Engine Oil Leak

Hello,

A few months back i had a few problems with the golf and eventually got it sorted. One of the things i changed was the distributor, since i changed it for a new one i have had an oil leak from the gearbox up through the seal when running/hot.

I have tried replacing the o-ring on the bottom of the shaft of the distributor but even a 1mm thicker o-ring and i cannot get the distributor to fit back into the hole due to the o-ring causing interference.

Can anyone suggest a way to resolve this? I thought maybe some sort of high temp sealant for a temp fix? Best fix would be just using the o-ring but clearly it is nott as easy as that!

Thanks,

Chad

The dizzy o-ring may be the cause of your leak, but is the leak in the floor?  The usual culprits are the Valve cover seal, the rear main or the oil pan bolts loosening.

1.5L 056905261
1.1L 068145119
1.8L 026905261

Are the proper pn's that I can find.  I would also suggest that you clean the diz mounting flange to make sure that you don't have rust or Crud preventing the o-ring from sealing correctly.  

I also suspect that inadequate ventilation in the Valve cover may lead to excessive pressures in the engine, so you may want to replace the valve cover gasket and clean the Screen as well.

It is just a splash driven item…. And a "new" o-ring may take some persuasion to seat…. I always use a tad of Never-Seize on that as I had one rubber bind on me and prevented the free movement of the Diz to set timing.

Briano1234 said

The dizzy o-ring may be the cause of your leak, but is the leak in the floor?  The usual culprits are the Valve cover seal, the rear main or the oil pan bolts loosening.

1.5L 056905261
1.1L 068145119
1.8L 026905261

Are the proper pn's that I can find.  I would also suggest that you clean the diz mounting flange to make sure that you don't have rust or Crud preventing the o-ring from sealing correctly.  

I also suspect that inadequate ventilation in the Valve cover may lead to excessive pressures in the engine, so you may want to replace the valve cover gasket and clean the Screen as well.

It is just a splash driven item…. And a "new" o-ring may take some persuasion to seat…. I always use a tad of Never-Seize on that as I had one rubber bind on me and prevented the free movement of the Diz to set timing.

Thanks for the reply!

No its definitely coming through the hole where the distributor sits as there is very visible leakage after a drive out.

The distributor i replaced it with was brand new with a new seal on it as well but thought it may need a thicker o-ring but as i said once i fit a new o-ring i cannot get the distributor to go back in due to the o-ring.

I will have a look at that though, what do you mean by the screen? sorry.

I did try quite a bit of persuasion but its not the easiest thing to apply force on but maybe ill have another go!

Thanks again!

I would be very worried if you have gearbox oil coming out of your dissy hole, that hopefully is engine oil coming out (gearbox oil has a very different smell to engine oil) as the gearbox oil should just be in the gearbox and not in the engine.

I had a leak from my dissy when I swooped my engine for an older engine, I found out there is 2 types of seals and dissy, On your dissy where you are putting the seal have a little bit of metal sticking out of groove making the seal stick out a little and that is why it's hard to get the dissy back in?

If so you have the earlier type dissy and need a different seal, this seal/gasket fits between the engine block and dissy.

I left the rubber O-ring on and fitted the paper gasket and it's stopped my leak.

O-ring for later dissys which you may of tried?
https://www.vwheritage.com/026905261-distributor-seal-1600cc-1800cc-mk2-golf-8-86-10-91

Try this gasket as well and it may stop your leak.
https://www.vwheritage.com/056905261-seal-for-distributor-mk1-all-mk2-1600cc-1800cc-7
 
 

mark1gls said

I would be very worried if you have gearbox oil coming out of your dissy hole, that hopefully is engine oil coming out (gearbox oil has a very different smell to engine oil) as the gearbox oil should just be in the gearbox and not in the engine.

I had a leak from my dissy when I swooped my engine for an older engine, I found out there is 2 types of seals and dissy, On your dissy where you are putting the seal have a little bit of metal sticking out of groove making the seal stick out a little and that is why it's hard to get the dissy back in?

If so you have the earlier type dissy and need a different seal, this seal/gasket fits between the engine block and dissy.

I left the rubber O-ring on and fitted the paper gasket and it's stopped my leak.

O-ring for later dissys which you may of tried?
https://www.vwheritage.com/026905261-distributor-seal-1600cc-1800cc-mk2-golf-8-86-10-91

Try this gasket as well and it may stop your leak.
https://www.vwheritage.com/056905261-seal-for-distributor-mk1-all-mk2-1600cc-1800cc-7
 
 

Rightttttttt, i had in my head that hole went into the gearbox not the engine, massive error on my part lol! But yeah so it must be engine oil coming out!

The o-ring sits in a recessed seat and is meant to protrude out slightly to form the seal but clearly isnt doing that job. (See below, this is the same as mine)

Yes that's just like both mine, I've got a the later type fitted to my engine I took out.
I even took the seal out of the removed original engine/dissy to try on the engine/dissy I've fitted and I had problems getting the dissy back in as the seal was sticking out in a couple of places.

I do have some pictures on photobucket but I can't get to them!

I fitted the paper gasket and it's not leaked since.
you will need to remove the dissy and the new paper gasket lives just above the green 0 ring and is then seated against the engine block.

The shaft with a cog on you saw in the dissy hole is the intermediate shaft which is run from the cam belt and there is a metal key at the bottom which is the end of the oil pump, the oil pump drive can move on it's own when taking out or putting the dissy back in, if you find the dissy is sitting in a slighty different place when putting it back you can get some long nose pliers and just turn the key a little.
 

mark1gls said

Yes that's just like both mine, I've got a the later type fitted to my engine I took out.
I even took the seal out of the removed original engine/dissy to try on the engine/dissy I've fitted and I had problems getting the dissy back in as the seal was sticking out in a couple of places.

I do have some pictures on photobucket but I can't get to them!

I fitted the paper gasket and it's not leaked since.
you will need to remove the dissy and the new paper gasket lives just above the green 0 ring and is then seated against the engine block.

The shaft with a cog on you saw in the dissy hole is the intermediate shaft which is run from the cam belt and there is a metal key at the bottom which is the end of the oil pump, the oil pump drive can move on it's own when taking out or putting the dissy back in, if you find the dissy is sitting in a slighty different place when putting it back you can get some long nose pliers and just turn the key a little.
 

Ahhh nice one! I will definitely give that other gasket a go and hopefully that solves the problem!

Thanks a lot for the help!

It's worth a go, It took me a few months of trying different things and I found more oil would come out if you drive the car hard!
I found that gasket and gave it a go and my engine has been oil free since I fitted it.
Don't forget you will need to set up your timing when you put it all back together, I scratched a line on the dissy by the clamp so I could get the dissy near to the right timing settings.
Let us know how you get on.  

Ah just put it in time before you start... then you know the rotor has to be in the middle of the hash when it goes back in.

Revisiting this!!!

So I fitted the gasket as advised above and thought it had solved the problem.

But in the last few days she has been leaving oil on the floor again and looks for certain that it's coming from the same place.

Am I meant to use sealant when fitting the gasket or is it alright to be put on without as i did not so may be my mistake!

If not can anyone recommend anything else?. All i can think of is some form of high temp sealant to stop it. It's not a massive issue as can be monitored and topped up if needs be but there hasn't been huge amount leaking and oil levels are fine!

Anymore help woild be great!

Did you clean the screen on the Valve cover?

What are your running oil pressures.

It almost sounds as if your are too full on the oil and it is splashing out.

As the Dis is fed off the oil pump, it could be a issue with the oil pump…as that seal should be sufficient to trap oil.  while the normal one isn't a loose fit as there is some resistance that Lubing the o-ring resolves on insertion I suppose a clogged valve cover vent is blowing that out the seal that is over pressure.

I have had a variety of these engines Diesel and Gassers 1.8  so I personally haven't seen this issue ever.  

I have seen valve cover leaks that drip, and on a hot engine it appears to pool in a area different from the area of the leak.

Briano1234 said

Did you clean the screen on the Valve cover?

What are your running oil pressures.

It almost sounds as if your are too full on the oil and it is splashing out.

As the Dis is fed off the oil pump, it could be a issue with the oil pump…as that seal should be sufficient to trap oil.  while the normal one isn't a loose fit as there is some resistance that Lubing the o-ring resolves on insertion I suppose a clogged valve cover vent is blowing that out the seal that is over pressure.

I have had a variety of these engines Diesel and Gassers 1.8  so I personally haven't seen this issue ever.  

I have seen valve cover leaks that drip, and on a hot engine it appears to pool in a area different from the area of the leak.

Im unsure of what you mean by the valve cover?? The leak is coming from the hole in the engine block that the distributor sits in not the valve cover.

I have absolutely no idea and wouldnt know how to check them?.

Its only ever done it since i put the new distributor in so in my opinion is not anything else but the seals not working correctly.

Apologise but i am not 100% clued up on how all the engine components and systems work. Ive dont my fair share of work on the engine but not gone deep down into the ins and outs.

Valve cover (rocker cover) seals leak.  They can pool oil and dribble out from the front while rare usually they leak out the rear.

If there is excessive exhaust gas or pressure in your engine (by product of a running engine and everything being tight and sealed) The EGR screen on the valve cover can get plugged and not allow the excessive pressure in the engine to vent, so it comes out the weak points.



Is my EGR screen on my valve cover when I first got the car and had to fix a blown head gasket.

On early engines they used a true EGR valve of PVC valve that would gum up, and you would have to clean them periodically. (depends on frequency of oil changes and viscosity of your oil).

The accumulation of the gasses on later Cabbies was similar to PCV's valves of old… They vented it in to the Throttlebody to be re-burned to lower emissions.

Big round thing on the right of the valve cover.



Now one way to test is to remove your dipstick from the funnel…. if the engine runs doggy when removed, as it should as that is a Vacuum leak then your screen is probably ok.  If there is no change to the idle, then chances are that your screen is plugged and the excessive gasses aren't escaping the PVC.  Now the Distributor is being driven by the intermediate shaft via the oil pump, it is possible that your oil pump is leaking pressure in to the upper reaches and out your Distributor… If your diz O-ring is bad as you nicked it putting it in or out, as you stated that you replaced the one that was on it, then you are probably correct that it is leaking and needs to be replaced again… While I have had many a Diz in and out of cars (vacuum pump on my diesel) I have only had to replace that o-ring once, and I used a OEM o-ring.  If your Diz was after market as in "NOT OEM" then hopefully the makers of the Diz installed an o-ring that was to Fit the Hole in the block and seal to the Distributor base.  Not all Dizz's are the same that you buy aftermarket especially if it is a New and not a re-manned product.  If the new to you Diz has a warranty, you may want to inquire about a replacement as your is leaking oil.

What I suppose I am eluding to is that is the leak because of the improper seal on the Distributor, or that you have Excessive Gasses in your engine block.

I just have never seen oil leak out of the Diz or the Vacuum pump since driving these little Critters since the 80's ever, and have assisted with folks that have had this issue because of bad-o-rings or excessive gasses or pressures in the block itself because of plugged screen on the rocker cover or Valve cover……

Golf's/Rabbit's/Cabriolets don't leak oil, they like to mark their spot.