Hi all, Someone has offered me a 1776 engine - twin 40s, engle cam, etc, but I have spoken to the guy who built it recently as he says there is no oil cooler on it? Is this normal for higher performance engnes? What keeps the oil cool?
It's not compulsory but I'd certainly recommend it. My 2056 ran for 1/2 year without an extra cooler although it has one now. A deep sump has a similar but not as good effect.
I think he means the standard one. Adapters are available the fit in place of the cooler stand with oil flow and return fittings for external cooler. Leaves more fan air for the heads and barrels?
Edit: I presumed you meant "external oil cooler". Very difficult to run without the std internal one or an external one.
If it's for a bus, tread carefully, lots of these engine's are specced for a lightweight beetle with the power up the rev range. Not really what you want for a bus. What cam?
It was built for a bus, and currently is still in the bus, so I could drive before I buy, but the engine builder did say that there was NO oil cooler AT ALL ??
That's what I thought?? I spoke to the engine builder & he said the guy seems to have been driving it a little enthusiastically and it did overheat within a few hundred miles. I think i'll have to speak to the current owner & have a look for myself? What should I be looking out for?
Surely if it's been overheated then damage will have possibly been done? I'd have thought it would need inspecting before you even contemplate fitting it
If it had only been asked to occasionally deliver bursts of power but cruised like a stock engine then the cooler would not be needed. But once you ask for more power and cruise fast, the cooling system gets pushed harder and the engine gets hotter than it should . It is said a 1641 should be ok without a cooler but I have been able to push mine to run hot after 20 miles on a motorway.. so I have a cooler now. When VW made an 1800 they uprated cooling with the T4 engine from 650 to 800 cfm of air a minute. So for the 1776 I suspect more cooling is worthwhile.
He might possibly mean that the stock cooler just isn't currently mounted on the engine. Possibly. But, whatever...if it has overheated, it'll need a full strip down to check for any damage. Best avoided.
Just ask the question again. If its been run without an oil cooler at all then dont buy it. It will be scrap!
This engine has been built by someone who's been building vw engines for years, and who's got a good reputation, so not sure how it's been built within insufficint cooling - so maybe someone's getting their wires crossed along the way. The engine builder says the owner bought it back not happy as it had overheated, but I think he'd been ragging it & apparently it took 2.5 litres of oil - so the problem may have been that there wasn't enough oil in it? But if it was a new build, why was there so little oil in it? Maybe I'll just try and get it cheap enough to factor in a strip and check-over & fitting an external oil cooler.
