Overheated for pete's sake

grinbeans · Post by **grinbeans** » Mon May 21, 2007 10:27 pm

Pete is nowhere to be *****ing found or i'd beat his ass.
My wife is driving our 82 westy with the turbo jetta engine in it. The temp gauge goes hot, light is flashing and the rear is smoking. no good. of course she does not call me, she tries to start it again and eventually gets it going.

she drives a little more, maybe 5 miles and parks it in the driveway. The next day she tells me it wont start. great. when i get home sure enough theres no coolant in it. Im no mechanic. can someone break it to me lightly how much damage could have been done and is there any chance in hell this could be an inexspensive lesson in dont ever let this happen againville'.

82' westy

Post by **Fatmobile** » Mon May 21, 2007 11:33 pm

I'd say the least damage would be the head gasket but the head is probably warped. Rings could have lost their temper if it got too hot.
Sorry I didn't get the low coolant level warning light circuit finished yet... Westys didn't come with one?

Vincent Waldon · Post by **Vincent Waldon** » Tue May 22, 2007 12:14 am

The flashing light was likely the low coolant warning.

When this happened to me I had to replace the head, coolant flanges, etc (everything that got very hot) but the bottom end was fine.. did rings while I was at it of course.

No way to know for sure... you could do a quick compression test to find out, but your best bet is to pull the head since you'll want to trust this thing on long trips again someday.

Vince

libbybapa · Post by **libbybapa** » Tue May 22, 2007 12:26 am

'82 vanagon did not have the coolant level sensor. The '83 did along with a host of other significant improvements.

Andrew

Vincent Waldon · Post by **Vincent Waldon** » Tue May 22, 2007 1:44 am

Ah yes.... someone knows his Westies !!!

Vince

grinbeans · Post by **grinbeans** » Tue May 22, 2007 7:39 am

Thanks yall, I guess Ill just tow it down to the local vw shop. is there any kindof test i can perform to asess the damage? This bus may have been upgraded with an 83 instrument panel then bc it does have the coolant light and gauge, but the vin is an 82.
Thanks agrin everyone

82 westy

libbybapa · Post by **libbybapa** » Tue May 22, 2007 9:23 am

The '83 would have a 5-speed stock. If '82, the gauge is present as is the light, it just functions as a too hot-"pull over now" light. The '82 wiring is missing the level sensor "control unit", the sensor itself and the provision for it in the reservoir tank. It does have the plug in the engine bay, and so fitting the control unit, a newer reservoir and wiring it in is not hard and a very good upgrade.

Andrew

PS Your wife needs to know to "pull over when she sees red", it never gets easier or less expensive.

coke · Post by **coke** » Tue May 22, 2007 9:31 am

My father and I had just tightened the alternator/waterpump/ belt on my 90 jetta before my wife took it to go to her doctors appointment. My father called me 3 minutes later (I was on my way back to work) and let me know he found the shattered remains of what appeared to be a belt where my car was sitting. My alternator light and coolant light flashed the whole trip to the doctors office (5 miles away) and my wife never had enough sense to pull over and stop.

grinbeans · Post by **grinbeans** » Tue May 22, 2007 10:29 am

The mechanic tells me that if there is no more compression left, the engine will have to be scraped. is this true? he says if the head is warped, its not worth rebuilding b/c no machine shop around here knows what there doing. I just find this hard to believe. how hard is it to replace the head and rings? I have very little mechanic experience, this does not sound like something a novice can pull off. or is it? does anyone know any forums that discuss head replacement?

82 westy

JRM · Post by **JRM** » Tue May 22, 2007 11:59 am

your mechanic is 50% correct, normally when engines get this hot they are pretty messed up and not worth the time, Except VW diesels that get great mileage. And he is correct about the head- vw heads don't take to heat well and will warp plus cracks between the valves. Here is what i did to fix a friends VW after he hit a varmint and knocked a coolant hose off only he kept it floored until the thing slowed to a stop and seized tight.

1. pull engine and examine head, likely way out of spec- find used head
2. pull pistons and examine, if ok hone the block and replace with new rings from this page, they are OEM direct parts.
3. machine the top of the block back to factory spec. Use new head gasket form this page, again Jack sells genuine VW parts that don't fail.
4. Always replace all bearings and crispy seals

My friends got so hot it caused the pistons to become badly damaged with melting above the top ring, and major scuffing where they expanded and "grabbed" the cylinder. The piston pin to piston Bering was also scarred up bad

Post by **Fatmobile** » Tue May 22, 2007 11:27 pm

I did this to one of my Rabbits.
All the coolant drained out and I kept driving.
When it finally stopped the gauge didn't even read in the red, there wasn't a warning light for overheat or low coolant.
I didn't see anything wrong with the pistons except the ring grooves were sloppy,... probably just a high mileage thing, you'll have that.
The head is another story. it was too warped but the cracks between the valves weren't very big,... so I had it heated, bent straight and line bored,... then line bored again this time correctly. New seats, exhaust valves, guides, seals, etc... and had is surfaced.
You can probably get your head fixed, I can't remember how much it cost me for an NA 12mm headbolt head.
We're going to have to figure out a Murphy switch with a verbal countdown to when the engine is going to shut off

.

A1-2-A3 · Post by **A1-2-A3** » Wed May 23, 2007 8:49 pm

What someone should make is a low coolant, high coolant temp, low oil pressure warninig light and engine protection system, it would flash red/stop or amber/caution depending on the condtions and then shut the engine off after so many seconds coupled with a annoying warning buzzer. Thats what the big diesels have but all controlled from the EECU.
A guy could make a simple one with relays, timers, sensors and whatnot.
It would be crazy. Sometimes a simple idoit light is not good enough for idoits behind the wheel. Maybe a electric shock to the driver somehow??

3Bunnys · Post by **3Bunnys** » Thu May 24, 2007 7:44 am

YUP..had this happen to me also... The problem is catastrophic loss of coolant, typically a lower radiator hose fails, not just a leak, a blow out and you lose all your coolant in one minute. Your temperature sender then dutifully reports the "Air" temperature in your coolant system as all the liquid normally in contact with the sensor is gone. Air not being a good transmitter of head and block temperature then dutifully tells your temperature gauge everything is A-OK as your engine temperatures skyrockets. Almost the same thing that happens in a pressurized water reactor that loses all its coolant!!!!!!
CLUES...... You notice a puff of steam from under the hood as your going down the road or all of a sudden your heater isn't producing heat (course that only works in winter!!)
CHEAP Insurance.....replace radiator hoses every so often, especially the lower one on the water pump, it sees the most abuse and is exposed to highest temperatures of all hoses.
regards Richard

FineFrank · Post by **FineFrank** » Thu May 24, 2007 7:57 am

Sometimes a simple idoit light is not good enough for idoits behind the wheel. Maybe a electric shock to the driver somehow??

I've seen a small round marker light installed in a VW bug used offroad. I was connected to the oil pressure switch. It seems like a good idea, if a bit ugly.