16V Distributor Oil Leak Tech Note

[vze28h54@verizon.net (Chris)]

This is an old tech note that I put together. Try Southgate Volkswagen in 
Edmonton for the seals. (Contact info below). I got the information from 
them in 1995, so they may not have them anymore.

Chris

TECH NOTES FOR WATERCOOLED VW'S   By Chris Picot
      August 7, 1997

      ISSUE: Oil in 16V Distributor.

      This article addresses the problem of oil leaking into
      the distributors of VW 16V engines.

      There is a difference of opinion as to whether or not
      the distributor can be repaired, or must be replaced.
      I have collected information from a number of posts in
      order to provide a history of this matter.

      Since the 16V distributor is on a horizontal axis, it
      allows oil to pass along the shaft of the distributor,
      when the seal is worn, and get into the internals of
      the distributor.  This can lead to failure of the
      distributor.  This is not a problem for the 8V
      distributors as they are on a basically vertical axis.

      Ed Armstrong (armstrong@cpi.com) said he had read in
      European Car that the owner of Advanced Motorsports
      [Solutions] (AMS),reportedly a 16V guru, had devised a
      method to solve the problem.

      David R. Derting (davidder@teleport.com) called
      Techtonics Tuning and was referred to Advanced
      Motorsport Solutions (AMS) in L.A.  AMS had told him
      they no longer sold the seals as they could no longer
      get the seals from their supplier. I called AMS also
      and they confirmed that they no longer carried them.
      They also posed the question of why would anyone want
      to replace the seal and take the chance that the
      replacement would not be successful?  Why not just
      replace the distributor?

      [My guess is that if the seals are available and they
      have not found another supplier, it is because the
      repair is not very successful.  If they charged a
      customer $100 to make the repair (with the warning that
      it might not be successful and was not guaranteed), and
      it failed and the customer had to return again at a
      cost of another $100 (again with no guarantee of
      success), it would be easier to just replace the
      distributor for say $275 ($225 parts, plus $50 labor)
      and save the extra trip?]

      The new distributor from VW costs about $225.  I called
      2 local VW dealers and they said there is no seal
      available, the entire distributor had to be replaced.

      Martyn Kerluk (martynk@io.org) said he had the seal
      replaced in his distributor by VW Canada.  There was no
      reason to throw away the leaky distributor.  (But see
      below.)

      He also said the seals could be obtained from Cederbrae
      VW in Toronto.  416-438-1900.

      From David Marshall (marshall@abc.awink.com) I found
      out about:

      Southgate Volkswagen
      5220 Calgary Trail North
      Edmonton, AB, T6H 4J7
      Phone 403-435-4821
      Fax 403-435-7602
      Website http://www.comcept.ab.ca:80/sgvw/index.html
      email sgvw@comcept.ab.ca (Jane McDade)

      Jane McDade, of Southgate VW indicated that these seals
      were available at $7.23 Canadian.  The part number is
      051 905 085 BRE (or PRE?).

      Per SGVW there are two "seals".  One is an "O" ring at
      the base of the distributor which seals the head to the
      outside and one seal is inside the distributor.  The
      one inside the distributor is the one involved here.

      The shop foreman's admonition was "do not distort the
      washer which holds the seal in place." when doing the
      repair.

      In viewing the photo in the Bentley Manual there is no
      part identified as a "seal". There are shims and a
      plastic washer.
      For those attempting the repair, there is a pin which
      goes through the shaft of the distributor.  Several
      people have indicated that it can be difficult to
      remove.  Be careful not to bend the distributor shaft
      During the repair. A hydraulic press might be the answer.

      (NOTE: Apparently there is a hole in the cylinder head
      which allows the oil, which goes to the distributor
      shaft, to drain away from it. This hole can be
      "relieved" (drilled larger) when the head is off a 16V
      engine.  This seems to avoid the problem.  The head
      should be off the engine to avoid the possibility that
      chips of metal would get into the oil galleys. Thanks
      to Shine Racing Service (they're on the Web) for this
      tip.

      (For reference: MY DISTRIBUTOR is PN 0237 521 010 which
      I believe is the Bosch part number, and PN 027 905 205P
      which I believe is the VW part number. Number 050 Z415
      also appears on the distributor.)

      (February 7, 1996  A few days ago I got a response from
      Martyn Kerluk in regard to my inquiry.  He said the
      distributor on his VW started leaking 3 months after
      the seal repair.)

      Copyright 1996  Christopher T. Picot