Oil Leak on '64 C Model

[ray nelson]

A friend of mine that lives in Miami has an oil leak on the left side of the engine. The leak looks fairly significant as he lost 1 qt in 150 miles.
My guess is oil cooler or cracked case where the oil cooler mounts. Also as I recall there's a sending unit on the left side that also tends to leak as a possibility (been a while since I was in there).
He did confide in me that he recently replaced the oil cooler with a VW unit from a 411. Could that be the cause?
He seems to think it is the pushrod tubes or valve cover gasket on the left side. I discounted that since the quantity of oil lost is quite a lot to be coming from those areas.
Any other ideas? Also anyone know of a good 356 knowledgeable mechanic in South Florida that can give a better evaluation by dropping the engine and possibly doing the repair?

Thanks Ray

[Mike Wilson]

Can he track where the oil is coming from? If oil cooler, check the bottom left of the fan shroud. Check the engine tin screw behind the left carb; the pushrod tubes, etc. Since the oil cooler was recently replaced, I'd check there first.

Mike

[ray nelson]

Thanks Mike
I haven't seen the car and the owner is much less mechanically inclined than me so it's just a guess as to what's going on. I'm thinking the only way to solve this is to drop the engine since all but replacing the valve cover gasket would require that to fix the leak anyway.
I'm a bit perplexed that he said he replaced the oil cooler with a unit from a VW 411 since I can't imagine how that was done. Of course if you've read any of Harry's books you'll recall how creative some mechanics (?) are.

Ray

[Wes Bender]

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it until you can see the engine. Sounds like a wild goose chase otherwise.

[jule block]

There is no way an oil cooler from a type 4, vw 411, will fit on a 356

[Dick Weiss]

Clean all the surrounding area as best as possible, check the tightness of the cheese-head screws--1-each side of the intake manifold holding the horizontal and vertical side plates to the head which shows up around the valve cover, and the cover's gasket--these 2-will not show as a leak from the pushrod tubes, but it will show as a leak coming from the long head-bolts which have their O-rings.

You can see the base of the cooler and part of the mounting pad using a mirror and a small flashlight thru the side-plate's #4 spark plug hole after an engine run and remove the plug. However, leaking that much oil leaving a big spot on the floor, I'd say either the oil cooler (original?) or the not-unusual cracked cooler mounting pad which I've repaired around a 1/2 dozen w/o welding--even broken pads! Also, I agree that a TYP V VW oil cooler won't be correct--I never thought to try that.

[Mike Wilson]

You don't have to drop the engine to change valve cover gaskets.

Mike

[Tim Berardelli]

Ray,

If your friend is near Orlando he should contact Sid Collins @ Troysport-he speaks fluent 356.

[ray nelson]

Thanks All,
Well since the owner is not very mechanically inclined and my aging back won't let me do that engine drop he's going to either keep buying oil or see if he can find maybe even a VW mechanic to pull the engine. There used to be several good 356 mechanics in Miami when I lived there but it doesn't look like that's the case now.
I agree with everyone, I don't see how a 411 cooler would work but who knows how creative some folks are.
I tried to explain to the guy when it comes to Porsches and construction "cheap ends up being expensive"

Ray

[Ron LaDow]

Ray,
Have your buddy try contacting these folks for a resource:
Florida Owners Group 356fog.com

[John Clarke]

Throw the 411 Oil Cooler, Replace with a new Aluminum Cooler, New pushrod tubes from Ron at Precision Matters and Vic's Rocker cover Gaskets. Do we need to drop the motor to replace the pushrod tubes and can we remove the Fan Housing with the engine in situ to aim that 411 Cooler out? Job done?
Cheers Jay

[Jeffrey Leeds]

Ron's pushrod tubes can be done lying on your back without any real effort. And if you do them once you'll never have to replace them again.

You can remove the Fan Housing if you are Don Cichocki. He did it on the field for another member who had to R&R a bent fan during the 2015 Southern Drive, but you want to do it that way only if you really have to.

Jeff

[Ron LaDow]

Thanks for the kind words regarding the PreMat Pushrod Tubes, but it seems this is not a 'crack' in the oil cooler mount.
'Cracks' don't leak 1L. in 150 miles; really broken cases or failed gaskets/seals (or cracked pushrod tubes) do.

[ray nelson]

Thanks again Gentlemen
The reason I recommended dropping the engine is mainly to see what his mechanic did to put in that odd ball cooler and to clean up the mess in the engine bay. I doubt seriously he will spend the money to do the right thing which is the PreMat tubes Vic's gaskets and for sure he wouldn't get the aluminum cooler (which I recommended before he got the VW cooler for something like $60 from Beck Arnley).
I've dropped the engine several times on my S90 and it wasn't that hard and if you've got access to a lift it's a piece of cake. Like I said my old back just can't take those exercises any more.
I'll pass the advice on to him so we'll see. My guess he'll start buying cases of oil from Walmart

Ray

[Al Zim]

Try this! Remove the valve cover. 1) check that the gasket is in place. It will be obvious if it has slipped off the cover. the valve cover gasket needs to be glued in to the cover. 2) look at the bolt holes around the intake manifold. If you can see threads then the screws need to be tightened. If the area around the base of the manifold has bumps on it that are about the size of a pea then the threads are sealed and no opportunity for a leak is present. This should be a 15 minute job. If you jack up the car, make sure you have a jack stand under the car so it will not crash on you. I have found using a brake adjusting spoon for older American cars eases removing the valve cover bail. al zim 2019/05/10