Aircooled VW South Africa

Hey !! You welcome.

OK, so with out anti Freeze, you are spot on, you will find that the temp. will go down with anti freeze.

When bleeding, put a big dish under the car, you catch up the bleeding fluid and just put it back, no problem, so do not be shy to fill it with anti freeze.

Remember to drain all the water, Then fill with the right STRONG mixture of anti freeze, otherwise you will have it too diluted, and it will not help.

Then you have to start the bleeding all over again. These modern cars can not run without Anti Freeze.

Have fun

Herman

but too much anti-freeze reduces its cooling ability. On our MTUs we have to mix between 9% and 11%. But thats a totally different engine.

To test the temp gauge. Put it into a pot of boiling water. Should read 90 to 100 deg C depending on the air pressure. If it reads 102 or higher, then it is def out and needs replacing. On the reef, the boiling temp should be around 95degC so thats what you are looking for the gauge to read.

Guys, thank you all so much. You are all a bunch of life savers!!

OK, So it seems the heat guage was the problem. Replaced that. Drilled a 4 mm hole in the 80 degree thermostat. Put a 82 degree fan switch in. The engine does not go above the 82 now. But the fan comes on to often. I think I will replace the fan switch with something close to the 90 degree ratings.
Otherwise lots of fun. I now need to sort out the gearbox. I pull away in 2nd gear and then go to 4th. Cornering is in 3rd. Once I am in 4th, I only need to gear down when stopping or cornering. For the rest of the traffic slow down and speed ups, I can stay in fourth. Did a quick outing on the highway. Did a nice 120km/h but I need lower revs for a more of a cruising feeling (and petrol consumption). Will chat to bugger about a longer 4th gear or look into a Subaru gearbox.
Any suggestions or experience about the Subaru option?

Great to hear you sorted, Should you want a cheap/ temp. option to your gearing issue, just fit bigger wheels/tyres to the back wheels.
As the speedo is on the front wheels, that will stay the same, and you have the power now, so you will be able to bring the rev's down nicely with big wheels. (read - Better fuel economy)

Herman

Juts know that a 2L golf engine's optimum operating temp is 92 degrees, running it too cool is going to affect performance and fuel efficiency. These VW engines can take quite a beating temp wise without problems.

Thanx guys. I am running 195R(80)14C wheels all round already. I did a check in town with a GPS and up to about 80km/h the speedo is 100% accurate.
I think I am going to put the previous fan switch, which is 92/87 degrees back in.

Does anyone know what kind of rims(description or other car make's and model) goes on the Bay Window Combi's? I am thinking of maybe going for 195/80/15 AT's.

Mercedes / Audi. 5x 112 pcd. Later golf as well...

Was it necessary to raise the floor of the bus to fit the motor?

Please post pics of radiator fitment if it was done under the floor of the bus.

Hi Francois
I had to cut the loading bay open from the top to get access to the engine. On the throttle you might need to lift about 1cm. I just put a spacer in and it is fine. I am battling to load photos on this site.

I replaced the sparkplugs (3pin) that came with the engine and put 1 pin sparkies in. My engine now runs between 88 and 92.

CHRISTOW wrote:My engine now runs between 88 and 92.

Sounds spot on.

This was an interesting read

ThanX guy's, this is VERY informative

I had to move my petrol pump and petrol filter out of the engine bay. They got to hot and caused the engine to cut out when driving long road. Since I moved them, no more problems. I also replaced the gearbox with a 2 l gearbox and a longer 4th gear. I now do 120km/h at about 3600 revs. But I think there is a problem with the engine itself, as I only get about 6,6 km/l or 14,9 l/100km. Does anyone have some tips or advice for me on this consumption issue?