Aircooled 2l - how hot is too hot?

[redsnapper]

Greetings all,

To cut a long story short, a run to Cornwall at the end of last summer killed my engine in a cab-filling fume frenzy and after checking (and trying) various options I bit the bullet and had a recon engine put in a month or so ago by a mechanic well recommended by people on these forums. Obviously a big decision and of course a big expense but I plan on keeping the bus for a good while so saved my pennies over the winter.

Now comes the cruncher. Another trip to Cornwall, from which I returned today, and the engine is running really nicely. However... there are really strong fumes coming off the heat exchanger. Is it possibly left over from when the engine bit the dust before as huge amounts of oil were spilling out onto it? I've done almost 500 miles since the change over, would you expect that to be enough to clear the smell?

I've been trying to take it slow to run the engine in, but sometimes after as little as an hour at 50mph the heat exchanger is putting out enough heat that you can easily feel it on your bare legs from a couple of feet away and I could quite (un)happily fry a full english breakfast on it. I even spotted a bit of smoke when we stopped today - not much, but something I hoped I wouldn't be seeing again fullstop!

Plan on taking it back for a check over to the mechanic as he seemed genuinely helpful, but just feeling a bit despondent (especially as someone unknown has also 'nudged' my bumper while away so to check the oil levels on the way back I had to unbolt it!). Thought I'd post on here to see if anyone has two penneth worth to throw in, thanks in advance for any advice.

p.s. One thing that cheered me up on the run was getting cheery waves from other T25ers, so if you saw a yellow bus with a slightly grumpy looking driver - thanks for those

[CovKid]

Probably a slightly seeping rocker cover gasket. Have a nose.

[redsnapper]

Thanks Covkid, will take a look at that and reckon you could be right, but still interested in what sort of temperature that heat exchanger should get up to after a fairly sedate run.

[CovKid]

With the Aircooled, providing the timing is correct, all seals in place (including the little rubber ones in the tinware where the sparkplug leads go through) and sufficient oil in it, it should be fine. They do tend to run hot but it would smell a lot worse if drips of oil are burning on the heat exchangers. Don't use sealant on rocker gaskets though. If they are leaking fit new gaskets and if the spring clips look old, fit new ones as they can lose their tension with age. Timing is very important in terms of overheating but chances are it isn't that. Get it checked to make sure though.

[faggie]

2.0 litre air cooled engines dont run hot not compared to the smaller Aircooled engines fitted into bays etc after a steady run on the motorway at 60mph for 2 or more hours if i open the engine bay the cooling tin over the cylinders is only warm definately not hot , this all changes if left for a few minutes when the heat starts to rise , i would check the thermostat is opening and the ignition is set correctly to factory settings , the heat exchangers get hot but not that hot as the powdercoating on the main body has not burnt of with over 4 years of use the only place it has come of is on the pipes entering the heat exchanger ,

[Trunkster]

I have a 2l cu air cooled and mine runs hot. So hot I got concirned and fitted a temp guage in my dip stick chamber. £80 ish JK!! My oil temp in chamber is 120*C. I was a little worried so I contacted Steve 80/90 from gascure. He has told me not to be worried as this is oil temp and they guages arnt that acurate. Normal running temp is 180/225 *F or 83/112*C. I get similar smells as I have a small oil leak. Even 2 hours into a journey I get hot legs so I disconected the wires onto the heat exchangers so no hot air comes into the cab! Will sort them out properly at the weekend.