HELP! Just Overheated?

Ive just got a call from my husband who is on the freeway heading back into western sydney.

We were going to be joining up with NRMA next week (pay day) so cant call on them for assistance.

He has been stuck in traffic in Sydney and came out onto the freeway, then the engine started to faulter and smoke was coming out of the engine bay. He waited for a while before opening it, incase it was on fire. But it just looks like its over heated??? Theres no fire. Just smoke thayts now gone.

Could this just be a case of over heating? Its a recon engine, still under waranty.

What model? What year? What engine? Has he called the company that fitted the engine?

oops! he,he Kinda helps if I tell you what type of VW it is LOL!

78 kombi bus 2L engine Cant give more details on the engine, cause my memory is dreadfull and we have only picked up the kombi today and he has all the details with him.

Ive just spoken with him and I *think* he just over heated the engine by doing the "ive never owned an air cooled car before" thing by taking it up to 100km/h after being stuck in traffic backed up after a smash in Eastern sydney and after going thru the city before that, with stop start driving.

😠

He is taking a break to let it cool down, its kicking over fine now and all *seems* to be ok.

Any insight as to if it is just an overheating (not that they are good, but better than other outcomes 😉 ) would be muchly apreciated.

Theres not much power in the engine now. He is just tying to get it home, but doing 60km/h might take a while LOL!

I hope its not stuffed.... at least its under waranty still..... :cry

Marrs_7 wrote:<snip>

Ive just spoken with him and I *think* he just over heated the engine by doing the "ive never owned an air cooled car before" thing by taking it up to 100km/h after being stuck in traffic backed up after a smash in Eastern sydney and after going thru the city before that, with stop start driving.

<snip>

There is no reason why you couldn't drive as you have described. Remember that when kombis were new people just drove them like other vehicles! On that basis, I would say something was wrong with the reco. Either not done right or a part that seemed ok and wasn't!

It should not overheat unless something is wrong. Sitting in traffic and then going 100kph should not overheat the motor.

Did he fit the motor?
Did the motor come assembled?
Is all of the tinware fitted?
Is the thermostat open? Does it have one? are the flaps stuck?
Is the engine bay tin to body foam seal still there?
Is there heaps of oil leaking from anywhere?
Any major knocking or ticking at idle?
Any hissing or chuffing sounds?

Thanks for your replies.
He has checked the oil and all is A ok there. She is just running rough now. Will definately be calling the mechanic and having a chat. The recon was done about 3 months ago. Its just been rego'ed and had a small oil leak that was fixed under the waranty before the pink slip could be issued.

Good to know it wasnt his driving skills LOL!

Will be getting our VW mechanic friend to have a quick look aswell, cause if its somthing not too major, its easier to fix it here than cart it back down to Sydney (2 hour drive)

Ahh welcome to the Kombi/VW world! LOL!

Could be something simple like one of the fuel cutoff solenoids on one of the carbies has come off. There is a black wire from the coil to each of the carbies. It goes to the auto chokes (round things looking at ya) then to the side of each carbie to a round thing ('c' battery sized) screwed in the side of the carby. If one of these has come off or is loose it will run pretty rough, as in two cylinders not running.

ok cool, he is almost home and will be racing off to work late. So I will go out and take a look. *Crossing fingers its somthing simple*

Oh Man, Im on a real downer now. I hate not knowing.
Its dark now and waaaaayy to cold to go out and take a look, so Ill have to wait untill tomorow untill I even hae some idea of whats going on. At least then I have somthing to work with you know?

Man! this is such a bugger. Everyone start praying for my Kombi ok? LOL

*its somthig really simple, it somthing really simple, its somthing really simple*

(gee who am I kidding?)

Don't worry, if the engine got fully reconditioned, it would most likely be something simple rather than complicated (you would think, as all/most of the parts would have been inspected/replaced/reconditioned etc)

Its probably just something loose or not put back properly. Probably what Hellbus said. Put on some really warm clothes, bring out a cup of hot coffee, and give the engine a glance if ur really keen. lol

Running rough is usually a timing or fuel problem. I take it you dont know alot about your bus yet (you will learn plenty... dont ask how i know!). Check the auto chokes like hellbus said and also grab the distributor cap and give it a little wiggle, if anything is loose then thats probably it... Check theres no wires or hose dangling especially ignition leads... Have a check and give us a post of what you see. Some1 will be able to help.

Yep am on the learning curve at the moment. Lots to learn and what better teacher than my trusty Kombi :P

Ill be taking a good poke around tomorow, ans inviting our VW friend who just happens to also be a mechanic😉 around to take a look too.

I will post back wihat we find

Make sure you ENJOY it. You will learn alot about ur car and get alot more comfortable when you do. A VW mechanic should be able to sort it pretty quickly if its only a fuel/timing problem. good luck.

Still buggered up?

im puzzled by the smoke when it started to run rough
if the oil level is still full then maybe a pinched wire
earthing out which could explain the smoke & the wire being
crucial to it being in tune(plastic around wire will give off a lot of smoke)
say a wire to the carbies or coil, check them
hope all ends well & repairs are cheap if not free

On a type 4 it could be a pipe to one of the inlet manifolds come off (for the idling system) that would certainly make it run rough and not idle for sure.

well we managed to get out there today and have a look, but our inexperience is stopping us from spotting anything thats not really obvious.

We have a friend comming over tomorow to take a look for us.

It kicked over nicely this moring but still runs rough. It seems to get worse is it warms up and stalls on idle, but not right away.

In the end it stalled and wouldnt start again. But did after it cooled completely.

hmmm Runs well when cold and shit when hot, really odd sounds like a fuel mixture thing rather than a timing problem. Look around the engine bay for melted wires and wires or hoses that are loose...

How did ya go?

Well, he checked all the wires and hoses and everything is intact there.

He thinks that it may be that one of the carbies has been flooded with fuel aswell as the rest of the engine??? (may have that info a bit wrong - I was a little distracted by my constantly questioning 2 yr old LOL!)

When he had a look he noticed an arm in the right carbie had come off its position and is aparently lose, so needs looking at so it doesnt happen again.
He looked around at a heap of other stuff and could find nothing else at this stage. So were getting some new sparkplugs tomorow and changing the oil, as its pretty dirty and we will see how we go from there.

hmm oil and spark plugs wouldnt be the problem, may be worth changing tho if it hasnt been done recently

i'd exploit the warranty. 2 cents worth.

Looks like its the carbies. They have not been shutting off properly and fuel has been flooding thru.

Spark plugs were really sooted up adn the oil was pretty filthy.

Weve managed to do a temp job on the carbies, but will have to get them overhauled. Ive been told there is somehwere on Parramatta Rd that does it - its all they do, carbies that is.
Does anyone know which place it is?

Carburettor Service Co
240 Parranatta Road BURWOOD
9747 4066

It is near the bus depot - opposite Concord Oval

Bugger to park though

thanks! Ill give them a call tomorow.

Does anyone know it Indian do this aswell? Or Would my best bet be to just take them to Carburettor Service Co? (just thinking of a distance thing)

what exactly is the problem? One of the shut off solenoids not working and flooding the engine?

If that is the case shouldnt the fuel pump stop the flow of fuel to the carbs (stop the tank syphoning into the engine)?

You might have a fuel pump problem aswell then?

(duno S**T about carbs)

[Edited on 20-6-2005 by 76camper]

Set the tappets if it was really hot the gap would have closed up making it run shit

If it is a 78 2L then probabally hydros

Better not to stuff with them unless really sure. That said - it will be more foregiving

Where are you??

Prbally better taking to a VW mech first.
Carb Services is really just that. They service carbs. Mainly when they are out of a car. (but they do really good work)

Yeah they are pretty shit and in need of an overhaul. Were in the Blue Mountains - Just. Right at the top -

We were thinking of just expressing (insured) them down. Will have a chat to them tomorow to try and get a round about cost.

I would cruise down the hill to Custom Bugs and Busses

A better all over check

Well it gets more interesting....

Loks like we have a 73' or 74' engine in our 78' Kombi. Whole engine is pretty worn really. We could putt along for another 12 months or so as is spending along the way, or either recon this engine or get a recon 78' put in.

This isnt really bed news to us, cause the body is in great nick, and we always planned to stick a new engine in. With a really good engine, it would be an awsome ride. The process has just been sped up a bit and were lookig at doing it sooner rather than later now.

Now for the hunt on an engine....

Any recomendations on where to start looking? Around about much are we looking at for a good recon 78' ?

as bizarre says go down to Custom Bugs and Busses in peachtree rd at penrith and get it checked out properly by Mike or if you deal with Indian go see them as they are both in your area🙂

Will do! - Thanks 😀

I heard a while ago you can trade in your engine and get a recond one for $500... dunno if its right. Best decision i ever made was doing the rebuild ourself, so we have peice of mind that its going to work well. That sed, im sure there are some good engine builders around and like they always say, you get what you pay for.

A couple of engines are for sale on the forum, go have a look at the parts for sale section. I think hellbus is selling a 1.8L with gearbox.

Take it to a vw mechanic, get em to do a compression test, if thats all good then maybe all you need is a carb rebuild! good luck with it all

Marrs_7 wrote:Well it gets more interesting....

Loks like we have a 73' or 74' engine in our 78' Kombi. Whole engine is pretty worn really. We could putt along for another 12 months or so as is spending along the way, or either recon this engine or get a recon 78' put in.

This isnt really bed news to us, cause the body is in great nick, and we always planned to stick a new engine in. With a really good engine, it would be an awsome ride. The process has just been sped up a bit and were lookig at doing it sooner rather than later now.

Now for the hunt on an engine....

Any recomendations on where to start looking? Around about much are we looking at for a good recon 78' ?

Did I miss something? Didn't this thread start with a recently reco'd engine?

oh yeah, forgot to mention that bit. Turns out its not a recon engine. Its just got a new head and gaskets. :o

For future reference here is a very good cheat for the NRMA. I found it out by mistake when I ran out of fuel in the middle of nowhere.

Ring the NRMA and join over the phone when you get into trouble, it costs extra that way. But the trick is... give one number wrong in your credit card. They mustnt put it through straight away, because when I got home, there was a letter saying that my card details werent approved and if I didnt pay within the month my membership would be void. Which of course I never did pay up, cos I was running free 🙂

I hate NRMA bloodsuckers! But thats a differnt thread.

For a shop built reco engine, you would be paying way more than $500. I think it would be a lot closer to $2000-$3000. Doesnt matter what year engine you start with, they are all basically the same. If it was a 73/74 it would have been either 1700 or 1800. No 1700 would have been rebuilt as 1700 so you can bet it would be 1800 at least. If the rebuilder could fork out for the 2 litre crankshaft then he would have done and therefore you cant tell what size engine you have now. You can tell what the original size was by the first 2 letters of the engine number. If it starts with a CJ or G then it was originally a 2 litre and almost certainly still is. If it's a CA then it was 1700, but most likely 1800 now. Any other C (in Australia) was 1800 but could possibly be 2 litre now.

[Edited on 21-6-2005 by amazer]

Oh nice one! Will have to remember that one 😉

Yep, a rebuild will cost about $3500

Ill check out those details tomorow and find out some more about the engine.

The carbies got taken off today and played with a bit to get them running better. Its improved alot, is running well now. But the idle is really off and will stall eventually when in drive (its an auto) at a stand still for too long. Whack it in neutral and all is fine. While driving it goes really well.

Will have to send the carbies off for an overhaul. Spoke to the guys on Parramatta rd today ans it will cost a max of $400. Possibly less. Were just going to send them down and have them sent back rather than travel there and back twice.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and help!

Just checked the rego papers and the engine number starts with CJ. So its a 2 Litre

CJ started in 76

Ah ok. So we havent got an earlier engine in there. How can I find out what year the engine is?