Make Air-cooled Engine Compartment Air-tight

[reluctantartist]

Since it is getting hotter and I see a few new air-cooled people on here...I figured I would start a discussion on making the engine compartment air-tight. Sure the engine is air cooled, but that makes sealing the engine compartment that much more important...air leaks are the same as coolant leaks. You do not want to have hot exhaust air cooling your motor...just the air coming in from the side air scoops.

Engine compartment seal
I wish the engine compartment seals were the same price as for the bays but alas that is one place they get you at $160, but it is really important to replace if the one you have is dried out, brittle and no longer seals. From what I have seen in pictures These seals seem to be short by a few inches from pictures I have seen posted and from my own experience. I used a piece of old seal that was still flexible to fill it:

The seal isn't always the best at sealing right away so you need to go around the compartment and push it in here and there to form a seal:

In some places it seems like no matter how much you move it around it still will not seal...so I have gone as far as using RTV to make sure there is a good seal:

Engine tin seals
The engine tin has quite a few seals if a miss any hopefully some one will point it out. You have the spark plugs seals, oil pressure sensor seal, heater tube seal, oil filler tube seal, some misc. grommets for wires.

Heater tube:
The heater tube seal is NLA as well as the filler tub e seal and a few others. So you will have to get good at using RTV or something else to make one. This is what I did for my heater tube (luckily my oil filler seal is still good):

Spark plug / oil pressure sensor:
I do not have a picture of the oil sensor seal but make sure something is in place to seal the engine tin. The spark plug seals need to be moved around until you get them to seal properly..they are not the best design:

There are some holes in the tin that I have taken aluminum tape to cover and I have had to make use of grommets that work as seals for some of the hole with wire coming through in the instance shown it is the oxygen sensor wire:

There are gaps where the engine tin attaches along the fan shroud that I filled in (this may be overkill, if you do this be carefull to not get much RTV on the engine block then you are defeating the purpose by creating a hot spot on the engine block):

Misc holes in the engine compartment vanagon body

For holes in the body I have either found grommets if there is wiring going through or used RTV to fill it. There are some holes that have nothing going through it.

Charcoal Canister line:
(look up in upper right corner)

Misc Holes:

Last but no less important....the license plate flap[/p]
This seal is NLA so you have to do something creative...I used some closed seal window foam around the edges to make a seal. There is a lot of suction behind a moving vanagon so if this is not sealed you are sucking in a lot of hot exhaust air through here.

Well I hope this gets the airheads engine running cooler and prevents the dropped valve seat.

Happy driving!
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1982 Westy, 1974 412 Variant... Yes, Aircooled's are great! Oh and I do have modern computer controlled vehicles too, but I just don't care about them.

[Randy in Maine]

I have been using these in place of the spark plug seals/oil pressure sender seals and they do well.

I think Wildthings suggested it and it works very well. $10 will get you 5 boots.

http://coolfj40.stores.yahoo.net/tierodbootfj.html

[reluctantartist]

Thanks Randy..that looks like a much better solution for the spark plugs. But the vanagon oil pressure sender seal is a little peculiar in shape so they may not work for that. I unfortunately modified my oil sender tin hole to accommodate the VDO oil pressure sender so it definitely would not work for me.
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1982 Westy, 1974 412 Variant... Yes, Aircooled's are great! Oh and I do have modern computer controlled vehicles too, but I just don't care about them.

[CessnaJon]

Another tip:apply aluminum tape to the engine tin above the muffler to reflect heat and seal the tin to the fan shroud.
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1973 Westy (shared birthday)
1990 Westy Multivan
2015 Passat TDI 6sp
2015 Sportwagon TDI 6sp
LR-JET, Gulfstream 159

[Zeitgeist 13]

Those Vanagon AC engine seals were astro-expensive even back in the early '90's when I had an '80 van. I just used a much much cheaper Bay window engine seal. This approach required the addition of a short section of foam tubing, like is used to wrap water pipes. I glued it to the two ends It was a really tight seal and worked well for the half a dozen years I owned the rig.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[msalling]

CessnaJon, do you have any pictures of the aluminum tape idea? Sounds great. I wonder if it would stay in place through water, heat wind, etc. How well has yours done? Where did you get it?

Shouldn't you be a Maule guy? I have a thing for Cessna's myself and I moved here from Georgia. I flew out of RYY. Then I moved and ran out of money 50+hrs and 2 instructors later. I learned some lessons to carry into my next training whenever I can start again. KLOU is my local GA airport now.
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1982 Westfalia Vanagon, FI 2.0l

[skippy1369]

How warm does the lid above your engine get when driving in the summer time?
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Hunter, 82 Westy
Past:
01 Aprilia Futura
98 Ducati 750 SS
89 BMW S7
65 Jeep CJ5

[msalling]

It shouldn't be too hot at all really. I put foil insulation(the bubble wrap kind) under my lid and used the spring metal that was already there to hold it in. With the engine compartment closed, I put a piece of vinyl flooring over top of the lid but under the foam mattress. The vinyl flooring is a great surface to work on if your not at home(or even if you are). Also, I have a wool packing blanket on top of the vinyl flooring for a little extra sound insulation or for our dogs to lay on back there if we're traveling. Yet with all that it still isn't hot. I'm thinking about putting a remote thermometer in the engine compartment with the digital readout on the dashboard. I'm curious about the actual temps back there. Is all your engine tin in place?
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1982 Westfalia Vanagon, FI 2.0l

[skippy1369]

and the seals look good, but in the summer the lid is very warm to the touch after extended driving. I am not aggresive on the engine at all. before you put all of the extra insulation in place did your deck get warm? We are going out for a trip this weekend in 70 degree weather. curious to see how it reacts now as opposed to 90....
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Hunter, 82 Westy
Past:
01 Aprilia Futura
98 Ducati 750 SS
89 BMW S7
65 Jeep CJ5

[msalling]

I have no idea how hot it got before the insulation was installed. That was one of the first things I did when I got it. You could put a glass of water in the engine compartment with a meat thermometer in it and one taped to the deck lid and drive around for a while to get an ambient heat value and compare the two. Ok, maybe not. But I will be on the road for an hour or so this weekend on a camping trip and I can use my infrared thermometer to see how hot mine is on the underside. Of course, some heat will be reflected back from the foil so I doubt it will be accurate.
Do you have gauges in your Vanagon? Is it running hot? If so, do your best to fix it. If not, then buy some foil bubble wrap and maybe throw a wool blanket(army surplus ones are cheap) under the mattress to block the heat.
I'd love to know how hot most deck lids are. With my foil bubble wrap mine is only warm. You could also try some undercoat that comes in a spray can. I have some of that on mine as well but I'm not in love with it. I wouldn't use it again for one simple reason... If I ever want to remove it it will be hard work and a mess.
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1982 Westfalia Vanagon, FI 2.0l

[RCB]

Would one of those peel and stick thermometers give a somewhat accurate reading on the lid. Aquarium stores would carry them.

[msalling]

I'm waaaaay ahead of you... And I have found the problem so you don't waste your money, too. They only read to around 80 or so degrees. I looked for a thermometer with a remote sensor but the cord is only 12 feet long so it won't reach to the dash. I only paid $20 for my infrared thermometer. It is an OEM brand and I got it at AutoZone. Do you have all the holes above the exhaust sealed up either with the proper tubing and seals in place or with RTV silicone or some other way? Maybe heat from the exhaust is getting sucked in there. Got pictures to post?
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1982 Westfalia Vanagon, FI 2.0l

[DoctorDMDavis]

Any suggestions on getting the seal on properly? My new (to me) westy had no seal. I just got the seal from Bus Depot and i'm attempting to install myself. I having some trouble getting it to go where it needs to and stay. Is it just one of those things you have to work at?

[msalling]

I haven't replaced my engine seal I don't think. Its ok but I added extra foam in the empty spaces. I found a wireless thermometer that will tell you engine compartment temp and cabin temp for $20.
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1982 Westfalia Vanagon, FI 2.0l

[reluctantartist]

You will have to push and pull the seal to make it seal well. I even used rtv in areas to seal it better (look at previous pictures). The seal will be a few inches short so you will need to figure out something to fill the gap. I hope you did not drive it much without the seal. Check
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1982 Westy, 1974 412 Variant... Yes, Aircooled's are great! Oh and I do have modern computer controlled vehicles too, but I just don't care about them.

[DoctorDMDavis]

I did't drive it at all. The PO said it overheated all the time when they were driving it (three years ago). But there was no seal, and the Thermostat cable is missing!!

I did finally get it. It was tough, just had to work at it. I have the same problem you did regarding not sealing everywhere though. Only in a couple places, but there is a significant gap in those spots. Gonna work on it later.

[reluctantartist]

Is your tin in good shape? Post a picture.
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1982 Westy, 1974 412 Variant... Yes, Aircooled's are great! Oh and I do have modern computer controlled vehicles too, but I just don't care about them.

[a1fa]

What's that relay covered in painters tape?
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Learn to ride. Ride to learn.

[RCB]

Thats called a "fuel enrichment module. Its part number 071-906-069. Do a Google search and it will bring you to a few past posts here on The Samba. They are rather difficult to locate and the one I have installed came from Avery's Air cooled out of Washington. They rarely go ka-poot but when they do it wont allow your Van to get up and go.

[daroota]

Sorry to revive a old thread, I'm just curious about the wire in this photo of yours. (see below) In the center of the firewall there's a hole in mine above the weather seal, and that red/black connector comes out of it, but mine isn't connected to anything, and I haven't figured out where it goes. (the wire on mine has the connector, and it's a brown ground, and yellow)

Thanks