Re[2]: Yet Another Timing Question - overheating

[Jason Renville <Jason_Renville@ccm.al.intel.com>]

Damn Toby,
        I know someone said it before but you should give up the High Tech buis 
and become a writer!!!

Jason

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Subject: Re[2]: Yet Another Timing Question - overheating
Author:  type-3-errors@umich.edu at SMTPGATE
Date:    7/28/97 8:53 AM


Whoa!  The smoke is caused from oil be expelled from a leak and burning on the
engine.  Replace the valve cover gasket and make sure the valve covers are on
tight (check that valve cover bail).  Clean the valve covers and pushrod tubes
(I use carb cleaner with a final water rinse).  Drive for a little
bit and then
look around to see where the leaks, if any now, are coming from.

If your valve covers were actually expelling smoke you'd know several things:
You need new gaskets and/or covers and bails; your rings are gone and you're
getting lots of blow-by (and terrible performance/mileage); your engine
is about
to puke, costing you some serious cash.

One thing I know is the smell of an overheated engine.  Yes, you will see a
light smoke from the offending side, but it's a general vapor (mostly)
from the
surrounding components burning off the crap on them.  The smell, however, is
that of very hot, 'burning' metal.  Think of it as the anti-perfume, the smell
that stops your heart because of the panic it induces.  It is the pheromone of
fear, the odor your engine emits when it's in danger.  It is distinctive and
foul and you can't mistake it for another.  Many times I have found that the
hose that connects the cast aluminum housing to the heat exchanger
has blown off
and it's actually the heat exchanger that has overheated.  This is
why I have a
custom, "bulletproof" hose setup on my baby (the flexible tubing I use is
fiberglass impregnated preheat hose).  If you look at the end of the heat
exchanger where it curves up to the flapper control you'll see a flat, round
protrusion and a half circle wall on the outside (kinda hard to explain).
 This
is an outlet that lets *some* air circulate past the heat exchanger to keep it
from getting really hot when it's not in use.

Hope this helps,
     Toby Erkson
     air_cooled_nut@pobox.com
     '72 VW Squareback 1.6L bored and stroked to 2.0L
     '75 Porsche 914 1.8L for sale
     Portland, Oregon
     http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/8501/


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Subject: Re: Yet Another Timing Question - FI
Author:  type-3-errors@umich.edu at SMTPGATE
Date:    7/26/97 7:19 PM

E - I know my engine is runnig hot because of the oil burning up and all the
smoike coming from the valve covers!!

As far as the wire goes - I have my tach cable running into the car thru the
hole right behind the battery.

Good luck - Wilson
69' Square