Aircooled VW South Africa

Think you have a 2lt with hydraulic lifters.

This kind of engine, you do not set with a feeler gauge.

You find TDC then start at number one cylinder, and screw rocker out till it is free and not touching the tappet, then turn it in till it just touches the tappet, then count "one and a half " turns in, and lock.

For more exact setting do a search, (top right of every page on this forum)

only other thing could be the coil.

Herman

retrovan wrote:Think you have a 2lt with hydraulic lifters.

This kind of engine, you do not set with a feeler gauge.

You find TDC then start at number one cylinder, and screw rocker out till it is free and not touching the tappet, then turn it in till it just touches the tappet, then count "one and a half " turns in, and lock.

For more exact setting do a search, (top right of every page on this forum)

only other thing could be the coil.

Herman

Its the 1800 air cooled afaik:

I will give the coil a once over to see if thats maybe the culprit. The lifters/tappets have been checked and set.

A few updates with a lack of pictures(phone containing these got knicked)

Still battling to get this Wagon running properly. The reoccurring issue of total power loss seems to be quite random. The wagon would be driving around strong for a random amount of KM,s then keel over fairly quickly, but gradually like its running out of fuel. switch it off for a few minutes, start it up, and its good for another few km??

Whats been done?
1. Replaced the coil with a brand new one.
2. Checked Point gap(was 100%), checked timing(was irratic, but smoothed out by means of removing a plug found on one of the balancer pipes).
3. Pulled Carbs out and cleaned them
4. Checked/Replaced all vacuum pipes.

Existing conditions/symptoms:
1. Idle is super irratic(sometimes idles above 1500 rpm, mostly just dies off slowly, sometimes idle is spot on)
2. at a certain RPM (Probably around 2k5rpm) under load the motor seems to wobble?
3. When the motor keels off after a certain distance, advancing dizzy timing seems to get it going again?

??Questionmarks??
1. The Idle pinholes on the Carb Butterflies have been soldered shut as shown below. What would be the reasoning for this? Has anyone come across this before?



2. I've found a plug in the vacuum line running from the balancing lines to #1 Carb opposite the bypass air cutoff valve[lettered H in the below picture]. My thinking is this was due to the valve on the carb being threaded, causing a vacuum leak. Whoever discovered this thought it to be a good idea to then just limit the vacuum to that point rather than to fix the issue? Or is there another reason for this?




3. Could this issue of the motor just losing ALL power after a random amount of KM be a symptom of overheating?

Very Cool a HighTop! I also drive one there great campers! I made a Facebookgroup called Highroofconnection.com. Join us! I am now a while offline at Facebook but 2 Highroof friends ( a German and an Dänisch friend) will do the site for a while. curieus what you will do with the bus!

Are all your engine sealing tinware in place, and the seal between engine tinware and body in good condition? (To prevent used hot air from recirculating back into the fan's intake?) Does the carbs feel hot?

Just a question have you checked you fuel line and filter. My Triumph spitfire was doing the exact same thing until I took the line off just below the tank and flushed the tank. The inside of the line had blocked up only leaving a pin hole for fuel to go through. Hence why when idling it gets slower and slower. It's using the fuel in the good part of the line. A quick check is to let it idle and watch the filter to see if it is filling up as it is using.

Howzit. I've replaced the Fuel Filter,Lines and Facet pump. I've also rigged a 5l Bottle as a temp fuel tank to see if its caused on that end. But got the same result.

Dawie wrote:Are all your engine sealing tinware in place, and the seal between engine tinware and body in good condition? (To prevent used hot air from recirculating back into the fan's intake?) Does the carbs feel hot?

There's no seal between the tinware and body(will be correcting this soon). i haven't noticed the carb temps as yet.

Another important point:
That dual solex 34pdsit carbs should ALWAYS be used with the standard aircleaner setup. That + - 230mm length of inlet ducting on each side interacts heavily with that particular carb's jetting to provide much needed enrichment. (Caused by ram effect of intake length, not filter restriction).
Using a cone or pancake filter directly on each carb WILL cause a lean condition at max power, causing loss of power and a destroyed engine. (Unless re-jetted). I know this from having an air-fuel mixture sensor on the exhaust, and doing comparisons.

Fix that seal around the engine and do not drive without it. Close all holes in the tinware. The cooling fan should only be able to draw cold air from the side intakes, and NO hot air from below. Especially on that type 4 engine where the fan's intake is right next to the hot air outlet.

Thanks for the advice.

I've gone and rechecked all the tappets, and also installed an oil temp guage this weekend. I haven't been able to test drive to see where my temps go as ive cleaned and resprayed the tappets while i was at it, and the paint wasn't quite dry by the end of the day.

I'm contemplating cutting up pool noodles to make up a temp seal in the interim, but at the moment my other project also needs some attention.

Hi There! if you arent yet member on my Facebookpage Highroofconnection.com then submit please. We like to meet Highroofowners form all over the world. Great to see your restauration!