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My comments below. Toby Erkson air_cooled_nut@pobox.com <-- Please use this address for email '72 VW Squareback 1.6L bored and stroked to 2.0L, Berg five-speed '75 Porsche 914 1.8L, ORPCA member Portland, Oregon, http://www.pobox.com/~toby_erkson/ >-----Original Message----- >I had one just like this once. It was broken here because the nuts >on the main bearing studs (see other side of the case) had come loose >and the crank had pushed the case halves apart, bending them and >breaking the left side there. If this is the story for you, I'm >afraid that you're SOL. Brian F. told me to check the head torques and they are nice-n-tight per Bentley. >I managed to tighten up the main bearing stud nuts and then do a >temporary repair on the leak as follows: > >Find another case of the same vintage that is bare so you can look at >it inside and out. Drill a small hole through the crack, in and >angled downward, through the case into the interior. The hole must >be between the oil galley and the head stud. Grind a groove in the >surface of the case where the crack is, from the rear end down and >forward past the hole you just drilled. Get some aluminum loaded >epoxy (Devcon F or J-B Weld) and fill the groove and the face of the >hole. Do NOT fill the hole. > >The crack will continue to leak oil, but now it will leak into the >hole you drilled and flow back into the sump. The surface epoxy will >keep the leak from getting outside. Understood. Not sure if I feel comfortable drilling into my case, though. In talking with my motorcycle friend (racer, rallier, fanatic) he said that it's true, motorcyclists do use the stuff for repairs and he's done the same with satisfactory results. Guess what I'll be doing this holiday? 8) >You COULD omit the hole, but the crack will eventually make its way >to the head stud, and there will be no way to keep it from leaking >out around the stud. The hole relieves the pressure so even when the >crack gets to the stud, there will be no pressure to drive oil there. > >I recommend that you NOT try to weld this. The heat might well do >something to the oil in the oil galley and cause worse problems. I talked to three professional welders and they have no problem with welding the material and two of them had done air-cooled VW engines in the past (and have welded magnesium as well) and all were aware of the case makeup. In my welding research I know it can be done. I would need to remove, and partially disassemble, the engine and naturally this would involve draining the oil. >My repair was on a car I bought for $75. It leaked 1.5 quarts of oil >out in the 5 mile trip home. The repair lasted a few months until I >could build a good engine for it, but when I finally took that engine >apart, it was almost completely junk inside. My $5000 engine was professionally built by a very experienced team. I have complete faith in the engine; she has proven to be a hardy beast. >I believe that engine had been previously rebuilt. I found most of >the main bearing stud nuts to be loose or missing. The main and rod >bearings were in the worst condition of any I have ever seen. The >main bearing webs had been spread apart so very little oil had any >chance of getting anywhere useful. In my opinion this was the result >of poor assembly practices. Highly doubtful of my situation. >Sorry, I realize this is not the good news you had hoped for, but it >is probably better if you go into this with your eyes open. Believe me, I imagined the worst when I saw blood oozing from the case! Eyes can't get any wider without the orbs plopping out. :) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe? mailto:type3-request@vwtype3.org, Subject: unsubscribe