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eyetzr 
Samba Member
Joined: October 09, 2013
Posts: 1425
Location: Toronto, Ontario. Canada
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 Posted: Thu May 19, 2016 3:36 pm Post subject: Re: how to determine if an aircooled motor is overheating |
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| Hip2besquare wrote: |
hey eyetzr where did you go off of on the cylinder heads? was there a port where you could piggyback a sensor for the gauge? So at least I know that 310-320 ballpark baseline temp, that the engine is comfortable at. thanks
Richie |
I had some JB weld hold the sender between the cooling fins. The engine builder recommended the spot.
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I think he meant "rare", as in "not well-done" |
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D/A/N
Samba Member
Joined: August 13, 2010
Posts: 2227
Location: 11222
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2016 5:08 pm Post subject: Re: how to determine if an aircooled motor is overheating |
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| KTPhil wrote: |
| D/A/N wrote: |
| If it behaves well as a daily driver, then why would it suddenly overheat on a long trip? If it's not a daily driver, I'd turn it into one and drive the hell out of it between now and the invasion.....maybe take some 300 mile weekend trips and flog it so I could get a feel for how it performs under a variety of conditions. |
Good advice to take a shakedown run of a couple of hundred miles or so. My engine was rebuilt 1000 miles ago or so, and I've taken it on a 300 mile round trip including hard freeway driving to be sure all si well before I go to the Invasion next month.
There are a couple of ways a long desert run can be worse than your daily experience. The first is a long hot-soak that a 4+ hour drive brings; things move with temperature, and prolonged heat can change things that a short trip wont. Second, you may have an issue if timing is too far advanced. A short trip may not be bothered, but a long uphill grade with too much advance can cause pinging or other heat-producing behavior that you won't see around town.
In any case, do a full tune-up (valves, timing and oil) a week before and drive it daily before the trip to be sure everything is tight and adjusted well.
That's what I'm doing, anyway. |
Yeah, it sounds like the car doesn't see the road all that much as the OP mentioned a possibility of mice under the tins.
| Hip2besquare wrote: |
| all that is great but when it comes mice in the cylinder tins, there is no way to tell unless you remove the tins. This is exactly why I was asking how would you know if it overheats. |
Tins don't have to come off though unless you find a nest. We found ours when we noticed some fuzz sticking out of the spark plug hole in the tin. You could jam some fingers in there and see or else take off the oil bath, remove the plastic spark plug wire holder from the tin (at least on the 1/2 side) and squint up in there. If there was a nest on the 3/4 side, the oil cooler would be blocked up and you would've known by now.
eyetzr.....what gauge do you use? I read that only the Dakota Digital is accurate enough to be useful but I don't have any experience to confirm or refute that. |
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Karly
Samba Member
Joined: August 01, 2002
Posts: 641
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 12:02 am Post subject: Re: how to determine if an aircooled motor is overheating |
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I would also do a few shakedown drives - first an hour return, then 2 hours, then 3 hours. Mines a daily driver but its more around town and I can go many weeks without getting into 4th gear  So before a big trip I'm a fan of a shakedown run.
Whenever I've been in an air cooled vw that is too hot you can always smell it, it looses power, then you turn it off and it won't start again. It's not very scientific but if I get any power loss I always take a break and let things cool down.
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1960 Beetle ''Heidi" daily driver
1964 Karmann Ghia project |
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eyetzr
Samba Member
Joined: October 09, 2013
Posts: 1425
Location: Toronto, Ontario. Canada
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| Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 1:48 pm Post subject: Re: how to determine if an aircooled motor is overheating |
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| D/A/N wrote: |
| KTPhil wrote: |
| D/A/N wrote: |
| If it behaves well as a daily driver, then why would it suddenly overheat on a long trip? If it's not a daily driver, I'd turn it into one and drive the hell out of it between now and the invasion.....maybe take some 300 mile weekend trips and flog it so I could get a feel for how it performs under a variety of conditions. |
Good advice to take a shakedown run of a couple of hundred miles or so. My engine was rebuilt 1000 miles ago or so, and I've taken it on a 300 mile round trip including hard freeway driving to be sure all si well before I go to the Invasion next month.
There are a couple of ways a long desert run can be worse than your daily experience. The first is a long hot-soak that a 4+ hour drive brings; things move with temperature, and prolonged heat can change things that a short trip wont. Second, you may have an issue if timing is too far advanced. A short trip may not be bothered, but a long uphill grade with too much advance can cause pinging or other heat-producing behavior that you won't see around town.
In any case, do a full tune-up (valves, timing and oil) a week before and drive it daily before the trip to be sure everything is tight and adjusted well.
That's what I'm doing, anyway. |
Yeah, it sounds like the car doesn't see the road all that much as the OP mentioned a possibility of mice under the tins.
| Hip2besquare wrote: |
| all that is great but when it comes mice in the cylinder tins, there is no way to tell unless you remove the tins. This is exactly why I was asking how would you know if it overheats. |
Tins don't have to come off though unless you find a nest. We found ours when we noticed some fuzz sticking out of the spark plug hole in the tin. You could jam some fingers in there and see or else take off the oil bath, remove the plastic spark plug wire holder from the tin (at least on the 1/2 side) and squint up in there. If there was a nest on the 3/4 side, the oil cooler would be blocked up and you would've known by now.
eyetzr.....what gauge do you use? I read that only the Dakota Digital is accurate enough to be useful but I don't have any experience to confirm or refute that. |
Autometer electric gauge. I ran a left and right gauge.
_________________
I think he meant "rare", as in "not well-done" |
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D/A/N
Samba Member
Joined: August 13, 2010
Posts: 2227
Location: 11222
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| Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 7:14 pm Post subject: Re: how to determine if an aircooled motor is overheating |
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| Hey "Richie NY" aka "Hip2besquare", I'm curious how your cylinder head temp sensor worked out on your way to and from the Invasion. I'm taking a trip from NYC to the west coast and back and I'm curious if this kind of sensor was of any use to you. |
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