2332 oil drip

me I  would put a piece of cardboard under it and call it a day....few drops no big deal(to me),,monitor and if gets worse U can fiddle with it...Im guessing U have never had a British car or mororcycle.:}

I have a VMC that's about 5 months old and it does the exact same thing.  It drips a few drops from where you have it in your picture and I did exactly what @barnocobob said and I have a 3' x 4' cardboard under the engine.  I'll monitor and if it gets worse, I'll look into it more and I check the oil level after every run so I know it's not causing any oil starvation issues - ie dripping a lot more if I'm driving.

I've only ever seen thin paper gaskets for the oil pump and its cover.  Many ensure both are flat by sanding the pump and cover on a piece of glass.  I'd think that silicon sealer would change the gap and affect the oil pressure.  Plus you don't want extra silicon flowing thru your engine. The paper gaskets are coated front and back with Gascacinch gasket sealer or Permatex when put together. 

@WOLFGANG posted:

I've only ever seen thin paper gaskets for the oil pump and its cover.  Many ensure both are flat by sanding the pump and cover on a piece of glass.  I'd think that silicon sealer would change the gap and affect the oil pressure.  Plus you don't want extra silicon flowing thru your engine. The paper gaskets are coated front and back with Gascacinch gasket sealer or Permatex when put together.

Thanks, I think I'll do the paper gaskets w/ sealer. Either way it's silly it started leaking with 60 miles on it. Build quality....

It's a new build. I'd first start with a bolt check before replacing anything.

As you can see, we all have had the odd oil leak from time to time and most of us ignore them.  If that's not you and cardboard or plastic under your engine simply isn't chic, before you start pulling things and re-sealing them, do what Carlos (who is a pretty good wrench in his own right) suggests and check the tightening on the lower case bolts and the nuts on the oil pump cover.  You'll likely have to remove the pulley to get at the oil pump cover.

Tightening torques:

Case M12 bolts =  18 ft. lbs.
Case M8 stud nuts = 14 Ft. Lbs. (and no more - It's an aluminum case)

Oil pump cover nuts = 14 ft. lbs

Crankshaft pulley gland nut = 29 - 36 ft. lbs.

I have already retorqued the bolts. So I'm pretty sure I'll just replace the gaskets and start from there.

I'm a 35 year auto repair shop owner. I've been wrenching since I was 12. The air-cooled stuff is pretty straight forward and yes, oil drips bother me.

@Superuber posted:

I have already retorqued the bolts. So I'm pretty sure I'll just replace the gaskets and start from there.

I'm a 35 year auto repair shop owner. I've been wrenching since I was 12. The air-cooled stuff is pretty straight forward and yes, oil drips bother me.

I get it.

Welcome -- I think you'll be a great resource if we don't run you off.

@Superuber It's admirable your giving it a shot to try and stop the oil drips completely.  I think most of us just gave up on the idea.  I want to see you succeed. Please keep us posted if it works.

Would be great to have a simple "how-to" list for new owners.
Step 1, replace gasket with...
Step 2, torque the following...

For a new engine my list still looks like
Step 1, epoxy garage floor...
Step 2, subscribe and save oil...

-=theron

I'm planning on trying to pin point it better. I don't want to rush into it.

I'm not sure if it's the crank seal? It's so small-2 drips at most.

Maybe it will slow down with more miles? Who knows...

I'll for sure keep you posted.

My VMC is a bit over two years old with about 4500 miles on the odometer.  I’ve always had a bit of oil weeping somewhere.  Adding improved breathing helped in a few places (I no longer leak at my valve covers) but I always seem to have a bit of oil clinging on bottom surfaces.  Here is a quick snap today after my car has been sitting for about 5 days.  

While you chase down leak sources, get a proper rug. 😂  

After a few years, I still don’t see much oil stains on this rug.  Certainly there are a few drip spots, but I really need to look closely to find them. It really doesn’t leak much.

OK, old wifes tale , true or false ?

take a piece of thick tread and put it on the sealing area of the 2 cases halfs , use the regular gasket sealer ,

The idea is that the thread makes a dam to stop the oil from leaking past .......

True or False ?

Aircooled stuff wil ALWAYS leak eventually; and that includes VWs and Porsches. It's just a matter of if you want to tackle the work. Most of us put some cardboard or a receptacle under it and let it be.

It's tough to get it completely dry, and there will be plenty of people who say that it can't be done at all with a crankcase seam on the bottom of the engine -- but a jillion Japanese 4-cylinder motorcycles were able to do it after the Harley and Brit-bike crowds had declared it to be impossible.

@imperial posted:

OK, old wifes tale , true or false ?

take a piece of thick tread and put it on the sealing area of the 2 cases halfs , use the regular gasket sealer ,

The idea is that the thread makes a dam to stop the oil from leaking past .......

True or False ?

Somewhat true. Aircraft engines used to use thin not thick thread on crankcase halves along with some gasket goo regularly. I built up a 2 cyl vw engine with this technique years ago and no leaks.

@Jon T posted:

My VMC is a bit over two years old with about 4500 miles on the odometer.  I’ve always had a bit of oil weeping somewhere.  Adding improved breathing helped in a few places (I no longer leak at my valve covers) but I always seem to have a bit of oil clinging on bottom surfaces.  Here is a quick snap today after my car has been sitting for about 5 days.  

While you chase down leak sources, get a proper rug. 😂  

After a few years, I still don’t see much oil stains on this rug.  Certainly there are a few drip spots, but I really need to look closely to find them. It really doesn’t leak much.

At my age I don’t know if it’s the eyes or if it’s the multicolored, dark carpet

'21 VMC with a 2332 and 8k kms, mine weeps and drips 1 drop each time I drive it and park from that exact same spot. I have epoxy floors so it doesn't bother me and I don't have an ugly piece of cardboard on the floor. When it sits on top of my storage lift, I make sure drip trays capture the drop.

The Spyder dripped a little out the front like that. Likeliest suspect was the crank seal getting overwhelmed by case pressure during those occasional 6000 rpm shifts. If I drove it like granny it tended not to drip. Just one data point.

Most of these engines DO NOT have a crank "seal". The case has a machined hole of a certain size and the pulley is supposed to be a few thousandths under that. On the end of the crankshaft BEHIND the outside of the case is an oil deflector washer. The crank pulley is actually machined with a spiral groove that actually pushes any weeping oil back inside.

If any measurements are off or changes made to the system(ie: 2332cc) the system tends not to work. This system is designed for maybe 1900cc and low revs. Larger displacements create crankcase pressure problems. Higher revs create more vapors and pressure. It has to go somewhere.

Now, you may in fact have a crank pulley seal, but no type1 ever came with one. You may be able to see it behind the pulley. If not, read the engine spec sheet, or check with your builder. The "slip-in" style is easier to see than the "machine-in" style. The machine seal means the case is machined to accept a seal. The slip-in has a carrier that protrudes from the case. I machined my case to accept the Berg double-lip seal. Mine doesn't leak there. If you get a seal you need to change the pulley too. IMHO, it is important to get a steel pulley hub or an aluminum hub with a steel sleeve pressed on. Aluminum is not hard enough to have an oil seal ride on it.

My engine drips from my oil cooler block off. It also weeps from the oil pump(not stock it is a 2 stage dry sump pump and sticks out about 4 inches). I could fix it, but instead just throw a piece of cardboard on the floor.

I'm not trying to discourage chasing a leak. You may get a drip-free VW, but it is unfortunately unlikely.

The good news is that there is definitely oil IN the engine if there are a couple drops coming OUT!