1900 watercooled engine performance

[Andy13]

Hi all
I am completely new to VW's , and have now had my 1st T25 for about 4 weeks and am really enjoying it. Yes its got some work to be done , and it will take some time as funds are limited. Mechanically everything seems to run fine with no real issues , and i have have been told the engine was replaced 25k miles ago , which i have no reason to doubt. I have gave it a full service oil, filters , plugs etc there are no leaks and no smoke , but it just sounds very tappety . I thought it might be me but now i have had a bit more of a chance to listen to some others , i think it is a bit louder, or im paranoid. Any ideas and is it ok to run like this? i do not want to cause a problem. I was also hoping to unertake a few mods to give a bit more perfomance, but as i said budgets are tight ,and all i seem to be able to find is engine replacements/conversions, well out out reach of my pocket at present and quite probably beyond my ability although i'd love a diesel . Any ideas would be most welcome, i think an exhaust may be the first thing perhaps i should look to as mine does seem like its coming to the end of its life.
Thanks for any help or suggestions you are able to pass on
Andy

[Ian Hulley]

It probably needs a really good run, when we bought ours it had done minimal miles for 3 years and rattled like hell, it took 3 oil changes to shut the tappets up.

Ian.

[Andy13]

Hi Ian
Thanks for that . Mine was owned by an aging couple and had only done about 500 miles in 4 years. So theres more than a coincdence. Thanks again
Andy

[clartsonly]

the tappets will sort themselves out, if you are really considering replacing the exhaust first check to make sure the header pins are not rotted away. I looked at JK and thought I will change the exhaust first for £250 it is still the same one, but the craked pipe has been welded for me to change the exhaust I will need to remove the engine and drill and helicoil the head.