overheated aircooled- what now?????

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Johnmck
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overheated aircooled- what now?????

Post by Johnmck »

Hi
on way back from scotland yesterday,had been running good all week and had at that stage been running for 4 hours constant 65 on motorway, started to lose power, rattling sort of sound from back of van. Got off motorway and pulled over. Engine very hot smokey!!! oil light hadnt come on. Waited till cooled down, checked oil low just under the min mark but smelt burnt. Topped back up to min( as all the oil i had with me) but didnt restart, got relayed instead. Waiting on van to arrive back this morning.
have i cooked my engine, its Aircooled 2 cu?
Will i be able to change oil and filter etc and get away with that?
Should I change oil before restarting?

Any advice appreciated.
Thanks
John
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davidoft1
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Re: overheated Aircooled- what now?????

Post by davidoft1 »

Probably be ok, only way to find out is to top up the oil and run it, why didn't the recovery guy top it up and run it, the oil is your cooling system, it will overheat when it's low. It's best to check before I long journey, if it's burned that much oil you need to find out why

Johnmck
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Re: overheated Aircooled- what now?????

Post by Johnmck »

hi Thanks
didn't want to chance retopping and running as still had over 90 miles to go. had been checking for oil whilst on trip and not losing /using much had kept around the 1/2 mark but wonder if last check was not too level so misreading.
John
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Johnmck
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Re: overheated Aircooled- what now?????

Post by Johnmck »

Changed oil, engine sounds ok but got no power. At time will idle ok others running rough. Only just had enough power to get up little slope into garage.
Is it buggered, - rebuild new engine?
or could overheating have effected plugs etc? :( :( :?:
John
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bigherb
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Re: overheated Aircooled- what now?????

Post by bigherb »

You first need find out why it overheated it is very hard to overheat an Aircooled motor. Are the cooling flaps still fitted and working? Is the engine tinware and the seal all in place? Is the distributor the correct one and is the advance working correctly?
1982 Camper 1970 1500 Beetle Various Skoda's, Ariel Arrow

Johnmck
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Re: overheated Aircooled- what now?????

Post by Johnmck »

:( Hi thanks
all tinware in place, engine seal in place but couple of areas where it moves and you can see through to underneath- couple of inches overall. distributer etc all standard. I have done the run from scotland a few times and not had issues. will need to check the flaps and the thermostat thing.
mot due on tuesday and am wondering if the heat could of effected plugs etc as no way will drive to garage at mo
John
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bigherb
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Re: overheated Aircooled- what now?????

Post by bigherb »

Not normally the plugs but it worth changing them anyway as a precaution. But it can damage the HT leads insulation.
1982 Camper 1970 1500 Beetle Various Skoda's, Ariel Arrow

davidoft1
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Re: overheated Aircooled- what now?????

Post by davidoft1 »

check the timing, what ignition system are you running, its quite common for the distributor to move, throw the timing out to cause over heating and then the timing is out

Johnmck
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Re: overheated Aircooled- what now?????

Post by Johnmck »

Hi
have changed the plugs and the HT leads, cleaned out right had pipe from air filter to top of carb (had light film of oil in it). turned it over bit fritfull started and then died after 5 sec, started again got the choke to kick in and ran fine. Sounds ok I think no particularly different sounds- took for a spin round and seems ok. Hard to tell sound when driving as someone - scrap metal guys- has stolen my engine lid which i had proped up by side of van and gone when I returned from me butties yesterday!!!!
The distributure etc is standard and I am not great on timing so tend to leave well alone if she is running. Is there an easy check i can do as would have to go looking at how to check timing.
Seem to have a slight oil leek above the oil filter in the area of the oil cooler. hard to see up there but dripping down bottom of filter and filter doesn't feel lose. Anything obvious up there?

Also is lack of engine lid a failure??
John
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blakeys80
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Re: overheated Aircooled- what now?????

Post by blakeys80 »

Just a thought, I recall reading a post about something similar last year which I think ended up being the Hall sender, it only happened under load and was also intermittent aswell. It may well not be but I just recall it.
As for the oil leak I have a similar issue which I presume is the oil cooler seal, I think it's engine out job to do easily so I've added to the list of things to do when I have to bite the bullet and go down that route, but for now I just clean her up and monitor it.
How did the MOT go? The flipping scrap men round here will take anything if it's not nailed down, they've even knocked my door and asked if I'm scrapping each of my 3 cars (including the T25) before,the cheeky rascals!

1981 LHD 2.0l CU with Twin Solex setup.

Johnmck
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Re: overheated Aircooled- what now?????

Post by Johnmck »

Thanks
MOT passed so one less thing to worry about.
Will recheck timing and see how that goes.
very annoying getting it nicked
John
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stillcool67
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Re: overheated Aircooled- what now?????

Post by stillcool67 »

sounds identical to mine when i took it for mot the other day ,didnt pass ,,,,too much smoke not a smooth tickover atall .HAD ENGINE OUT SOME WEEKS AGO TO CHANGE GEARBOX . ALL WENT WELL BUT TICKOVER ON FIRST STARTING NOW is NOT EASY WITHOUT REVING ,BIT ov GREY WHITE SMOKEY TOO , DIDNT GET MOT BECAUSE OF TICKOVER SMOKE AND VERY HOT ENGINE BY THE TIME I GOT IT 8 MILES UP THE ROAD FOR MOT .guy said he cant mot it like it is ,,,, emissions wouldn pass he said , so id only get a failure . nice ! , .. how did you fix yours in the end .. do you think ?? dave
Last edited by stillcool67 on 11 Oct 2019, 13:43, edited 1 time in total.

paperhouselad
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Re: overheated Aircooled- what now?????

Post by paperhouselad »

Blocked up fins on the oil cooler won't help, i should wash them out thoroughly. Sorry about your engine lid but you need that on as it's part of the cooling, having a good fit.

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