Flywheel oil seal leak

[StewRat]

Fingers crossed for you Stewart! Been looking forward to seeing this on track for quite a while!

No more than me Neil. Can't believe a year ago at this time I was buying a trailer and getting a towbar fitted thinking I was off to the races at VW Action.

[Jim Ratto]

I'm not even sure I should admit this, but looks like I may have found the source of my oil leak.

The good news is it's neither the cam plug nor the flywheel oil seal - that's good news in that I probably have been doing them right all along.

The bad news is that it is soooo stupid that in addition to kicking myself, y'all have permission to kick me if you see me too. Talk about tunnel vision...

Removed the engine this morning and set it up at a tilt as suggested to see if the cam seal would drip. Went back this evening and there is a dribble of oil collected in the rim at the bottom of the case, and a trail leading round the rim and up to ... the galley plug.

In this case, of the 3 galley plugs that sit roughly in line with the cam plug, the rightmost of them has been replaced with a threaded plug. Non-standard, so in my rigid following of instructions while assembling the engine, it was never mentioned, so it was never checked/tightened. Looking back, I think I mentally wrote this off as being a threaded insert for one of the securing bolts or something, just never, ever dawned on me it was a galley plug.
Idiot.
I've tightened it up (it was loose enough to turn by hand)  and will check again tomorrow.

Fingers crossed ...

Stewart

That's got to be weight off of you. Good you found it now. And it didn't find you on some road, in the dark, far from home. If your stroker crank has threaded galley plugs, good idea to make double sure they're secure next time the motor's apart. L o c t i t e.



Good job.

[StewRat]

I can confirm that I have no more oil leaks!!!!
It was the gallery plug.

Big thanks to everyone who has helped out on this with tips and ideas, helping me consider all the alternatives and giving me confidence I was doing at least some things right.

Stupid mistake to make nonetheless - but one of those er, learning experiences that means I'll never miss another dodgy oil gallery plug as long as I live.

Pressing on with finishing things off - though top of the list is to actually run the motor for a decent time and get the carbs dialed in etc - so it's entirely possible there will have to be some re jetting etc there before I'm ready to roll.

And then I need to actually run it down a road and check the gears and brakes work (so far I've driven it about 3 feet - the free length of the lockup). Opportunity for more gremlins to emerge.

I'd love to say VW Action was a definite but work and other commitments are going to eat into my time over the next 2-3 weeks. 27th is my last pre-Action chance to test at Crail, so I'll just keep moving forward and see where I get to ...

Thanks again everyone.

Stewart

[leec]

Fantastic news. Well done for sticking at it. I would have lost my patience and hit it by now

[Neil Davies]

Good idea on the test runs! I believe the box to be good as I bought it fitted to a floorpan that ended up under another car I built, but you can never be too sure. Don't forget to fill it with oil...

[StewRat]

Good idea on the test runs! I believe the box to be good as I bought it fitted to a floorpan that ended up under another car I built, but you can never be too sure. Don't forget to fill it with oil...

I'm sure it's good.

It's filled One of the first things I did actually when you reminded me

I've driven it through all the gears on axle stands so it's got that far, and up and down the lockup a couple of times, so reverse works too.