Mark,

2 spark plug seal designs exist.

The square seal is the one with the crush washer you have to make sure is on
the plug before you install it.

The taper seal has no crush washer. Instead the sealing surface on the plug
and the head are tapered like a flare fitting.

All the VWs I've owned had the square seal but I've not owned anything with
the wasserbus engine yet.

Tom
www.stir-plate.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of
Mark Dearing
Sent: Monday, May 03, 2010 7:16 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Found a timesert in the spark plug hole

In a message dated 5/2/2010 2:36:04 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
syncronicity1@GMAIL.COM writes:

So a  question, does the Vanagon spark plug hole have a tapered or square
seal at  the top?  Could this old "timesert" thing be the source of  low
compression if it was incorrect?  A couple of compression tests  several
months ago showed this cylinder low (can't recall the number, the  rear one
on the driver's side).

hello Roland there are a bunch of different plug inserts out there. They all
work about the same.  no compresion loss if installed correctly and  head
has no cracks.  hole is not tappered and I don't know what you are  calling
a square seal? Plugs do have sealing rings on them and should be left on
later  mark d