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Car Forum / Volkswagen / Air Cooled Volkswagen Cars / August 2005

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Daniel - 29 Aug 2005 17:15 GMT
Howdy folks,

We have a lovely '78 VW Westy. Our main problem is that it starts to
stall after about 2 minutes of driving, unless you are driving at
highspeeds or revs.

Whether this is part of the problem or not, there is a piece of the
body which is underneath the engine, where the accordian like
thermostat is. Yeah. It fell off. We kind of found another use for it
(holding up one of the batteries)... and apparently it maybe required
to keep the engine at the correct temperature and therefore idling
correctly.

The van idles ok if the engine has been started from cold... but after
2 minutes... starts stalling.

We've had the same problem very occasionally before, if we get stuck in
traffic after having driven for several hours on the highway. But when
we leave the van alone overnight the next day it's good to go again.
However, now it happens right away and is not going away.

Thoughts? We live in Montreal any suggestions for a mechanic?

Dan & Meg

-
Strider - 78 Westy
Remco - 30 Aug 2005 16:55 GMT
> Howdy folks,
>
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> -
> Strider - 78 Westy

There probably isn't enough salt on the planet to go with my newbie
comment, but - besides just replacing the thermostat - couldn't you
just just open the flaps manually to see if it is indeed thermostat
related?

Please correct me if I am wrong but If the thermostat is gone, aren't
the flaps closed so isn't the cooling minimal? That probably isn't a
good idea..

Remco
Juper Wort - 30 Aug 2005 17:03 GMT
> > Howdy folks,
> >
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>
> Remco

Sounds like the 'stat is still there, its the piece of tin going under
pushrod tubes my guess thats gone.
No help for the issue though...
Joao Eliseu - 30 Aug 2005 17:04 GMT
>> Howdy folks,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
>
>Remco

If the thermostat is gone the flaps are open...

Joao
72 Super 1302
Remco - 30 Aug 2005 18:18 GMT
> >> Howdy folks,
> >>
[quoted text clipped - 39 lines]
> Joao
> 72 Super 1302

Thanks for the correction. I've only seen my thermostat and flaps
statically, not in actual operation - it fails safe, then.
Maybe his flaps are stuck closed?
Daniel - 31 Aug 2005 03:06 GMT
thanks all for the replies! yes we still have the thermostat, though
the cable that runs from the thermostat seems kind of loose. we'll go
and have a look at the flaps tomorrow, see if we can figure anything
out from them.

the piece that fell off is according to the bentley manual the "bottom
right air duct". my theory had been that there was some sort of cooling
problem because the piece has been threatening to fall off since we've
had the van, and as I mentioned before we've occasionally had this
problem before as well, and then right after the piece fell off it got
worse.

in which case the thing to obviously do would be to find a new 'bottom
right air duct' and replace it, but we've had no luck finding such a
part so far. so i guess we're just wondering, before we go trudging
around scrap yards etc. looking for one, if that logic makes sense or
if anyone has other thoughts on what might be going on?

cheers!
Dan & Meg
Strider - '78 Westy

> Thanks for the correction. I've only seen my thermostat and flaps
> statically, not in actual operation - it fails safe, then.
> Maybe his flaps are stuck closed?
 
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