It is possible to get them out without destroying them. I use a Snap-on electrical screwdriver shoved forcibly down one side square to the side of the flange. This tool is the only one I've found to be strong enough to take the leverage. You may get a dint in the plastic outer, but not enough to compromise the seal if you're careful. The fact they are metal makes them tough to lever out. New ones are cheap! Not genuine, but good enough
@theBusmonkey thanks for the information. I'm not by the camper today, so I'll take some photos and digest your thoughts tomorrow. Thanks
Just come back from a lovelyday out and the camper drove really well and I will take photos of my CV joint tomorrow. However, a new noise has developed that is only audible when under load and especially at speed. It sounds like a fast metalic drumming and stops as soon as I take my foot of the accelerator. Any ideas? When stopped and accelerated, no noise, so difficult to track down.
I think you have copper oval HX/head arrangement, most do? A likely source for metallic sounding leaks IME. I find the further from the head a leak is, the more muffled/deeper the sound. I had to file my heat exchangers. I bought the big file in the pics for the job, long enough to file both ports at once. t'other @orwell84 Have you done this?
The noise was definitely clattery and not muffled and started at speed around 50mph and when the engine was under load it made the sound, including when using engine brake downhill, but immediately disappeared when not accelerating. Yes I do have those HX and they were filed down with a huge file and the copper oval rings were annealed. Will have a crawl under the camper later.
Always hopeful it will be simple but something else then. It's not a sound that could have been there unheard before you made the engine all new and quiet?
Could the oilyness have washed the greasyness out of the CV? On off load noise is symptomatic of a dry joint but not sure how it would react with oil instead of grease. I drove for ages with a damp flange on the t3 but it was only a weep as opposed to several litres flushing through. That had no issues afaik, and it may if course be the other side and then completely coincidental. Apologies, Monday morning coffee break ramblings ...
Possibly false alarm in CV joint oil leak or clearing (i.e. poking with a stick) the breather tube as @77 Westy mentioned worked, but no real sign of oil. Two pictures are pre drive and cleaned of old muck and one of post 2 hour drive 24 hrs later. Looks OK to me ....which is good as the oil leaks from my push rod tubes and bell housing area got a tad worse Hey ho, another day another drip! I'll be crawling underneath properly later to see where clattering is coming from and if it is linked to increased oil spill.
Crawling done and no holes in silencer to be making noise. HX manifolds show no movement and nothing is rattling if I push it. Other than all the changes made to the engine, I have added a heat shield to the system and although it looks clear and no sign of any paint damage I was wondering...but I doubt it. I may need to drive it again and get a GoPro type camera in the noisy box to see and hear what can be seen and heard. Meanwhile, I've removed the two bottom tinware pieces and found that 3 push rod tubes are leaking enough that I'm not happy, i.e. HX covered below them covered in oil. I don't think it is the rocker cover but I'll check that as well. So a bit a twisting of push rod tubes again required. What recommend alternatives are there for leak free push rod tubes or seals. I am considering changing them if twisting does not work. The bell housing is still leaking slowly so will need looking into when I drop the engine again in the autumn. Finally, the CV oil leak is showing up as a very fine oil sheen in the case. Not an issue for now IMHO.
Check the tubes carefully, they might be split on the join. Also check that the head end O-ring is fully located in the head – I had to fit spacers in the crankcase end of the tubes on mine. At least on a type 4 it’s easy to change the O-rings if you have to.
I haven’t. I did check that they were flat and parallel on a surface plate and thought that filing would do more harm than good. Before I checked them, I asked a local machinist if he could mill them flat and he said he couldn’t.
After a test drive with @mcswiggs, we identified the offending noise as coming from both the CV joints and wheel bearings. So I've booked the camper in for some TLC with Terry's Beetle services as the wheel bearings are outside my tool box. On the oil front, does anybody have a source of vitron oil seals as my push rods are leaking quite a lot even (or because of) my juggling them about!
They’re often Viton (black) case end and Silicone (green) at the head end. If they leak I don’t think it’s a material problem, Viton or Silicone should be fine.
