Club 80-90 Forums

Hi guys, I am supposed to be using my T25 in 3 days for my wedding and then to drive to france for my honey moon, However on saturday it sudenly decided that one of the tappits would fail, I have flushed the engine, changed the oil and filter, ran it all day yesterday, and the problem seems the same if not worse!! It now wont run right...im guesing its not timing right but im no mechanic, I have a friend who used to restore t2 vans 20 years ago who has offered to lend me his services for the day today, he says we have to remove the head to do the tappits as they are inside? he also says while we have got it off we may as well renew as much as we can before my trip i.e push rod tubes, seals, piston rings, etc but i am not at all mechanically minded and i am really worried that he may be causing me a load more bother than i need..... can someone please get back to me and let me know what they think and if so what they think we should be replacing..... also i forgot to mention that I am on a tight budget, and my mrs is beside her self as we only brought the van for the the wedding and we have based the whole wedding around the van!! if anyone is around the bridgnorth area in shropshire and thinks they may be able to lend a hand or some tools it would be greatly appreciated, i run a pub and am willing to offer some free beer in return . I cant use the van as it is so im gusing we may as well get stuck in and have a go.... I have phoned every specialist and vw mechanic i can think of and no one is available to look at it let alone do it for weeks............................ Help please Gaz

tappets or the better term lifters are changeable without taking the heads off.
locate the noisy lifter , remove the rocker assembly, pull out the respective pushrod, remove the pushrod tube, pull out the lifter and replace.
you'll need some telescopic pushrod tubes and a magnet to pull the broken lifter out.
If you're unucky the lifter will be stubborn and head removal will be necessary.

Taking the head off is asking for a can of worms to be opened in my opinion.
I presume the noisy lifter has been adjusted and the rocker assembly is in good order

If you're getting married Saturday I may be able to help with a nice van

First things first whats the engine? Seems like you have already diagnosed the fault, what are the symptoms? I take it it is a petrol engine. There is a spring clip like a bucket handle, that holds the rocker cover on, get a spanner or screwdriver behind it and prise it off, it jhinges at either side. Then turn over the engine manually (make sure not in gear) get a helper with a big spanner (adjustable will do) on the bottom pulley wheel nut and turn clockwise as you look at it. (its easier without the spark plugs in but still possible.) and watch the tappets rise and fall. Shey should all move by approximately an equal amount.

did the tappit 'fail' wile you were driving or when you started it from cold one day , perhaps after it sitting for a while?

how long have you driven it noisy?

some times they just need a good run , perhaps 50 miles or so.

but as above a start would be to pop the rocker covers off and make sure the tappit adjusting screws are all ok , no loose/damaged or worn ones.

sometimes using 'flush' can have an opposite effect to what you require and leave you worse than you started.

i would remove the rocker covers and if all seems ok go for a long drive , poss changing the oil again after . what oil did you use?

thanks guys
I used 15/40 mineral oil i have spoken to someone this morning who has told me it should be straight 30 mineral oil but i have never heard of this?? im going to have a ride over to gsf this morning to see weather i can get a new tappit, my friend is offering to do a full refurb but im a bit unsure weather this is a bit extreem just for a noisy tappit!! and as kev says could be opening a can of worms on an engine that otherwise starts on the button runs well is powerful (ish) and sweet as a nut.... Its a 2,0 cu engine, and i ran it yesterday for a good 40-50 miles but it didnt seem to clear... im going to have a ride to wolverhampton now but will be contactable on a mobile 07890033435 if anyone can find the time to call me that would be great....

kev is your van white?? i pass a really nice t25 every time i drive from bridgo to wolves..... ??

cheers guys and thanks so much for your time

gaz

p.s kev just looked at your van and its not white !!!! very nice compared to mine though..... but then i am relativley new to this

GAZNHAYT25 wrote: I used 15/40 mineral oil i have spoken to someone this morning who has told me it should be straight 30 mineral oil

Well don't talk to him about VW's again = It should be 15/40 Mineral, as you used. (or 20/50 for a high mileage engine)

GAZNHAYT25 wrote:I'm going to have a ride over to gsf this morning to see weather i can get a new tappet, my friend is offering to do a full refurb but I'm a bit unsure whether this is a bit extreme just for a noisy tappet!!

It flippin well is, esp on an air-cooled were the job is MUCH simpler (and safer to do) than on a water cooled one !

GAZNHAYT25 wrote:I ran it yesterday for a good 40-50 miles but it didn't seem to clear... I'm going to have a ride to Wolverhampton now

As has been said (and it happened to me a while ago) a tappet can mysteriously drain down (oil) and become noisy, only to sort itself out after xxx miles, mine did.

BUT

Have you taken the rocker covers off and checked the tappets as recommended above ? It should only take 30 mins, but you might want to have a pair of new rocker cover gaskets to use. Read the Haynes or our wiki ( here = https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Hy ... _explained" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) for details, yours should have hydraulic tappets, so no actual clearance will be detectable (in the old fashioned feeler gauge styleee) but it IS worth checking nothing is loose or broken before driving it.

Edited for tidying up.

15/40 is recommended for water cooled engines. Morris SAE 30 oil is recommended for air cooled. GSF used to stock it. Jusk Kampers have it in stock and you may be able to get it elsewhere.

As said above have you driven it on a good run for about an hour to see if that cures it? Noisy tappets are a common problem and there has been a lot of discussion about it on the forum. When it first happened to me I thought the worst and that my engine was about to break up. The Haynes manual even refers to it and says don't panic and suggests that different oils might help but that it could happen again and not to worry.

Good luck.

Patrick

PRD wrote:15/40 is recommended for water cooled engines. Morris SAE 30 oil is recommended for air cooled. GSF used to stock it. Jusk Kampers have it in stock and you may be able to get it elsewhere.

Sorry but the combined wisdom on here and elsewhere is that GSF and JK should NOT be recommending any straight oils. VW didn't ! Read this = https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Pe ... oil_change" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fine. I ran my Aircooled on Morris SAE 30 for 15 years and never had any problems using it. Oil eh messy stuff!

Patrick

kevtherev wrote:

I bloody love this site, offering of vans for a Wedding. What happens if he planned his honeymoon in the van?!

Hope you get it sorted mate, when I finally get married, my van will be the transport, theme and honeymoon. Can't ask her untill I have learnt everything I need to know, don't want a mishap on the honeymoon!

Yeah that was the plan!! Wedding car then off to france on monday!!! still got a car and a tent in back up had a friend come and look at the van today he said there where a few jobs that needed doing the push rod tubes where leaking etc... so we have pulled the engine out today and we are going to stip it down tomoz, brought full gasket set, 8 tappets, push rod tubes, seals, oil, filter, etc he say it would be a good idea to do the piston rings while we have got the engine out anybody got any input cause im not sure ???

kev if it dont work i may need that stunner around 2pm on saturday

any info greatly appreciated and thanks so much for all your help

Gaz

if your going down the ring route , a set of exhaust valves and big end bearings should see it sorted for a good few miles.

or just do it simply.

you should not need new pushrods , just the seals , they are different to the old beetle or watercooled t25 engines.