of high quality.  Sometime in the recent past, the company outsourced their manufacturing to China and the quality dropped significantly.  In fact, several type 4 engine owners have now begun complaining that their engines leak oil because of the thin Chinese Elring seals.  The Victor Reinz seals are made in Brazil.  The thought that I had been taken again by cheap Chinese parts was too much to bear, and I had to take the rest of the night off.

Early the next morning (about 6:00) I was back at it.  I installed the new orange Victor Reinz seal, along with a new crankshaft seal (the round O-ring inside the flywheel flange).  The flywheel (five bolts torqued to 80 foot pounds) and clutch parts came next.  I installed the engine and by 9:00 am, the bus was running again. 

I have since driven the bus about 100 miles without a single drop of oil leaking from the engine.  That hasn’t happened in years.  Since cleaning up the garage floor (yes, the bus is parked in the garage while Diana’s new Honda is outside on the driveway), there is no longer the usual telltale sign that a VW even existed in the garage, err, except for the spare engine and parts, that is.

If you are tired of your VW bus marking its spot and can’t figure out the problem, try checking for the cheap Chinese flywheel seal that may be the culprit.  It will make your New Year less oily, as it has mine.

I was going to post a photo of the seal, but it is a pretty boring part to look at. Please feel free to use your imagination, or visit one of the other informational Internet sources for a good view.

Happy bus motoring

Ron ( o v o )