I have a couple of questions for the gurus in VWLand:

I recently swapped my 1776cc from my '67 bus to my '57 bus.  This 
last weekend, I took a trip to Moab (Utah), about 4 hours away for a 
little biking get-away.

Anyhow, in preparing to leave, I stopped by a VW buddies house to 
chat.  I noted that the apron around the engine was almost too hot to 
touch!  Worried, I opened it up, and the engine was cooking.

I talked to my mechanic friend about the situation, and he almost 
strangled me when I told him that I was running half-synthetic 30W 
oil.  He said that this was definately my problem with overheating, 
as the synthetic does not hold the heat like real oil does, and hence 
transfers most of the heat to the case, rather than through the oil 
cooler.  I went back home and changed the oil to good old fashined 
SAE 30.

Thinking my problem was totally cured, I took off to Moab.  I stopped 
about two hours later, and the engine was still very hot.  The apron 
was almost too hot to touch, but the dip-stick was (almost) holdable. 
The block was very hot also.  We slept the night there, and continued 
on the next morning.

Anyhow, I made it down and back w/o breaking down.  I hope that I've 
not damaged the engine.  I took it pretty easy the whole way ~58 MPH.

I >>NEVER<< had any problems with this engine before.  It is a 
1776cc, with enlarged oil passages, and the largest stock oil cooler 
available.

Couple of clues.  When the engine was changed, the only differences 
are that a different (smaller) fuel pump was installed, and a 6v 
starter was put on.

Clue #2.  It will become very hot even on a trip just 10 miles away.

What are the common practices to find the trouble with the engine 
overheating?

Thanks for any insight!

'57 Microbus Deluxe 23-Window
'67 Microbus Deluxe 

- Mike White 

 mike.white@law.utah.edu   -   mwhite@eng.utah.edu