Mmmmm...

Well Ed, don't drive it to far! before you change that rod. Check
compression on that cylinder before and after the change. Monitor that
lifter, i suspect this one, you can "Buff" the tip of the adjuster but it
won't last. Stop buying after market part when you can still buy OEM parts.
80% of after market parts are of poor quality, believe me, With my 73, am
stuck! i mostly have to buy After Market.
Am having a hard time with most AM "Vendor" those days...

As an example, my VW dealer was able to procure me some OEM pushrod tupe
seals (type2)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what a difference with those aflter market
scrap one, yea, scrap one :-(

Ben
http://www3.sympatico.ca/huotx/engine1.htm

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Should I drive this vehicle?

Two weeks ago I got back from a weekend trip driving 5-6 hours each way
through the mountains of West Va. The 87 2.1L watercooled van preformed
well, and had no problems, but after I got home I noticed a small oil leak
had started. I traced it to a push rod tube, and ordered a collapsible
replacement tube from Bus Depot, along with the seals.

This weekend I tore into the project and got a rude shock. When I pulled the
#1 cyl pushrod out of the tube it was bent! Curved into a bow shape. Not
kinked or creased, but so far out of line that it had rubbed a hole in the
thin wall of the tube, thus the oil leak.

Looking further, I checked the other pushrods, and all were straight and
true, but I found problems with all 4 of the valve adjusting screws It
looked like Stan's cats had chewed up the ends.

History: the heads were replaced 3 years ago by a VW dealer, using AMC
heads. Four months ago I checked the clearance, after reading about Boston
Bob's .006 setting. I found the pre-load to be very, very tight, so loosened
them and set them to .006. I did not bother to check the push rods or the
ends of the adjusting screws at that time. Don't know if they were already
in that condition, or if the damage is recent.

This is a daily driver, so I just put everything back together, and started
the engine, which ran fine for a few moments before I shut it down and began
to wonder, should I drive this? Will this cause more damage? Can the
adjusting screws just be ground smooth? Can a replacement push rod be used?
The manuals all talk about putting the same ones back into the same place,
so I'm worried about improper mix and match. The top of the valve stem ends
are fine by the way.

Any info about what may have caused this problem and what to do about it is
appreciated.

Ed in Aspen Hill

87 vanagon