Ongoing Gremlins

Hi All, its a bit of a long post but please bear with me....

Since taking the engine out and refitting and getting running I seem to have woken up some grelims!

I have replaced the missing rear engine bay closing panel, changed oil, plugs, fan belt,air filter and foam seal and all air hoses and installed new fuel line and filter.

Firstly, The engine started and ran fine but was running poorly when taken on a run so, I then changed the points, condensor & rotor arm but now it somtimes dies suddenly when trying to pull away and it will turn over but not start. I've checked the points gap and electrical conections but nothing seems wrong and am puzzled why this happens just from changing these few items? Then after a bit of wiggling the distributer it will run fine and sometimes not. Any ideas what I should be looking at?

Secondly, another problem which has happened is that after a 10 minute run when you pull up at a junction the oil light starts to flicker at tickover. Checked Oil and all ok and the flickering stops as soon as you increase revs. We advanced the ignition slightly and engine runs better at tickover as well as generally but problem still persists. Is it oil pump problems or just an old worn engine? I used Morris Oil which was a different from what the prevoius owner was using and would this affect it?

Thirdly, after cleaning years of oil of the engine when it was out I now know where I have a leaks from as one is from the crankcase oil (small amount) and the other leaks from behind the lower pulley wheel. Is this rear leak linked all in with the oil pump? If so can it be changed without taking the engine out again?

Could not make the meet tonight as working on the van!

Any help would be great, thanks.

Hi there sounds like youre timing has slipped abit especialy if you can move the distributor . You should be able to statically time the engine without it running although ideally you need to check it with a strobe light when its running.

Red light on at tick over is qute comon if the engines worn if it goes out as soon as the revs go up if probably okay for a bit .Thicker oil helps the oil pressure but it sounds as if you are using morris 30 grade anyway. I use cheapo 20/50 grade on old engines and change it frequently 2/3 times a year. Oil pump can be changed insitu but doesn't really solve the problem and is a pig to do.

Engine leaks and leaving trade marks on the drive is common with vws . i have a new engine which is leaking from the crankshaft oil seal which is annoying.I won't change it unless it gets worse as again its a pig to do. Lower pully is not connected to the oil pump there is no seal there just relying on reverse threads cut into the pully boss to sling the oil back into the engine.

Is your engine vented ie is there a tube from the oil filler stand to the air filter? . Back pressure in the engine can force oil out of any weak areas

cheers

owen

Owen has it covered pretty much really, I personally am not a fan of 30 wieght oil it's crap! If I was you I would get some 20/50w especially if its an older engine it will run much better and should eleviate the oil pressure issue but it is nothing too much to worry about we probably all had engines like that at some point and they will run for years as long as you change the oil regularly. The oil leak at the rear is proably your rear flywheel seal they are a pain in the arse as it's engine out job and unfortunatley they can be a common occurence on aircooled motors. The front pulley oil leak first question is have you got a stock or aftermarket pulley on the front. A lot of the aftermarket one's leak as the grooves are not sufficient to allow the oil to travel back in the engine. There are plenty of aftermarket ones that dont leak otherwise just fit a stock one again.

Daz

Thanks Guys, sorry for the late reply but we gambled and went away the weekend in the van and have just got back. Lucklily it was fairly local and we had the hot start issue again but I've been advised to start the engine when hot with the accelerator down as fuel evaporates from the pump? This seemed to work but is this right?

I will set the timing accuratley, adjust the tappets and see how we go. Coming back tonight (12 miles including Hurstborne Hill) got back and no oil light flicker so sounds tempramental fault. Ive also looked at the oil left by the prevoius owner and is 20/50 grade so may swap over next time & I'll also check the oil filler tube as mentioned.

Shame about the rear flywheel seal as I didnt plan to take the engine out until Autumn time so may have nurse it through the summer. To be honest I do not know which pully I have fitted and hopefully you'll be abe to give me some guidance if I bring the van to the next meet.

Thanks again, Cheers

Mister C

Hot start issue could be due to poor earth or electrical connection from the switch to the starter corrosion can occur and cause resistance, usually tell as they become very warm if it is that you can fit a hot start relay Peter Good (check Garage & Specialists for link) sells them if you prefer not to make your own. Wouldn't worry about the rear flywheel seal leak if it's that the oil always looks worse than it is, just change it when you get round to it like the rest of us