914 2.0 unstoppable oil leak?

[Adidas]

Just purchased a 2.0 rebuilt engine. The previous owner or rebuilder overtightened the oil strainer cover/nut. I replaced the gaskets and retorqued to factory specs, however its still leaking fairly heavy in this area. Any suggestions on how to stop or slow down this leak with disasembling the case to replace the oil baffle. Any help appreciated. Thanks Bill

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

It is quite possible that you have "the syndrome". The stud that the nut goes onto loops over another stud that screws into the side of the crankcase. If the nut is overtightened, it pulls down on that second stud and can wind up breaking the part of the crankcase that it threads into. This is called "the syndrome", and is very well known in these engines.

If the case is broken there, it can lead to a wasted camshaft.

This sounds more serious than just replacing an oil baffle...

First, try making completely sure that the strainer cover is totally flat. Wrap some fine wet/dry sandpaper around a piece of glass, then run the strainer across it. You should be able to get the sealing surface at the edge nice and flat that way. (If the center is lower than the edge, you may need a piece of glass with a hole in it...)

Then you can use the newly-flat cover plate to flatten the sealing surface on the case. Either cut sandpaper to match and glue it to the plate (use something you can remove like rubber cement) and rotate the plate, or perhaps use valve lapping compound. Make sure you clean everything really really well after you're done...

(I'm basically following the procedure in the following tech article: http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/914_oil_pump_leaks/914_oil_pump_leaks.htm )

If the sump plate still leaks with the mounting surfaces all nicely flat (try it without the screen just for testing), then you're likely facing the syndrome and must tear the engine down to fix it.

Or try to get your money back...

--DD

[John Rogers]

If it is JUST the sump plate mount, you can convert to the type 1 multi bolt cover plate easily enough. It requires drilling and taping the holes in the case around the circumference of a replacement plate. It would best be done by a shop that has done this before. My race engine is done this way but it has so we could use an alloy cover plate to feed the dry sump pump. Good luck.