Oil leak and engine advice for VW camper owner in fareham who contacted us

Received this we received this on the forum tonight. Copied it to Daz, but does anyone have any ideas on Portsmouth / Southampton contacts for andy? He said:

Hi, im a vw camper virgin, i bought beryl my danbury t2 tintop yesterday from Verwood and was travelling back home to Fareham when i started loosing power and coming off the slip road at Fareham a lot of smoke and smell of burning oil came out. I pulled over and turned engine off and my mate towed me off back to my house. I am looking for a local good reliable air cooled specialist to give the engine a check over and service to get my engine running smoothly. I did phone one specialist in Portsmouth who said that it was either the rocker gasket or seals perished as beryl has only done 160 miles in 6 years and the long run finished off what was left of what went. However after promising to come back to me in office hours didn't reply to my answer machine message. so rather than waiting for a phone call im desperate to get beryl back on the road. can anyone help , Andy

If you can help let me know on here and I'll let him know by email. Certainly gsf will be close by but Andy might want a an engine shop or mechanic.
Thanks

Been in touch with Andy today. He's explained that being a vw Virgin and a busy bricklayer he is looking to book this in to get it checked and sorted.

He says: "My ideal thing to do to beryl is for someone to strip it and put all new seals and gaskets and a service to give me piece of mind knowing we have done what we can to limit the chances of it breaking down and keeping it in tip top condition. Then we will enjoy her this summer before restoring her back to her original self in the winter".

Anyone know anyone suitable?

Hi Andy try http://www.gingersvw.co.uk/ sounds like you may have cooked the engine a little bit perished gaskets will not let you lose power they would just leak oil on to the heat exchangers smoke and stink like mad. It may have just got a bit too hot I have had engines loose power and even stall when they were too hot then left it an hour and driven home but it does point there may be a problem somewhere, make sure all your cooling tin is there no gaps, give it a decent service check points, timing valve clearances etc an  oil change and see how you go.

Failing that give Gingers vw's a go meet him at a beach buggin event a few times, seems to have a good following down that way.

Say aircooled konnection sent you.

Cheers

Daz

Hi again Andy
In case it is helpful I have had 2 other recommendations local to you:

1. Mobile Aircooled Mechanic recommended by VW Jim, so well recommended. He said:

Peter Nice is a mobile mechanic that might be able to give a way forward. It might be terminal but then it might be something simple. Pete has been in touch with me, for you:

I should be able to do that if its a 1600 type engine.
Give me a call on 07970 540757
If the engine was losing power then there may be more too it.
There will be no guarantees it will be good long term.

2. Funkenblitz in Portsmouth, Pete Roberts.
Top quality work, realistic timelines may need to be discussed and agreed firmly. (always good practice though for any VW specialist)

Andy has replied to say:

Carl thanks so much for your help. I phoned a couple and have an idea of what needs to be done now, just got to make sure  I knuckle down and save to get it done in the next couple of weeks, regards Andy 

I just dropped him a note back to ask him to keep in touch

hi andy , saw your posting on forum. i used to have a brand new , out of the crate gsf Brazilian 1600 twin port engine, which had endless problems, from the start.i now run a 1600 single port in my pickup. the twin port engine had overheating problems causing a lack of power, especiaily going up hill,it used to pull back on power and chatter a lot. I found out a few issues that may help you.

1. make sure that if you have flaps in the fan housing, (as many have been ripped out), that they are fully open to cool engine, if you reach behind the back of the fan housing you may feel the mechanism, which is a flat steel rod and springs, if so it is possible you have the original flap mechanism, which means you will need to check the thermostat which opens the flaps.the thermostat is situated under ports 1 and 2 on the right side of the engine. the thermostat is a copper bellows that expands when hot and so opens the flaps to cool engine. if the copper bellows looks damaged or corroded it can easily be replaced or taken out to test.when the bellows is out, pop it into a cup of warm water (not boiling) and it should expand, if it doesn't then it will need replacing at a cost of £70 from vw heritage. don't buy the cheap other type as they don't work.this could cure the over  heat problem.

2.i found that on the oilcooler (situated inside the fan housing) I had un knowingly fitted the wrong rubber sealing rings, so as I tightened up the oil cooler nuts they squashed and twisted themselves causeing a reduced oil flow to the cooler, so the oil over heated in the engine.

3. having the correct fuel to air mixture in the engine helps to keep the valves cool.to lean(to much air) can over heat engine and burn the valves usually number 3 cylinder. slightly rich (more fuel to air) is better for the engine to help keep it cool.

4 make sure the fire seal in the engine bay is ok(rubber or foam seal ,between engine and body work) inside the engine bay is the cool area and below the engine bay is the hot area. if the seal is missing or gone, it will let warm air into the engine bay and so cause the fuel to evapourate before getting to the carb and so loosing power and engine will stop. once engine is cool it will start, run then stop again around 5/ 10 miles up the road once fuel gets to hot.

5. make sure that your valve clearances are ok, as valves that are to tight can cause them to overheat and burn them and so not create a perfect seal on their seating and so loose power. valve clearances should be done by a pro or someone with knowledge.

6 have the timing checked as this can also add to the overheating problems. this should be done by a pro or someone with knowledge.

hope my bit of knowledge I have picked up over the years helps you to sort out your engine problems. i was a vw virgin once.  

regards robby (plumbing and central heating engineer)