1978 vw bus FI 2.0

[khargis]

After!

[Jivermo]

All right!

[Amskeptic]

After!

Man, my fingers are crossed for you, looks really good.
Colin

[khargis]

Yesterday was day one on the road to work, smooth as a whistle. Will check valves tomorrow morning and continue to break her in slow. Feels Purd good I must say!

[Amskeptic]

Yesterday was day one on the road to work, smooth as a whistle. Will check valves tomorrow morning and continue to break her in slow. Feels Purd good I must say!

A proud moment that I will never get was my first engine overhaul drive.
Colin

[khargis]

I have a question for y'all. I recently finished a top-end rebuild after my no. 1exhaust valve almost blew thru the piston and ended up installing a Oil temp gauge for now, instead of the Dakota Digital (which will probably be added in time), but as I was driving today in Boise, ID (103 degrees at 12pm), I found myself getting nervous that the Oil temp gauge was around 225'. I am still in the 'breaking in the engine stage' and I didn't drive that long, but found myself a slave to the gauge. Is this normal? What is the normal running temperature? In hot weather? When should you pull over in the shade, soak your feet in the river, and let your engine cool down? Thanks folks.
Kris

[asiab3]

I have a question for y'all. I recently finished a top-end rebuild after my no. 1exhaust valve almost blew thru the piston and ended up installing a Oil temp gauge for now, instead of the Dakota Digital (which will probably be added in time), but as I was driving today in Boise, ID (103 degrees at 12pm), I found myself getting nervous that the Oil temp gauge was around 225'. I am still in the 'breaking in the engine stage' and I didn't drive that long, but found myself a slave to the gauge. Is this normal? What is the normal running temperature? In hot weather? When should you pull over in the shade, soak your feet in the river, and let your engine cool down? Thanks folks.
Kris

Hi Kris,

Where is your temperature sender located? Measurements from different parts of the engine will give drastically different readings. For instance, oil in the rocker area of the head will be hotter than oil in the bottom of the sump. I'm not one to stress over oil temperatures; the water-cooled mentality of "oh no you're going to boil over!" doesn't happen much, if at all, with these engines. Too little oil is an issue, sure, so keep it around the full mark. I KNOW that if I had an oil temp gauge I might freak out on hot summer days. I have a pressure gauge, and in three years with it I've never saved myself an engine failure. Once, on a hot day, it showed slightly low pressure on a highway flog, and at the next gas stop, where I was going to check my oil level anyway, I found it to be low.

Some people put their temp senders in the relief plugs (ew) or pressure sender gallery. None of those locations see constant circulation, so you're only really going to be reading the case temps there. I like the T3 dipstick block off plate for a sender, or a drain plug sender that I saw on an old bug I looked at. But again, different locations will give different readings. Where's yours?

Robbie

[khargis]

Hey there Robbie. It is located in the inspection plate.
Kris

[jcbrock]

I am still in the 'breaking in the engine stage' and I didn't drive that long, but found myself a slave to the gauge. Is this normal?

If you are asking if it is normal to be a slave to the gauge, based on Colin's very frequent CHT postings I would say it is. This makes the assumption though that Colin (or indeed any of us) is normal, which would be a much longer conversation.

If on the other hand, you're asking if 225F is ok, I can't answer that. Ours doesn't have a gauge.

[Randy in Maine]

No problem with 225º Oil Temps.

[khargis]

I am still in the 'breaking in the engine stage' and I didn't drive that long, but found myself a slave to the gauge. Is this normal?

If you are asking if it is normal to be a slave to the gauge, based on Colin's very frequent CHT postings I would say it is. This makes the assumption though that Colin (or indeed any of us) is normal, which would be a much longer conversation.

That was pretty funny. Thank ya folks.
Kris

[wcfvw69]

Gauges? I don't need no stinking gauges!

I've never ran gauges on any of my VW's over the past 40 years. I'm pretty anal about insuring my engines are tuned, timed and serviced correctly, with all the parts on them that them smart German engineers designed. I don't want to be focused on my dash. I'd rather be looking outside the windshield at the beauty passing me by.

This is a frequent topic on classic air cooled VW websites. Some swear by gauges, while others (like me) never saw a need for them. We also realized that millions of these air cooled VW's drove all over the country in the 60's, 70's and 80's just fine w/out them.

[Bleyseng]

I have a question for y'all. I recently finished a top-end rebuild after my no. 1exhaust valve almost blew thru the piston and ended up installing a Oil temp gauge for now, instead of the Dakota Digital (which will probably be added in time), but as I was driving today in Boise, ID (103 degrees at 12pm), I found myself getting nervous that the Oil temp gauge was around 225'. I am still in the 'breaking in the engine stage' and I didn't drive that long, but found myself a slave to the gauge. Is this normal? What is the normal running temperature? In hot weather? When should you pull over in the shade, soak your feet in the river, and let your engine cool down? Thanks folks.
Kris

225F is just great as its boiling out the water vapor but 250F is pushing it..

I like gauges as then I know what is going on vs my head in the sand until it blows up.

[wcfvw69]

I have a question for y'all. I recently finished a top-end rebuild after my no. 1exhaust valve almost blew thru the piston and ended up installing a Oil temp gauge for now, instead of the Dakota Digital (which will probably be added in time), but as I was driving today in Boise, ID (103 degrees at 12pm), I found myself getting nervous that the Oil temp gauge was around 225'. I am still in the 'breaking in the engine stage' and I didn't drive that long, but found myself a slave to the gauge. Is this normal? What is the normal running temperature? In hot weather? When should you pull over in the shade, soak your feet in the river, and let your engine cool down? Thanks folks.
Kris

225F is just great as its boiling out the water vapor but 250F is pushing it..

I like gauges as then I know what is going on vs my head in the sand until it blows up.

There was a shop bulletin from Volkswagen of Australia in the 60's about engine oil temps. I've seen it on the Samba posted by a VW guru down under. It stated oil temps up to 250-260 would be acceptable in certain conditions. I lost a copy I made of it but it was interesting to read it. I'll have to see if I can find it again.

I've seen temperatures in the 220-230 range in summer time Phoenix heat, during freeway runs in perfectly turned, stock engines and didn't get excited about it. I'd quickly pull over and shoot the engine sump with a laser temp gauge.

[Amskeptic]

I have a question for y'all. I recently finished a top-end rebuild after my no. 1exhaust valve almost blew thru the piston and ended up installing a Oil temp gauge for now, instead of the Dakota Digital (which will probably be added in time), but as I was driving today in Boise, ID (103 degrees at 12pm), I found myself getting nervous that the Oil temp gauge was around 225'. I am still in the 'breaking in the engine stage' and I didn't drive that long, but found myself a slave to the gauge. Is this normal? What is the normal running temperature? In hot weather? When should you pull over in the shade, soak your feet in the river, and let your engine cool down? Thanks folks.
Kris

225F is just great as its boiling out the water vapor but 250F is pushing it..

I like gauges as then I know what is going on vs my head in the sand until it blows up.

There was a shop bulletin from Volkswagen of Australia in the 60's about engine oil temps. I've seen it on the Samba posted by a VW guru down under. It stated oil temps up to 250-260 would be acceptable in certain conditions. I lost a copy I made of it but it was interesting to read it. I'll have to see if I can find it again.

I've seen temperatures in the 220-230 range in summer time Phoenix heat, during freeway runs in perfectly turned, stock engines and didn't get excited about it. I'd quickly pull over and shoot the engine sump with a laser temp gauge.

Your sense of smell will tell you all you need to know as far as oil temps. Once you have smelled the acrid stench of burnt oil, you don't forget it. Normally oil has a very nice almost sweet smell.

I hit 264* with RandyInMaine's Commemorative Loaner VDO Oil Temperature Gauge in 2005 I think it was, with a heat soak at a gas station of damn close to 280*, but the oil looked fine, smelled fine, the head surfaces inside the valve covers were clean wet caramel, so don't worry about it! If you change your oil every 3,000-5,000 miles (once a month for me ), you are very very very very unlikely ever to see any evidence of oil breakdown, so drive already.
Colin