2.0 CU with Dell 36 - Very fumey!

[ccarpenter79]

Hi all.

Been a while since I've been on here and had any real time to give my 1980 Westy any love (2 kids and a busy life have got in the way!)

About 10 years ago I put twin Dellorto 36's on my van which made a hell of a difference but it's always been pretty smelly in the back whch didn't bother me too much as I just had the windows down up front but now I have kiddies and mum sitting in the back it's become a real issue.

Have (gulp) attached a picture of my very oily and messy engine bay and decided it needs some time and love before I can carry on using it before I gas my kids out!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e_Fvrf ... sp=sharing

One thing I've never got to the bottom of is where to connect the circled outlet to (crank breather is it?). It seems that must be where a lot of the oil and therefore fumes are coming from, howvere I may be wrong.

I've never had my heat exchangers connected up properly as I only really use the van in the summer and they are in a bad way - is it possible the fumes are escaping into the passenger section that way? 

I probably also need to replace the engine lid seal between the engine and the interior as it's a bit rotten but seems to be out of stock on VW Heritage - maybe the engine bay seal needs doing too?

Thoughts and any help are much appreciated - trying to convince my partner it's all solvable!

I am in Chichester, West Sussex, and have never found a good, knowledgeable garage. Any recommendations are also appreciated, as I am time and knowledge poor!

Thanks all!

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[sarran1955]

Hello and thanks for your message.
Well you have at least given a realistic assessment of your motor
I am currently in hospital awaiting a pretty big operation.
So your problem will serve as a welcome distraction.
Yes, your biggest problem is the lack of a crankcase breather.
I would suggest that you start by watching some of my 2l cu engine videos on YouTube. My channel name is: sarran1955. You want the CU videos 1 to 4.
Do you have any where to work on the vehicle?
Before tackling any thing you must get the engine and bay clean. You can put a large plastic tray underneath, and spray clean with a compressor, spray pot,and cheap thinners. Next you need to start a thread in mechanical and learn how to show photos...very easy with the icon bar. I am using my phone at the moment, but I will have my computer back soon. This will be quite an adventure, but VWs are simple enough.
Watch the videos, subscribe please, and enjoy
Cordialement,
John

[davidoft1]

The engine breather ( circled part) is essentially pumping fumes out into the engine bay , it need piping onto one or both of the air filters. I wouod check the engine hatch seal and for any holes around the engine area into the van as the hatch seal should really keep out the fumes. The heat exchangers could be the reason but only if they are rusted through , how’s the rest of the exhaust system ?

I’m not far from you on Hayling and can take a look.

[ccarpenter79]

Thanks both!

John - I hope the op goes well, I was struggling attaching a pic but hopefully the GDrive link worked well enough.

I've subscribed to your channel on Youtube and will watch through and will probably learn heaps although a lot will go over my head i'm sure! I haven't got my own garage with power which is somewhat of an issue but I work on it outside when I need power.

I've already been on the VW adventure with my T3 for nearly 15 years, starting out with a full engine replacement but to be honest, recent life with 2 kids under 3 and VERY limited time plus not being naturally mechanically gifted means it's had very little love the last 5 years..... time to change that.

@davidoft1 - I would very much appreciate some experienced eyes taking a look - as I said, I've struggled to find a good knowledgeable local garage that knows air cooled VW's.

Not sure if I can post a mobile number but feel free to WhatsApp me to see when would suit you - 07799605085. Happy to pay in beer/chocolates/hard cash!!

Cheers.

[R0B]

.

[ccarpenter79]

Thanks Rob!

And thanks to David who took a look at my very oily aircool engine and suggested quiet a lot of things that need doing and helpfully supplied an engine lid seal that will go a long way to solving the smelly interior.


Next steps is to give the engine bay a right good clean. Connect a pipe from the crank breather into the carbs, replace engine and lid seals and a rocker gasket......

Then comes the decision whether to spend big bucks on new exhaust and replace and connect up the heat exchangers, which have never been properly operational.

Any further ideas are welcomed, and I will use my new knowledge to post pics to the forum directly!

Cheers, Chris. 


  

[ccarpenter79]

Anyone know what size hose to buy to connect the crank breather to the Dell's plus a T-Piece and the connecting piece for the carb filter itself?

Now need the sizing of the green hose plus Orange connecters'?

[shepster]

Isn't there an option whereby the fumes go into a small 'box' thing then into each valve cover?

I recall a mate fitting one to an air-cooled once.

Just had a look 'Empi oil breather kit' about £70.

[ccarpenter79]

Hi Shepster.

Yes - I bought one of these years ago and never got around to installing it, and has long since been lost. 

Are there pro/cons of using one of these rather than drilling straight into air filters?

Assume the kit comes with long enough pipe to go to rocker covers?

Cheers.

[shepster]

As stated it was a pals van rather than my own so didn't live with it on a daily basis but as far as I'm aware it performed well enough.

When you say "drilling into air filters " how are you proposing to secure the pipes?

[ccarpenter79]

Not sure how to connect to air filters - hence my question a few posts up but I've seen others do it and that was how davidoft1 suggested to.

I assume some sort of connecting piece?

[shepster]

I've also seen pipes just run down below the engine so any fumes just 'vent' into the atmosphere, anything to get it out of the engine bay.

[Dueller]

Defo connect the crankcase breather as a start to echo others here

I build air cooled motors and seeing how others do there's without one annoys the crap out of me, you need to close it off as you will also be drawing dirt in since it's part of your oil system.

The breather allows for positive crankcase displacement of the air inside, be it fumes from combustion gases sneaking past the valves and rings or pressure build up from the piston movements.

Think about it like this, compression takes place in the head because it's sealed, on the backside of the piston things are also happening just not in a sealed area where power is sought, bit overly simplistic i know, but that's the pressure we feel when we remove the oil filler cap off a running engine.

Some v8 engines run vacuum pumps to improve this for more horsepower

So anyways connecting to a carb sucks the air out of the crankcase, causing vacum so more efficiency

This is why a crappy mini filter or no connection does nothing, your expelling to atmosphere so the engines working harder.

The breather box they sell just gives multiple options for connecting up, all you need are 2x weber hose connectors, drilled into the filter tops, and a T-piece, i use 1/2 inch or 13mm inlet hose with clamps, shouldn't cost you more than £20 to £30 all in.

The connection to the engine you need to measure and sort, get a reducer or use a breather box, will require some mix and match

Here's some pics on an Aircooled so you get the picture, from the top of the carbs they go behind the engine to join at the T piece then onto the factory take off point on the oil filler

[shepster]

Be mindful of how close the engine lid is to the filters as well, I'm pretty sure you need quite short ones on a T25.

[ccarpenter79]

The only thing I'm struggling to find is 1-inch hose to clamp directly onto the crank outlet on the engine. Then, finding a 1-1/2 inch (25mm to 12mm) reducer seems impossible so I am having to go to 10mm. Therefore, finding a 10mm diameter breather pipe isn't as straightforward either as it all seems to be 12mm!