[T3] Heads are toast, rebuild time

Jacob Adam Schroeder jacob.schroeder at gmail.com
Wed Jan 29 21:56:41 PST 2014


Brian, Chad,

I'm glad to hear we may be on to something.  I was hoping it would be
higher than I was getting, but had no clue and I'm certainly running a
stock set up.  The highest mileage I ever got on a tank of gas (during that
period) was 21.03 MPG.

I have the idle set at 850 and it is a MT.  It idles great upon initial
start up, surges a bit on its way to warm up (after maybe 1 minute), then
maybe 2 minutes later it returns to a normal idle.  I suspected the surging
was due to the AAR, but have not bothered to mess with that yet (since I've
been focused on my valve clearances tightening up).

Now that we've established I'm running too rich, what should I check?  My
fuel pressure when I checked in August 2013 was 28 PSI and I have no reason
to believe it has drifted since then.

Jim had suggested that running too rich may be causing my clearance
issues.  That would be fantastic (if I can remedy the clearance issue
without doing a rebuild or pulling the heads).  My heads have BR and VW
stamped in them, so I imagine they are VW Brazilian heads and I'm hoping
they would not give out after < 10k miles.

What types of things should I check and in which order?  I typically only
get a few hours a night to devote to my VW after my kids are in bed.  Thank
you,

Jacob






On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 9:33 PM, Chad <brakeman22 at gmail.com> wrote:

> You should definitely be up in the high 20s mpg with a stock fi properly
> tuned. It definitely sounds like your running rich. Does it idle well or
> does it hunt at idle?
> On Jan 29, 2014 8:12 PM, "Jacob Adam Schroeder" <jacob.schroeder at gmail.com
> >
> wrote:
>
> > Thanks Chad.
> >
> > I wish there was an easy solution.  I'm OK putting a torque wrench on
> those
> > nuts again, but the thing that concerns me is that if a nut or two were
> > loose, I think I would see excess clearance on one or two valves, as
> > opposed to tightening up on only the exhaust valves (my intake valves
> have
> > been constant on .006).
> >
> > Jacob
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 5:19 PM, Chad <brakeman22 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Jacob, it doesn't get too hot on top of the cooler. I've seen many
> people
> > > run that weatherstrip. It's actually just forcing cool air to go
> through
> > > the tin as opposed to over the cooler.
> > >
> > > If you have another case / motor you're going to use as your rebuild I
> > > would just keep running it and adjusting the valves. Not to assume
> > anything
> > > but you are sure you tightened all the adjusting nuts? Start with the
> > easy
> > > stuff first. Make sure the nuts of the rocker arm studs are torqued
> > > correctly to the head.
> > >
> > > Good luck!
> > >
> > >
> > > On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 4:07 PM, Jacob Adam Schroeder <
> > > jacob.schroeder at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 6:52 AM, Jim Adney <jadney at vwtype3.org>
> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > It's hard to imagine what would cause all 4 exhaust valves to wear
> > > > > like this, but it's clearly something you need to get to the bottom
> > > > > of. Is your car FI or carbs? What year?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I am running the stock FI set up and it is a 1972.  I really do want
> to
> > > get
> > > > to the bottom of this and have been hesitant to keep driving it.  It
> > > sounds
> > > > great when running, but I don't like to see those clearances
> tightening
> > > > up.  Although, if I rebuild, I will not be reusing any of the engine
> > > > internals from my current engine, so maybe I should just keep running
> > it
> > > > and see what happens.  Worst case is I'll be out the money to tow it
> > home
> > > > after it swallows a valve.
> > > >
> > > > I don't plan on reusing any of the components because the case is
> > > > universal, as are the heads, and when I rebuild I'm thinking I'd
> rather
> > > > have my OG case/heads rebuilt.
> > > >
> > > > Either way, I'd want to get a
> > > > > really good idea of what kind of gas mileage you're getting. That
> > > > > might have a lot to do with it. If, for example, it's running
> really
> > > > > rich, you could be getting carbon buildup on the valves, which
> would
> > > > > make the clearance go away. The solution for that would probably
> not
> > > > > require removing the engine.
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > I have my mileage log in my car (I left that one at home today), but
> I
> > > > believe by mileage has been hovering around 20 mpg and that is mostly
> > > > highway type driving.  Usually it is in the range of 18-20 mpg.  What
> > is
> > > > "normal" for our cars?  The day-to-day driving I have been doing on
> > this
> > > > engine is more highway driving than the engine has ever seen.  Before
> > > this
> > > > year (when I started driving it daily), it was mainly used by me in
> > > college
> > > > (~ 10 years ago) to run to the grocery/liquor store twice a week.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > The lack of the foam seal on top of the oil cooler MIGHT (very
> small
> > > > > might) have some effect on both left side cylinders, but shouldn't
> > > > > have any effect on the right.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Jim, that is a good point.  After searching many many forum posts
> here
> > > and
> > > > on the Samba, it seems like most people notice tightening on one
> > exhaust
> > > > valve (such as #3) rather than all of them in unison at the same
> pace.
> > > > That is what is concerning me.
> > > >
> > > > I have very nice foam pad replacements
> > > > > if you get to that. I'd want to check the thermostat linkage and
> the
> > > > > cooling ductwork; make sure everything is there, working, adjusted,
> > > > > and tight.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > Thanks Jim, I will consider that if I get to that point.  I do not
> have
> > > the
> > > > thermostat linkage in place (the flaps are removed), but all the tin
> is
> > > in
> > > > place.  I had originally planned on pulling the engine to replace the
> > > > thermostat, linkage, and flaps (I have a complete set now), but if
> I'm
> > > > going to tear it down that far I might as well . . . you get the
> idea.
> > > >
> > > > Jacob
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