Engine change advice

[300CE]

Great post by Alex there Logivan - here's a pic of my engine with Weber if it helps. Let me know & i'll take some more close up's if required:

[Logivan]

thanks guys, both helpful posts!

right so i wrongly assumed the fuel was coming from the left as this is more of a classic rubber fuel line. also the new engine came with 2 fuel filters, one on each pipe to and from the pump?! and both were installed back to front to the direction of flow?! your posts have now sorted that out for me.

was just about to turn her over and start it for the first time today, started pouring coolant into the tank in the engine bay. was going to just use water in case of problems but temps are below zero here already and there is snow on the ground. turns out that the water pump on the new engine has a leak, a big leak! there is a hole on the underside of it that looks like the emergency pressure hole/ or a hole that only lets water out when the breakings are dead in the pump. eaither way it's shot. so much for a "rebuilt" engine from the seller
the odd thing is that the old pump doesn't even have this hole on the underside of it. i know it was rebuilt at some point as there are clues, so much have used a different part.

wondering if i should just swap back for the old water pump from the old enigne just to test. don't really want to buy a new one and find something bigger in the engine gone. got the fear now.

grr, so close yet so far. more snow forecast for friday, hope to get the poor girl running before then.

[Logivan]

oh also another small question, do you know where i could buy a second hand water expansion tank? stupidly snapped off the hose connector from mine.

[R0B]

Try the wanted section.

[T25Convert]

the new engine came with 2 fuel filters, one on each pipe to and from the pump?! and both were installed back to front to the direction of flow?!

the water pump on the new engine has a leak, a big leak!

so much for a "rebuilt" engine from the seller

Hmmm, none of that sounds good - any chance of getting some cash back off the seller if they advertised as rebuilt? I'm guessing not, got stung on a 'good runner' myself.

I would use any of your own ancillary parts at this stage to get it running. If you then prove it works splash out and get new parts.

Good luck - the first turn of the key on a freshly installed engine is a nerve wracking one (espcially if it doesn't start!!)

Cheers,

Alex

[300CE]

Good advice from Alex - fingers crossed that you'll get the old girl up and running, however, where feasible i would change most of the ancillaries if you can just so that you know where you are with it and keep the replaced parts as spares. I too went the recon route but rather than swap all my parts over, i bought a new coil, leads, water pump, expansion tank, various hoses & pipes etc as i didn't want these failing and potentially ruin the new engine. Keep us updated.

[Logivan]

well got the old pump off the old engine and it looks ok, should do the trick for a test at least.
I dred to think what it going to happen when i turn that key! hope it just coughs into life and needs a bit of revving. spose i can allways swap the intakes for the old ones if the "new" carb turns out to be a pain in the backside.

more snow coming tomorrow so not sure i'm going to get much further with it this week, running out of time before winter!

will post updates, wish i had camara to do pics too.

[T25Convert]

spose i can allways swap the intakes for the old ones if the "new" carb turns out to be a pain in the backside.

No need to change manifolds to swap between carbs - if you undo the four 13mm nuts at base of carb you'll find a small plate underneath with hex headed bolts in. Pop these out and lift off plate and you're left with the orignal manifold as VW made it. Pierberg from your other engine can then drop on.

I've always found it easier to do this than take off the manifolds, which whilst there are less bolts it somehow seems to be far more fiddly (and heavy!)

Let us know what happens when you fire it up!

Cheers,

Alex

[Logivan]

so far it won't fire up. the pump must be doing someting as the fuel filter under the van is now full of fuel where it was new and empty before. no fuel making it as far as the carb so far

foound 1 more connection on the carb at the rear, looks like it had a pipe on it at some point in the past but is not connected atm, could be a problem? so far my fuel plumbing goes from tank to pump then pump to left of carb and then from there back to the tank. not sure what should be on this extra port?
(when i say back, i mean gearbox side of the carb)

doing the waterpump is a pain too, one of the hardest i've ever had to do and that includes some crazy jap cars over the years. got it off in the end. work is going very slowly now as i've lost the love for the van now. standing out in the cold isn't my idea of fun and even more so when nothing seems to be going the way it should. think it may well be up for sale once it's running!

[kevtherev]

Thats a vacuum spigot
On a pierburg there are two
I trust you have one to the distributor
the other goes to the air box

[T25Convert]

Right, lets see if we can help then!

As Kev says the 'additional' port is for vacuum, from memory that one goes to the port on the air filetr box. There should be a second one on the left side that goes to the dizzy.

It will allow extra (unmetered) air into the carb, so will in effect lean out the air/fuel ratio. So either block it off, or connect it up!

With regarsd to non starting, have you tried the trick of popping just a little petrol straight into the throat of the carb and trying to start it? If it bursts into life for a second its fueling, if it doesn't then there are other troubles too!

The mechanical fuel pump takes an age to prime, so it could be that if it fires with a dribble of fuel.

If it doesn't start with the dribble I'd start with checking the static dizzy timing, the drive can be installed 180 degress out if the engine has been rebuilt, so check TDC (with valves shut) on No 1 corresponds to the correct dizzy position or it will never go.

Let us know how it goes!

Cheers,

Alex

[Logivan]

once again some great info! thank you both!

spose i'd best ask one more question before i head off to play with the poor thing.
what is the correct order for the HT leads on the dizzy cap?
I think I've got it right but getting that wrong could well cause some running issues

[ghost123uk]

what is the correct order for the HT leads on the dizzy cap?

firing order: 1 - 4 - 3 - 2

[Logivan]

great, that helped, thanks.

right so it runs!! yay.
had to get a new water pump fitted but all good there. found the water pipe from the header tank to metal pipe was split and leaking, wow they are not cheap!
can't remember where I was trying to get an expantion tank, someone said they had one but I forgot about it. a plastic bottle bodge is working for now.
there is a fuel leak from the hose onto the pump but it's only cos the clip is old and dead, nice easy fix.

not much else to tell other than it didn't knock or anything when run, bit of smoke but that's normal thinking what that engine has been through. not run it long enough to even get it up to temp yet.
with any luck it'll all be finished this weekend and can be used as a van again!

thanks very much for the help people!

[300CE]

great, that helped, thanks.

right so it runs!! yay.
had to get a new water pump fitted but all good there. found the water pipe from the header tank to metal pipe was split and leaking, wow they are not cheap!
can't remember where I was trying to get an expantion tank, someone said they had one but I forgot about it. a plastic bottle bodge is working for now.
there is a fuel leak from the hose onto the pump but it's only cos the clip is old and dead, nice easy fix.

not much else to tell other than it didn't knock or anything when run, bit of smoke but that's normal thinking what that engine has been through. not run it long enough to even get it up to temp yet.
with any luck it'll all be finished this weekend and can be used as a van again!

thanks very much for the help people!

Glad you've got the old girl up and running logi, but if you haven't already done so, change all those fuel lines!