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> Hi all, > > I'm in uncharted territory. Until now I have been working on > what was essentially a dead car. I've started and run the > engine every now and again, and changed lots of parts and tinkered. > > Now I'm driving it short distances quite regularly. I have > nothing to compare it to, and no idea how a Type 3 should > feel, so here are some questions. > > It is pretty dire on hills. Can anybody give me an idea of > how it is supposed to feel going up a hill? It accelerates > really slowly, but it does accelerate. My problem is really > that I have never driven an AT car with only 54bhp (when > new), so I have no idea whether to expect more than it is > giving at the moment. On the flat it seems to accelerate > quite readily. It remind me a bit of an old automatic Passat > that I once had. It was horrible on hills too. > > Also, how would I know if it is overheating? I drove 4km > today (some of it at almost full throttle while going > uphill), and this is probably one of the first times that the > engine has attained its working temperature. When I stopped I > could smell a kind of burning smell. I am certain this is > coming from the exhaust. > > When I opened the engine bay with the engine still running I > didn't get that big waft of heat that you get from an > overheating car. I could touch the engine without getting > burnt. It actually seemed to heat up in some places after I > turned the engine off, particularly around the intake > manifolds. I suppose the head heats them up, and there is no > air intake to cool them down. What signs should I look for to > know if it is overheating? Everything you describe sounds perfectly normal to me. I have had 3 Type 3 AT's and all are terrible at climbing hills (but not as bad as my Bus was). Its just like Greg describes, sometimes when the conditions are right it zooms up them but if you make one mistake with the throttle you feel like your driving head on into a hurricane (exaggerating of course) but then you can downshift and try to bring it back to speed. Also, I get the smell occassionally, especially if I have added oil or atf or have a leak and have not taken a long drive in the heat to burn it all off. And it definitely smells more than say a modern car. I think there is some kinda test in which if you can hold the oil dip stick its ok. But I'm not sure about that, I could be very mistaken. Jason Smith 71 Square FI AT Columbus, OH USA http://jasontsmith.tripod.com/vw.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org