SonexBuilders.net

Now that the alternator has been replaced and the high uneven Egt appears to be under control the next problem has arrived.A minor Oil leak has developed to something that must be acted upon.The leak seems to come from behind the flywheel and that could indicate leak from either the rear seal or cam plug.
Advice on how to deal with this would be much appriciated.
Aerovee 2002 #296

Kurt nielsen

Hey Kurt,

The fix for this will depend on where the leak originates. My recommendation would be to try a two step fix.

First step is to really clean and dry the lower case area where you can reach with the engine still on the mount. I believe it's fairly easy to reach the cam plug and maybe a little farther than that as well. Anyway, clean everything up and dry the cam plug and case seam, and then smear a thin bead of red RTV over the plug and seam. Let that dry and see if that fixes the problem.

If that doesn't fix the leak, your next step will be to remove the engine from the mount, take off the flywheel, and install a new rear seal. Make sure before you install it that the spring inside the rear seal doesn't have any bends or kinks, or else it will leak. I had to do this when i first started running my engine and while it's a pain to go through it, it only took an afternoon to complete the job.

Let us know how it goes!

Kurt,
There is a double lip crankshaft seal available from EMPI VW racing products. If yours is leaking I would recommend this one. It is designed with two sealing surfaces and is made of silicone rubber. Installed properly, it will last well past TBO at which time it will be replaced anyway.
As for the cam plug, read the AeroVee assembly manual I think they indicate there are 2 plugs. One metal and one plastic and are installed differently. For cam plug
replacement / resealing, the case has to be split. :(
Frank
ONEX 090
reserved N290FK

Kurt,
Sorry to hear about your oil leak. I am curious as to why you replaced your alternator. My stator is not producing any power. I think it was defective right out of the box. Did you rewind your stator? Also how did you get your EGT's in line? I have one EGY that goes up when I go to full rich. About your oil leak. I would try to be real sure where it is coming from before tearing the engine down. I had an oil leak around the rear oil pressure control plug and it blew all over the rear of the engine. How many hours on your engine?

Tom

The trigger shaft had come loose and the loose screws had damaged the stator windings as can be seen in my mail 30 th may , this and other incidends caused the service bulletin ACV-SB-061714.
As for the uneven EGT aligning the aerocarb parallel with the engine and riching the mixture
has cured that problem. The mixture is now too rich on all other throttle settings but this can
be corrected with mixture control.

It seems that a leaky rear seal is the most common cause for Oil leaks on VW engines so most likely I will have to change it.

Kurt

I replaced the rear seal today as the old one had come loose and causing the leak.
The new one is called a : "Flywheel,Double Lip Oil Seal" and hopefully it will last longer than the old one (20 hours).
The new one was surprisingly easy to push in position, hopefully it will stay there

Aerovee 2002 #296

Kurt nielsen

I've been driving old VWs for close to 20 years now. Up until about 6 months ago I drove them every single day. The most common places for a VW to leak are the sump plate and the valve covers. The rear seal can be tempermental if not installed correctly. It's possible to shove them too far in or not far enough. Both will cause problems.
Once upon a time, Empi parts were the gold standard in the VW world. Unfortunately that is no longer the case. Empi is mostly made in China to questionable standards. That's not to say all Empi parts are bad but they would certainly be the LAST on my list of suppliers for critical parts. Whenever possible German parts are usually the best quality you can get.

Do you have a supplier name? I am searching for a "good" cam gear. I am unhappy with the one that came in the kit. No one seems to know its origin. So far I have turned up nothing.

stan2tew wrote:Do you have a supplier name? I am searching for a "good" cam gear. I am unhappy with the one that came in the kit. No one seems to know its origin. So far I have turned up nothing.

I'm not familiar with the cam (or gear) that comes with the kit. I've talked to the Sonex guys and I know where they get some of their parts so I could make a good guess, I won't say who I suspect it's from because that might start confusion about who it, in fact, might be. But I'll tell you this. If it comes who I think it comes from, I'd be comfortable running that gear in any engine and it's about as good as you could expect.

Generally, I lean towards parts that are made in the USA or Germany. You can make the Chinese stuff work but it usualy isn't plug and play. Engle and Scat seem to be the cams of choice among the VW guys so I would imagine the cam gears of either would be pretty decent. I've personally had good luck with Scat. I bought a tunkey longblock (1776cc) from Scat one time and that engine ran like a scalded dog. The engine I'm currently running was built by myself and a buddy who is and A&P and built more than his fair share of VW engines. many of the parts in it are Scat and he was impressed with the quality of those parts.

Aircooled.net is a good resourse for the skinny on the quality of parts available. The company basically refuses to sell what it considers junk.

I am looking to be proactive. I have a metal cam plug and a grooved case. Should I permatex it during assembly or only afterward?