Club 80-90 Forums

hi all,
going to do the noob thing now and ask some stupid questions if that is ok.
my engine is a 1981 cu code and i know nothing about a/c engines which worries me as i am concerned about things and i dont know if i should be or not.
i am going to set up the timing and carbs tomorrow ( they are twins ) and have a good look over all the vacuum hoses and make sure no leaks and everything is tight and well balanced. he is not running very well, i think someone has advanced the timing slightly and am sure there is a choke prob or something as he stinks of fuel at times and is hard to start. also misses and backfires slightly when labouring. is there any particulars i should be looking out for?

i have not driven him very far and there is an burning oil smell. the rocker gaskets were shot and the leak was quite bad from both sides. i have done20/30 miles since changing them, the leak has gone but would have expected the smell to have burnt off by now. is there anywhere else i should be looking for a leak? i am going to gunk the engine to give me a better chance of finding it. i have read about old heat exchangers having residue in them and causing a smell, one looks new and one definatly isnt.

when driving i notice the engine has a hot smell to it, i know it is a/c but i didnt know if this is normal. the smell is probably made worse by the previous question though.

i am going to rebuild it over the winter but i just want to stay local this year and go to the new forest with the kids this summer. it would be handy if anyone could tell me some general things to check to make sure the actual cooling is working ok as i have never seen another one up close and like i said, this a/c thing is a mystery to me and in my eyes is pretty bloody amazing how it works. almost voodoo

any help wuld be massively appreciated.

many thanks
jamie

Hi with the nice van..lol
first mistake, its not a he its a she, all 2lt a/c's were femail, so look up salient specs accordingly.
If youve cured the main leak then expect it to take a while for most of the smell to go, dont forget that the luke warm air is coming from the exhuast heat exchangers and they all have a bit of odour at the best of times, so youve gunked stuff etc it will take a while but shouls clear in time.
beware fuel smeels though, as your checking this side out pay atterntion to the fuel hoses, they could easy be 30 yrs old.
get the haynes a/c book its quite pertinent and will help keep Her happy.
mike

cheers mate, i wanted him to be a her but the mrs is having none of it. nigel it is. so that probably leaves me with the first transexual t25 ever
the fuel pipes have been renewed as has the tank. it is definatly a carb prob. recon i can sort that though as am a bit of a whizz with em ( had to learn over the years ) it is the hot smell that worries me. might have to drive round till i find one, follow it till it stops and give it a sniff........ you can imagine how that conversation would start. " excuse me mate, sorry for following you to north wales but can i smell your van "

oh, and as for this luke warm/aircold stuff. i dont know what you are on about........ i am usually sweating in anticipation of it breaking down!!!!!

jamie

Well jamie 'negella' or nigel for short see you both win,lol as long as the fan belt is ok and tight enough then the cooling fan should be going round ok , does all the tin ware and stuff look to be present, they do sort of stink a bit as said and Id give IT a good thrashing round after sorting carbs and timing (which as you know can cause o/heating)
M

all looks to be there, the one above the r/h heat exchanger is a bit rough but it is there and the seal is good. think it is just me worrying. we will see. thanks for your help mate. went for an a/c as i have never owned one and the bus was well solid (ish). starting to wish i hadn't now. still, a well maintained one is supposed to be ok so i will just have to look after it.


jamie

simple test

if you can hold the dipsitck after its been running its not overheating!!

I've found that if oil has been dumped into the heat exhangers it can smell for months afterwards...

thanks for your replys.
had an interesting day, found a very slight oil leak where the engine meets the gearbox. it is very small so gonna just keep topping it up this summer and sort it this winter when i rebuild it.
the shaft that links the throttles had masses of play in it making one of the carbs open before the other. so sorted that out. then set up the idle and the throttle stops as they were miles out, then gave the carbs a balance, they were miles out and i mean ' miles'. the timing was massively out so that needed retarding ( i was obviously the man for that job ). realised there was some play in the throttle so managed to take up the slack at the pedal end, from this realised the throttle was only opening half way ( no wonder i was struggling on hills ) and after sorting it could not believe how well the old bus goes. cruises really nice at 60 ish and actually had it up to 80 briefly just to see what would happen, ( no explosions ).
suddenly, these northern meets dont feel too far away. really feel like i could drive it anywhere now with total confidence. probably the most productive day i have had in my eyes.
thanks for your help again peeps. really feel i am getting somewhere now.

jamie

Hi Jamie,

I had an Aircooled yonks ago...got a fantastic book - how to keep your Aircooled alive. Well written, nice diagrams for beginners and good care hints.

Em
x

cool, gonna have a hunt for it and get one.
went for a run up the motorway today and was really pleased. still got the oil smell but it is getting weaker but over all i am well happy

jamie

Owned several Aircooled v-dubs and the heat exchangers make perfect receptacles for dripping oil from rockers. A few times I've had to remove them, paint copiously with an engine degreaser and follow with a pressure washer. You then get the nostril-awakening smell of degreaser for several hundred miles instead.