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Vaughan's 67 Aussie Beetle
Oil Leak Fix

This page details the engine and the reasons why I pulled it out.

One of the final things that has to be done to my car to get registered is to stop the oil leak. It was dripping at a rate of about 1 drip per 5 seconds but only while the engine was running.

First thing I had to determine was from where was it leaking. In order to do this the engine needed a clean up. After using liberal doses of engine degreaser and a visit to the local high pressure hose cleaning place the engine was clean enough to see the source of the leak.

After a few minutes of running the leak appeared to be emanating from the left side of the engine block. I then sort the wisdom of John Muir's Idiot Book, went to the section on Oil Leaks and after a few paragraphs found this:

"If the oil is leaking down the left-hand side of the engine, out of the shrouding to the left of the oil pan, then you have a leaky oil cooler."

It then went on to say that while it is possible to remove the oil cooler without having to remove the engine it was easier to just remove the engine.

So out it comes!

Gearbox in engine bay

As you can see from the above photo there is quite a bit of oil on the left drive shaft from the leaky oil cooler.

This shot also shows the heater channel inlet pipes. The 2 holes on either side of the gearbox.

engine top view

Here is a bird's eye view of the 1300. All orifices have been blocked off with rags to prevent any water finding its way inside the engine during the high pressure spraying.

On top of the engine block, where the blue rag is, is the location of the oil cooler. The engine was covered in built up grime. It took quite a bit of effort to get it off.

oil coolers

Here's where the problem came from. Circled in white is the relevant portions to compare. The black oil cooler has a broken bracket which holds the front of the cooler onto the top of the block.

This bracket had previously been welded and had failed again. Fortunately, a local Beetle enthusiast supplied me the silver cooler for free. He has no need for these original items as he run big bore engine which require larger oil coolers.

Engine left side

This is the left side of the engine. It details the heater box and how it relates to the heads.

My desire to have this and the following photo's on this page are purely selfish. I just want to know where everything is when so when all the shrouds are on again and it is all installed in the car I'll know where to find things.

Engine right side

The right hand side of the engine.

Engine back

The back of the engine with the shrouds lie idle in the background.

Engine in car

Well here's the engine all snug at home in the engine bay. Notice the particularly shiny inlet manifold. Strange that even after cleaning all the engine up it still looks like the Black Hole of Calcutta in there. Maybe its got something to do with the grotty boot lid.

Still the point of the exercise was to stop the oil leak and it did. After assembly, the engine was restarted and not a drop of engine oil was dripping. However, we did notice oil leaking from somewhere. On closer inspection the dripping from under the gearbox was gearbox oil.

This was not a problem before that I could recall, so why now? After a busy day we decided to look at it the following day. When the engine was restarted and ran for a while the gearbox oil drip had stopped. Don't know the answer to that one. Still, it hasn't come back since so I hope everything remains that way.

Finally I'd like to thank father-in-law for all his help during the engine removal and refit. Much appreciated.