You know the old adage, never say how great your car is running lest the Air cooled gods decide to wheel in and smite thee...

So I took the car out today, beautiful early September day, with my daughter, to look at a car for her. When I got home, I noticed a trail of drips in the driveway.

Hmmmm...

So after cleaning up underneath, my wife started it while I hoped to see from where it was leaking. Suddenly, here it comes, right down what appears to be the case, between the oil filter and the pushrod.

Oil cooler seal?

Wait, could it be the pressure sender? I gotta go see.

Anyways, here's a pic. Any input appreciated...



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Ok. Nevemind.

Yes, it was the sender unit plumbing that failed. I went out and before I could disconnect the wires, I could see there was too much movement...


An easy fix. I guess I should use galvanized nipples instead of brass...

Thankfully it didn't happen whilst tooling back from Mort's with some ' Dan blasting.,,

Brass fail..


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Engineering fail Vibration and the weight of the sender is what cracked the pipe. Use a stronger pipe and the case threads may see the effects of vibration. A sender like that is better mounted to the engine with a flex hose in between.

Last time I had my home oil heater serviced we had a leak in one of the threaded oil pipe connections. The tech told me that a previous tech should not have used Teflon tape as it will be dissolved by the oil. I assume he used pipe dope instead. Has the Teflon on your connections been holding up OK?

Brett

Ed, Brett, thanks. Ed, I thought my arrangement was solid enough, without contact with anything but the air seal grommet. But I guess after x amount of times putting my foot in it, it gave up.

Oh well, back to the drawing board. I'll see if I can find a substitute, otherwise I will just repeat and keep my eye on it. Thanks for all the advice.

Brett, I'll try some thread sealer. Maybe some of my prior leaking was due to the Teflon tape.

Brass will crack under vibration over time.

Get yourself a greasegun hose. Mount a block type fitting (brass ok here, its massive) with three holes. Figure out how to mount it all on the OUTSIDE of the engine tin.

Absolutely--a flex hose is needed, the pipe and sender act as a pendulum. You're lucky that it was the pipe that failed, and not the case.

--DD

Glad it wasn't something major...or that you didn't dump all your oil.

Joe...highly recommend this kit. Beautifully done. The block will accommodate both senders and even has a spare port for an NPT pressure gauge. Great setup.

http://www.42draftdesigns.com/vw-audi-oil-...relocation-kit/

Gentlemen, thanks to all who've replied. I never even considered that the case threads might be damaged. Fortunately, when I removed the fitting from the case at the breakpoint, there was no apparent damage.

I shall do as suggested, and get myself a grease gun hose. Now I understand why they're used.

Ian, that's a sweet looking kit. However, my inner Rube Goldberg is telling me I can make it happen with a GG hose, a clamp or two, and some IPA cipherin'...

Stay tuned

When using the grease gun whip remember the sensor has to be grounded.
So you need to use a steel or aluminum strap on the sensor body and screw/bolt it to a good ground.

Cool, thanks Mark. Picked up a gun hose this morning. Just getting ready to get going on it. Hopefully back on the road in a couple hours...

IPA?? Factory fill calls for Hofbräu on that repair.



-Harry

You're right Harry. This should get me through the job...


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Thanks for the tip

Hey! Warsteiner is my standard beer. Cheers.

Hope you're safe Mike

Ok, done, despite many interruptions.

Nothing beautiful to see here, strictly function. I do notice that the gauge has a slight delay in reading, maybe there's air in the line, I don't know, but eventually will read out what it did prior to the hose installation, even if it is only a fraction of a second longer.

Thanks to all who replied and helped me get the job done


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Grease gun hose is a bad choice btw.
They can't take the oil temp.

NEVER heard of teflon tape being dissolved by oil. used in test rigs for Jet A aircraft kerosene for many years with no issues.
Not much will dissolve teflon.

Ugh, now you tell me!

Yeah, that's BS. No fluid in a car/boat/plane/house will ever dissolve Teflon. Basically only some cyanides and fluorines can touch it-and you really don't want to be around that stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FM3Em7FIOc



Sorry Joe... I told you Hofbräu

- Harry

Hey Joe-

Check out Moreland Hose in Oakdale on Sunrise Hwy.

http://morelandhose.com/hydraulic-hoses/

They should be able to handle any kind of hose job you need.

(Just try'in to make up for my last post)

-Harry

I remember Moreland hose, that place has been around for years. Have found lots of various project solutions from there over the years when I lived on LI.

Brett

Great, thanks Harry!