Oil strainer

[johnboy715]

The oil strainer on my ‘69 bug does not have the metal center piece in that fits over the tube at the bottom of the motor. It only has the screen with the opening in the center. No metal collar. It is a stock VW part. Is that the way they were supposed to be? Bought a replacement but the bottom comes down too far and interferes with the bottom plate center drain plug. Suggestion?

[ashman40]

There were different oil strainers depending on the engine. Your '69 may not have the original engine so you need to select your strainer by the engine model# stamped below the generator stand. Look up the first few letters/numbers here to determine which case you have and what year it came from.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/engine_letters.php

Also check the bottom of your case. Does it have dual oil relief plugs or just a single plug?

Dual-relief cases had a larger oil pickup tube and used a strainer with a larger diameter opening.

If you have the drain plate off, you could just measure the diameter of the pickup tube that goes into the top of the oil strainer.

??mm (111-115-175) = 25 hp Engines (1947-53)
14mm (113-115-175) = 40hp (1200cc) engine
16mm (311-115-175A) = Single relief case (1500-1600cc)
19mm (111-115-175B) = Dual-relief case

Just be sure to get the proper strainer for your specific model engine.


Your pic appears to be an early 40HP strainer. Are you running a 40HP engine? I don't think the early engines had the drain nut in the bottom plate. The later strainers had a space in the bottom of the strainer which gave more room for a drain plug. It looks like your strainer has a flat bottom? You can sort of see the space in the bottom of the strainer from this '74 Beetle Owner's Manual page:

_________________
AshMan40
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'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!}

[Buggeee]

[johnboy715]

Not the original motor. It’s from a ‘68. H5357728

[volksworld]

the hole in the center of the screen needs to be sized to the pickup screen...that style screen is seen more commonly on 40 hp engines but is probably still correct for an early 1500 case ...especially if you have 10mm nuts holding your oil pump cover on...so just measure...if the hole was too small you probably couldnt get the screen back in place as te tube has to slide into it...later screens (metal collar) used a mechanism with a spring that would theoretically allow the screen to collapse down and let oil to bypass it if the screen were to become completely clogged...highly unlikely on a car that sees low mileage, decent maintainance and uses todays detergent oils...most later screens also have larger center holes to accomodate later larger diameter pickup tubes and if used on an early pickup the oil will flow around it...and most aftermarket screens are complete junk and have screen so large they only stop small rocks...so if yours has been working fine for the last 50 years leave it alone, whatever you try to replace it with will be worse

[johnboy715]

Thanks for the info. I’ll do some measuring.

Found same style strainers for sale from M&T. Guess they are still made.

https://www.mtmfg.com/part/view/oil-strainervw-bee...1-115-175A

[sjbartnik]

I have seen the oil strainers without the metal center piece and frankly I think they are just the cheap ones out there that are available. Everybody's trying to make their crap as cheaply as possible these days.

I have bought higher-quality oil strainers *with* the metal center ring from Bughaus so I would suggest checking them out.
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1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[ashman40]

[Tim Donahoe]

Even this latest oil filter, shown by Ashman, can be tricky. The mesh on the cheaper ones is not nearly as fine as the OEM filters. If ordering online, it’s a crapshoot whether you’ll get one with a fine mesh.

Tim
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Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[sjbartnik]

Also important to note there were different size oil pickup tubes over the years depending on engine size and perhaps also single or dual relief case.

Best way to make sure you get the right strainer is to measure the diameter of your oil pickup tube.

Perhaps the strainer without center metal section is hack designed to let the strainer work with whatever size oil pickup tube the car has.
_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[johnboy715]

Did get one that fit tube. Problem was the bottom of the strainer would not allow the plate with center drain plug to be used. Not enough clearance and the drain plug hit the bottom.

[johnboy715]

Changed oil today. Oil pick up tube is 14mm OD. Oil Strainer hole is between 14-15mm. Seemed to fit snug over the pick up tube. Guessing it is stretched a little to fit the curve of the pick up tube. Strainer is a stamped VW part: 311 115 1752. It has a Finer mesh screen than the aftermarket one I bought.
Photos included