Push Rods.......wha?, Now that the engine is out...... Options

[aveale]

Hello family,

I am thinking my oil seals on the push rod tubes are the cause of some of my leaky leaks.

What is the consensus on this, and what is involved in replacing the seals????

Floss,


T

[ruddyboys]

Push rod tube seals leaking, I have never heard of this happing before (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/lol2.gif) I think this the most common leak. They are pretty easily replaced. You can even do it while the engine is in the car. Take off the valve cover and remove the rockers. With a little muscle you can pull the tubes right out. Put the new seals on, here is were you will get everyones recipe on how not to make the seals leak. I just put a little motor oil on them and slid them back in. I used a spark plug socket (the large one, not sure the size) and gave the tubes a little tap to seat them. Put the rockers back and adjust them to spec. put the valve cover on with new gasket and hope there is no more leak.

[davep]

You might want to do a bit of power washing in the area of the heads and tubes before you start. You want to reduce the possibility of getting dirt inside the engine while pulling the tubes through. Note how the rockers sit before you remove them. Make sure you note how the wire retainer is installed before you pull it out. I have seen poorly installed retainers cut through a pushrod. Carefully clean the engine case holes before reinstalling the tubes. You should not have any issues with new tubes or seals; there was a very early variety that had a smaller diameter end and seals, but these are very rare. Viton seals are the preferred variety. Pushrods may not seat properly at first, they often need a bit of a nudge to fit into the lifter (they need to center in the lifter, not lay in the tube). This is where noting how the rockers sit is useful, you can often tell the rod is not seated by the angle of the rockers. I like to remove the sparkplugs and rotate the engine by hand a few times to ensure everything is properly aligned. Then recheck your clearances. Run for a few hours and check again.

[ArtechnikA]

i don't like pushrods and don't use them :-)

(but don't talk to me about oil return tube leaks...
i figure they're called that because they return the oil to the ground...)

[aveale]

This "PorcheClub" has been a funny experience.

I find that when I have a genuine question, and hesitate to try something I post my question, and wait for the response. Then when I get around to trying it out, I always ask myself why I was worrying so much in the first place!!

I bet these rod seals will be the same.

T

[ArtechnikA]

QUOTE (aveale @ Apr 21 2005, 01:26 PM)

...when I get around to trying it out, I always ask myself why I was worrying so much in the first place!! I bet these rod seals will be the same.

it's good to know the issues going in - like that the pushrods have to be centered in the lifters (lots of people get that wrong) and that it's the Viton seals you want, and that they're lubricated with a bit of clean engine oil and definitely NOT RTV.

but the fact is that these engines are very easy to assemble. (preparation for assembly, making sure all the clearances are right, etc, requires care, but actual assembly is not difficult.

one MAJOR advantage of the T-IV design over earlier VW engines was the in-place pushrod tube.

when things break, it can get expensive and unpleasant in a hurry, but for normal routine maintenance issues, the procedures are pretty straightforward.

[Jake Raby]

I have the best Pushrod tube seals and a really trick sealant to make them leak free, the viton seals are not magic and have their own set of problems..

I should have my instructions for this completed in a week or so as well.

[Dave_Darling]

They're not magic, but they do seem to deal with the heat better than the stock silicone seals.

Remember that the torque spec on the nuts that hold the rocker stands onto the head is either 10 lb-ft or 11 lb-ft. Very very low. If one of the valves is open when you are tightening the rocker stand down, the valve spring tension will keep you from getting a good torque reading. Heck, at the spec torque the rocker stand wasn't even seated against the head! That's why I only do one cylinder at a time, and set that cylinder to (or near) TDC so that both rocker arms have some slack in them. And yes, I do use a torque wrench on those nuts. It's a pain to swing it enough, but with a little work I can get it.

Note that you don't have to take the tube completely out of the head. You can slide it halfway out and let it hang by the middle of the tube. (That's for when you realize that the suspension console is too much in the way to get some of the tubes out all the way....)

--DD