Opening a motor? should I?

[knappyroots]

I was given a(n) 1835cc rebuilt motor, with no more than 5 miles on it (test run). its been stored in the persons garage for about 6 years after it was rebuilt. then in mine for another 5 yrs. When i decided it was time to install it i changed the oil and notice it had minor sludge, not to bad, and (looks to me of some water or gas droplets). Should i just flush it and run with it? or would it be dumb of me to open the case check it and slap it back together since everything should be new in it? what to do?

[bugheadred]

you should change the push rod tube seals anyway (there old ) so if it was mine I would you can do the whole thing in a couple of hrs and you could put cam break in lube on the cam also

[gt1953]

Well hmm how was it stored in a dry climate? or?
You could just change oil and fire it up and see what happens.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[bluebus86]

[knappyroots]

I live in South Texas about 1 1/2 hours West of San Antonio. Climate is dry. It was rebuilt for a costumer that never paid for it so the builder gave it to me before he past on. nothing was ever wrong with it just. im just concerned about it having some sludge and smelling like old gasoline.

[carcrazed]

As the old saying goes: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. my original 1200 sat for 16 years not run. I cleaned it up, replaced seals, primed it and it fired right up...no smoke, no knocking. That was 4 years ago and still runs perfect. Heck, might as well try starting it after pre oiling and prepping for dry start up. What do you have to lose?
_________________
1965 Herbie Replica. 1776cc dual Kads.
1961 Beetle 33,000 Original Miles

"Just When you think you are getting ahead, you're always wrong."

[bugheadred]

[Cusser]

[carcrazed]

[Sqrbckguy38]

I do agree with these guys. Change the oil, and add some zinc additive, and see how it runs. You aren't going balls to the wall down a strip right after startup, so anything that's going to happen can be handled easily. Though I don't think there's going to be really anything more than a little nose from lack of oil the first few seconds.
_________________
It's not the fall that hurts, it's the sudden stop at the bottom.
69 Square needs love, even after 15 years
70 Fasty former dd, now my daughter's
67 Beetle, Opal

[fl59bug]

Back the end of last year I purchased my 36hp that was mostly complete and ran. I was wanting to do nothing much more than clean it up, make a few checks, change the oil then use it as a backup for my big bore 40hp.
When I got it home I noticed the right side of the engine was missing the bottom cooling tin, and that squashed my original aspirations right then and there.

To be able to replace the cooling tin, I pulled the head off, at which point I noticed several missing cooling fins on the p&c's, made a note of it and proceeded onwards. I was still going to try to slap it back together with the cooling tin installed, but I noticed a lot of crud at the engine case/cylinder joint area so I decided to go further and tear it down to just the short block, with rods hanging out and clean it to prevent dirt ingress. Then I saw what I thought was slop in the rods and so I pulled the rods one by one and checked the big/small ends and bearings.

Long story short? next thing I know the case was gutted and at the car wash with me cleaning it top to bottom I got it all back together with many updates including new p&c's, rebuilt heads, new oil cooler seals, crank main seal, oil pump, muffler, etc..

I'm not sorry I went to that level of time and expense, but if I could have I would only have carried out my original plan.

All this said, if your engine can be cleaned/checked without tearing it apart, I'd surely go for that option if I were you. On the other hand, if you have time and are sure you'll get it back together and be able to use it, then split the case to have a look.

[mukluk]

[KTPhil]

Don't worry.

"It's a 200-year-old Volkswagen! Wow, they really built these things, didn't they?"

[Cusser]

[fl59bug]