When it rains, it pours... OIL!

[poll250 0]

Having gotten my car back together and actually running acceptabley, I have to deal with the lovely drip of oil coming from my sump.

 

Last night I took the sump off (not a fun job with the engine in!) and put some copper gasket stuff either side of the gasket. When i put the sump back on the last bolt decided to wreck the thread in the block :(

 

Its the bolt that is directly under the PAS pump and belt, the block is pretty thin here so I guess the thread was quite shallow. I was either thinking of putting a longer bolt through the hole and then sticking a nut on the end, or using a self tapping screw that's slightly larger than the original bolt.

 

Would this work or is the block too hard?

 

Has anyone done this before?

[tandino 0]

Having gotten my car back together and actually running acceptabley, I have to deal with the lovely drip of oil coming from my sump.

 

Last night I took the sump off (not a fun job with the engine in!) and put some copper gasket stuff either side of the gasket. When i put the sump back on the last bolt decided to wreck the thread in the block :(

 

Its the bolt that is directly under the PAS pump and belt, the block is pretty thin here so I guess the thread was quite shallow. I was either thinking of putting a longer bolt through the hole and then sticking a nut on the end, or using a self tapping screw that's slightly larger than the original bolt.

 

Would this work or is the block too hard?

 

Has anyone done this before?

 

 

from memory they're just M6 bolts?

You should get away with using a longer bolt and nut if you have enough clearance to get a nut on the end of the bolt?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Was it the thread in the crank seal casing you stripped, or the block itself? The ally thread is easy to strip out, but either way, the longer bolt plus nut is probably the best solution. I'd be surprised if you wrecked the iron thread tbh. Need to drill out the hole to the bolt diameter first though, if you can get the tools down there.

 

How tight did you torque the sump bolts and it's the plain steel sump with a new rubber gasket yeah?

 

That shouldn't leak. The bolts only need around 11lb-ft. Too tight and the pan warps, causing leaks.

[weetos 0]

I'd get it helicoiled if i were you wouldn't cost too much either

[poll250 0]

I only did the bolts up to 15N/m which I think is 11 lb/ft in the first place.

 

It was a pretty tight squeeze when I tried with a nut and bolt last night (+ I was fed up of laying under the car) so I just stuck some sealer on the bolt and screwed it in by hand.

 

Guess I'll have a proper go at it tonight.

 

I guess it's all experience ehh.

[fla 9]

i dont think it'll leak anyway, even if there's no bolt in there would it? There are something like 24 bolts all round, cant quite remember although i recently replaced my sump gasket too. shouldnt be an issue.

[poll250 0]

i dont think it'll leak anyway, even if there's no bolt in there would it? There are something like 24 bolts all round, cant quite remember although i recently replaced my sump gasket too. shouldnt be an issue.

 

The drip of oil from my sump suggests otherwise! :(

[fla 9]

oh dear :( Are you sure its not coming from elsewhere? When i replaced my sump gasket it turned out the leak was (still is) coming from two other places, in my case from behind the oil filter metal housing and the mocal sandwich plate cap seal, just slowly working its way around.

[poll250 0]

Well I've tracked it down! Looks like the sump was OK after all, it looks like it's coming from this hole: (ably demonstrated by my old engine).

 

 

What the heck is it and how do I stop Oil from coming out of it?!!!

 

HELP MEEEE! :clap:

[poll250 0]

Anyone?

[fla 9]

looks either like a positioning or mounting hole - cant say i recognise it tbh :shrug: plus i would be concerned if the oil were to be coming from there as i dont think it connects to anything, so it really shopuldnt be a leak point. Perhaps give it all a good clean and try and locate the source again.

[poll250 0]

From what I've found out today it looks like it could be an engine bore plug that has corroded.

I can't find any reference to this happening before on a VR (just my luck) so I'm a bit stuck as to how to progress...

 

I've spent everyday/evening for nearly a month doing this so far, get to a point when I can actually drive it and this happens! My head hurts from thinking about it too much arggggghh :censored:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yeah it does look like a core plug in the picture, where VW have plugged a machining hole at the factory. I could be wrong though, so I will check my block when I get home as it was rebuilt a few years ago, so should still be nice and clean down there :D

[poll250 0]

I took a closer look at the logistics of changing this plug last night.

 

Unfortunately the body of the car is directly in the way of it. I think I could get it out ok, but hitting it in straight will be a nightmare. There are 3 options:

 

1. I just clean the hole up and use JB Weld on it

2. Drop the engine a couple of inches by undoing the 2 cross member bolts and lowering it on a trolley jack, hoping to find a straight shot at it.

3. Get towed to a garage and get them to do it.

 

I'm leaning towards the JB Weld at the moment, Does anyone have any experience with it?