[T3] Heads are toast, rebuild time

Brian Fye bfye at canyonville.net
Wed Jan 29 22:03:37 PST 2014 

Pull a plug an see if it is wet and or wet.  That will verify if you are
running extremely rich.
On Jan 29, 2014 9:56 PM, "Jacob Adam Schroeder" <jacob.schroeder at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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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