So my '72 Beetle has been going through oil as a result of a couple of stripped studs on the oil filter cover plate. Wife's been driving it for the last few weeks, and this weekend when she brought it home (it lives at her work all week, comes home on the weekends), she mentioned that the oil light had been on for a while.
Bad feeling starts.
I refill it with oil, send her back to work this week in the truck so I can fix the oil strainer cover studs and keep an eye on the oil issue.
On the way home this afternoon, the oil light flickers on, and about a minute later, the engine starts making evil noises (sort of a whine/groan, engine speed-related) and loses 30-50% power. Duck off onto an off ramp, foot on the clutch, engine dies. No oil on the dipstick (BERKELEY BERKELEY BERKELEY BAD FEELING), fuel bubbling merrily in the clear fuel filter. Filled it back up with oil, let it cool off for half an hour or so, and it started. Ran pretty well, too. No nasty noises, doesn't feel down on power, won't idle. Needs at least some throttle to stay running.
Towed it home, pulled the valve covers with the intention of checking valve clearances (they were almost all too tight, btw), and notice the oil has a fair amount of copper filings in it (BERKELEY!!!!!!). I've yet to pull the strainer and check for big pieces, but I have a bad feeling what I'll find.
I need to rebuild this engine like I need another hole in my head.
Ya none of that sounds good. In fact it sounds really bad. Good luck with your project. At least it's a Beetle engine and not a 911.
JThw8
UberDork
9/6/12 7:22 a.m.
Perfect time/excuse for a subie swap ;)
Probably the #4 rod bearing IIRC. My old solo Vee would toss that one every few weeks.
can you still buy complete 1500cc motors from jc whitney for 800? i know its been a decade since i looked, but theyre prices never go up, just seems to stay the same.....
michael
In reply to JThw8:
Don't think I haven't considered that. Keeping marital harmony is paramount at the moment, just dragged home another car (bringing the grand total to 7 and 2 bikes). Hauling a wrecked Subaru home with the excuse of using the drivetrain and selling the rest might not sit well.
Also, I don't NEED the Beetle as a daily driver, but the alternative is my 9mpg Chevy truck, and that kills the wallet. Scooby-swap would be awesome, but I'm not confident I could do it as fast as I could rebuild the Beetle engine.
JThw8
UberDork
9/6/12 7:50 a.m.
JohnInKansas wrote:
In reply to JThw8:
Don't think I haven't considered that. Keeping marital harmony is paramount at the moment, just dragged home another car (bringing the grand total to 7 and 2 bikes). Hauling a wrecked Subaru home with the excuse of using the drivetrain and selling the rest might not sit well.
Also, I don't NEED the Beetle as a daily driver, but the alternative is my 9mpg Chevy truck, and that kills the wallet. Scooby-swap would be awesome, but I'm not confident I could do it as fast as I could rebuild the Beetle engine.
Too bad you aren't closer, I have a spare 2.2 waiting on a home ;) But I dont have a spare ECU so that would be an issue.
Now that I've done one, I'd say if all the parts were in place a subie swap could be done in a weekend, maybe even a day if you really had everything ready to go and had a helper.
But I fully understand marital harmony and too many projects, get 'er fixed the quickest, cheapest way you can.
I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that your wife drives a '72 Beetle to work. That's pretty cool. Her driving a '72 Beetle with a Scoobie swap would be cooler though.
In reply to hrdlydangerous:
Haha, the car we just dragged home is a 60-something Austin Mini. She's going to daily that when I get it spruced up.
Cool for the wife for driving a classic.
Does someone know about those JC Whitney long blocks, for a new engine that sounds good, plus they throw in a load of alphabet soup parts, are they significantly uprated or just new Mexican engines?
Are VW engines really getting to be rare enough you cant get a 1600 DP on CL for a few hundred? This is a problem with old cars, they will kill themselves if you let them. Add a note to the dash, STOP IMMEDIATELY IF OIL LIGHT COMES ON.
Kenny_McCormic wrote:
Add a note to the dash, STOP IMMEDIATELY IF OIL LIGHT COMES ON.
All new cars should have this built in (well, "stop and shut down engine"). If there can be silkscreened-on warnings not to slam your head in the car door or whatever then why not this?
RossD
UltraDork
9/6/12 9:16 a.m.
I thought rebuilding ACVWs were easy?
RossD wrote:
I thought rebuilding ACVWs were easy?
This isn't a old worn out engine, this is a blown engine. The only good parts left might be the case, maybe the rods if they didn't get too hot, and the cylinders if they can be bored.
Beetle engines are very easy to rebuild.
This doesn't sound like a 'blown " engine. Just chewed up some bearings.
Cylinders aren't bored, they are replaced.
In the '70's, they were prone to dropping a valve on #3 cyl.
I worked for a VW dealer and rebuilt engines all day.
If you haven't already, check out:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/
There are lots of adds for long blocks, short blocks and even turn key engines. Looks like a long block 1600 goes for around $1000. Seems like the JC prices are a bit high.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=972428
Kenny_McCormic wrote:
Add a note to the dash, STOP IMMEDIATELY IF OIL LIGHT COMES ON.
I've coached my wife, mother and just about anyone else who will listen.
Dashboard warning lights: Yellow means proceed with caution. Red means stop immediately, shut off engine and call for help.
4eyes
Dork
9/6/12 11:40 a.m.
Luckily my wife learned the "check the oil before use" thing, from a lawnmower meltdown. Now unless it's a very new car, the oil gets checked every time gas is added.
I would rebuild what you have, unless time is an issue, then I would buy a longblock.
In reply to JohnInKansas:
Oh boy, chunks!! Good in ice cream, not so good in the oil filter.
Good luck.
Nashco
UltraDork
9/6/12 6:53 p.m.
JThw8 wrote:
Now that I've done one, I'd say if all the parts were in place a subie swap could be done in a weekend, maybe even a day if you really had everything ready to go and had a helper.
Even with adding a cooling system? In my experience, (successfully) adding water to a VW aircooled chassis is not trivial. Especially if looks matter.
While I'd agree that engine installation is simple, making a daily driver isn't so simple.
Bryce
JThw8
UberDork
9/6/12 8:01 p.m.
Nashco wrote:
JThw8 wrote:
Now that I've done one, I'd say if all the parts were in place a subie swap could be done in a weekend, maybe even a day if you really had everything ready to go and had a helper.
Even with adding a cooling system? In my experience, (successfully) adding water to a VW aircooled chassis is not trivial. Especially if looks matter.
While I'd agree that engine installation is simple, making a daily driver isn't so simple.
Bryce
True because I wasnt using strictly a VW body my cooling system was easier, but there's enough folks out there who have done this and enough good examples of how to make proper cooling shrouding that it should still be doable.
And by in a weekend I mean installed and running, there would obviously be tweaking to be done post install as with any swap.
Pulling VW engine:
Can't have taken more than 90 minutes start to finish, and I'd never done it before.
