Club 80-90 Forums

Hello all

We've been silently reading this forum for a while now and it's such a wealth of good advice! We've always felt slightly out of our depths amongst all the expertise on here but we're finally plucking up the courage to say hi and ask for help...

We've had our 1979 T25 for almost two years and already she has put us through our paces a few times.So far the van has had to have a whole new engine and gearbox at huuuuuuge expense! We're baffled by her latest problem and our lovely local mechanic hasn't been able to help despite his best efforts so it looks like we're going to need a VW expert. We wondered if anyone could recommend a specialist garage in east London (we're in stoke newington)

Thank you so much

Bec and Joe

Aha, a fellow member of the N16 Hackney massive! Welcome.

We have been using Westgate Motors in London Fields for our Westy. They're not VW specialists - more an old school general garage but they get a fair few T25s coming through so know the vehicles quite well.

Westgate Motors
14 Westgate Street
London
E8 3RN
02072411233

They'd be okay for general stuff and small bits of bodywork, but anything more extensive or complicated e.g. engine rebuild, then I would look for more of a specialist.

What is your latest problem? Maybe someone on here will be able to provide a solution

keytouch wrote:What is your latest problem? Maybe someone on here will be able to provide a solution

This as well.

Thanks guys

Our current issue is a noisy popping from the engine and a lurching, like it's losing power. A few weeks back we found that the gasket paper on the right carburettor had ripped so we replaced it. Also the butterfly cover thing on the rig carb was a bit bent and there was a buildup of oil on it so we cleaned that up and flattened the kink. This made things better, but hasn't seemed to get rid of the main issue, which is that after about 5 minutes of okay driving (noisy, but okay), the engine starts losing power, lurching, and misfiring, now on the left carb.

Since then our local mechanic has cleaned up the electrics a little, replaced the points and condenser and rotor arm bits, but still that main problem comes back after 5 minutes of driving. I'm guessing it's something to do with heating up, but couldn't hazard a guess as to what to do next!

Nice to know there's a good east London garage that might help!

Bec and Joe

* right carb, not rig!

How recently was the engine replaced? Is it still under guarantee, if it was a rebuild? What engine is it, and what distributor, as you mention points and condenser being changed?

The symptoms you describe sound suspiciously like there could be an air leak on the inlet side. Popping (especially on the over-run) and loss of power suggest a weak mixture. The fact that it happens after the engine has warmed up a bit points to a joint opening enough to leak air as it expands. Combine those things with what you have noticed about the carb gasket being damaged, and I would say you would have a good idea of where to start looking.

I'm a Hackney local as well, and always up for a mechanical challenge.

Cheers,

James

Hi. Im in stokey and use weztgate motors for certain things, others I do myself or if I need a specialist I drive to campershak in grantham as they know their stuff and are reasonable. You could try quick as motor engineers in limehouse also. Im also interestdd to know whete you got the engine done and whag they said about thd carbs? Personally, when I had an Aircooled 2ltr engine in a baywindow bus I changed the old leaky carbs for some wever 34 icts which I think cost around 350. Popping sounds like running lean I.e. an air leak. Gave you tried spraying an aerosol cleaner fluid around the carb base? If yoh do this and the engine revs rise a bit then its a sign of an air leak. Checked all vacuum hoses? I would also suggest ditching your points and cobdensor for an electronic ignition kit, 60 quid will give you much less hassle with these old stock items that can cause a lot of bother.

waltraud wrote:Popping sounds like running lean i.e. an air leak.

That's what I thought, too:

RedGus wrote:The symptoms you describe sound suspiciously like there could be an air leak on the inlet side. Popping (especially on the over-run) and loss of power suggest a weak mixture. The fact that it happens after the engine has warmed up a bit points to a joint opening enough to leak air as it expands. Combine those things with what you have noticed about the carb gasket being damaged, and I would say you would have a good idea of where to start looking.

Let's see what the OP reports back, but that's where my money is (unless there is more information we haven't been told yet...)

Any news Becnjoe?

Hey guys,

Thanks so much for your replies. Sorry for taking a while to get back to you.

Still no real progress from us.

RedGus, what you're saying about a potential leak makes sense, but sadly the engine is out of warranty now so I'm really hoping it's not the case! Is that something that's fairly fixable, or would it require a whole new refit?

It's also probably worth noting that the longer this problem has been going on, the more it seems to smell of fuel when the engine runs - regardless of how weak the engine's going, or how rich the mixture is sounding.

We've also switched the little fuel filter that sits under the main body of the van, but to no avail.

The engine itself is a reconditioned engine bought from Volkspares in Leytonstone, which was fitted by a guy in Stoke Newington, Ozan Garage. To be honest I don't think the best job was done, as immediately after the engine was fitted the gears died (which we then had sorted by a trusted garage in my parents village - no problem with them since), and the new engine always sounded a little noisier.

In hindsight we should have sought out a more specialist garage, but we'd recently been burnt by an issue with Jacks garage, and Ozan was the first to pick up their phone.

As for the distributor, I believe it's a 009 centrifugal type, but I'll have to have a look under the hood this week (we're keeping the van outside a friends house as we've just moved and have not yet sorted parking!).

It sounds like our best bet is to take her to Westgate and see what they think of the situation. I'm also hugely swayed by the fact that I think the old girl might be able to trundle that far in her current state.

RedGus, if you've got any time in the near future to pop over and cast your eyes on her, we would be forever in your debt. I'm fairly flexible over the next couple of weeks as I work freelance.

Thank you so much for all your help so far!

Joe