15º VW I4 Oil Cap, Metal engine lid.

[Vanagon Nut]

Hello folks.

Edit: Not suggesting that these caps are prone to failing in this manner just from normal use.

Since the engine lid design would be different than mine or it uses the OEM lid, I doubt this would happen to any of the 1.8T or other 15º swaps but thought I'd share.

I'd worked on my clutch lever yesterday. Today I take off the engine lid and see this:

at first I thought someone else did this and put something in the oil fill hole (I know, paranoid but it made NO sense). I look inside and see this:

The oil cap had lost its' plastic cover long ago. I think what happened was that over time, I was catching the cap with the engine lid (mine is super heavy) which in turn caused the cap to fail in this manner.

Last paragraph edited.

Neil.

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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[Zeitgeist 13]

This made me run out and check my own cap. Turns out I used a low profile Mercedes cap which has a plastic retainer to keep the metal tab in place if it becomes detached. That thing could've wreaked havoc in there if not for the oiling splash guard to protect the valve train.
_________________
Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Vanagon Nut]

[Vanagon Nut]

[Zeitgeist 13]

I can honestly say that I've neither seen nor heard of that particular failure mode before.
_________________
Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Vanagon Nut]

[Zeitgeist 13]

Gotcha, so as you were periodically removing the engine lid it was catching on the cap and tweaking it slightly every time?
_________________
Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Vanagon Nut]