Is the 1.6a/c really that bad??

[Treefiddy]

Hi all - first post and I'll start with an apology, I'm sorry but I am yet another new comer to vw's and am on the scrounge for advice! I had a look at my first t25 recently and fell in love with it! It took all my strength to walk away as I thought it best to at least visit a few others to get some base for comparison. I have also been busy researching the vans as much as I can, which has bought me to this site (what a good site it is too).
I have read a few negative posts about the 1.6 Aircooled motors, referred to as a 'CT' - the van I fell in love with was a 1980 1.6 and now I'm nervous that it will be no good, will this be the 'CT' version in question? I'm expecting it to be slow but how slow are we talking?? 55 in the cruise is one thing but will she make it up the welsh mountains while full of essential camping gear (read: full of beer )?

I'm not completely affraid of swinging a spanner around (have rebuilt an uno turbo engine before) but at the same time I don't want to be spending every other weekend dropping the engine out for repairs - in general, how much maintaining do the t25 engines need?? This particular engine sounded really quiet and smooth, started first time from cold with no smoke but there was evidence of a small oil leak from somewhere - is this anything to worry about with these vans?

Both vans I have looked at so far seemed pretty solid underneath, I could only see rust at the bottom of the sliding door and evidince of rust/filling on the front panel above the front bumper but I'm guessing the front panel can be replaced and isn't perhaps that 'structural'?
Sorry for the essay - just trying to decide if I should resist and wait for a 1.9w/c or a 2l a/c. Any advice gratefully recieved

[kevtherev]

buy the van and put a 2.0 Aircooled in

yes they are embarrassingly slow on any gradient

[dugcati]

slow yes but all these vans are slow...just some are a bit slower than others

To be honest I think any engine (standard vw engine that is) would struggle going up mountains when fully laden, the benefits of water cooling when the engine is under a lot of load are why 99.99% of all engines are water cooled... better mpg more reliable engine stays in optimum bhp producing heat range etc etc. The Aircooled thing is really a cult thing now.


One more thing to remember that many many others seem to over look is that these vans (splits/bays and T25's) were designed as a trundle around town type vehicle and before a time where mpg/economy was as focused as today!

I agree in part with what has already been said.. buy the one your heart is set on and if it's the 1600 A/C and you find it really bad then drop in a 2.0L A/C lump

[Therunner]

Poor Mel spent every weekend on our ct for quite sometime, but we got ours as a non runner
& stuck another 1.6 in that turned out to have cracked heads.. killed that going up a rather steep
& long hill.. i wonder how a healty ct 'would' fare with them hills..
they all leak a little bit of oil, or all ours have anyway,.

[A KIRK]

I Think if the Ct engine is in good condition, then they will go up anything, its all about how you drive them. You have to remember there not amodern engine, far from it, so you have to adapt your driviing style.

Ok the engines are slow,but you shoul dbe able to hold 55-60mph on a motorway, but yes you will loose some speed on the hilly sections, but trust me none of that matters when your plodding along.

Basic servicing is the key thing regular oil changes every 3000 or 6 months is a good idea, ensure all tin wear is in place and sealed up.

Worse case a recon CT lump can be supplied and fitted for around £1000

[Treefiddy]

Thanks for the advice so far. I'm certainly not expecting to break any speed records, infact part of the reason I now want a 25 over a t4 is because (and tell me if I'm wrong) I want every journey to feel like an 'event' rather than just an A to B journey. I'm just so unfamilliar with the Aircooled thing and can't help but worry how such an old underpowered lump would fair with the journey to my favourite camping spot... a five hour trek into midwales.

I feel like this maybe a stupid question but do/can Aircooled motors overheat regularly on climbs? I can't even remember if there was a temperature guage or not...guess the only thing it could measure is cylinderhead temp

Putting a 2l in is a good idea (i'll search the forum - I presume someone on here must have tackled this job) but like most things it comes down to money. This van is cheapish and about £1000 under budget but I was hoping to spend some of that on sprucing up the interior and for any unexpected (expected?!) failures!
Thanks again

[Therunner]

if it feels & sounds right when you drive it then go for it , it's pretty hard to find a van 'under' budget,
& if there's nothing wrong with the engine at the moment then i'd put some of the extra money by should
you ever 'need' a new engine & enjoy it as is, journeys certainly are eventful
the aircooleds don't tend to have temperature guages unless someone's fitted one..
i stop ours for a rest when it starts to smell too hot,..

good luck

( tree fiddy )

[rainman]

I'm no expert but personally I wouldn't think the supposed benefits of changing a 1.6L for a 2L would be worth the hassle and expense. If you're motoring around Wales, you won't need to do over 50 most of time anyway. Mines a 2L Aircooled but probably has lost a lot of its power over the years for various reasons and does require a bit of a run up to tackle big hills, all good fun though and it does sound great when I drive through a small village and I can hear the engine echoing off the walls - one of life's simple pleasures.

[Therunner]

Our poor thing was struggling against seriously binding breaks, as well as the leaky cylinder head it's no wonder that that hill finished it off s'got a lovely new 1776 now tho

Melvin

[Treefiddy]

[quote="Therunner"]
i stop ours for a rest when it starts to smell too hot,..

For me this is a real glimpse into what driving and owning an old bus will be like.. and I love it!!

The finance should be in place by the end of the week so I think I'll go for an extended test drive and then just follow my heart as suggested (Corrr hope its not sold... . I know some of the tell-tail signs for cracked cylinderheads/gaskets on a watercooled engine but is there anything to hint at it with the aircooleds?? Or any other particular nasty to look for?

Thanks again for all the friendly advice - great forum

[Therunner]

ours was really really bad,. when i took it in for the mot & they got it up on the ramps
they started it up & it went "BBBBBRRRRRRAAAAAPPPPPP" & chucked out smoke from underneath
the engine all the mechanics in the place came running for a look the mot tester nearly didn't
let it through but as it wasn't the exhaust we got away with an advisory for it leaking gases from under
the engine or something... at the time we were pretty chuffed with that.. got about 200 miles out of it...

if you don't know the sound of Aircooled it'd pretty hard to tell unless it's really bad - like that lovely noise
i kind of described if you so much as touch the throttle! & the smoke coming from underneath..

is there no one that can come with you so you can be sure?

good luck anyway, i'm sure it'll be cool, if it runs & ticks over nicely

[dugcati]

TreeFiddy - PM me if you need a second pair of eyes - I am in Derby and if not a million miles away I'll come with you to look at a van or two if you want

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hanks for the advice so far. I'm certainly not expecting to break any speed records, infact part of the reason I now want a 25 over a t4 is because (and tell me if I'm wrong) I want every journey to feel like an 'event' rather than just an A to B journey. I'm just so unfamilliar with the Aircooled thing and can't help but worry how such an old underpowered lump would fair with the journey to my favourite camping spot... a five hour trek into midwales.

Blimey! if your going Aircooled then getting to the end of the street can sometimes be an event in itself

[Treefiddy]

Therunner - I think it sounds better than yours did then!
Dugcati - Thanks very much, exceptionally kind offer unfortunately the van in question is a 2hour trek away. Saying that if I can get over this man flu by the weekend then I intend to do some viewings locally too - I may well be intouch thanks again

I'm still taken a back by how helpful everybody is on here

I really really just wanna get involved with some 'busing' now..must remain objective!!

[ricicles]

don,t go putting the loch ness monster in the back will you. he will be back if you do, you know that

[Therunner]