Small leak right under my engine shroud was getting larger. Expecting oil cooler issues I took the shroud off and was surprised to find the shroud had cut slits on both sides of my case. See pictures. First picture is for perspective on location of the damage and second pic is close up if passenger side slit/damage and visual of the hole. Driver side is almost exactly the same. Any thoughts on a fix?

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Clean it, JB Weld..

Remove some shroud material and JB weld the crack - or leave the crack alone.

Crack normally likes attention so you might need to fill it.

after you price what a vw case cost these days you will probably go jb weld route.

IMO you can tear down motor and have it welded too.

There ya go Scott, the GD.com peeps have spoken and get to JB weldin


Good luck and looks like it should hold up pretty good

Hey, this is my post #2000

Clean it and JB Weld it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I wouldn't want to have to replace the engine case.
Oh and trim the shrouds so it doesn't happen again.
Rob

Hey, post number 2000 in Slappy's forum

I have used JB on many VW engines. Just MAKE SURE you don't let any JB leak INSIDE the case! If you have to, put a small piece of aluminum foil over the hole in the case before you add the JB weld. And as was mentioned, trim the fan shroud so it no longer rubs on the case. I have to admit, in my 20+ years of experience with VW engines that is the first one I have ever seen that had case damage from the fan shroud. Very weird.

Thanks!! Looks like I will grind the low portion of the shroud and JB.

Thanks for the foil tip!! The hole is 3-4mm and I was afraid JB would seep. How much foil? Just enough to cover the hole?

Hopefully no post whoring?

it was mostly ALL hoing you ever heard of someone named Swamprincess?

THX. Grinder is warming up!

That's why I took pictures. I knew no one would believe the post and it took me a long time evaluating other possibilities before I believed it myself. It looks like a pretty good ban saw cut??

UUmmm, looks more like a circular saw because the ends go up, but anyways, get ta work so you can test it and make sure it doesn't leak so you have no more worries the next trip and done with it

Iwould also get the dremel out and grind a lil notch so the JB weld works the best

See if you can add some kind of rubber trim to the bottom of the shroud too to prevent this again along with the trimming mentioned

Yeah I mentioned that to him. use a small rubber gas line and cut it down the middle (not in half) and slide it underneath with a little glue

I agree JB Weld. then keep an eye on it for awhile. Lot cheaper than tearin it out. Stuff was a life safer in my marine engine days.

I had battery acid drip on my case and do some similar damage:



A little baking soda to neutralize the acid followed by a good scrub with degreaser and some JB weld it did just fine:



And after painting the case during that rebuilt it was barely even noticeable

These all sound like great repair ideas... what about the possibilty of dirt/sand doing internal damage to the bearings?

I respect to dirt and sand.....
What is done is done.
JB it up.

I might even consider tapping the hole for a machine screw?
Use thread locker with the screw....Grind the head off the screw and then JB the rest.

First I doubt that dirt or sand got in there because it's under a shroud and oil "pressure" is always pushing out, could happen, but highly doubt it.

Second I'd say the screw thing would be a bad idea IMO. You'd be making the hole bigger pushing the material of the block in, which the material eventually breaks off and eventually gets into the bearings and crank...

Cosmetic, JBWeld should work fine. As for the rubber gasket, if it cut through the block what sense does putting rubber down there make Once it has been clearanced there will be no need for the piece of rubber.

That was just my though instead of having to take the whole shroud off and cutting it, trimming it and all that. Plus the rubber keeps from vibration and what not, but it doesn't really matter I guess both will work

I used truck door protecector trim around my sheet metal edges..you know the stuff youu slide in the edge of your car door to not to damage the paint it works great ..door trim is the ticket!

I would think the screw would force the crack open more.

I wonder if it would soldier???...hmm..

Turbo is off, shroud is out, tin snipped the contact points and added fuel line rubber just in case + vibration. Foil over the holes and JB. I will pull the sump and completely drain just in case of a JB drip (doubtful). Then, if I can remember where everything goes, should have a test fire Friday and ready for the weekend. Thanks!!

I just might have some of that. Easier to slide on vs glueing fuel line. THX

so you ended up taking the turbo, shroud and all off anyways... well theat's good so you can get more of a feel for your car and what your looking at better

Lets see some after your done

Here is a pic of step #1, JB. And another of the mess I had to make to get there. Extracting the turbo and shroud was easier than I thought. Those alternator bolts were a biaaatch though, by far the toughest task. Bolt extractors are worthless and make the job 10x harder...just drill and re-tap would have saved me 4 hours.

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