Leaky Project Van

[Richy_b1987]

Hiya guys bought a 1981 2.0 Litre Air Cooled T25 to work on when I get the chance but it seems to have lived a bit of a hard life.

It's got a number of problems which I'll get some pictures of soon but to start with.....

The Good:
It drives well.
It doesn't leak in the rain
The Body is in fairly decent condition
The gear box is quite good


The Bad:
It's leaking oil - I think either from the rocker cover gasket or the push rod tubes seal.
Is a tad reluctant to start sometimes (starter motor possibly a bit knackered?)
Constant stream of hot air blowing from the front vents no matter what I do with the temp switches.

Once it is running it is normally fine though.

The electrics for the interior need re-dooing and tidying up at some point but my first job is going to be the engine.

Basically I'm a complete can novice, I have the haynes and I'm not too bad with a spanner but I'm a bit reluctant to just start taking the engine apart.
I'm asking for whatever advice or comments people may offer as I'm not really sure what is the norm and what is not.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated and like I say I will post some photos of the offending articles asap.

Thanks in advance
Rich

[CovKid]

The Bad:
It's leaking oil - I think either from the rocker cover gasket or the push rod tubes seal.
Is a tad reluctant to start sometimes (starter motor possibly a bit knackered?)
Constant stream of hot air blowing from the front vents no matter what I do with the temp switches.

Not THAT bad then. May be rocker gasket but even if its a pushrod tube, you don't need to strip the engine to replace tubes or seals - result
Check connections to starter, particularly main earths including battery earth. If not, could indeed be slow starter OR battery not as lively as it ought to be.
Hot air on constant - may be wedged on full at heat exchangers because heater cables rusted/missing - investigate. To b e honest, you'll need it more and more now anyway. Do get starting sorted as a winter priority for sure. Being stuck in ice and snow ain't fun

[Richy_b1987]

Nothing connected to my vac unit. Fresh air duct missing?


Connector missing from to of air filter


Loose connectors, possibly to do with a temp sensing dip stick that the van may have had at one point....


Fan guard missing, Replacement washer fitted because fan started to fall out. How should this be connected properly as the Haynes is REALLY vague


Heat exchanger pipe fallen out and unable to re-fit. Do I need to remove exhaust to do this?


Underneath

[81AirCooled]

On mine there's a hose that goes from the vac unit to the cowling on the right, the cowling on mine is covered with wire mesh and has a hole for the hose to go through. From the air filter you're missing one of those think white tubes, it goes to the connection on top of the vac unit.

If you remove the air duct that fasten to the heat exchanger you'll be able to see the pushrod ends, I can see the oil leaking out of there quite clearly on mine and the pool of oil on my drive is tiny compared to yours so it could well be gushing out of there or the rocker covers. Everthing was caked in grim and oil but after giving it a good wipe down I think I've managed to pinpoint the leaks.

I'm a complete novice and crap with a spanner but I'm going to do it myself anyway

[Richy_b1987]

Thanks 81AirCooled and CovKid for the advice.

I'll fall underdeath it and do some cleaning next weekend and try to see where it's actually coming from.

I've had a quick look around but couldn't find any parts for the air system, may just be looking in the wrong place, I will persevere

[Richy_b1987]

Right finally I have some time to post an update.



As you can see it hasn't all been fun and games.

The starter is knackered and it needs a bit of welding at the front jacking pionts

Still she's in good hands now nad will soon be back on the road.