Air-cooled Westy - Lack of power (no, really)

[BigJimRose]

Hi, first post here after some lurking so here goes.

I have an '81 Westfalia camper. It's originally a German market car, so has a CU engine, which is carbed (twin Solex). I've own it for about 13 years now and have done many miles and a lot of camping. Power was OK, easy highway cruise at 65mph.
History: The last four years it has sat around a lot, and would always start with a soft lifter. This sometimes took up to 30min to quiet down.
Recently I've been using it a lot more (at last!), and find that it feels very down on power. Fine at low speeds/throttle opening, but struggles to do more than 50mph, and into a head wind or on hills I MUST downshift, sometimes to second! Starts fine.
So I've made a few checks and come to a diagnosis, but I need a second opinion.
Ignition and fuel systems seem fine. Timing at 7.5deg.
Compression (cold check) 110, 110, 110, 120psi
Leakdown 5, 8, 5, 5% (into the case, with a little inlet hiss on 2)
Valve lift (at adjuster screw) 1/3 In. 8mm, 1/3 Ex. 6mm; 2/4 In. 8mm, 2/4 Ex. 7mm
Idle is lumpy, with a very uneven chuffy exhaust.
It seems to me that it's lost a lot of valve lift, especially on the 1/3 ex. lobe, possibly due to wear from the soft lifter and this for me explains the symptoms. So before I start getting waist deep on this going after the cam, any thoughts?

[the joker]

I'd look hard at the carbs for sync also any exhaust restrictions clogged cat

also how old is the fuel you may have a stuck valve

[AZ Landshaper]

I have an 81 and I chased low power issues for a year. New throttle body, lost of vac leaks repaired, new EGR, new coil, new fuel pump. All were replaced or rebuilt after finding issues with them. Mind u I wasn't just replacing things. They were worn and faulty. I finally got the thing dialed in w A/F ratios and all.

My point, there a so many possibilities that you could get dizzy pondering them all. Get yourself a manual on the motor and the one for the fuel injection and begin methodically investigating your issue.

In the end I took that well running aircooled motor out and installed a 95 EJ22 from a Subaru legacy. I will never look back. Wish I knew two years ago ( or back in the 90s) what I know today. More power, more fuel efficient, less polluting and best of all less maintenance and hidden issues. Now I climb hills like the big horned sheep.

To address your issue you may want to do a compression test, a valve adjustment, check coil power and adjust the points. All the typical tune up items (spark plugs etc). In addtn you want to look for vac leaks. All the boots and the rubber elbow and the connection point where the cold start valve connects to the plenum. Shit there are a lot of vac leak possibilities. A can of starter fluid will help.

My money is on you having a lot of vac leaks. Theyre common culprits.

Best of luck brother.
_________________
Support Small Business.

-------------------------------------------------------
85 Weekender w/ EJ22
Previously
64, 71, 72, 73, 76, 81, 84, 85 & 87 Campmobiles and Westfalias
and a 67 bug.

[moogster]

My cu powered westy joker had much the same problem. Tore it down to find flat cam lobes. Money was tight at the time so had the followers checked at a machine shop near me then rebuilt it with a reground cam. 35,000 miles later still running well. Also run most of the time on LPG.

[surfwagonorangevw]

Hi , i own an '81 and yes they do lack power compared to today's standards .
13 years and a lot of miles you said , probably time for a engine rebuild, before anything more serious decides to detonate on that engine .
Lots of choices to make , rebuild or replace , VW , Subaru or Ford , good luck and many more happy miles/years .
Wait , I see you have done a subie swap before , wouldn't you want to do that again ?