Aircooled VW South Africa

I have a smoking engine issue which does not make sense, if I idle too long at a robot (3-4min.) there is a cloud of white smoke as I accelerate away
then disappears during normal driving, there is no evidence of any smoke other than after idling for a while, this also does not happen every time I idle for a while any ideas of possible cause?

Have you tried coasting against a gear and then accelerating?
If you do that and there is a white smoke then it could be valve stem seals.

I didn't know that valve stem seals are used in Beetle engines.

Nor do I.

Start with the basics like.
Check the oil level is not to high.
Check the breather is not blocked or restricted.

doesnt make sense to me. White smoke is usually water.
Unless of course, it is oil burning at low temperature.
Is your case breather clear? Have you got crankcase pressure or oil and smoke coming out of the breather?

I think I have found the problem, it might be overfilling with oil, I checked my dip stick top cap thingy and it was full of gunk and therefore sitting higher giving the incorrect reading. I always fill to the top line and the top line was at a higher level. I cleaned away all the gunk including what I think was the little cork gasket, does anyone know the exact length of the dipstick from the gasket to the tip so I can re-calibrate.
I think from now on I will just keep the oil level between the two lines to be safe.

Not sure if you have found your problem.

The Beetle and type 4 engine can tolerate a bit of overfilling as the the crank is above the cam and the cam is above the oil level.

So it will not splash into the pistons in large quantity .

Know some old Toppies over fill engines to ensure splash during run in and they do not reduce till the 1st service without problems.

Actuary the life of over filled run in motor seem to be better then normal.

However I think Tony Z has it correct, your breather may be blocked forcing pressure to lift oil in to the barrels.

Or you have an oil leak dripping onto your exhaust maybe with the car at a certain angle ??

That will give the exact result you have in your 1st post.

Herman

breather clear and no oil leaks (yes I mean no leaks anywhere ) smoke only comes out of exhaust. I will run it with slightly lower oil level and see what happens. There was a bit of smoke today on start up but clears up straight away