Aircooled = unreliable ? Your input sought please...

[sdudum]

I would like to find out why is it when one mentions taking an aircooled VW car for a particularly long trip (JHB to DUR) one gets comments like "take spares with you" or "carry enough tools" or "have a friend with a trailer..." is this really because of the age of the cars ? or is there an inherent unrelaibility in aircooled engines ?

I am planning on taking my speedster for a drive down to the coast (not on a trailer), actually drive it down and back to JHB. But I am concerned if there is something I should be doing (something special or unknown to me) on the engine before doing this type of trip. I have thus far bought a recon'd sub-assembly from an engineering shop in Pretoria and bought an electronic ignition system (Ditributor, ignition module and coil). These will be put into this new sub and driven around JHB for a few weeks (August through to September), change the oil and then services her.

The trip will then commence. But my ultimate quesiton still remains...are aircooleds really unreliable or is there a trick to it ?

[retrovan]

No ,I would say the odds are the same for a new car as it is for a old one.

You must remember that most of the "make the engine go " Parts are possibly Chines knock-offs
Or at best 30 to 40 years old.

Should you go on a trip, I would say that the reason you take parts, is so that when you have a problem, you can fix it your self (can not do that to a new car)
The second reason, is that you may not find parts on the road, as you would a new car.

You should take the following for the following reasons;-

Fuel filter, as the 40 year old tank has probably got rust in it, which will clog up the filter in no time.
Old mechanical distributor, as the heat would most probably cook the New electronic system.
Condenser, as the new Chines ones pack up at any time.
Air filter as you may not get your type on the road.
And time, as you can not chase it, it was made to not run over 80 for long periods.

service it before you go, set the tappets, and enjoy your trip, will be swell, and lots of fun.

Herman

[vw59beetle]

I agree with Herman.

The two main things to remember and do, is to take your time and have fun. You should know the engine a little better by the time you leave. Drive with feeling and listen to your car. I drove to Hakskeenpan last September ( 1200 Km) non-stop, with an engine that stood for more than 30 years. Only problem I had was that the fuel pump got a bit hot.

Jo'burg to Durban is a breeze.

Wernher

[Sambabus]

my longest distance covered in one day in my bus was around 850kms. It took 10 hours and I wasnt pushing it at all. My avarage speed must have been about 70 km/h

[s-thang]

as with most things in life, don't overdo it.
take a nice drive down, don't hammer it, and you should be fine.

I had the pleaseure of doing a nice trip in the 411 and running at 100KMPH casual drive, no worries.
fuel was good, experience better

[fig]

The only thing that makes ACVWs or any old cars unreliable is years of neglect and abuse.

If you've gone over the whole car and repaired/replaced everything that needs it, there's no reason why you couldn't get in and drive an ACVW around the world. Many people have, and several are doing it right now.

As with every project in life, preparation is everything.

[bugspray]

My beetle made the trek up to pretoria in 7hours. And in that was an hour wait because of an accident.

Standard engine 30years old. Not rebuilt etc. Only small issue was it almost over heated sitting in the traffic. So I think you're good to do goodluck

[Tony Z]

When I first got my bug, I knew nothing about it and was only 18yo.
I packed everything I owned into the car and drove from CPT to JHB in 17 hours. No spares, no tools.
The only thing that went wrong was that I discovered my speedo was inaccurate...

Look after the car and replace servicable items with good parts. Spend money on oil, dont buy the cheapest shiv you can find.
cruise at 3500rpm and you will be fine.

The aircooled engines are reliable, that is why there are so many still on the road

[Ron&Gill]

Yep, air cooled engines are reliable. If you look after them and follow their service requirements, oil change every 3000km, tappets set, belts in good nick, front suspension greased, all the normal required stuff, the car will go. Every modification is a deviation from what the VW engineers have done, and they knew best what the public wanted. But, we as individuals, we like it a bit different... more power, more fuel economy, closer to the ground, so we start modifying. Typically you will gain something here and the cost of something there, so you must know your car.

Un-messed-with engines have been known to bring their owners home on a cold dark night running on 2 and a half cylinders and there are many legendary performances like that. I have also driven long distances, 2000km in Rumours, only fault was electronic ignition and a voltage regulator wire came loose, and 600-700km in Gill's bus, electronic ignition again , and 125km in the T34 Trailer Queen, electronic ignition failed while reversing down the driveway... 150km in the Notch out from under the Eucalyptis tree it had been under for 20 years to Melkbos before restoration... followed by an epic white cloud of boom-smelling stuff like "Up in Smoke" and square tyres...

Taking tools is because only you can fix your car, the mechanics these days only know how to replace parts successively until all is better, and then it's fixed. Most of them haven't a clue what was wrong after they fixed your car.

[jmvv]

It's been said before on this thread: Know your car.

I drive Petrus all over the show.

I've been to Greytown, Sasolburg, Sun City (in 40 degree weather nogal) and all over Gauteng
I cruise at 120 on the highway and keep an eye on the oil temperature and oil pressure

From Joh'burg to Centurion, the oil temperature gets to about 105 degrees and oil pressure sits at 3 bar

In 50000 km's,the only problems experienced on the road was a generator exciter wire that came loose, the generator that eventually packed up (at night - drove 40 kays on battery power alone with the lights on GO WILLARDS) a front wheel bearing that seized (Courtesy of the mother of potholes outside Leandra) and a clutch fork that broke.

Apart from the seized wheel bearing, Petrus always got home under his own power

I do oil changes every 5000 km's and add a bottle of Wynn's (just because). Oil is castrol SAE 30 that I buy in bulk pack cans from Makro

[sean]

Pretty much as what the others said.

Any car that has not been maintained properly will be unreliable. If your car is in a condition it should have been in when it was new, there is no reason you should have problems. Overheating should never happen, no matter how long and hard you drive it. I've easily driven 1 300km in a day and they quite happy to do this.

On my 10 000 km round trip last year with my Baywindow the only problem I had was a fan belt that snapped and a shock mount bolt that rattled out, that's it. Johannesburg to Durban is an afternoons drive, its really not far.

[Bugger]

One of the most important things to look out for in your Speedster will be to make sure that the engine bay is properly sealed from the Exhaust heat
as most Speedsters do not have the Extra cover sections that help to keep the Exhaust heat rising up and go in to the Cooling fan and instead of cool air recieved from
the top air intake it sucks in the hot Exhaust air and blow that over the engine as "COOLING"
If this and the other things the other members have mentioned is done then you should not have a Problem