engine temp.

187 wrote:

> i can turn it by hand both when hot and cold
> when i had the engine out i re-painted the tins and the fan housing(just
> the outside of all parts) could this have adverse effects? and is there a
> way i can check the oil cooler?
> thanks again for all the help!
> matt
>

Paint won't matter.
Is it possible that some part of the cooling tin got
re-assembled wrong so as to block flow? Don't see
how it's possible but......

Only way I know to check the cooler is to remove and
blow thru it (air).

Relief valve stuck? Directing oil flow away from cooler?

Jim

i don't think that the tins are on wrong, as far as i can tell, but this is
my first bug, so there may be some parts missing that i don't know are
supposed to be there. everything on the engine is covered except for a
square hole on each side at the bottom-rear, what looks like a place for
the air to go once it passes over the engine. i dont have any unused bolt
holes though.
when i has the oil cooler off i cleaned it out with solvent, then blew it
out with air, and it wasn't restricted. i'm not sure where the relief
valve is, or how to check it.
thanks
matt

187 wrote:

> i don't think that the tins are on wrong, as far as i can tell, but this is
> my first bug, so there may be some parts missing that i don't know are
> supposed to be there. everything on the engine is covered except for a
> square hole on each side at the bottom-rear, what looks like a place for
> the air to go once it passes over the engine. i dont have any unused bolt
> holes though.
> when i has the oil cooler off i cleaned it out with solvent, then blew it
> out with air, and it wasn't restricted. i'm not sure where the relief
> valve is, or how to check it.
> thanks
> matt
>
>

There are 2 valves. They are under the engine, behind big screws.
The one toward the rear of the car controls flow past the oil cooler.
A spring pushes the plunger to the top of the valve bore.
If its plunger were stuck in the bore, oil could bypass the cooler.
That doesn't happen often, but it's one way the cooler wouldn't work.

I have to say that at this point you really should get a shop manual.
You can find them on eBay or at Amazon.com . Bentley has the nice
one, or maybe Haynes.

Jim

Thanks jim, I'll go ahead and get a book, then I'll check the valve, and
hopefully I will come back with good news!

matt

An oil temp of 255F, though high, just isn't indicative of an overall case
temp that would be high enough to melt the plastic insulator on your dizzy.
There is plenty of other high-heat plastic used on that engine that would
also be melting down.
You mentioned that the wire going through the insulator, "looked like new
copper". Does that wire have insulation on it? If not, it should. And if
not, where did it go?
The way it sounds to me, the insulator melted and you went looking for a
problem. Although high oil temp was found, and may be a contributor, I
suspect that oil temp has been high for some time. Long before your dizzy
meltdown. Bottom line: you appear to have two (2) distinctly different
problems. Solve them seperately.

A few things to consider. You wouldn't happen to have a power-pulley
installed on that engine? Did you reinstall all of the tin, and in the
correct configuration? Oil level up to snuff? Have you checked the oil
pressure? Have you tried a different temp gauge?

Brasso

"Speedy Jim" > wrote in message
.com...
> 187 wrote:
>
>> i have recently had the engine out for a clutch job, and i had the fan
>> housing off to claen everthing up since i had the engine out anyway.
>> everything in the fan housing was hooked up and moving.
>> during the cleaning i did clean out all the gunk from between the fins.
>> i
>> even removed the cooler and flushed it with solvent, then blew it out
>> with
>> air.
>> with the engine running i have got under the car and pulled on the rod,
>> and it does decrease air flow, but with it up it blows real strong, and
>> all the tins are in place.
>> could air-fuel ratio do this, i know a lean engine runs hotter?
>> thanks alot matt
>>
>>
>
> I really doubt that it is a mixture problem.
> The temps are so far out of range that something
> more serious must be going on (I think).
>
> Is the engine tight? Can you turn it by hand
> (both when cold and when hot)?
>
> Jim

well, first the wire.
when the rubber started melting, which was a couple weeks after i put the
clutch in , i thought it was melting from inside the wire, and started
changing ignition parts.
first the points and condenser, still melted.
so i changed the coil, still melted.
so i put a ballast in place, still nothing, so i put the old coil, with
the resistor in place, still nothing. so i took the resistor off.
i have had to put 4 condensers in within the last 400 or so miles, because
of the melting and the crimped part of the connecter grounding out on the
body of the distributor.
so i stripped back the wires of one of the old condensers and looked at
the wires and they look fine, no signs of heat internally.
i dont have a power pulley, right now everything on this engine is stock,
except i have an electric fuel pump on it, which gets its ground from the
generator housing, and power from the coil +
im pretty sure all the tins are correct. or at least they all went back
on, and i dont have anything left over.
there are what look like holes made the by vw to let the air out, but
thats all that isnt covered.
the oil level is fine, i did recently replace the oil pressure switch, and
the light works fine now. but thats the only pressure test done.
as for the gauges, on this last test run i started out with an analog
gauge that went up to 220F and it got up to whatever back around to 20F
would be, so i stopped at wal-mart and bought a digital meat thermometer,
and thats where i got my readings from.
what should the pressure run, and will a manual gauge work for this test,
seeing the plastic oil line woulg be so long?
thanks again for the help
matt

187 wrote:

> well, first the wire.
> when the rubber started melting, which was a couple weeks after i put the
> clutch in , i thought it was melting from inside the wire, and started
> changing ignition parts.
> first the points and condenser, still melted.
> so i changed the coil, still melted.
> so i put a ballast in place, still nothing, so i put the old coil, with
> the resistor in place, still nothing. so i took the resistor off.
> i have had to put 4 condensers in within the last 400 or so miles, because
> of the melting and the crimped part of the connecter grounding out on the
> body of the distributor.
> so i stripped back the wires of one of the old condensers and looked at
> the wires and they look fine, no signs of heat internally.
> i dont have a power pulley, right now everything on this engine is stock,
> except i have an electric fuel pump on it, which gets its ground from the
> generator housing, and power from the coil +
> im pretty sure all the tins are correct. or at least they all went back
> on, and i dont have anything left over.
> there are what look like holes made the by vw to let the air out, but
> thats all that isnt covered.
> the oil level is fine, i did recently replace the oil pressure switch, and
> the light works fine now. but thats the only pressure test done.
> as for the gauges, on this last test run i started out with an analog
> gauge that went up to 220F and it got up to whatever back around to 20F
> would be, so i stopped at wal-mart and bought a digital meat thermometer,
> and thats where i got my readings from.
> what should the pressure run, and will a manual gauge work for this test,
> seeing the plastic oil line woulg be so long?
> thanks again for the help
> matt
>
>
>
QUOTE: "what look like holes made the by vw to let the air out"

Whoa! Are these "holes" in the fan housing and
approx 1.5" diam each?

If so, they are supposed to have hoses connected to the
heater (heat exchanger) inlets.

Cover them over (duct tape) for now.

Yes, you can use a mechanical pressure gauge.
At highway running speed, you should get about 30 psi when hot.
At idle, it will drop to just a few psi.

Jim

the holes i am talking about are under the engine. there is one at the
left, and one at the right side. so the air is kinda directed toward the
muffler.
the hoses for the heat exchangers are in place, should i remove them and
cover the holes?
thanks again
matt

187 wrote:
> the holes i am talking about are under the engine. there is one at the
> left, and one at the right side. so the air is kinda directed toward the
> muffler.
> the hoses for the heat exchangers are in place, should i remove them and
> cover the holes?
> thanks again
> matt
>

Ah. Now I see. The holes at the bottom are correct.

As long as the heat exch hoses are connected up that's OK too.
I was hoping we had found a reason for overheating :-(

Jim

i with it would have been that easy.
i haven't had a chance to check the oil pressure, or take the valves out
yet, i had to work late today.
but i did get me a haynes manual today, and hopefully that will help me
some.
i have been racking my brains about what i could have done while i had the
engine out that would have caused this, and something hit me.
when i put the distributor back, it went in smooth, until the rotor shaft
locked in, then i had to tap it the rest of the way down.
could the shaft be in some sort of bind now, causing enough friction to
cause the distributor body to get hot enough to melt the rubber?
if not, got any ideas of what i could have done wrong?
thanks again
matt