# Plastic thing under valve cover needed?



## Vdub187 (May 15, 2009)

I have a 1987 Jetta 8 valve. I slightly broke the plastic thing that go's ontop of the camshaft when I was shoving a funnel in my oil filler. Is that part really needed, and if so, what is it's purpose? It looks like a splash guard that covers the whole length of the camshaft
Muchas Gracias











_Modified by Vdub187 at 4:29 AM 5-15-2009_


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## 4ePikanini (Aug 29, 2007)

*FV-QR*

you need it as it keeps splashing oil on the cam
without it you will have 2 bad things
1. Less oil on the cam
2. More oil back in your intake
You decide....


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## spitpilot (Feb 14, 2000)

*Re: FV-QR (fourie_marius)*


_Quote, originally posted by *fourie_marius* »_you need it as it keeps splashing oil on the cam
without it you will have 2 bad things
1. Less oil on the cam
2. More oil back in your intake
You decide....
 Right on! It keeps excessive oil from splashing up and into the breather hose so that only vapor not liquid oil goes out the breather and into your intake to be burned..emissions control. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## MK2SnowPilot (Sep 8, 2005)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (Vdub187)*

How broken is it?
If it's chipped or shattered then the pieces may clog the oil pump pickup tube - NOT good!


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## Vdub187 (May 15, 2009)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (MK2SnowPilot)*

Yeah, a one inch triangular chunk broke off. It was fine for like 10,000 miles, but now my oil light won't shut off and my followers are clacking like they aren't getting enough oil, so that was the first thing I was going to check, just wanted to know if I should have a new part on hand when I take off the valve cover. Thanks for the replies.
Does anyone still sell that part?


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## Damoik09 (May 15, 2009)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (Vdub187)*

go to a local pick a part.. or plastic weld yourself?? your followers shouldn't be affected by this tho.. maybe your buzzin from crappy oil pressure?? worth a check moi.


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## Damoik09 (May 15, 2009)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (Damoik09)*

ahh ****... a wester wa member! come up to the lynnwood gtg sometime! if there still doin it that is...







theres pullaparts up here too, got that part all day long bro!


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## MK2SnowPilot (Sep 8, 2005)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (Damoik09)*

IF you see what looks like gold dust in the bottom of the pan then you've damaged the bearings.
If so I would recommend that you replace the rod bearings - They are easy to do and should be the cause of most of the metal you see.
I nursed my car home when my oil pump pickup clogged and saw that in the bottom of my pan. Replaced those bearings 30,000 kms ago and she's still running strong http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif
Now to just convince the wife to keep the MK2 around as a spare car


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## Vdub187 (May 15, 2009)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (MK2SnowPilot)*

I was hoping to make it to my next clutch change to do the rod bearings, lol, "kill two birds". I replaced the head, rings, and honed the cylinders, but skipped the bearings trying to save money. Now one of them slightly chatters around 2500 rpm. Before I rebuilt it I thought the chatter was a follower...whoops. If the wrist pin is loose at the piston, I have to replace the piston, right? I remember one of them slid in just a little too easy, lol. Can't remember if it was loose in the piston or the con-rod though. Dang my impatience! But this new problem seems to have happened so fast, it's been fine with the loose wrist pin for like 10,000 miles, so I'm hoping that chunk of plastic has just worked it's way into the wrong spot and all I'll have to do is remove the valve cover and remove it. Yeah, like it's ever that easy! lol Why didn't I take care of that right away?!?!
"...the pieces may clog the oil pump pickup tube"
Dang, so how wide is the passageway that drains oil back down to the oil pan? Guess I'll find out when I take off the valve cover. Then if that doesn't fix it, I'll take off the oil pan and pop off the oil pump pick-up tube, see what's up. It's a new pump, as of the rebuild. Sucks 'cus I had to finish my shift delivering pizzas with the oil light on and it sounding like a diesel, lol, hope I didn't fubar it. Had good power, so I hope it was getting at least _some_ oil. Hoping it was just the followers not adequately pumping up that was making all that racket. Good thing I got this Bus, lol. She aint goin' nowheres aye, 'til I get that oil light off












_Modified by Vdub187 at 2:23 AM 5-16-2009_


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## Vdub187 (May 15, 2009)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (Damoik09)*

"...your followers shouldn't be affected by this tho.."
Damoik09, don't the followers rely on adequate oil pressure to maintain hydraulic pressure, being a part that's constantly being 'pumped up' by oil? I know that's how the hydraulic followers(lifters)in my Bus work anyway -I was under it just two days ago replacing one that wasn't pumping up! Not my week











_Modified by Vdub187 at 2:13 AM 5-16-2009_


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## Vdub187 (May 15, 2009)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (Vdub187)*

I found a new "valve cover oil deflector" for $6 at autohausaz.com! Yay, I don't have to settle for a brittle used one







and have to tear the valve cover off some nasty junk yard car to get it, lol, but now I gotta wait 7-10 days for shipping...gonna suck having to use my Bus to deliver pizza


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## MK2SnowPilot (Sep 8, 2005)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (Vdub187)*

IF the wrist pin is loose then it's causing the piston to slop around the cylinder which is most likely wearing the cylinder walls into an oval. Again - NOT good!
I wouldn't worry too much about it now though - any damage is already done. Besides witch these motors are pretty darn tough so even if the wrist pin is bad you can probably still get another 50-60k out of it.
Best thing right now is to drop the pan, and inspect the rod bearings. IF they look really worn (they are aluminum plated copper) then you'll have to look at the crankshaft bearings for wear too. Replace as nessessary with oem stock size. The whole point of those bearings is to take the beating for the moving parts and in my limited experience replacing worn bearings with stock OEM ones ususally is good enough.
Good luck dude!


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## Vdub187 (May 15, 2009)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (MK2SnowPilot)*

Thanks bro








So I took off the oil pan 
-man those two bolts nearest the flywheel are a PITA! Was going to have to cut down my 1/4" 10mm socket so it would fit in there with a wobbly, but I got them out by sticking the open end of a box wrench on them longways, then using another wrench to turn the box wrench, lol.- 
I was like WTF, the shards of plastic multiplied or something -there was like twenty little chunks of plastic in the pan! Then I remembered, hey, where's the oil pump pick-up tubes surge baffle? lol. I guess they don't make 'em like they used to. Somehow, in the course of 15,000 miles since new it turned into little chunks of plastic.
So here's a new question:
Is the surge baffle really needed for the oil pump pick-up? lol
I see autohausaz.com has a special oil pan gasket that has a built in baffle to "prevent starvation", 
https://www.autohausaz.com/sec...B.jpg
is that why VW designed the original plastic "surge baffle", to help prevent starvation under severe conditons? ...but I don't want to have to spend $42 for that special gasket at autohausaz.com every time I have to pop the pan off. Then again, I don't want a plastic baffle if it's just going to fall apart and clog the pick-up tube screen again








Man, I hope my cam followers aren't clogged with tiny bits of plastic!



_Modified by Vdub187 at 5:50 AM 5-17-2009_


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## MK2SnowPilot (Sep 8, 2005)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (Vdub187)*

np








1) For those bolts be the flywheel get yourself a "wobble extension" It's just an extension with a rounded end that the socket fits on instead of square.
2) YES! It's very important. I wouldn't run without that plastic piece.
3) That baffle (it's metal) was actually standard on all OBD1 ABA motors. The fact they stopped coming on later engines should tell you that they are not really nessesary. Only reason to have it is if you track it where you have long sharp turns that would cause all the oil to go to one side of the motor. I've never had a problem not running one. 
4) your cam followers won't be clogged with plastic - the oil filter would have caught any that somehow made it past the oil pump pickup screen.
5) Did you look in the bottom of the pan for shiny metal shavings?


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## Vdub187 (May 15, 2009)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (MK2SnowPilot)*

There where some shavings, but not many. I like to think that the brief period it was running at reduced oil pressure(20 miles) acted like a hone to finish polish whatever bearings weren't quite mating perfectly, lol! Guess I'll just wait and see how it runs when I get it back together though. Again, I'm hoping to make it to last til my next clutch job before overhauling it. Man these freakin' sites want $40 for that stupid little oil pump baffle!








"2) YES! It's very important. I wouldn't run without that plastic piece.
3) That baffle (it's metal) was actually standard on all OBD1 ABA motors. The fact they stopped coming on later engines should tell you that they are not really nessesary. Only reason to have it is if you track it where you have long sharp turns that would cause all the oil to go to one side of the motor. I've never had a problem not running one."
OK, so the plastic surge baffle that clips onto the pump pick-up is required, but the pan baffle is mainly for racing, correct? 



_Modified by Vdub187 at 1:56 PM 5-17-2009_


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## MK2SnowPilot (Sep 8, 2005)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (Vdub187)*

IF you have the pan off already it should be quick


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## Damoik09 (May 15, 2009)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (MK2SnowPilot)*

sorry man, didnt realize you had a oil pres. issue already, guesse I should read all the posts eh??







sounds like you got it all figured out. I would throw the baffle in there. They made the part for a reason right??


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## MK2SnowPilot (Sep 8, 2005)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (Damoik09)*

Well the baffle won't hurt anything but it really isn't needed. If you're low on cash I would just buy the regular rubber one. That's already an upgrade over the old gasket.


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## Vdub187 (May 15, 2009)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (MK2SnowPilot)*

Well I don't want the plastic baffle falling off again, and autohausaz.com can't get them, so I got their gasket with built in baffle(aka windage tray)instead. Yeah, I'll have to replace it every time I take off the pan because it has an integrated pan gasket(That surface is how it mounts in the pan), but it's design seems better than the little stock surge baffle anyways. I read the stock baffle won't fit if you use a windage tray, so I'm assuming it does the same job. I think you have to take off the pump to get the tray on...you think its gasket will be reuseable at 15,000 miles, or is it a paper gasket?, I can't remember.
I'm thinking about just coating it's rubber gasket in anti-seize compound for installation. Maybe that way I might be able to reuse it once in a year when I do my rod-bearings? Freakin' things are like $42 a pop! lol Thanks for the tip about the wobbly extension too











_Modified by Vdub187 at 12:38 AM 5-19-2009_


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## MK2SnowPilot (Sep 8, 2005)

*Re: Plastic thing under valve cover needed? (Vdub187)*

It's a rubber gasket and can be reused many time. 15k is OK. I upgraded my mk2 to just the rubber gasket and have had the pan off a few times now. The only thing you have to be carefull of is damaging the gasket when you pull it off. I've found a smallish drywall putty knife is thin enough to get in between the motor and the gasket without damaging it. Once it's in just move it back and forth to break the seal.


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