In a message dated 27/12/2004 4:31:17 PM Eastern Standard Time,
LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes:

Hi  folks,
developed a big oil leak thats comming from behind the Oil cooler on  my 88
GL.
I tried retorquing the nut that holds the cooler on, may have  even made it
worse.

I'm in New Hope PA, and trying to get home to NYC.  Any angles or experience
with this would be really really helpful. I'm  guessing this is connected to
the cold, and I had been running 20w50 oil, but  would love to hear any ideas.

I just answered a post about this a few days  ago.  It's the third one of
these in a week.  Very common problem with  the 2.1 waterboxer in cold climates.
The large O-ring between the oil  cooler and the block has blown out.  I'm
sure when you go there what is  left of it will be hard as rock.  Get a new one
from the VW dealer or parts  vendor and be sure it is the good current model
and should be a grey  colour.  Special material for this application.  To put
it in without  disturbing the coolant system take two nuts of the same size as
the one that  holds the oil cooler to the pipe.  Remove the nut that holds the
oil  cooler.  Lock the two nuts to the pipe and remove the pipe from the
block.  Pull the cooler away from the block, remove the remnants of the old
O-ring and clean up the mess there.  Install the new O-ring using grey  RTV
silicon sealant made for use on aluminium surfaces.  Just coat the  O-ring before
installing.  This will help keep it in place and keep  corrosin at bay.  Replace
the pipe, two lock nuts and install the oil  cooler nut.  Tighten well.  This
nut should be checked for tighness  every time you change the oil filter to
prevent this situation from  occuring again.

Cheers,

Frank  Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
_BusFusion_ (http://members.aol.com/BusFusion/bfhome.htm)  a VW Camper
camping event, Almonte, ON, June 09 ~ 12, 2005
'87 Westy, '90 Carat &  Lionel Trains
Member: _Vanagon List_ (http://www.vanagon.com/) , _LiMBO_
(http://www.bcn.net/~limbo/) , _IWCCC_ (http://www.westfalia.qc.ca/)  & _CCVWC_
(http://www.ccvwc.ca/)
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in  the Ottawa Valley
_STEBRO/Vanagon Stainless Steel  Mufflers_
(http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/stebro.htm)
_Frank Condelli &  Associates_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html)
or  http://frankcondelli.com