Air Cooled ,"Ball Bearing", Oil pressure, relief v

[LittleMicroCars]

Thought I would open up a can of worms today and post some videos of the Adrian Audirac -Ball bearing replacement for the pressure relief oil diverter plunger that ruins a lot of engines . The original steel plunger wears out the alluminum bore it rides on - always in the middle of the bore .The video shows a used engine I converted in about 15 minutes.. To see how badly your plunger wears the bore ...remove the plunger clostest to the crank pulley and take out the spring and the plunger... widdle a small stick to fit into the plunger and stick it back in the bore... pull the stick back about a 1/2 inch and lightly wiggle the stick up and down then wiggle it from side to side.. if you can wiggle the stick the bore is worn out where the plunger rides most of the time..this is the biggest cause of oil low oil pressure on "all " vw engines. if you have on oil warning light that comes on at idle .. this will make a big big differance on how long your engine will live.. the 2 videos I have show first a cold start up with the oil pressure ball bearing being pushed farther away from its seat because of the thick cold oil so the pressure will not exceed about 50 to 60 pounds.. at mormal running speed.this keeps from blowing an oil filter apart from too much pressure... the second video shows the same engine after driving it for a half hour...( hot oil) 15-40 multi grade delo. with hot oil the ball bearing will hold 30 pounds pressure at slow idle and 60 to 70 pounds at running speed With hot oil .. the ball bearing now is closer to the seat because the oil is thinner ( giving higher oil pressure. the ball bearing system Adrian makes will never wear out.It also keeps the tappet noise way down.Leo http://youtu.be/2PnMeIo8A1c http://youtu.be/kJVwIFXMAvM Leo
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Importer of Steyr Puch rally cars, military Jeeps, and air cooled parts Vienna, Austria

[Bad bug]

could you post some pic of this.

[SRP1]

[hoghead5150]

forgive my ignorance, but 60-70psi on hot oil at running speeds-rpms seems kinda high. will this kind of pressures cause the oil to bypass the cooler?
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"i got a friend that knows a guy who's best friend has an uncle that used to have a bug just like yours!"

i measured once, cut it three times, and the damn thing is STILL to short!

[SRP1]

[LittleMicroCars]

Yes the pressure can be custom regulated by changing the length of the spring behind the ball I use my super beetle for chemical deliveries and with the Single 40 drla with 25mm venturies it likes to run with the pack . I get 21 mpg averaging 65 - 75 mph I have a set of 160 air correction tubes in it at the moment and it pulls hard .Tomorrow i will look at the plugs . The muffler tips are nice and dry with some brown residue. When I run it hard with a 800 pound pay load the pressure will climb to 70 pounds.The 1915cc engine runs with a 110cam and big valve heads. The oil sump and filter it takes 5 qts of oil. I also run it with a fuel / inj fan housing (mexico) for 30% more cooling. The SB is my experiment for a work horse with fuel economy.If I keep my foot out of the pedal I think 25mpg is possible If you are building an engined Adrian will modify the engine cases to bleed off pressure even faster.On dual relief valve cases the flywheel side is capped off and not used..Monday I have a set of experimental bearings that are coated with nickel-composite with "ptfe" for my Steyr Puch engines.The process is used in the aero space industry, where heat and rpm are of concern.I am having a set of cam bushings done for Adrian for a very hot cam which will gall a bushing set in a heartbeat from the heat it creates from the side loads we shall see.Good or BAd everything I throw out to the Samba is for all to read and digest.I like air cooled stuff,and I like to experiment. (just can t leave well enough alone) LEO
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Importer of Steyr Puch rally cars, military Jeeps, and air cooled parts Vienna, Austria

[mark tucker]

the one I had hear had no cooler gally bypass at all,all the oil went throught the smaller cooler gally that feed the oe cooler,it now has a small bypass to go to the biger main gally.

[agggilli]

So how do we see/find out more about this "system"? I saw the videos but not the actual parts or how to get them.
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1966 Full Custom Restoration- NOT FOR THE PURISTS!

http://www.1966vwbeetle.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=904

[LittleMicroCars]

Ok I have all the pictures on the Samba gallery at http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php?...ts=summary I have jpgs on all of Adrian's engine case modifications... You can talk to him directly at 1-760-727-1827 or Iphone at 1-760-801-8516 Most all of the parts you see are mine..for my projects. I write these articles because they work and i use them. If your in the area of San Diego, do come and visit see for your self.. LEO
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Importer of Steyr Puch rally cars, military Jeeps, and air cooled parts Vienna, Austria

[skabonner]

So I know this is a kind of old topic, but I have a question? I am loving this idea, and probably going to have this done to all of my motors. My question is though, since the second relief plug is just capped off, does this mean I can forget my qualms about using a single relief case for a hi po motor? Because I have like 4 of them that I have just been letting sit because of this.
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[LittleMicroCars]

yep ..you are correct...The last development was the type 4 2.0l vanagon and 914 engine .. they used only a divert er valve and dump galley to run the oil back into the case . If you are building an engine and have the cases apart . Its a great time to make some big dump holes by the spring side of the pressure relief valve. you can see them in the photos.. this is so on a cold start up the thick oil pushes the ball faster and farther in the steel bore sleeve. (cold about 50 to 60 lbs pressure, but not more ) ( hot you have more pressure because the hot oil cannot push the ball as far,the spring wont allow it to do so ) results in high pressure to feed everything important. the old porsche engines and the 912 engines had longer plungers and never wore out the alloy bore.. The factory people maybe wanted the vw's to only last 50k and the porsche engines to last a lot longer, which was true in all cases. I just finished building my vanagon 2.0 with solid lifter ( lub a lifters) On cold start it has about 35 pounds at idle and 85 pounds at 1800 rpm.. hot is still has 85 and 15 pounds hot (with the lub a lifters ) throwing tons of oil on the cam faces.this engine is getting an oil cooler and return lines to the valve covers with a spray bar blasting the valve springs and collers for added cooling . a one way 15 pound pressure valve keeps the lines loaded and only mists when the engine is off idle..I built this engine for heavy hauling and the hot california weather. I am not using a thermostat control at this point.I am looking for a 100 degrees cooler oil at the valve cover spray jets. The westy vanagons push 4000 pounds with the little 2 ltr engine. If they ever take it out of the smog program I will make it a 3.ltr asap...Leo
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Importer of Steyr Puch rally cars, military Jeeps, and air cooled parts Vienna, Austria

[mark tucker]

the hole in the lifters is only about .028 not big enough to affect the oil pressure more than a pound or 2.that 85 is kinda high and kinda hard on the oil pump drive I would think and using up a good bit of hp to turn it.I think I would dial it back a bit.

[Bruce]

[skabonner]

Looks like I'm gonna make the drive down to vista to have my machine work done on my case, and have the check valve added to my case.
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[LittleMicroCars]

Hi Mark. 85 pounds is a tad high When I cut the spring I should hav made a shorter cut... For break in I will leave it for a while..I started the engine up this morning and was going to take it for a maiden voyage but a intake valve stuck on number one.and started clacking ...I took the fuel injection bank off and stuck my finger down the hole to feel the valve seat. and got a load of black snot from the injector .I forgot the van sat for 6 years and the gas was toast. it sure gummed up the stem. I pulled the gas tank and drained all the gas out.. yuk... stinky mess. I pulled the rockers all off and filled the bores up with acetone.I drained all the oil and Ill let it sit till I get the tank cleaned. Pulling the tank was a good move all the hoses were dry rotted... and I get to put in the missing shifter rod bushing that is rotted away. That little rascle sits above the gas tank..and is nla. Ill have to make something up...leo Continued 48 hours later........ Ok the Acetone works wonders ,A few days later after I filled up the intake runners with acetone and one and two intake.. the acetone seeped down thru the valve guides and disolved the old gas that turned to varnish. I could see where it seeped out by the collers and keepers. so for extra measure I filled them up again... and tapped the valve stem end with a hardwood block and the valve spring assembly snaps back instantly. By tapping the intake valve on compression stroke the acetone goes into the compression chamber. I brought the number one piston on tdc.and filled acetone thru the spark plug hole two days ago and today I stuck a very thin air nozzle into the chamber and gave it a blast of air covering the hole with a white towel and presto.what the acetone disolved was on the white towel and the combustion chamber is clean. I did another reload of acetone and will let it soak another day. I want those rings clean and free so they can seat in... this engine has only run about 15 minutes and with very clean barrels it will be the same effect as washing the barrels with soapy water on assembly. the next cylinder is number 4 then 3 2 and im done.If this was a used engine I think I would have just run some valve cleaner thru the plenum intake chamber . but since its q new build Im spending the time on it..another nice thing about the type 4 is you can see both valves in the head thru the spark plug hole. this is how the exhaust valve gets cleaned by rotation the piston past compression to the exhaust stroke where you can see the valve open and can power blast it with air and acetone mix. acetone will not hurt the cat.. you can also make a small led light to stick down the spark plug hole to see what your doing. All this could have been avoided by having the gas tank cleaned on a bus that has been sitting around not running .I did not drain the old gas out and the gas guage showed empty when I started but it actually had 12 gallons of 6 year old varnish in the tank ( the gas guage was rusted in the empty position) so when i put in another 4 gallons the new gas mixed with all the varnish and there you have a royal flush to disaster in short order.I was lucky when I started draining the tank I had 4 5gallon cans ready ..and on a vanagon tank you cant get it all out if its plugged up... so beware of the danger and spilling stinky gas . I took pictures of all the fuel lines before they desintragated into dust when I dropped the tank down a few inches. the vanagon gas tank has to have the filler neck removed before you drop down the tank and when you pull it off that leaves a 2 -5/8 hole for the gas to splash out when you drop it down...sorry for the rant on old gas Its very dangerous to deal with and can ruin an engine ..I was lucky the van never got its maiden voyage of disaster.New tanks are on ebay from 95 to 130 dollars new> cleaning one will cost you 100+ dollars the bus depot hose tank kit is 90 dollars.. buying a used van . here is whats your going to have to deal with "EARLY ON" LEO
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Importer of Steyr Puch rally cars, military Jeeps, and air cooled parts Vienna, Austria

[LittleMicroCars]

Glen, No way to measure a bore ..this is true........... BUT...............not all of us has all the fancy tools to measure .. This is a go no go way that works well and gives a person a way to get involved. My 356 had no play what so ever The vanagon motor I just did was toast on the wiggle the stick test. Leo
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Importer of Steyr Puch rally cars, military Jeeps, and air cooled parts Vienna, Austria

[barry cox]

I am having the same problem. The pressure drops as the engine heats up. From 60 psi. cold, to 22 psi. at 45 mph. So I guess my block is worn out right?

[Dale M.]

I had the mod already installed in a engine I acquired.... What a pain in the butt... If your engine does not have it, don't do it.....

Dale
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“Fear The Government That Wants To Take Your Guns" - Thomas Jefferson.

"Kellison Sand Piper Roadster" For Street & Show.
"Joe Pody Sandrover" Buggy with 2180 for Autocross (Sold)
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All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[barry cox]

Thanks, I will have to buy another block. This bug is costing a small fortune.

[LittleMicroCars]

An engine bought from someone else with a ball check system?? bought from who? dual relief system ? does is have hydraulic valves with lub a lifters? how far in is the sleeve from the end of the case hole? what size is the ball bearing?.
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Importer of Steyr Puch rally cars, military Jeeps, and air cooled parts Vienna, Austria