Hi all, Just bought a splitty with a type 1 1600 engine fitted with 34 ICTs. Took it for a spin and the oil and alternator light were flickering on at tickover. Changed the oil for SAE30 and took the alternator in & the guy said it had got that hot that it has melted a wire inside the alternator, which he soldered back on. Put the alternator back, started it up, all looked good, so took it for a spin, about 10 miles. The alternator light has come back on, but stays on all the time, so I thought maybe the alternator has got hot again and the wire has come unsoldered again. The engine also ticked over at higher revs than normal. Switched off the engine & checked it over - the engine is that hot that you cannot touch it anywhere - the alternator, carbs, bottom pulley, crankcase, all scolding hot - you cannot touch it. Also, you could hear what sounded like some king of fluid bubbling inside the engine. What's going on - surely it should not run this hot?
Your fan has blocked/come off? You have NO cooling if the oil is boiling after a few miles. Sadly, your engine will need a complete rebuild IMO. Soz.
Hmm, that sounds way too hot. Have you checked inside the fan at the back of the fan housing to make sure nothing has got sucked in, like a piece of foam seal from the edge of the tinware? Is all the tinware in place, particularly the piece right at the back (front as you look at the engine) above the exhaust? If tinware is missing, hot air from the exhasut will be circulated over the engine by the van, heating it rather than cooling it. If the cooling system is all there and working, next step is a basic service. Is the timing right? That might explain the high tickover and the heat. Are the carbs jetted right? Lean running produces heat. I'm sure others will have other suggestions. Good luck.
All the tinware appears to be in place. Fan looks ok, as I have had the alternator off 3 times now. Given it a basic service and the timing is set so that the left hand timing mark lines up with the crankcase joint at tickover, but the 2nd timing mark goes way past the right hand timing mark when you rev the engine - should I adjust so that the right hand notch in the pulley lines up with the crankcase joint at 3000 revs? Not sure how to check if the carbs are jetted correctly?
your jets won't matter....the timing sounds way too advanced.....did you watch that video on the other post.... bin the oil, and start from scratch...you may be lucky
Wondering if the oil cooler is some how blocked off, if it's just getting hotter and hotter it's got to be, fan housing, or oil cooler (inside the tinware). IF the wrong O rings were used on base of the oil cooler they can squeeze the intake and out ports to almost close them off, making oil cooling almost nonexistent. A friend bought a '71 bug once and it over heated going home. The seller towed it back home and found a mouse nest inside the right hand tin ware. The little things can stuff a lot of s_it inside there with out leaving any sign they were about.
The pulley timing marks are TDC and 7.5°BTDC It's the RH notch that needs to line up with the case halves at idle...
Thanks very much guys - I will watch the vid all the way through & adjust the timing as per PW's post. Can I get the fan shroud off & access the oil cooler with the engine in? If so, how is it best to do this. thanks again everyone - hopefully I can sort this out without having to remove/rebuild the engine!
No chance - Engine out when it comes to shroud removing, even more so as yours is a non dog house cooler!!
Thanks for all the replies guys - had a look under the bus this morning & noticed.... right hand side of engine... left hand side of engine... Could this little plate (I assume this is classed as part of the tinware?) missing on the left hand side of my engine be causing the overheating problems? (still gonna check/adjust the timing though) ??
Maybe not great pics, but on the RHS, one of the most crucial pieces appears to be missing directly under the cylinders above the push rod tubes? Maybe you have lots of little things wrong? In the case there are 2 pressure valves. The first is to bypass the cooler while the oil is thick and cold. If it's jammed...
I'd doubt that missing bit of tin would cause overheating, as it just helps form the "exhaust" duct for cooling air. However, @zed speaks the truth - have a look for flat pieces of tinware between the cylinder pairs. If one (or both) of these air dams are missing, your engine will surely cook itself. As above, also check your ignition timing. Do it statically with a light bulb instead of a strobe. Make sure breakers open on the 7.5º timing mark.
Thanks guys - could someone post up a piccie of the pieces of tinware you mention look to be missing, so I could check for these and see where they should go. thanks
Haven't got a pic, but if you pull down or remove the RH piece of tinware, there should be a flat metal plate between the bottom of the cylinders, as there appears to be on the LH side. That's the air dam. Have you got a thermostat on the RH side...pull the tinware down or remove it and have a look. Actually, looking at it, seems like you've only got the small cover plate over the thermostat, and not the main piece behind it.
These are the under barrel fins, they clip in https://www.vwheritage.com/vw_spare...102526.htm?crumbStartPage=4&crumbStartRow=103 That engine looks as though its been split and rebuilt or at least bits rebuilt , hence some parts maybe missing? Either lost or lazyness! Either way , be safe and take the engine out of the van and give it a proper check over - better on the bench than the hard shoulder - good luck mate.
Many thanks everyone - think i'm gonna try & pull an exploded view of all the tinware that should be present off the internet, and examine my bus to see what parts are present/missing. Is replacing the heat exchangers with J tubes likely to help as well, as never really use the heating in the bus anyway? Thanks.
