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Wed Feb 15, 2012 3:45 pm

Hi guys,

pulled my cylinder heads off today, and i found some oil on top of my pistons,

is this normal? what is causing this?

also what is this hole under my oil cooler?

Wed Feb 15, 2012 5:04 pm

Should not be oil there. Only source would be valve stem seals.

jim

Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:46 pm

No such thing as valve stem seals in stock ACVW engine. Even if there were, any leakage would be contained inside the engine.

Might be oil cooler leak.

Hole under cooler is casting norm.

Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:47 pm

hobbybob517 wrote: Hi guys,

pulled my cylinder heads off today, and i found some oil on top of my pistons,

is this normal? what is causing this?

also what is this hole under my oil cooler?

You mean oil on top of your cylinders? It looks like your oil cooler is leaking. Not sure what that hole is. I don't have one there...

Wed Feb 15, 2012 11:26 pm

i did fix an oil cooler leak a while back, only ran the engine for a few minutes after that, what i don't understand is how a oil cooler leak could leak the oil into the cylinders?

can anyone explain so that i can check if it is fixed.

Wed Feb 15, 2012 11:40 pm

The previous answer is correct. The only way oil gets up there is through the valve guides after the engine is shut off. Do you get a puff of blue smoke when you first start it in the morning? I suppose it could get in there too if the crankcase was WAY over-filled...

Wed Feb 15, 2012 11:44 pm

VeedubPastor wrote: The previous answer is correct. The only way oil gets up there is through the valve guides after the engine is shut off. Do you get a puff of blue smoke when you first start it in the morning? I suppose it could get in there too if the crankcase was WAY over-filled...

the engine has not been in the car for a while, but i did start it a few weeks ago, and it did give a big cloud of white/blue smoke.

how can i fix this problem? maybee my case is over filled, i have the bugpack dipstick, to which mark does the oil go? check when hot or cold?

Wed Feb 15, 2012 11:57 pm

Check when the car has been off for a few minutes but it doesn't have to be a cold engine. Car should be close to level. It should be between the two marks. The puff of smoke when you first start it is the oil burning off that las leaked into the cylinders through the worn valve guides while it was sitting.

Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:00 am

how do i measure/check if my valve guides are worn?

at firts i thought the pistong rings where worn,

are valveguides easy to replace?

Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:06 am

You have to pull the heads. The valves should not wiggle from side to side in the guides. Do a search and you can see what is involved. If you suspect bad rings, have you done a compression test? Readings? If the rings are bad and the valve guides are worn, you may as well take care of those things while the engine is out. if you don't have the money right now and you just want to run it, keep a close eye on the oil level because the engine is going to consume oil. Good luck. 2:00 AM here so I'd better get to bed.

Thu Feb 16, 2012 9:34 am

If the cooler is leaking or perhaps there is a crack in the case there, the shroud is designed to BLOW air over the engine and thru the early cooler. So any oil leakage there can and will get blown right over the cylinders and downward.

A valve guide leak is only going to allow oil to leak into the cylinder. So unless there is a hole in the upper side of the cylinder....

Might try cleaning up the engine real well and starting it up for a minute without shroud and see if you can locate the leak.
There are oil leak detection kits out there that might help.

Thu Feb 16, 2012 9:43 am

Eric&Barb wrote: If the cooler is leaking or perhaps there is a crack in the case there, the shroud is designed to BLOW air over the engine and thru the early cooler. So any oil leakage there can and will get blown right over the cylinders and downward.

A valve guide leak is only going to allow oil to leak into the cylinder. So unless there is a hole in the upper side of the cylinder....

Might try cleaning up the engine real well and starting it up for a minute without shroud and see if you can locate the leak.
There are oil leak detection kits out there that might help.

Read the first post. Slowly. Read all the other posts. Then comment.

Thu Feb 16, 2012 9:48 am

Ah our mistake. Thanks did not catch that.

Was going by the image is looks like there is oil on the cylinders.

Could be your rings have gone bad.

Thu Feb 16, 2012 11:06 am

Quote: the cylinders have oil in them, with the heads off
(inside !)
that is not normal for new engine.
and is par for course with antique motor. high mileage.
the reason is simple, lack of oil control.
or over filled like last poster stated.
or was motor parked upside down? on a pallet, surely id dont know.

1: rings are bad, (oil control rings (bottom)
2: valve guides are bad, tell me , are not they all? Just replaced mine.
mine were so loose , the valve stems felt like a gear shifter lever. :roll:
dah. end of life on the guides.

all this is academic , what you do is strip the motor
and mike (yes micrometer) it all and replace all worn parts.
the Bentleys has all the spec's there to do that.

most just pitch the jugs (with pistons ) to the trash.
then send out the heads for overhaul.
only 15% of heads that arrive at majors are rebuildable.
guess what ,mine were not.
guess why, some machinist made custom over sized (OD) guides
that spells the end of that.
$200 later, like new (labor only) parts more, i put in bugpacks best.

then rebuild the short block , like new. or fail.

here is my rebuild journal. (still not up to date ,but will be by days end)
http://ac-vw-remove.com/my-motor-build/clearance.html

Thu Feb 16, 2012 11:13 am

i keep the motor on a table off the ground, it stands level, i'm going over later to check the oil level and valve guides.

Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:00 pm

even with VC removed, springs on valves.
you reach in,
and push the stem up then down. repeat, ahhhhhhh
this is the rocker wear direction.
it will be , yes, horrible.

get elephant feet and prevent this in future. Porsche like.

Thu Feb 16, 2012 3:19 pm

schadenfreude wrote: even with VC removed, springs on valves.
you reach in,
and push the stem up then down. repeat, ahhhhhhh
this is the rocker wear direction.
it will be , yes, horrible.

get elephant feet and prevent this in future. Porsche like.

i don't understand, elephant feet?

Thu Feb 16, 2012 3:23 pm

Ball-tipped adjusters. Swivel adjusters...

Thu Feb 16, 2012 5:40 pm

first hit , in gallery search.