Advice

[jonathanb]

Hi

I hope someone can help me. I have an old and tired 1600 SP (with generator) in a jeep replica. It has been pushed very hard with no maintenance at all before I got it a little while ago.

It has started to run very baldly. Almost no power and very hard to start and getting worse all the time. There is spark on 3 & 4 but taking these plug leads of makes no difference to the idle. 1 & 2 seem fine. I dont have a compression tester but even in first, I can push it on a flat no problem and need a really steep hill to start it. I decided to take out the engine and have a look.

The oil plate was not to bad with just a few bits and pieces but no big hunks of metal that I had expected. The valves seem fine although some dont seem to close flush. The 3 & 4 heads dont have any cracks but 1 & 2 have small cracks between the valves even though this is the side that runs fine. I have not taken the pistons out yet but the walls are as smooth as glass and it was not using any oil so I think the rings are fine.

Before I strip it any further, I would like to know if the little cracks can be rerpaired or if I will have to replace the heads. No one here in Durban seems to have single port heads. Also does anyone know what would cause it to only run on the 2 cylinders?

Thanks
Jonathan

Thanks

[Tony Z]

the beeter heads crack after a while, some have run with very bad cracks for a really long time, so if your cracks are minor, dont worry (too much) about them. Can you post pictures???

As for the valves, replace them all. It wont be long before the exhaust valves gets tired and wrecks the entire engine - especially with the maintenance scheme you are talking about. New valves are not expensive and you can lap them in yourself or get a shop to do it.

Cylinders... smooth as a mirror, not good. But if you reckon you are not loosing any oil, and dont want to pull them out for a re-hone and ring job, then leave them as they are. Your compression is probably pissing out thru the valves.

firing on 2 cylinders... once again, you mention a good maintenace scheme. Well, replace the ignition system. Points, condensor, rotor, dizzy cap, plug wires and plugs.

New valves, seating them, and the new ignition parts shouldnt cost you more than R400. You will then have all these parts new and then you can check if the engine actually keeps compression or not, if not, then pull it again and do the rings and hone job.

good luck

[jonathanb]

Thanks for the info. That is just what I wanted to hear. I did want to do the whole engine but not if I had to try and find replacement heads as this would have just cost to much.

I will rather take these in to get cleaned up and replace rings, valves etc. I will start to strip the rest tomorrow.

[Tony Z]

dont pull the liners if you are not going to re-hone. A new set of rings will prob never run in because of the smooth polish.

[jonathanb]

Ok seems like I have a lot to learn. When I pulled the heads off I was expecting to find deep scratches on the cylinder walls and actually was quite happy to see them shiny and smooth. Gues looks can be decieving. I think that I will go out tomorrow and buy a Heyns book before I do anything else.

Perhaps I should just ddo the heads and leave all else alone for now.

[hitlers revenge]

Hi Jonathan, I would also try and buy a book called "how to keep your volkswagen alive forever" by John Muir. It is very interesting reading especially for somebody like you. When you are finished you will know where every nut and bolt can be found on a type 1,2,3 or 4
Cheers
Dave

[jonathanb]

Hi Dave

Thanks. I had heard of that book but have not been able to find it here. Amazon.com has it but the shipping either takes ages (which I dont have lots of) or costs a fortune (which I also dont have) for expediated shipping. Is the Heyns manual any good as motorbooks and kalahari have that?

Thanks

[Tony Z]

Heynes manual is FN brilliant. Buy it.
The other book mentioned is pretty good too, but its not a workshop manual, but the explanaitions are really good. Worth the purchase even if cash is tight.
The pictures are priceless.

[calooker]

Single port heads tend to be less prone to cracking than twin port ones, but hey, you always get the oddities. If the cracks only run from valve to valve, then use them, if they run from the valve to the spark plug opening then you are looking for trouble using them like that, the spark plug will be finding it's way out in no time and you will be loosing compression. To check the cylinders to see if they are still usable, clean the top of the sleeves of carbon build up, then run your finger over the top edge if you feel no notable ridge then you can reuse the sleeve, get it honed buy new rings and while you are there for an extra R80 you might as well replace the big end bearings. The Net is also a good source of info, here is a good start
http://www.type2.com/rvanness/1600saga.htm#6

[jonathanb]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I still have not got a book but I now have the engine out and stripped to the point where I just have to remove the flywheel but that is proving quite tuff. I have made a bar to bolt onto it that rests on the ground so the flywheel does not turn but when I try to looseen the nut the flywheel stay put but the whole damn eengine rrolls over. Need to find a way to keep it from moving as the nut is really tight.

The heads have small cracks between the valves and the rrings, cylinders etc look good and diddnt have much movement. It looks like some of the valves were not closing completely which I hope is why there was no compression.

[IMPI]

How to rebuild your vw engine Tom Wilson ISBN 0-89586-225-5
Is the best book ever on bug engines bar none.
Haynes are great for the rest.
I bought manuals from Kalahari and had great service.

End play should be checked as well
Armand