worn out pressure relief valve spring and happy vanaman

[fortheloveofvdub]

I wanted to post this picture of the oil pressure relief valve spring I removed from my 100,000 mile old 2.1 compared to its replacement.
Long story short: I completed 24 months of Sundays work on my ’86 weekender with its transplanted ’91 motor only to be squealed at on the first ride, with only moderately high RPM’s (no tach).
I changed the oil from 10w40 to 20w50 Cast. GTX, replaced the spring mentioned above and replaced the high RPM switch. I then kissed the van, said sweet things, and no further problems so far (knock on an atom).

Other positive thoughts: Goldie's brand new pop top seals were turning the first mad river snow here in Ohio today; gotta get the cover on quick, but its nice to see her all sealed up. Spring is gonna be sweet; one more dead vanagon no longer.
good day,

[woggs1]

How does the spring increase oil pressure?
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4 speed 88 Westy

[wgargan]

if it is the oil pressure relief spring. My assumption would be that the stronger springs will require more pressure before it can be relieved.
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Current ride:

1983.5 Watercooled Vanagon 'L' Automatic transmission

[morymob]

time & a hard run will tell but me thinks the heavy oil has temp overcome other problem(s).good luck. Do a oil press test -will answer your questions.

[tencentlife]

The springs do get tired, every one I pull from a hi-miles wbx looks as short as the one in the pic.

The valve is understood as only relieving overpressure, so it is presumed that it only comes into play when pressure is actually pretty high and should have no effect on low hot running pressure, but I've done direct-comparison testing and found that in reality it affects galley pressure across the board. So one can deduce that it is actually relieving a little oil all the time, and more when the spring is weakened and oil is hot.

This is why I always suggest that people having hot OP problems and the buzzer going off in the classic pattern who are either in search of a quick fix or contemplating changing to a hi-volume oil pump just remove the valve plug and put a 1/4" washer on the spring seat. Standard flat washers are about 1.5mm thick and this will raise hot mid-rpm OP about 5psi, usually. When I did back-to-back tests I found I got better results from the washer for 5 cents and 5 minutes than you get with the $35 HV pump and 3.5 hours of work. The big pump only added about 3psi of pressure hot, when it is needed, but made a huge increase in cold pressure, like to 90-100psi, which isn't desirable.

You should not need to run 20w oil in a wbx that has decent bearing tolerances and the oiling system in good order. Lighter baseweight oil will reach every part of the engine faster on a cold-start, warm up quicker, clear lifter clatter in less time, do a better job of lubrication and heat transfer once warm, and increase engine efficiency overall. One thing that can be serviced without major disassembly to bring the oiling system closer to spec is to replace the relief valve spring, or shore up your tired one by shimming it up with a washer.
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Experience is kryptonite to doctrine.

[Vanagon Nut]

Wow. Great post by .10

Anyone know what the typical length of a tired oil pressure spring is?

Will a lot of oil come out from pressure relief galley when plug removed?
(I may attempt a driveway repair, on my land lords super clean driveway)

Thanks

Neil.
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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[CanStan]

I replaced one I suspected was weak. It's been a while, but for some reason 64mm seems to ring a bell as the new length. I recall my tired spring being 4-5mm shorter. I know I found it easily in a search. Maybe someone else will confirm. You won't lose a lot of oil- less than 1/2 cup. It's a pretty quick and easy job. Good luck!

[Vanagon Nut]

Thanks CanStan. I'm hoping that valve spring is what's causing the oil buzzer
to go off.
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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[Vanagon Nut]

Thanks. Found it. Seems a new spring is 62.4 mm or 62 mm.

[Vanagon Nut]

1/4" washer goes between spring and plunger?

Or am I putting a washer at bottom of Spring where it sits on the plug?
That would be a much larger washer?

Thanks

Neil.
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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[kjono09]

How did you get the oil pressure relief plug off? Is there a hex Bilt head I can replace it with?
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84 Retro-Westy GW 2.2L (Vincent)
67 Bug 2007cc (WBX in progress) (Davey)

Submariner

[T3 Pilot]

A. Make a special tool......

B. Yes, or just weld a big nut to the plug when it is removed....
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1988 Vanagon

The most important part in every vehicle is the nut behind the wheel......

[dustyrhodes]

Replacing this spring fixed my buzzer issues. I would get a buzzer above 2k rpms after a long run on the highway (or big hills). When I had the shop measure oil pressure it was quite low. I picked up over 10psi hot replacing the spring.
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1989 Vanagon Westfalia

[Stephenmarklay]

I see that some vendors sell a longer spring than the OEM and then a standard spring. Is going longer than OEM too much?
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1985 Westfalia. Project 2017.

[IdahoDoug]

Is there a seal in this spring cover? Or do you use sealant?
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[djkeev]

Yes there is Doug......

Dave
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Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos

Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[Robw_z]

I just did this. I decided to try the washer method because I like to feel thrifty and save $20 plus shipping from Van Cafe, but frankly it's probably worth it for the proper spring.

I got a single 10mm washer. The OD of the washer was smaller than the screw plug at the bottom of the spring, but the ID was too small to fit around the inner spring perch molded into the top of the screw plug. So I drilled out the washer a bit, and it fits well.

It only gains me 2mm though, I'd have preferred double that. My spring measures 60mm.

I have a hot oil buzzer every once in awhile, it freaked me out at first but this has been going on years with no problems other than the occasional buzzer, I'll update if this helped anything.

-Rob

[Steve M.]

[danfromsyr]

bumping this thread up as I am planning to pull, measure & shim mine in the next week.

will report back any improvements.

Dan
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