Golf GTI update

With a service due, it seemed an ideal opportunity to deal with an annoying oil leak coming from the rear of the MkI Golf’s rocker box but simple jobs like this have a habit of becoming more involved than originally thought

Replacing a leaking rocker box gasket proved harder than we thought.

There’s nothing more annoying than an oil leak, especially one that at first glance seems easy to fix, such as from the rocker box cover. So we weren’t expecting a simple gasket swap like this to slow down a scheduled service. But like most jobs on a cherished car like Lancaster Insurance’s prize MkI Golf GTI, we definitely spoke too soon and it wasn’t long before Matt at Forge Garage ran into trouble.

After slackening off the nuts securing the after market bracing strut mounted between the front suspension towers, removing the rocker box cover was pretty straightforward and the old cork seal was soon winging its way towards the bin. The new gasket was a rubberbased affair and it seemed rather odd that a set of new fixing studs were also included in the pack as well.

Thinking this was all down to German efficiency, it soon became apparent that the holes in the new gasket where too small to locate over the small shoulders on the existing studs. A careful inspection of the new gasket showed how the holes

incorporate steel spacers the same size as the shoulders on the studs, which meant it wouldn’t sit flat.

The only way to solve this problem was to extract the old studs and fit the plain ones that came with the new gasket. What should have been literally a fiveminute job was now turning into a marathon. As the correct sized stud extractor was missing from the kit, the old locking two nuts together trick was used to wind out the old studs using a pair of open- ended spanners. All the old front studs came out without too much of a fight, but due to being constantly heated up by the nearby exhaust manifold the back ones were stuck fast.

As expected, applying a small amount of extra pressure sheered off the two studs close to the Golf’s alloy head. With a couple of broken studs to extract before the new gasket could be fitted, the job had taken a turn for the worst and we all stood by scratching our heads while wondering what to do next. Before resorting to drilling out the remains and re-tapping the threads, Tony decided to have a go at removing the broken studs with a special socket normally reserved for removing damaged or rounded off nuts.

Thankfully, both studs had sheered on the collar side, so there was just enough material remaining to allow one of these special sockets to get a grip. The harder you twist the wrench, the tighter these

clever sockets grip and it wasn’t long before the remains were carefully wound out of the head.

Once the new studs were screwed in place and everything cleaned up, the replacement gasket was fitted and the rocker box cover replaced. As the old engine oil had been draining out of the sump while the new gasket was being fitted, the next job was to refit the sump plug. After fitting a new oil filter, the engine was topped with the correct amount of oil and a new set of spark plugs and a replacement air filter were fitted.

The rest of the service included removing the wheels to check the condition of the brake pads and shoes and after fitting a new fuel filter; the car was ready for a brief road test. A look around the top of the engine when the car came back showed the oil leak had been cured and the rear of the engine was now bone dry. Job done!