If you're mad enough to hand over a lot of money for an engine you haven't seen or heard running you take your chances. An untested unseen Type 4engine is worth £200 tops, really all you're doing is trying to get your hands on a useable case and any salvageable parts. The more parts ou can get the better, especially ancillary parts such as alternator, carbs, air filters and tins. Carbs are normally only worth ditching but you might get lucky. All BUS type 4 engines are essentially the same. Porsche 914 engines are essentially the same engine but with subtle differences, and are not usually recommended for use in the heavier bus. If its lived its entire life in a 914 it will have been thrashed. Its worth pointing out to the uninitiated that 'Air Cooled' engines are in fact 'Oil Cooled' The air cools the oil, but its the oil which cools the engine. In order for the oil to cool the engine there needs to be oil in it - a small persistent leak around the pushrod tubes isn't so bad, once it becomes a gusher though its time for you to think about dropping the engine and find out what's going on. No manner of sealants and goo will stop it leaking so you're wasting your time trying. Another point is that a small drop on the drive way isn't an indication that the small drop is the limit to your leak - when the engine is running at high RPM and is hot is when the oil leaks out - not when the van is sat still and looking all doe eyed at you. an engine that has been run for even the shortest period of time with little or no engine oil is knackered - I would question any engine that is coated in oil from all sides for 2 reasons, 1) the previous owner obviously didn't care enough to take care of the engine, keep it clean and to find and correct the source of the leak(s) 2) if they didn't care enough there will have been times when they let the oil levels get to low Buyer beware - if you find a logo which looks like this it means its already been remanufactured. To what level you won't know so its possible that the case is already on its final cut and can't be machined out anymore. So, in order of engine type. 1700 Generally viewed as the weakest of the type 4 engine in a bus application, really only because it was slightly down on horsepower and would get thrashed to achieve the same sort of performance as the 1800 and 2 litre engines. It is a good solid engine but is more prone to overheating on #3 so its paramount that all cooling tins are in order and fully functional with a working thermostat. Its also essential that it is well tuned and serviced regularly with correct oil changes. Zed has done a good write up on what goes wrong here http://thelatebay.com/index.php?topic=14450.0 Read it! If someone tells you its 'just had a top end rebuild' find out what they've done, they'll know and will have a list of receipts as long as their arm and should be happy to show you. If they don't, you take your chances. If they haven't done the big end bearings too my advice would be walk away, or be prepared to spend at least a few hundred quid. For all engines r: black;">look for the usual oil spills and leaks - messy push rods and rocker gaskets are the norm. Its an easy fix but most leave them as they are either lazy, but also they are used to hide a multitude of sins - the location of the fan tends to suck oil in and spray it around all over the place. You need to steam/jetwash/degrease the negine fully then run it and see where its leaking from. If crankcase pressure is building (usually a sign of worn rings or worse) you've no hope of keeping oil in it - it will just continue to blow seals. A little puff of grey smoke on start up is not a problem and should be expected - these are horizontally opposed engines so the oil eventually drains into the bottom of the cylinders - it only takes a tiny bit of oil to produce a lot of smoke. If it continues to smoke when its warm it tends to mean the engine is worn - at the very least rings will need changing Rod knock is usually terminal - you can recognise it straight away - it sounds like someone in the engine hitting the inside with a heavy hammer. Not to be confused with the lighter tappet sound The type 4 is usually very robust, that's why they were abused so much by their first owners. If the crank bearings have been pounded into the case you'll see this when you remove them - their numbers will be hard stamped into the case - align boring is the answer here, if it isn't on its final cut that is... If you plan to do any reworking of the engine yourself the Tom Wilson book is essential reading. You should also visit the Type4rum and consider watching the bugme9 DVD by Jake Raby. A few questions you should consider; Why is the owner selling the engine? So many adverts read 'bought for a project, no longer needed' 'too many projects on the go now', 'bought as spare, no longer needed' So many people with too much money? Make your own mind up on that one. Most VW 'experts' I've seen looking at these engines and its clear they don't have a clue. Not a problem, they'll have served their time on Type 1 upright motors so they're not at fault - if you need advice the UK guru is James Kilvert at Stateside Tuning, Laurie Petits name comes up but i've spoken with him before and he's not as knowledgeable with the type 4 - an absolute legend on Type 1 engines though. For remanufactured engines the only ones to consider are Remtec, they don't do 1700's anymore and they replace a core 17 with an 18 which is somewhat cheaper than the 2 litre. If you want to take your engine up to the 2 litre its got a different case, crank and rods to the smaller engines - if you do an exchange on one of these you'll need to have your carbs rejetted too Too much to cover without writing a book but this should maybe help you in your search
