Whipped Cream in my oil - WTF? (with pictures and video...)

[66 Bugman]

[Glenn]

The thermostat is located under the 1-2 cylinders (right side).

A rod connect to the right side flaps in the fan shroud. There's a flat bar that connects to the left side flaps.

When cold the flaps are close and open when the thermostat gets hot.

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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
"You may not get what you pay for, but you always pay for what you get"

Member #1009

#BlueSquare

[Bravo 1]

How much pretension is it supposed to have? When adjusting according to Bentley spec, it seems to put so much pressure on it that it 'stretches' it out a bit when cold. This is a good NOS one that is tested and not broken (I have a 'broken' one to compare to).
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1964 Type 1 Sedan

[66 Bugman]

Do I have anything to worry about if I don't one but it runs fine in cold and hot weather?

[KTPhil]

One of the worries is the subject of this very post...

[66 Bugman]

Can you see if you have that flap on the shroud without taking off the shroud? I know I don't have the thermostat that sits under cylinders 1 and 2. I probably therefore don't have the flaps...

How do you install them? Do you have to drop the engine? Or can you take off the fan shroud and then put them in.

Thanks much,

colin

[tthew unn]

i know i have a thermostat installed. unsure if it's working properly. or if the flaps are stuck. it's hard to tell what goes on down there. because i really haven't done much with the engine.
from what i've learned after owning the squareback. someone rebuilt the engine and took off the thermostat and propped open the flaps. a problem with that was, it was running horribly, and overheating constantly. driving 19 miles like that was not fun. if you don't have a thermostat you might still have the flaps, they might have been propped open.
so many think that the engine doesn't need some things like a thermostat, but i think, if volkswagen put it there, they most likely have a good reason for it in order for it to perform well.
so, is the goo related to the thermostat as well then?
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own:
1979 westfalia kombi koach campmobile


owned:
1977 riviera camper
1970 squareback
1972 "wunderbug"

[KTPhil]

Goo and thermostat can definitely be related!

The goo is a mixture of condensed water and oil that is not heated enough to boil off the moisture, and either burn it through the PCV system, or vent it to outside.

The thermostat ensures faster warm-up and therefore more time/temp to drive the moisture out of the oil and crankcase fumes. This is one good reason why it is needed even is warm climates. Even in SoCal, where many mechanics had removed them, the diurnal temperature cycles drop below the dew point and put water in the oil. Unless boiled off, it will mix, then condense out to form goo where it is coldest, like in the pipes and caps in the photos above.

I went without them for years, but added it back on my T3 when I had the motor out. My Bugs sometimes got the goo when they lacked the thermostat.

[drscope]

[rokemester]

I live in Northeastern Ohio. Since November I have been starting my 66 bug once a week and several times when the roads were dry was able to drive it for about 30 minutes to hopefully get the engine up to temperature. I had such a hard time getting it to run this past summer I was afraid to put it to sleep for the winter for fear it wouldn't wake up in the spring.

As it turns out bad move. The oil is badly emulsified from excess condensation from not bringing the engine and engine oil up to proper temperature. When I have started it the past few times the engine won't idle and it runs very rough with lots of white smoke.

What should I do once the warm weather returns hopefully later in April/May time frame? Change the oil, but what about the old emulsified oil, it probably won't drain very well. What about the transmission/gear oil? I changed it last summer, should I change it again. Will it be emulsified as well?

[glutamodo]

The transaxle is sealed, and unless you have leaks there is no reason to go in and change it again - you're good for several years.

The oil, you should be fine if when you go to change it, you take it on the freeway and get it hot before you drain it.

I can't remember, did you ever say if you had a thermostat on this or not?
-Andy

[Helfen]

The amount of this fuel/water/oil combination foam is in direct relation to the Condition of the engine (blow-by), Temperature of the engine/ how long the engine stays at operating temperature (to be able to evaporate fuel/water from the crankcase and to re-burn by use of the crankcase devise/or vent the old road draft tube, and the ability of the crancase to breath in fresh air through the front of the engine (via the nose of the crankshaft) case. These gasses and liquids must exit the engine or will cause internal damage to the engine. I forget how much water is in a gallon of gas, but water is a product of combustion. Most goes out the tail pipe and some goes by the rings (blow-by).
Older cars with a road draft tube can also get this condition although to a lesser degree in VW's case to and a greater degree in other types of vehicles.
I have a 65 standard with the 36hp engine with a road draft system-from the factory. I would get a very small amount collecting at the oil filler tube. I still have good compression even though the last and only time I had the engine apart was 1971. To remove this trace I extended the road draft tube lower down about 2" below the muffler and cut it at a angle to help it draft better (by causing a low pressure area) and no foam at all after that.
My 64 40hp with conventional crankcase devise dosent have any at all, I rebuilt that engine last spring, but when I had it apart I made sure it could breath through the front of the crankcase.
With proper oil changes every 1,500 miles and by letting the engine get to 135 deg. before driving off really extends the life of engines.
Nothing can overheat a engine faster than a oil cooler plugged/not passing oil, and nothing can keep your engine from warming up if oil is going through the cooler when cold. If your engine takes a long time to heat up look at the possibility of your pressure relief valve sticking and not diverting oil from the cooler when cold. Also check all cooling flaps/thermostat for function too.

Don

[rokemester]

Thanks for the good direction. I'll have to do a little homework on the oil relief valve. My car does have a thermostat, but I need to check to make sure it is operating properly. It has been a crap winter so far and I haven't been very motivated to get underneath the bug.

[rokemester]