I put a GT 4 tip exhaust and j pipes on the other day. (73 Fasty) Sounds good. Started her up and had a look under for leaks. There is a metal pipe pointing down near the sump that had a fair bit of air/ exhaust coming out. Is this a breather pipe? Should it be connected to something?

Also what fuel should I be using and do I really need to add valve saver. As far as I know my motor is still original. 100k

valve saver is rubbish

Hi Acemarc,
If the motor is about '71 on, the pipe should originally be
re-connected back into the bottom of the oil Filler pipe (close to where bolted to the case) by some ~1'' OD rubber hose with cloth braid. Up to '70 inclusive the breather pipe (~3/4") was open at the end with a little rubber valve on it.
So if yours has the open steel tube, it may be that the motor is earlier, or the breather parts have been swapped for earlier ones.
The end of the tube under the motor shouldn't be 'breathing heavily' as you noted. It is a good idea to check the little metal breather box that the tube goes into at the top. It should have a large steel washer and a spring under the plastic cap. (To breathe properly the box should be reasonably clean inside.) A hose shouyld go from it to the air-cleaner, to give postive case ventilation.

You should always try 91 oct first. If the motor has increased compression, and/or if it pings (check under load; at lowish revs in top; when hot) you may need 95 oct. The timing should be 'correct' (say within 2 or 3deg.) when checking for pinging, as over-advanced timing will cause it too. We like to run the 95 oct on longer trips when the weather is hot, and just use 91 for local.
'Valve saver' should be unnecessary on later engines... We stopped using it in all our engines years ago and the valve cleaances have never shifted abnormally.

Fair bit of air coming out of your breather?

your engine is excessively worn probably from some idiot removing the thermostat I bet or/and using "castrol GTX"

hey what's the problem with castrol gtx??????

Quote:

Originally posted by vlad01 Fair bit of air coming out of your breather? your engine is excessively worn probably from some idiot removing the thermostat I bet or/and using "castrol GTX"

all I can say

typical aussies.

Hi Vlad.

A local VW trained Mechanic who lives locally, told Me they were told to remove any thermostats found on any beetles..
He used to just disconnect them...

VW Australasia thought it was better to have NO thermostat??

I wonder who thought up this modification??

If He was a mechanic etc.. I wouldn't take any car to him.. lol

cheers

LEE

PS: the thermostats opened quite early so I don't know why they did this removal modification ..

If you have ever seen a cooler housing with the vanes still installed you will notice that in the closed position they block the flow of air to the engine allowing the engine to reach operating temperature sooner. More importantly for colder climates, it gets the heater working properly (and sooner). Critical in snow country!

BUT!!!

When it gets hotter and the vanes travel further they then redirect more air to the heads where there are a lot more cooling fins. Without the thermostat system in place you are missing out on valuable cooling in hot conditions. That accounts for all the cracked heads you see.

Phil.

Hi Phil
If the vanes are in position in the fully open position
is this OK for the summer???

I know of Beetle owners who took out the flaps and chucked them away....
so, there must have been stories of the flaps overheating engines???? years ago....??

LEE