1600 ct overheating

[fatboytrev]

Hi all. My first post, so please dont bash me for just asking a question!
Intro
I have be a very proud owner of 1980 1600 Aircooled devon camper, so very new to the scene. Her name is "Bubbles", named by the kids! Just had an awesome weekend at grill and chill at the hop farm kent. Some amazing vans!

Having owned bubbles for 5 weeks now she is already on her 4 visit to the garage this week. When we got her had issues with idle and cold running. Had an oil change and also fitted a new exhaust system. Booked into rusty campers in birchington. Got nearly there and clearly she was over heating, bad tappet noise under load loss of power and stuttering. Pulled over only 4 miles from the garage, didnt want to risk it so had recovery take me the rest of the way. Initial thoughts of the mechanics wasnt good, however after investigation and a pressure test which revealed very bad pressure on 2 cylinders and nothing on the other 2. This was down to issues with valves clearances and poor timing, had this all done as well as some other bits they picked up, ran sweet on start and idle so was very pleased. Journey home was eventfull, loads of traffic and it did feel very hot inside the cabin but seemed to be ok until just before home. That evening a run upto paddock wood, about 30 mins on motorway and then 15 mins on a roads. As I left the motorway she was hot and sluggish feeling like power was struggle through the gears. However got there in one piece. Journey home yesterday not so good. Again about 30 mins into journey and the same noise as the journey to birchington, rattle under load stuttering and getting quite hot. Pulled over on the motorway only 15 mins from home, let it cool for 30 mins and managed to get off the motorway in ashford, stopped for another 40 mins and a beer and then made the final journey to home. She was clearly not 100%, but made it nonetheless. Now just want to get any ideas of what I can do to get this sorted. To help any questions, engine lid seal ok, all tinware present as far as I can tell, tinware seal is there although someone has used a t2 seal so aiming to get the right one when they are in stock. Engine is in good nick according to the garage, was a replacement in 2009 and has only done 600 miles since then! 300 of which ive done in the last few weeks.any idea guys?

[faggie]

is the engines ignition set to factory spec maybe the garage has advanced the timing to pep up the performance as even when running correctly they are damgerously underpowered , is the thermostat opening the cooling flaps , who rebuilt the engine may be they have not fitted all the cooling ducts when the garage rebuilt the engine , do you now have good compression on all 4 cylinders , if it was me i would look for a type 4 1700cc 1800cc or 2000cc engine with good compression it will be the cheapest route in the long run and make driving the van a pleasure not a chore ,

[ermie571]

Hiya! I have a friend in Chatham with a 1600 ct motor. His isn't fast...but it does get him there! He was also a chill and grill.

Speak to the garage again...could the valves have got loose again....funny that it ran ok for a while...and now you are back to rattles etc. So check the valve clearances again. Have a look for a thermostat, and get to know your cooling flaps (though I would have expected a garage who was familiar with the old air cooled to realise that the flaps were failed closed rather than failed open (which they should)).

Good luck with your journey xx

[fatboytrev]

Hi

Faggie. As far as I know the timing was reset to normal requirements. As for the thermostat and cooling flaps I havent got a clue still learning the hard way at the moment. How can i check thermostat and flaps? The engine was a complete swap out and the garage said it was in great condition but it hadnt helped that the previous owner didnt do any mileage in it. So not even run in properly! Compressions were spot on after everything was adjusted properly. Not sure now I do have a compression kit but have no clue how to use it .
The cost of swapping out the engine is too much at the moment. Im happy just plodding along at 50 if I was confident she wouldnt overheat .

Ernie, she wont make it back to garage at the moment im sure. Its a nightmare journey, lots of hills although its only 40miles. Ideally need a good garage who know there stuff locally. I did the exhaust swap myself is there anything I could have done or not done that would cause the issues? Would the tinware seal make the difference?

[fatboytrev]

One more thing any pics of the thermostat and cooling flaps would be really helpful so I can check everythings as it should be. Ive a haynes manual but found it completely useless when doing the exhaust will have a look tonight around thermostat etc. See what that says. Thanks for the replies so far, anybody else got any ideas.

Especially if anyone knows a good garage in the ashford area that know about these engines etc.

[SILVERFOX2013]

hi m8 firstly welcome to this fantastic web site i too an a virgin t25 devon 1600ct owner of 5 months and athough i have some background with machanics
my ct engine was all new to me 5 months ago first thing to do is look up utube type in vw 1600ct and watch all videos on this engine sarran is a legeond
and has and still is helping me on here and by watching his vids
now i had engine oproblems with mine running hot miss firing low power checkout my posts some recent i am no expert but the 1600ct is a basic good strong engine even if under power
in short this is what i did to mine whith a small amount of tools
compresion test testers on ebay £10
found air leakes on inlet manafold and carb by spraying wd40 as engine runs and noted a change in idle/spluter
air laeks result in lean mixture = over heating/poor running
replaced all gaskets on inlet side inc rubber joining parts x2 £7 and rbuilt carb using rebuild kit £12
i removed electronic hall igntion and put in new retro points distributer £35 see sarrans videos
reset timing to new point 8 deg btc timing light ebay £15
did a basic service at the start oil oil filter air filter fuel filters ht laeds spark plugs dizzy cap rotor arm replaced fuel hoses in around engine £60

[SILVERFOX2013]

just to add you timing if still has hall efect elecronic igntion is 4 /6 deg AFTER TDC this could be the only problem with your engine id give garage a call and ask them were thay set the timimg i would do this today . second you tappets should be hydrolic and only need setting once when any rebuild good luck and dont condem it yet

[sarran1955]

Hello,

and 'Happy First Post' .....

Right.. 1600 CT.. tintop.. 28 mpg.. 75 kph max in third.. 103 max in fourth..in standard setup using 2 star petrol

They do not leak oil... they do not overheat..

Aircooled bliss....

How hot should it be. .... touch the oil on the dipstick after a run... hot but not hurt..

19 times out of 7 it will be the valve and ignition timing set wrongly..

This will give you an idea...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOiSOObjk2E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Never mind the thermostat and the wongy flaps..

Cordialement,

[fatboytrev]

Thanks Sarran/silverfox for your replies. Have just had look around the engine bay again, although its dark now so not ideal. I have spotted that there doesn't appear to be any thermostat or cooling flaps There is a hole in the tinware where the dip stick pipe disappears into the engine, about 100mm wide or so, looks like something missing. The front cover plate looks at bit tatty, a few gaps/holes around the inlet manifold at the points it joins the engine. Along with the wrong tinware seal, is this gonna be what's causing it to overheat?. I've been assured the valve clearances and timing was spot on when it left the garage last Thursday. It's definitely overheating after about 30mins of running, I checked the dipstick on Sunday and was HOT, hurt my fingers anyway.

I'll try to get some photos when I can, dark when I go to work, dark when I get home and we are away this weekend so not sure when I will get chance in the next few days but will try.

Can't believe how obsessed I have become about it, it's really bothering me.... anyway I'll keep at it. Appreciate any comments on the photos when I get them on here.

Any news on a garage in ashford area anyone?

[SILVERFOX2013]

ask garage what timing piont was used to time your engine this realy is a common mistake im told and would defo make engine over heat in 30mins
the thermostat is conceted to that wire cable under the tinware if in dought if it working or not just diconect flaps will be perm open its only needed for cold winters and flaps are more trouble than worth. gaps in tinware wouldent make engine over heat that soon

[SILVERFOX2013]

Hello,

and 'Happy First Post' .....

Right.. 1600 CT.. tintop.. 28 mpg.. 75 kph max in third.. 103 max in fourth..in standard setup using 2 star petrol

They do not leak oil... they do not overheat..

Aircooled bliss....

How hot should it be. .... touch the oil on the dipstick after a run... hot but not hurt..

19 times out of 7 it will be the valve and ignition timing set wrongly..

This will give you an idea...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOiSOObjk2E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Never mind the thermostat and the wongy flaps..

Cordialement,

2 star petrol i remember that just i use to fill my mopedup with it and the guy use to squrt some two stoke oil from a contraption into tank

[fatboytrev]

Ok. ordered myself a timing strobe from fleabay. How can I tell what the current timing is set at?

Had a look at the svda distributor you mentioned, there a couple of different ones available. Powerspark or accuspark, the accuspark says it comes with an original rotor. Both about £30, There are aslo Svda electronic ones for about £55. Whats the difference, remember im not a mechanic bit willing to learn.

Took her out for quick spin late last night and she was driving lovely. Started at first turn, happily idled away from cold. Didnt drive for long maybe 15 mins and everything seemed ok. What I dont get is what happens after a 30min run. She obviously getting hot and thats what seems to be the issue. Notice a small oil leak last night too, dont know where is from as there is quite a bit of oil on the underside which does seem old.

Definitely someone has already removed the thermostat and flaps, worth retro fitting? Although from what ive read this looks an engine out job!!

Other bits that were addressed at last visit to garage were; new fuel lines in engine bay, resealed oil cooler as was leaking slightly, one of the airbox hoses was blocked off so they sorted that. Valves checked and reset. Although ive not checked the compression again, I was getting the same rattle when she got hot, what would cause the valves to unset seeing as they are hydraulic?

[camper]

I had a 1600 twin port bay window.The valve seats started to pull back into the cylinder head this effected the valve rocker arm gap setting.Could this be the problem on your CT 1600 engine?

[fatboytrev]

Camper, ive no idea what any of that means!

I guess what you imply would mean the engine would run crap all the time, it only starts to be issue when it appears to be overheating. I might wrong and there other symptoms im unaware of all the time, im still learning.

[SILVERFOX2013]

hi you must watch sarrans videos on utube type in vw 1600 ct retro fit distributer as two of us have told you in the video he shows and explains the 2 types of timing marks and how to use a strobe. and the defrence in the two distributers is one is machanical contact points the other is elctronic magnetic switch
as fiited to halls ignition on you engine its all explained in sarrans VIDEOS UTUBE