Name that foreign object (in my oil)

[eaton]

Time to play everyone's least favorite game--What's that foreign object in my oil? Found this morning (sitting above the strainer). It's black hard plastic, similar to the plastic of a distributor cap. Thoughts?

[Frank Beck]

Old fashioned hard rubber chain guide comes to mind.
or
Part of the inner lining of an old rubber hose.


Or a small child engaged in hi jinx and dropped a piece of licorice in your oil tank.

[Jon B]

Name suggestion: Chip

Jon B.
Vista, CA

[Jon B]

Old fashioned hard rubber chain guide comes to mind...

Very likely.

They were used from 68 through 76, and are known to crumble and fall apart with old age. They weren't "hard plastic", but can get hard and brittle over time.
It could be a piece of later plastic guide, but those wouldn't be original to your 2.2, and don't often crumble like that.

We're assuming that this was from your 2.2, and not from your 79 beetle vert engine.



Jon B.
Vista, CA

[eaton]

Yes, the 2.2. I sold the Beetle to Germany last month. The engine has oil-fed tensioners, but I have no idea if the PO changed the guides. I supposed I should pull over the covers and have a look? Are they hard to replace?

Very likely.

They were used from 68 through 76, and are known to crumble and fall apart with old age. They weren't "hard plastic", but can get hard and brittle over time.
It could be a piece of later plastic guide, but those wouldn't be original to your 2.2, and don't often crumble like that.

We're assuming that this was from your 2.2, and not from your 79 beetle vert engine.



Jon B.
Vista, CA

[Jon B]

The engine has oil-fed tensioners, but I have no idea if the PO changed the guides. I supposed I should pull over the covers and have a look?

The guides should have been updated with the tensioners, if not already done years earlier.
Did you get a receipt for the tensioner work from the PO? If so, then new guides might be listed on the receipt.
If the engine has never been completely apart, it's possible for small pieces like that to remain inside for years.

Here's a picture from a Pelican thread, showing the end of an old rubber guide missing (their red circles and notes, not mine)...



Jon B.
Vista, CA

[eaton]

Thanks, Jon. I don't have any receipts on the update, and no history on the engine.

[Jon B]

I suspect that the guides have already been replaced. That small piece might have been trapped somewhere inside the engine, maybe behind the oil pump, for years.
But you might consider pulling one or both chainbox covers off and checking the guides, just to be sure.

Jon B.
Vista, CA

[Frank Beck]

Oil hose inner liner.

Let me know what I win.

[Jon B]

Oil hose inner liner.

Possibly, but it has at least two sides that appear to be flat and straight. And he describes it as "hard plastic"...

Jon B.
Vista, CA