Thanks for the heads up Frank,

I have a Boston Bob powering my Syncro as well and guess what.
It leaks from somewhere back in there.  I had just replaced the flywheel seal when I reinstalled the tranny about 6 months ago and it started leaking shortly after.

I am planning to take it apart in the warmer weather to "replace the flywheel seal" but if it is this plug I will replace that too. 

Warm wishes in journey and for the holidays.

May the 4 winds blow you safely home! (R Hunter)

Joel Cort 

Rochester NY.

89 Syncro Westy (CinnabarVan)
87 Syncro Transporter (Stella)
73 Westy Campmobile (agent orange)

Founding Member of the Empire VW Camping Club
&
Westies at Watkins - www.westies-at-watkins.org 

________________________________
From: Frank Condelli <RAlanen@AOL.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Fri, December 18, 2009 10:42:53 AM
Subject: Engine oil leak mystery - solved !

Folks, this a excerpt from my Travel Blog, _www.westfaliatravels.com_ 
(http://www.westfaliatravels.com) , about  the engine oil leak which you all 
should know about.  
Yesterday I spent the day, starting at 8am, at Volks Café  doing 
maintenance on the van.  As  you may know there has been an oil leak for some time now 
and I suspected it was  the front main crank seal as the oil was dripping 
out from between the engine  and tranny cases but only while parked and 
engine off.  Never any oil leaking while the engine  was running so this was a 
bit strange.  Well after removing the tranny and then the flywheel it was 
quickly  apparent the cause of the oil leak.  See photos on the Blog site.  The 
engine, built by Boston Engine for me back in November of 2003, had a  
rubber plug in the place of the original VW engineered cam end plug in the  case. 
That rubber plug had become  cooked brittle, cracked and that’s where the 
oil was leaking from.  Perplexed, as I was sure all VW  waterboxer engines 
had the metal plug so why did Boston Engine use a rubber one  and more so 
what to do about it ?  Another mechanic in the shop and I discussed what kind 
of glue may work,  meanwhile I went to tell Peter the story and he tells me 
he has these rubber  plugs !  They were made for  aftermarket beetle engine 
cases that did not have the groove cut in them for the  metal plug.  Why 
Boston Engine used  this rubber plug is still unknown and I guess we will never 
know as Bob, rest  his soul, left us over a year ago.  So, the fix ended up 
not too difficult, just dug out the old seal and  pressed in a new one.  I 
did cover  the seal and surrounding case lip with JB Weld just to add some 
security.  Then, changed out the dried out pilot  bearing, put new seals on 
the flywheel and put the clutch and tranny back.  Then onto the noisy CV 
joint.  Turns out it was the inner right that  was making the noise.  I replaced  
both CVs on the right, packed them and the left ones with new grease, 
rotated  the tires and was done by 5 pm.  

Please note  that I will be away from my business travelling in the USA and 
Mexico from  November 18, 2009 until April 30, 2010.  Parts orders will be 
processed  although not as quickly as usual.  I will always be available by  
E-mail.  If you phone, your call will be addressed by Greg T. Brown here  
and he will either call you back or advise you to contact me directly by 
E-mail.  See my _www.frankcondelli.com_ (http://www.frankcondelli.com/)  
website for complete details.  Travel Blog at _www.westfaliatravels.com_ 
(http://www.westfaliatravels.com/) 

Cheers,    

Frank  Condelli

Almonte, Ontario, Canada
'87 Westy & Lionel Trains (_Collection for sale_ 
(http://frankcondelli.com/trainsal.htm) )
_Frank Condelli &  Associates_ (http://frankcondelli.com/busindex.html)  - 
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley
_Vanagon Stainless Steel Exhaust  Systems_ 
(http://frankcondelli.com/exhaust.htm)  
_BusFusion_ (http://www.busfusion.com/)  a VW  Camper camping event, 
Almonte, ON, June 10 ~ 13,  2010