My 3 main thoughts :

 

1.      I can't think of any reason the oil should be getting hotter than it
used to, under the same conditions. Your cooling system and coolant temp
sound just fine as usual, and well maintained. And I can't imagine that now
the oil cooler is suddenly less efficient - but do consider that, but seems
very unlikely to me.

 

2. since you are so interested in staying on top of this - bravo  - it's
strongly indicated that you should send an oil sample (after 3,000 miles on
it, or at an oil change ) to an oil lab for analysis.

 Hergurth lab I think in Vallejo, if they still exist. They tell you about
40 things about the oil, including abnormal amounts of bearing and ring and
piston material metal. And you can talk to an oil engineer too about your
engine.  I can't recommend this strongly enough , and I can't think of one
time any vanagon owner was smart enough to avail themselves of this very
valuable service. Costs maybe 45 bucks.

 

3.      I think it's engine wear - likely bearings. I've read of a few
people replacing the oil pump to help with this, though oil pumps don't
usually wear much.    One  very brief fast simple small test that might
reveal something, you can check crankshaft end play. If that's significant
that would point to main bearings.  Or main bearings loose in the case - a
vw malidy. 
     Them vw's ya know. I am seeing more and more that a waterboxer is just
a traditional 1600 type air-cooled engine beefed up and adapted to water
cooling.  Perhaps future Subaru power is indicted in your case. 

 

But seriously, consider that oil analysis.  You can really learn a lot about
your engine's condition. 
     I'm mildly frustrated because it's my experience that very seldom do
people hear about some 'new thing' to them - a book, an herbal supplement,
or whatever, and check it out.

They tend to stay thinking they already know everything there is to know,
which is a joke of course.  I hear of some new thing - I want to check it
out, or at least be very informed about it. 
     And I've recommended oil analysis in cases like yours many times, and
have yet to hear of one person doing it.   * It's like they'd rather wonder
and speculate and yak on lists about it, rather than get factual information
to work with. *

 Very brief story- had this customer with an oldish 240 volvo.  The engine
was just noisy and 'odd' ,.  compression wasn't horrible, but the engine was
just 'tired in a very nebulous way'' ( old volvo's are like that) . The
woman was German too - after the analysis came back, showing several metals
about 60 % higher than they should be , we knew - her engine was 'kaput." 

Scott Daniel Foss

www.turbovans.com <http://www.turbovans.com/>  

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Ben S
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 2:40 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: diagnosis of high oil temperature--is my engine dying?

 

i drive an '86 westy with about 165k miles.  about 2 years ago, i

installed an autometer oil pressure gauge (270degree sweep, stepper

motor driven, pretty damn accurate).  since then, i have observed

relatively consistent oil pressure which agrees with most of what i

have read here (10psi per 1k rpm under load, 3-7psi at idle depending

on temperature).  however, on my last trip up to tahoe from san

francisco (200 miles & about 8,000 ft of climbing), i began to see

lower pressures while cruising on the freeway at about 70mph.  the

pressure eventually got as low as maybe 25psi.  i stopped to pick up

some supplies and did a visual inspection of the engine--no leaks,

good oil level.  the car was parked for maybe 20 minutes.  when i

resumed, the pressure was normal for about 10 minutes of freeway

driving and then began to drop again.

 

i made it up to the mountain, and back home, with no other problems.

since it was time anyway, i did an oil change, using the same as i

always have, mobil1 15w50 and a mahle filter.  for good measure i

drained the oil through a funnel with a stack of torroid shaped

magnets in the neck.  oil seemed fine, no metal particles stuck to

magnets.  went on a 65 mile drive up to santa rosa and saw the same

thing--oil pressure dropping slowly below what i'm used to, but

returning to normal levels if i parked and let everything cool down.

because i'm seeing normal pressure vs engine speed for awhile after

warming up the engine, it seems to me that this is possibly an issue

with my oil getting hotter than i'm used to, rather than excessive oil

flow through a worn bearing somewhere, which seems like it would

appear immediately.  would you experts agree with this.... or should i

consider this a pressure problem?  the cooling system is in good

shape--i went through this summer and put in all new hoses and tstat,

flushed and filled with vw blue coolant, bled extensively.

temperature gauge reads right in the middle, just as it always has.

only other thing i've noticed recently is that when i've been parked

for several days, the valve clatter on startup seems a little louder

than it used to, but it goes away after 5-10 minutes of driving.

 

if this is a problem with the oil getting too hot, what could be

causing it?  or is this consistent with what people see in old engines

that are starting to die?  and if this is the sign of excessive

bearing clearances, how long do i have before i spin one?  i'm mainly

trying to determine if this is a sign that i'm about to get stranded

in the mountains somewhere during the next snowstorm with a blown

engine.

 

thanks.

 

Ben.

 

 

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