[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
16v distributor oil seal
- Subject: 16v distributor oil seal
- From: vze28h54@verizon.net (Chris)
- Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 13:56:52 -0500
Here is info I gathered in 1995. (If you do the repair, let me know how it
turns out.
Chris
********************************************************************
TECH NOTES FOR WATERCOOLED VW'S By Chris Picot
August 7, 1997
ISSUE: Oil in 16V Distributor.
This article addresses the problem of oil leaking into
the distributors of VW 16V engines.
There is a difference of opinion as to whether or not
the distributor can be repaired, or must be replaced.
I have collected information from a number of posts in
order to provide a history of this matter.
Since the 16V distributor is on a horizontal axis, it
allows oil to pass along the shaft of the distributor,
when the seal is worn, and get into the internals of
the distributor. This can lead to failure of the
distributor. This is not a problem for the 8V
distributors as they are on a basically vertical axis.
Ed Armstrong (armstrong@cpi.com) said he had read in
European Car that the owner of Advanced Motorsports
[Solutions] (AMS),reportedly a 16V guru, had devised a
method to solve the problem.
David R. Derting (davidder@teleport.com) called
Techtonics Tuning and was referred to Advanced
Motorsport Solutions (AMS) in L.A. AMS had told him
they no longer sold the seals as they could no longer
get the seals from their supplier. I called AMS also
and they confirmed that they no longer carried them.
They also posed the question of why would anyone want
to replace the seal and take the chance that the
replacement would not be successful? Why not just
replace the distributor?
[My guess is that if the seals are available and they
have not found another supplier, it is because the
repair is not very successful. If they charged a
customer $100 to make the repair (with the warning that
it might not be successful and was not guaranteed), and
it failed and the customer had to return again at a
cost of another $100 (again with no guarantee of
success), it would be easier to just replace the
distributor for say $275 ($225 parts, plus $50 labor)
and save the extra trip?]
The new distributor from VW costs about $225. I called
2 local VW dealers and they said there is no seal
available, the entire distributor had to be replaced.
Martyn Kerluk (martynk@io.org) said he had the seal
replaced in his distributor by VW Canada. There was no
reason to throw away the leaky distributor. (But see
below.)
He also said the seals could be obtained from Cederbrae
VW in Toronto. 416-438-1900.
From David Marshall (marshall@abc.awink.com) I found
out about:
Southgate Volkswagen
5220 Calgary Trail North
Edmonton, AB, T6H 4J7
Phone 403-435-4821
Fax 403-435-7602
Website http://www.southgatevw.com/
email ??? (Jane McDade)
Jane McDade, of Southgate VW indicated that these seals
were available at $7.23 Canadian. The part number is
051 905 085 BRE (or PRE?).
Per SGVW there are two "seals". One is an "O" ring at
the base of the distributor which seals the head to the
outside and one seal is inside the distributor. The
one inside the distributor is the one involved here.
The shop foreman's admonition was "do not distort the
washer which holds the seal in place." when doing the
repair.
In viewing the photo in the Bentley Manual there is no
part identified as a "seal". There are shims and a
plastic washer.
For those attempting the repair, there is a pin which
goes through the shaft of the distributor. Several
people have indicated that it can be difficult to
remove. Be careful not to bend the distributor shaft
During the repair. A hydraulic press might be the answer.
(NOTE: Apparently there is a hole in the cylinder head
which allows the oil, which goes to the distributor
shaft, to drain away from it. This hole can be
"relieved" (drilled larger) when the head is off a 16V
engine. This seems to avoid the problem. The head
should be off the engine to avoid the possibility that
chips of metal would get into the oil galleys. Thanks
to Shine Racing Service (they're on the Web) for this
tip.
(For reference: MY DISTRIBUTOR is PN 0237 521 010 which
I believe is the Bosch part number, and PN 027 905 205P
which I believe is the VW part number. Number 050 Z415
also appears on the distributor.)
(February 7, 1996 A few days ago I got a response from
Martyn Kerluk in regard to my inquiry. He said the
distributor on his VW started leaking 3 months after
the seal repair.)
Copyright 1996 Christopher T. Picot
***********************************
I also found this in my archives.
From: "Williams, Chris (RSCH)" <Chris_Williams@ml.com>
To: "'Chris Picot'" <picot@cpcug.org>
Subject: RE:
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 1997 16:58:23 -0400
X-Priority: 3
X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.0.1457.3)
A couple of weeks ago I took my car to R&A Applied Arts and one of the
many things that Andy King said my car needed was a new distributor
seal. NOT a NEW distributor. I asked him, how it was done and he replied
that it was replaced like any other seal. While I may have to take my
car to his shop before I can discover what's involved, he didn't make it
sound like it was any big deal. He did not say that the distributor
needed to replaced.
Mark Kaladiyan (sic) of AMS was the one mentioned in European Car's tech
letters. He is a good friend of Andy's, and, I think, once worked for
him. I know that Andy has told me that they talk everyday. It's possible
that they both use the same procedure.
At 05:57 PM 01/29/2003 -0800, Daun Yeagley wrote:
>I need the famed oil seal for the 16v ignition distributor.
> Anyone have a part number and / or know where I can source
>one? My Passat is leaking like a sieve.
>
>
>
>=====
>Daun Yeagley - Wilmington Ohio
>'80 S, 81 S, '85, '86 & '88 Sciroccos, 90 Passat Wagon, '56 Cessna 172
>For Sale: '66 Cessna 150, '82 Scirocco.
>"Any idiot can face a crisis. It's this day to day living that wears you
>out." - Anton Chekhov
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do you Yahoo!?
>Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
>http://mailplus.yahoo.com
>
>_______________________________________________
>Scirocco-l mailing list
>Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
>http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l