I added the empi breather to my 1968cc. Three locations used for pressure relief. Valve covers and the oil fill stand. This still was not enough to run 60+ miles on the freeway at speed (80 mph) . So I added a pvc system from the fuel pump block off into my carburetor. This seems to have cured the pressure issue for me. Thank you for the videos. They certainly help with ideas.
Sometimes transaxle oil leaks get mistaken for an engine oil leak. At least some of the transaxles have a seal at the final drive and when it leaks you get gear oil where motor and transaxle join. Of course gear oil is thicker and smells and looks different. You are right about German early black seals. The other day I changed the rear main seal on an untouched 40hp and it was black with the VW markings on it.
I just had to change the oil cooler seals in my '70 autostick. It developed a "my engine is leaking everywhere" symptom and it ended up being one of those stupid seals. Two days later the vacuum assembly that shifts the gears started whistling when trying to shift and now it won't shift at all. I can't even get it into reverse. I'm still in pissed off mode so I'll figure it out later. I hope it isn't the servo that I replaced a year ago and it's just the diaphragm but I fear that it is. Thankfully it's not my daily driver though I would like it to be one of these days. My legs are mostly useless due to health issues so that's why I got this autostick to begin with but I didn't anticipate the problems it had and some that it still has. It looked cherry when I bought it so I didn't think it would need much done to it. Boy was I wrong! I'm about ready to call it a moneypit but I can say that it is almost "finished" (nope, they never are) at least. An autostick is an entirely different beast to work on than what my '66 was. Why didn't I get a Corvette for my midlife crisis instead? You wouldn't happen to know of a source for fuse boxes for a 1975 Dasher with AC, would you? They put them under the hood and water leaks into them. A common problem but finding a replacement fuse box, especially for one with AC, is almost impossible it seems. I've made my own before but this is a friend's car and it's almost mint so he wants to do it right.
Hi Mike, My 68 camper bus I had ran great down to California on 101 and 1 to LA back in the early 70's but when we decided to drive home to Seattle on I-5 it started leaking oil pretty bad. I just kept adding oil and a week or two later on my way to work on the freeway I threw a rod and the motor was toast. Watching your video I think does a good job of explaining what may have happened. I had the engine replaced and sold it. The guy blew that engine too within a month and wanted his money back. Told him sorry he would just have to take it to the shop I gave him all the paperwork with and see if they would fix it like I had to do. Never heard again from him?
sometimes when they leak really bad it can run low on oil pretty quickly or the oil will be too hot and not lubricate. Stock they only hold 2.5 quarts so if it is a quart low that is not much oil.
I have a 1915 or 1914 depends on who you are talking to. When I built the motor I put the spring loaded tubes in. The walls are at least twice as thick as the stock. Needed it because the tubes are exposed on my dune buggy. No problem so far. With the crankcase pressure, I noticed it coming out of the dipstick tube. Like you said it needed venting. Purchased empi tower type and put in the tubing you spoke of in the valve covers. It was also vented to the atmosphere via the down draft road tube.
In my 1964 VW I experience an oil leak from the behind the Harmonic balancer pully. Turned out to be a blocked standard oil filler cap ... Sump pressure increased and the oil had few options . Behind the harmonic harmonic balancer puller, seemed to be the easier option ...Cleaned the cap .. instant fix
Hey, just brought a 1979 transporter 1.6 petrol, got a little bit of oil underneath only a small puddle, on the drive home (around 60 miles) so had sprayed a little bit up the back bumper, complete newbie here, any tips?
Did you cover the cam plug or did I miss it? Easy preventative is to coat the plug from the outside and all around the outside of it with gasket sealer (once the plug/case is spotless).
Hello I have a 36 horsepower 1192 stock engine! I was changing oil yesterday. I noticed their was no drain plug on the sump pump, the the drain plug was over to the right side of the sump pump. I could not loosen this drain plug! Have you seen this before? Thanks Mike Fiaschetti
Enjoy your videos and I usually browse the comments so I don't repeat questions. What about leaky transmissions. I have a 69 bay that sat many years in a pasture land and I recently had a rebuilt engine installed. Was surprised that the tranny works very well. But it do leak. Anyway, great video. I enjoy all the tech stuff you do.
Got a 1600 that got new scat dual carbs, 88 thick wall piston upgrade. Been trying to drive but oil keeps being launched all over. I think it may have had a sand seal with matching pulley at one time. It now has empi repro og look pulley and I had to remove tin over newly installed cb oil pump. Hoping seal pulley combo is my solution but if not will have to look closer at venting. Thanks for hints tricks and tips
Yep, I remember all my vws had og style oil filler neck with tube going down and rubber tip with slit cut. PO installed stupid china filler neck, ugly and create more problems. Ever heard of guys using brake seal behind crank pulley instead of sand seal. Was thinking of trying if sand seal didnt get it.Gotta keep trying on my own because so many guys say they know, but in reality dont know anything but how to cost you time and money.
I just took a trip from PHX to Northern AZ and when I arrived I saw these microdots on my rear end. I have made this trip before and have not seen them so it was puzzling to me.. I just change pushrod tubes and looked there first but not there.. I didn't have any oil in the engine bay except for my oil cap and a little on the block behind the distributor. I do have a road draft tube with breather going to air filter.. I would expect a lot of oil in the engine bay but very little.. I'm contemplating a breather box system as you have but not sure if this is my solution?
yea that might fix it. Pretty much one of 2 things. or a crankshaft seal situation. 1. Engine RPM on the freeway Solution: tire sizes or gear ratio change or slow down. 2. breather system if you have a larger than stock motor. 1835 and larger may require breather system. If you only notice the problem while on the freeway. it is usually #1 or 2
Air cooled VW's were designed when cars weren't expected to be completely "oil tight." They tend to drip slightly - just don't want them to leak excessively 😆
Hey I’m building a bigger motor a 1679 with the ticker walls I didn’t take the block apart just adding the piston and cylinders with the 90.5 heads and while I’m at it I’m replacing my seals n gaskets wear I can it’s going in a 1971 Baja bug it has tall narrow tires on the back He looks mean lol anyway do you think I’ll need to add a breather box to it I don’t think I will but the person before me but a aftermarket oil filler on the generator stand and it blows oil back through the hose on it before I took it out I thought the meter deflector was wrong but it was facing the right way but I can’t figure out what’s going on there n worried when I put it back in the car it will still do it. Any ideas?
not usually. the starting point is 1835 and larger. Maybe an 1800 with 74mm stroker would too. but for the most part you should be fine. I had a 1776 with a big cam pretty high revs and still would not blow oil out.
I added the empi breather to my 1968cc. Three locations used for pressure relief. Valve covers and the oil fill stand. This still was not enough to run 60+ miles on the freeway at speed (80 mph) . So I added a pvc system from the fuel pump block off into my carburetor. This seems to have cured the pressure issue for me.
Thank you for the videos. They certainly help with ideas.
you can also use a road draft tube or an inline filter which do the trick. with the breather kit.
Sometimes transaxle oil leaks get mistaken for an engine oil leak. At least some of the transaxles have a seal at the final drive and when it leaks you get gear oil where motor and transaxle join. Of course gear oil is thicker and smells and looks different.
You are right about German early black seals. The other day I changed the rear main seal on an untouched 40hp and it was black with the VW markings on it.
I just had to change the oil cooler seals in my '70 autostick. It developed a "my engine is leaking everywhere" symptom and it ended up being one of those stupid seals. Two days later the vacuum assembly that shifts the gears started whistling when trying to shift and now it won't shift at all. I can't even get it into reverse. I'm still in pissed off mode so I'll figure it out later. I hope it isn't the servo that I replaced a year ago and it's just the diaphragm but I fear that it is. Thankfully it's not my daily driver though I would like it to be one of these days. My legs are mostly useless due to health issues so that's why I got this autostick to begin with but I didn't anticipate the problems it had and some that it still has. It looked cherry when I bought it so I didn't think it would need much done to it. Boy was I wrong! I'm about ready to call it a moneypit but I can say that it is almost "finished" (nope, they never are) at least. An autostick is an entirely different beast to work on than what my '66 was. Why didn't I get a Corvette for my midlife crisis instead?
You wouldn't happen to know of a source for fuse boxes for a 1975 Dasher with AC, would you? They put them under the hood and water leaks into them. A common problem but finding a replacement fuse box, especially for one with AC, is almost impossible it seems. I've made my own before but this is a friend's car and it's almost mint so he wants to do it right.
Hi Mike, My 68 camper bus I had ran great down to California on 101 and 1 to LA back in the early 70's but when we decided to drive home to Seattle on I-5 it started leaking oil pretty bad. I just kept adding oil and a week or two later on my way to work on the freeway I threw a rod and the motor was toast. Watching your video I think does a good job of explaining what may have happened. I had the engine replaced and sold it. The guy blew that engine too within a month and wanted his money back. Told him sorry he would just have to take it to the shop I gave him all the paperwork with and see if they would fix it like I had to do. Never heard again from him?
sometimes when they leak really bad it can run low on oil pretty quickly or the oil will be too hot and not lubricate. Stock they only hold 2.5 quarts so if it is a quart low that is not much oil.
I have a 1915 or 1914 depends on who you are talking to. When I built the motor I put the spring loaded tubes in. The walls are at least twice as thick as the stock. Needed it because the tubes are exposed on my dune buggy. No problem so far. With the crankcase pressure, I noticed it coming out of the dipstick tube. Like you said it needed venting. Purchased empi tower type and put in the tubing you spoke of in the valve covers. It was also vented to the atmosphere via the down draft road tube.
yea on a few engines I have done it without the road draft tube and every one would build up pressure. Yea best to have that there too. you bet.
In my 1964 VW I experience an oil leak from the behind the Harmonic balancer pully. Turned out to be a blocked standard oil filler cap ... Sump pressure increased and the oil had few options . Behind the harmonic harmonic balancer puller, seemed to be the easier option ...Cleaned the cap .. instant fix
Great topic.
Hey, just brought a 1979 transporter 1.6 petrol, got a little bit of oil underneath only a small puddle, on the drive home (around 60 miles) so had sprayed a little bit up the back bumper, complete newbie here, any tips?
Awesome video Mike. Mine only leaks at the oil drain plate, can't seem to keep the nuts tight enough. Maybe I'll try some sealer.
Did you cover the cam plug or did I miss it? Easy preventative is to coat the plug from the outside and all around the outside of it with gasket sealer (once the plug/case is spotless).
Hello I have a 36 horsepower 1192 stock engine! I was changing oil yesterday. I noticed their was no drain plug on the sump pump, the the drain plug was over to the right side of the sump pump. I could not loosen this drain plug! Have you seen this before? Thanks Mike Fiaschetti
Enjoy your videos and I usually browse the comments so I don't repeat questions. What about leaky transmissions. I have a 69 bay that sat many years in a pasture land and I recently had a rebuilt engine installed. Was surprised that the tranny works very well. But it do leak. Anyway, great video. I enjoy all the tech stuff you do.
Got a 1600 that got new scat dual carbs, 88 thick wall piston upgrade. Been trying to drive but oil keeps being launched all over. I think it may have had a sand seal with matching pulley at one time. It now has empi repro og look pulley and I had to remove tin over newly installed cb oil pump. Hoping seal pulley combo is my solution but if not will have to look closer at venting. Thanks for hints tricks and tips
Need road draft tube maybe too many RPMs on the freeway or needs case ventilation system
Yep, I remember all my vws had og style oil filler neck with tube going down and rubber tip with slit cut. PO installed stupid china filler neck, ugly and create more problems. Ever heard of guys using brake seal behind crank pulley instead of sand seal. Was thinking of trying if sand seal didnt get it.Gotta keep trying on my own because so many guys say they know, but in reality dont know anything but how to cost you time and money.
Lots of good advice
Nice explanation Mike 👍🏻😎🏴
Hey Mike,once more a interesting vid from your shop,clear and visuel explanet see. you at the next vid.Greetings.HCS.👍🏻🇳🇴
You fix leaks like that by pouring more oil in at the top :)
I just took a trip from PHX to Northern AZ and when I arrived I saw these microdots on my rear end. I have made this trip before and have not seen them so it was puzzling to me.. I just change pushrod tubes and looked there first but not there.. I didn't have any oil in the engine bay except for my oil cap and a little on the block behind the distributor. I do have a road draft tube with breather going to air filter.. I would expect a lot of oil in the engine bay but very little.. I'm contemplating a breather box system as you have but not sure if this is my solution?
yea that might fix it. Pretty much one of 2 things. or a crankshaft seal situation. 1. Engine RPM on the freeway Solution: tire sizes or gear ratio change or slow down. 2. breather system if you have a larger than stock motor. 1835 and larger may require breather system. If you only notice the problem while on the freeway. it is usually #1 or 2
Oil cooler valve covers or push rod tubes take your choice because one of them's probably leaking.
Air cooled VW's were designed when cars weren't expected to be completely "oil tight." They tend to drip slightly - just don't want them to leak excessively 😆
Do I need a Empi breather box on a standard 1600 type 1 engine?
Hey I’m building a bigger motor a 1679 with the ticker walls I didn’t take the block apart just adding the piston and cylinders with the 90.5 heads and while I’m at it I’m replacing my seals n gaskets wear I can it’s going in a 1971 Baja bug it has tall narrow tires on the back He looks mean lol anyway do you think I’ll need to add a breather box to it I don’t think I will but the person before me but a aftermarket oil filler on the generator stand and it blows oil back through the hose on it before I took it out I thought the meter deflector was wrong but it was facing the right way but I can’t figure out what’s going on there n worried when I put it back in the car it will still do it. Any ideas?
not usually. the starting point is 1835 and larger. Maybe an 1800 with 74mm stroker would too. but for the most part you should be fine. I had a 1776 with a big cam pretty high revs and still would not blow oil out.
Very good information 👍
Thanks for the information.
👍 great info.
All old vws are going to leak some oil somewhere sometimes.
Good stuff to know, thanks
16:24 "reading stuff" good advice to the newbie. it's not all youtube. careful when reading berg. some incorrect stuff there.
need to take the time to do that for sure. get the manual out get on forums and read.
They just mark their territory
Dang