oil pressure valves in the case...

[Donny B.]

The adjuster is suppose to go at the flywheel end on a dual relief case.  I know because I have one.  Be careful.  I adjusted mine and extra turn or so and blew out an oil cooler.

[Peter]

thanks donny
maybe you can install one too, bugnut?
i ll report the changes

[bugnut68]

I'll see where I'm at once I get my parts this week... I may try the pump first, see what that does, and, if necessary, install the booster springs. We'll see what happens, I guess!

[Nico86]

Any news?

[bugnut68]

Not really, aside from I got the oil pressure booster spring kit from Vee Dubs Parts last week... time-sert tool arrived from aircooled.net today so I can fix my oil pressure sending unit hole threads, and I'm still awaiting the oil pump, which should be here in the next day or two.

Aside from that, I haven't touched the car in over a week, and I could not be happier.  We'll see what happens this week.  If I have unsuitable results after installing the aforementioned parts (I'll likely do the pump first), then it's time to walk away from this project until I feel like (and have resources available $$$) going any further.  The past week has been a lovely and very relaxing break from oil streaming down my arms and my mouth spewing every curse word known to man...

[bugnut68]

Oil pump arrived today... should know sometime this week if my problems are abated for the moment or if a fire sale of VW parts is forthcoming...  Only kidding, of course, but getting away from the car/engine project for the last week has been very relaxing and pleasant... evenings on the front lawn with a cold Coke or beer and reading Jack Kerouac's "On the Road."  Good times.

[Nico86]

Hope you'll have even more good times driving your car with a hot engine!

[bugnut68]

Hope you'll have even more good times driving your car with a hot engine!

Yeah, me too!  I've driven the car down the road out of the shop just a smidge, but it really didn't count, as I didn't getout of second gear and the gas pedal kept hanging up...had some throttle linkage issues as well.  All that is resolved now, so hopefully soon we'll see how things will go.

[bugnut68]

Brand new 30mm Schadeck oil pump got me a whopping 5 extra PSI of pressure.  25 PSI cold.  Sweet.  That was certainly $40 well spent.

[Peter]

i tried with the boost adjuster in the correct place now (at flywheel end) with original spring...
screw completely turned in, but almost 0 pressure when oil is hot...
might try with 20w50 and see if it makes a difference..and install the stiffer spring from the aftermarket kit..
I noticed that the aftermarket plungers are sitting a bit loose in the case, but originals are to big...
maybe these are causing some problems as well?

[Diederick/DVK]

I noticed that the aftermarket plungers are sitting a bit loose in the case, but originals are to big...

This should be your problem. Why not sand the originals down carefully?
Did you have this issue last season as well?

[Peter]

Yeah,
i might try that...
at the time also quite low pressure (0.5 bar hot idle and 3 bar max at higher rpm), but now i have the turbo ...

[bugnut68]

At this stage, I'm going to have to just accept the fact that this engine has major issues and has to come apart. I absolutely have no desire to put one more cent into what I have (even for motor oil) out of utter and complete frustration.  Until I have the desire and motivation to further pursue this (most likely with another/better case), I'm walking away for the time being.

I figure why bother wasting time helicoiling the pump stud threads and time-serting the pressure sending unit threads in the case when I'm going to likely need another/better case anyway.  If I have to tear it down again, I'm going to just start over with a better foundation.

[bugnut68]

Think I may have located a problem... anybody know how much clearance/room there should be between the sump extension tube for a 1.5 deep sump (Scat is my brand) and the drain plate?  It appears I have a mighty tight bit of space here, which leads me to believe I could have an inlet restriction as a result.

[stealth67vw]

Is the pick up tube not cut at an angle on the bottom?

[Bruce]

An absolute minimum would be one diameter.  1.5 diameters would be better.

[bugnut68]

An absolute minimum would be one diameter.  1.5 diameters would be better.

Then I need to shorten it for sure... it's simply way too close to the drain plate from my eye.  Can't believe I didn't account for this earlier.  It may not change anything, but then again, who knows?  Anything's worth a shot at this point. 

[bugnut68]

No change whatsoever.  The pressure rises fine with RPMs, but still isn't where it should be at idle.  25 PSI dead cold, and the cheap mechanical gauge I have had it dropping down to 10 PSI on the scale as it got warmed up/hotter... looked like the needle was resting on the peg when I came back from a drive up and down the entrance road to my buddy's shop, but since the first increment is 10PSI, I have no idea just how low it actually was.  I will likely try to buy a mechanical gauge to verify where the idle pressure is resting at as the engine warms up.

[Bruce]

What happened when you put the stock pressure switch in?  Does the light come on at idle when warm?

[bugnut68]

What happened when you put the stock pressure switch in?  Does the light come on at idle when warm?

I can't install a stock pressure switch... the case, as I acquired it, had already had a 1/8-NPT VDO dual pole sending unit so now the hole is too big... the threads are messed up too, so I have a bit of a leak there... but nowhere near enough to cause a 15-plus pound drop in oil pressure.

[Zach Gomulka]

What happened when you put the stock pressure switch in?  Does the light come on at idle when warm?

I can't install a stock pressure switch... the case, as I acquired it, had already had a 1/8-NPT VDO dual pole sending unit so now the hole is too big... the threads are messed up too, so I have a bit of a leak there... but nowhere near enough to cause a 15-plus pound drop in oil pressure.

Put it somewhere else maybe? I'd like to see what the stock switch does. If the light doesn't come on at a hot idle, don't worry about it!

[Nico86]

What happened when you put the stock pressure switch in?  Does the light come on at idle when warm?

I can't install a stock pressure switch... the case, as I acquired it, had already had a 1/8-NPT VDO dual pole sending unit so now the hole is too big... the threads are messed up too, so I have a bit of a leak there... but nowhere near enough to cause a 15-plus pound drop in oil pressure.

Put it somewhere else maybe? I'd like to see what the stock switch does. If the light doesn't come on at a hot idle, don't worry about it!

Maybe you can try to put the stock switch with a VDO "T", or try to put a VDO pressure sender that has the switch for the light and another switch for a gauge.

[bugnut68]

What happened when you put the stock pressure switch in?  Does the light come on at idle when warm?

I can't install a stock pressure switch... the case, as I acquired it, had already had a 1/8-NPT VDO dual pole sending unit so now the hole is too big... the threads are messed up too, so I have a bit of a leak there... but nowhere near enough to cause a 15-plus pound drop in oil pressure.

Put it somewhere else maybe? I'd like to see what the stock switch does. If the light doesn't come on at a hot idle, don't worry about it!

Maybe you can try to put the stock switch with a VDO "T", or try to put a VDO pressure sender that has the switch for the light and another switch for a gauge.

I've got the dual-pole sending unit for the VDO gauge and the stock light... I installed a mechanical gauge to initially confirm the low readings I was getting, but it's my understanding these VDO dual pole senders can trigger the idiot light at a higher level than the stock sending unit (2.1 to 6.4 PSI is the range from what I remember reading in the Bentley manual for stock sending units).

[Bruce]

....  The pressure rises fine with RPMs, but still isn't where it should be at idle.  25 PSI dead cold, and the cheap mechanical gauge I have had it dropping down to 10 PSI on the scale as it got warmed up/hotter... looked like the needle was resting on the peg ...., but since the first increment is 10PSI, I have no idea just how low it actually was. 

This is what my engine has been like for the last 70k miles.  IOW, you don't have a problem.
Who else agrees with me?

[bugnut68]

I've got a mechanical gauge i just picked up last night with a more detailed scale in terms of increments, so I'm hoping to confirm just exactly what my pressure is... the cheapie Equus or SunPro, whatever it is, mechanical gauge I've been using has a mighty vague scale with broad increments.

[bugnut68]

Just checked last night with the new mechanical gauge... pressure stayed steady at right around 10 PSI or a hair under after warming up... it only dropped below that to 7, 6 and down to 5 when the idle started to drop off.  Pressure comes up real nicely with increased revs, but the idle started to drop down after idling steadling for upwards of 10 minutes.

[stealth67vw]

As long as you don't get into bumper to bumper Lakeview, Oregon traffic  , I'd run it until you can get another case.

[Bruce]

He doesn't need another engine case because there's absolutely nothing wrong with what he has.

[bugnut68]

Yup, if I have to ever stop for a cattle drive, I might get into trouble.   Lol.  This car will at best be tooling around town on occasion or else primarily hitting our 1/8 mile strip, so I'm prepared to run what I gots for now. 

I figure I'll try the other oil pump for giggles since it's not that hard to swap out, and I have the parts... figure can't hurt anything.

[HERB]

Please- try a stock VW brand oil pressure sensor hooked up to the stock VW idiot light. Do whatever you have to do to try it, then report back to us.