Air-cooled: Major oil leak

[MegantheVanagonOwner]

Hi all! I'm new to this forum as well as new to being a Vanagon owner! Just trying to do some troubleshooting. My van has an oil leak. It will leak before it even gets to running. Overnight, it can leak about a half quart of oil (if I put that much in). It's not leaking down in one spot, but rather dripping down in three to four spots off of that panini press looking piece (please don't judge me! Hah).

Anyone have any guesses or places to start looking?

[Terry Kay]

This leak identification operation will take some investigating--

Crawl under the back end of the van, look up, and take a good look to locate where it may be coming from.
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T.K.

[newfisher]

Welcome.

If its an air cooled, you may have to pull the lower shrouding down to see further up. Don't rule out items above r on top that may be letting oil run down. This isn't as likely as you say it leaks when not running and the oil is in the bottom portion of the engine. Push rod tube seals? Best guess without pics.

Clean the areas with Simple Green or Purple Power and a rag or compressed air to dry. this will give you a better idea of the path from the oil

Make sure you inspect furl lines wile you are looking around

[borninabus]

welcome

please tell us what year your van is.
the pannini press looking thing is the bottom of the crankcase.
if it's leaking without even running i would have to suspect the drain plug or its severely over filled.

could be other options depending on year.
hope you're ready for a crash course in mechanics.
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88 Van WBX, A/T - 13 JSW TDI 6M/T - 2012 Touareg TDI Sport

[MegantheVanagonOwner]

Thanks for the replies so far!
It's a 1980 air cooled, and yes, I've been well prepped for my upcoming crash course in mechanics

[PDXWesty]

Easiest thing to check is the valve cover gaskets. They can easily leak as you've described.

Are the air cooled vanagon valve covers the same as the busses? They're just held on with a spring wire.
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

[nacradriver]

[Howesight]

What's a "panini press" and will it make my Van go faster?

Seriously, though, a few pictures of the leak area are worth a few thousand words.
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'86 Syncro Westy SVX

[MegantheVanagonOwner]

Thanks for the replies so far!
It's a 1980 air cooled, and yes, I've been well prepped for my upcoming crash course in mechanics

[borninabus]

on an air cooled, T4 engine the "taco plate" (rear, right) and strainer plate (middle) would be prime suspects.
if it's leaking while not running from anywhere other than the drain plug or these two places, it is overfilled with oil, possibly oil/gas mixed.

use caution on the strainer plate nut. it is only torqued to 7ft/lb!
if it's already broken, then you are in pretty deep dookie.

good luck!
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88 Van WBX, A/T - 13 JSW TDI 6M/T - 2012 Touareg TDI Sport