She's a runnin way too hot

[Bratjie]

Hi guy's

Stupid question time , I have just had my t/port line bored and all the rest, put the motor together and she's running like a dream. I took her for a spin last night ( nice an cool ) when I noticed she's running extremely hot. here's some details thst might assist you fundi's in finding the problem. She has an aftermarket exhaust twin pipe on, so no stock silencer and the two air whatchammacallit'z that normally flows air into the heater boxes blanked off.( She's wuz running like that for over 4 years, no problem)A piece of the rubber(between the engine & body tore off from age while I put the engine in a while ago) The engine felty reaally hot to the touch ( like you know when an engine is too hot ) and I think the heat might've damaged the rocker cover seals coz they started leaking on the heater boxes an causing lot's of smoke.Tonight I pulled the blank-offs from the fan housing and found that it was actually circulating air quite nicely, I also closed the engine lid and administered some smoke ( so I could see air flow ) near the engine cover vent and it was all sucked in there.All ( hopefully) engine covers were put back in place and aaaah ye's the two plates between the sleeves are definately there.Any advice really appreciated

[Tony Z]

3 things off the top of my head... maybe more as I type

1) check the fan. Maybe something is in it (a rag...). Also, if you have a dodgy firewall kit with a cardboard backing, it may be getting sucked onto the fan at higher speeds reducing the air going in.

2)check for the little forget me nots that fit under the cylinders. Above the pushrod tubes, right up on the botton of the cylinders.

3) Change your oil. If the engine got that hot, the oil is probably useless by now. Get a good oil

4) told you there would be more.... check your timing.

5) you might even find now that with the othef exhaust, the engine is running slightly lean. After setting the timing properly, hold your hand by the exhaust exit. It should be warm, not hot. If warm all is OK, if hot, its lean. OK, this isnt exactly a scientific method by more a thumb suck.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Welcome to the zoo BTW

[Merlin]

3 things off the top of my head... maybe more as I type

1) check the fan. Maybe something is in it (a rag...). Also, if you have a dodgy firewall kit with a cardboard backing, it may be getting sucked onto the fan at higher speeds reducing the air going in.

2)check for the little forget me nots that fit under the cylinders. Above the pushrod tubes, right up on the botton of the cylinders.

3) Change your oil. If the engine got that hot, the oil is probably useless by now. Get a good oil

4) told you there would be more.... check your timing.

5) you might even find now that with the othef exhaust, the engine is running slightly lean. After setting the timing properly, hold your hand by the exhaust exit. It should be warm, not hot. If warm all is OK, if hot, its lean. OK, this isnt exactly a scientific method by more a thumb suck.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Welcome to the zoo BTW

Diito all of that.

Replace that seal immediately! It's there for a reason, as is the tin.

Curious heater boxes or J-pipes? Beyond my scope of knowledge, but anyways...likewise, does the silencer sit closer to the body than stock? I'm clueless here, but like Cowley exhausts of the past, some people have had issues similiar to this.

The caps covering your air outlets...make a small cut in them, about a R 2 coin size. Read up on Jake Rabys comments on this, and you'll understand that the air needs to escape to a point...this is how I understand it from a looong post I read on the TS last week. Search...

Yup, sort out your rocker covers. Not a good idea to run short there.

Smoke? In the intake? Anyone? Surely that's a dodge idea?

OK, everyone feel free to Flame away at my suggestions.

N.

[Tony Z]

Nic, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but even though Jake does do some brilliant research and make some of the best engines on the planet, he seems to live in a world of perfection.
As to his referance on the cooling with the holes... his aim is to get the engine to cool evenly within 15deg on all 4 cylinders. Here we are talking about an engine that is overheating and you are talking about cutting small holes to let more cooling air out. Yes, it works at highway speed when the fan is doing 5000 or 6000rpm (perfect world again - sometimes we do sit in traffic or behind a bus going up a hill) but when the car is moving slowly you dont want to be sending cooling air back out the shroud.
If my engine was overheating I personally would prefer it to be cooler with a difference in temp betw cylinders than warmer but all the cylinders are the same temp.

Re the smoke, I am sure our Bratjie took a can of smoke (similar to the smoke you find in a night club) and didnt make a fire in or near his engine bay.


All that said, Bratjie, if you are going to follow Merlins advice and cut small holes into your blanking plates, put on the heat hoses and feed this air over the heater boxes. You dont have to connect the heater to the car, but having a little air flowing thru them will help to slightly cool the exh and maybe the head

[Merlin]

As I said, I'm no expert, so I contribute what I find.

All's good.

Personally, I prefer to keep the hoses in place on a stock setup, and keep it all working properly - as designed.

It works well, and well-maintained heater boxes work well imo.

On my bug, I'm running a CB Cal-Look setup 36 Hp-style with s/s J-pipes...but then, I'm not going stock, am I.

Was just wondering if that smoke was a good idea to get going around an intake...suppose the filter takes care of that, and if it was that faux smoke, well then

N.

[brianj]

Hi guy's

I noticed she's running extremely hot.

lets start with this... how do you know how hot it is...? could it be that your new ( cleaner) engine is radiating heat more efficiently than it used to?

a good test i saw some where was : put some spit in the case near the oil filler (drop it on with your finger). If it boils and jumps, then its too hot.... else it probably isnt.... if in doubt get a probe into the oil..

[Bratjie]

You guy's are the best, so here's what I'm gonna do over the weekend,
First I'm going to let her warm up and do the spit test thingy ( out of curiosity ) Thx brianj!
I bought a new engine rubber today ( somehow common sense tell's me now that it's there for a good reason) so after checking for rag's, loose firewall plates and the likes I'll replace the rubber.
Good idea to have the cool air run over the heater boxes ( no harm there ay?)
The forget me nots are in place so no problem there(that's why we call em fmn's,isn;t it? )
Next thing (thx Tony Z) I know I have the timing a little too advanced because I slipped the dam dizzy drive in wrong, now the vacuum advance dashpot is pushing against the intake manifold and I cannot retard the timing any further, ( any idea on how to extract the dizzy drive from the casing without pulling hair outta my head?) I just know this must contribute to the overheating.
Next thing I will put some heat absorbing material ( dont know what the heck to look for but anyhow) between the aftermarket silencer and the engine plate at the back( that silencer get's mighty hot) and whalla !!

Ps: Ah Yes, the smoke test' this is how you do it, Take one filtered Winfield Magnum firmly between your lips, ask for a match, puff happily away till your eyes water ( don't inhale - too dangerous man) gently let the smoke flow from your blistered lips and see where it's going. If it enters the cooling vent's you have circulation, if not start wiping your eyes again and try again . Hopefully I dont have to post a " engine running too cold " post after this he-he.

[Tony Z]

some may argue here as its not the perfect thing to do, but it does work.....

move the engine to TDC on #1 and check which way the dizzy turns while you are doing that...
pull out all the ignition wires
pull off the dizzy cap and loosen the holding down bolt
turn the dizzy exactly 90deg in the direction that allows your dizzy pot to clear everything.
tighten hold down bolt
make a note as to where the rotor is facing. (didnt move the rotor remember)
put cap back on
install #1 plug lead back to where the dizzy rotor is pointing
then the other 1-4-3-2 in the direction you observed in step 1
start car and set timing

viola, dizzy in new position.


dont forget that the stock dizzy has #3 cylinder retarded 3 or 4 deg to allow it to run slightly cooler. If you upgrade to a waterboxer ignition system, you dont have this retardation so the method then works 100%

[Tony Z]

here is a tip for setting your timing

if you have any maths skills.... make a mark on your pulley somewhere betw 28 and 32DBTDC (my car used to run best at 29 DBTDC). Pull off the vac hose and plug it.
start the car. Rev the engine until the dizzy stops advancing any further (sounds high but its not).
Set this upper advance limit to the position you marked (29 in my case) and lock down.
Viola, timing set. Re-install vac hose.
Dont set it to over 32. Some engines can take it, most dont like it.
If yo udo this with the vac hose attached, you will get various readings from 40 to 46deg. Dont stress about this, pull the hose off and check properly.

[Tony Z]

another thing....

have you checked for vacuum leaks on the inlet system?

[Bugger]

Ok it takes a bit of practice

vat 2 balle tussen jou bene ooooo sorry man

Take two flat head screw drivers that fits in to the dizzy drive gear one on the left and one on the right side they must be
Fairly long then then you twist them in the opposits direction of one onother to get a grip on the dizzy drive gear

And be gentle pulling it out and remember the shim under the drive gear


You say the motor was line bored was it also faced on both casings then bored to prefious size or was it just opened up to a bigger size


Remember that if the case halves was scimmed alot the compression ratio will also increase and as what the guys always do to a beetle motor they fly cut the heads also some times and then the possibility of much higher CR is there that brings more power to make the client happy and more heat

[Riftvalleyvw]

If you are not having terrible preignition, the overheating problem is with your oil. Not the cooling of the fan. If you have a dual relief case the problem is probably your oil control spring or plunger. Perhaps you forgot to install it or put the wrong spring in it. It is the long spring. If the spring tension is not good the valve will open at a low oil pressure and divert the oil from your oil cooler. The motor will overheat.

[Bratjie]

Very good advice Rift, thx's, btw, wich spring goes where, I took them out to clean and polish inside and may have swopped them around though it looked pretty much that you cannot install them wrong way round? How do I know if the springs are worn or should I just replace?

[Bratjie]

Hi Guy's,

Look's like my problem is solved, adjusted the carb & ign timing & installed the new rubber.
Just come back from the test drive, decklid cool to the touch and I can hold my hand on the alternator without getting burned! Now that's the way aha aha I like it aha aha!!!

Thank's for all the advice, you guy's really are the greatest!

[Chris]

Ag,dis sommer f@kkol!