water cooled motor oil leak

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chachi
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Location: ne pdx, or.
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water cooled motor oil leak

Post by chachi » Wed Aug 03, 2016 1:04 pm

as some of you know, my wife and i decided to drop some coin on a custom built wbx for our vanagon. while the engine seems to run well when it's running, i have had no end of minor problems that have plagued the van since we got it back. we paid a large amount of money for the builder to also install this engine and while he went on and on about how carefully the engine itself was built, i think he just tossed it to his sons to install. the engine is at 4.3k now and has a persistent main seal drip that bugs the shiiiit out of me. as a guy who has, for better or for worse, always done everything on his bus, we were willing to pay extra for this thing to be installed THE RIGHT WAY. all the nagging problems i have had to fix after the fact have definitely irked me but this is the one that i feel like i can really take back to him and say, this is not right.

or is it? should i expect a drip? it's not a big amount, nothing you would worry about on an engine that consumes MASSIVE amounts of oil (as expected, the builder has said to other samba denizens with the same engine) but...c'mon. shouldn't this thing just be dry? can someone talk me down from this? should i just shut up and expect it?
1974 transporter panel, 2.0 dual solex
1991 vanagon NAHT, RJE 2.3

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SlowLane
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Location: Livermore, CA
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Re: water cooled motor oil leak

Post by SlowLane » Wed Aug 03, 2016 2:51 pm

Read this article and see if it resonates with you. It seems to have helped a couple of people here with persistent main seal leaks.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated

"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett

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chachi
Old School!
Location: ne pdx, or.
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Re: water cooled motor oil leak

Post by chachi » Wed Aug 03, 2016 4:39 pm

well, yes, sort of. i guess my larger question is whether this is something to go back to the builder/installed about? am i just being picky to want an engine that doesn't leak?
1974 transporter panel, 2.0 dual solex
1991 vanagon NAHT, RJE 2.3

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