Suggestion: shrink tubing IS marvelous stuff, but you might want to locate self-sealing silicone tape. Around here, Radio Shack has it. It is a non-adhesive soft rubbery tape that comes on a backing material. Peel it off the roll, wrap so that it overlaps itself, and wait 24 hours. It sort of fuses together so that there are no seams. I advised a friend (with an 8-valve '87 Jetta) to try it on a CV boot that was not able to be properly repaired immediately. It held for three months! And he drives it as though he had a 16-valve up front, so it wasn't babied. Made a trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula from Milwaukee, 6 hours of travel each way, the weekend he put it on, and several more times later, in addition to daily use. He's a locksmith, so drives a lot every day. Ron ----- Original Message ----- From: "Holland Phillips" <[email protected]> To: "Galen Bergthold" <[email protected]> Cc: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, July 28, 2003 12:44 AM Subject: Re: [a2-16v-list] Transaxle oil leak
> > The gear selector is almost directly above the speedometer cable > > opening. Is it possible that the selector shaft oil seal is leaking > > and thus giving the appearance of a leak from the speedometer cable > > opening? > > Nope, checked that. Thanks, though, it would be easy to miss... > > > Actually I just had a thought. Have you recently refilled the tranny? > > If it > > is overfilled there is the chance some could come out the breather > > which is > > near the speedo cable. > > Yep, that's how it started. Since I have a 6 speed, it takes a bit > more oil than the stock 5 speed. I wasn't sure how much was put in the > last time it was changed, > so I decided to add a little extra. However, it's not leaking from the > breather (the breather is just above the the selector shaft cover below > the clutch cable stop on the opposite side of the case from the speedo > cable hole). > > > Check the cable itself. I replaced the seal a couple of times to no > > avail. The housing on the cable was slightly cracked and apparently > > oil was getting up inside there somehow and leaking out. Try a WHOLE > > LOT of electrical tape. :) > > That's about the only conclusion that I could come to, but I just > wanted to hear it from someone else. It makes sense - the speedo cable > has a multi stranded core inside a cable housing, just like a throttle > cable or brake cable on a bicycle. The stranded core is wound into a > spiral, and since it rotates, it draws oil up into the housing, just > like an auger on a grain elevator (sorry, Gramps was a farmer). Any > breaks in the housing sheathing allows the oil to leak out. > <fast forward 24 hours> > Well, I removed the speedo cable (again), and after a nice bath in > brake clean, I used a 2.5" piece of 1" diameter shrink tubing that I > split and wrapped around the cable housing with some RTV. I used a few > cable ties to secure everything, and then used a heat gun to shrink the > tubing material and hopefully seal it up permanently. It appears to be > working, so far. I'll know for sure in the next few days. > > Thanks for the input guys!! > > --Holland > [email protected] > > _______________________________________________ > a2-16v-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.a2-16v.com/mailman/listinfo/a2-16v-list > For list archives, see listinfo link above. >
