[tedybear]

Ok, Fighting the possible lake effect snow hammering. We managed to head where we have the Beetle in our work space. (10-15 degrees F.) Yeah, cold!

We did the plugs and wires. It was so flippen cold we couldn't get the compressor started up! Normally I like to use compressed air to blow the gunk out from the plug areas before pulling them. No chance..the compressor motor is pretty well seized up from the cold. (We might point the heater at the motor/compressor to thin out the oil and loosen it up a bit.)

For anyone doing this job? You can remove the plug wires with the steel shields using a set of hose clamp pliers. Got the set from Harbor Freight Tools a few days ago. Yeah there crazy cheap china stuff..but it worked.

Found all 4 plugs where current (within the last year) AutoLite Plat. Mild wear on the tips. Very clean when compared to the mess I did find on the top of the pistons! Used a spot light and peeked down the plug holes. (Almost sounds kinky) Didn't look at all of them, just the 2 that I could see clearly. And my goodness...talk about CARBON deposits?!? I pulled the heads off a '75 F-250 with a 360FE engine---pistons very clean and no build up.

The Beetle? Did a jaw drop at the amount of carbon buildup on the pistons.

Now the car doesn't burn any oil, and the engine purrs pretty well. (Still has a very slight "Skip" every 5-6 seconds at idle...but it's doing much better with the plugs and wires replaced)

So I'm scratching my head as to what the deal is with the carbon build up? Plus as an added bonus? I did personally inspect the converter when it was out of the car. Snow White wasn't as clean as this converter is!

I'm of the mind to leave it alone and just drive the car....but part of me also wonders if doing an upper intake/engine "SeaFoam" treatment would clean things up...or if it doesn't matter? For the ones not understanding of that process? It's basically running 1/3 a bottle of SeaFoam directly into the intake manifold via a large vacuum line....The idea is to "Wash" the carbon out of the engine by slowly introducing it to the intake.. I've never had to do that before, and the smoke it dumps out the tail pipe may or may not be anything more then a "Display Show"

Any ideas? The deposits really made me do a double take, as there is zero sign of black and/or blue smoke. Unless it's left over from a prior issue that was resolved?

Still to do:

Coolant Flush and refill to get the green goober coolant out.
Thermostat
Temp Sensor
Cabin Air Filter

(We would have spent more time on it, but at an average temp of less then 20f? Yeah...we'll spread the job out)


S-

 

[jfoj]

Probably very cold running engine due to a soft thermostat. Too cool of an engine can lead to slightly rich fuel mixture, engine not fully warming up and a build up of carbon on the intake valves, ports and in the combustion chamber.

Expect engine temp to be around 205F at warm idle.

 

[tedybear]

Probably very cold running engine due to a soft thermostat. Too cool of an engine can lead to slightly rich fuel mixture, engine not fully warming up and a build up of carbon on the intake valves, ports and in the combustion chamber.

Expect engine temp to be around 205F at warm idle.

Well then, That should be resolved pretty soon. The 87c factory OEM stat will be installed we hope on Sunday my next day off from work.

I was tempted to hose 'em down with solvent--but it was frozen Just Kidding! Any ideas on if we should remove the carbon build up with SeaFoam? I'd be concerned about a chunk of carbon coming free and lodging in a exhaust valve.

S-

 

[jfoj]

I would probably just leave it alone and drive it as it and see what happens.

Get the engine up to temp, make sure the fuel trims are good and with an exhaust system that is not restricted things may work out automatically.

You can easily pull a plug and inspect at a later date.

The 2.0 could probably use a bit more compression anyway!

 

[Jeff2]

Some "car guys" in other forums swear by Seafoam to remove carbon from engines. I've got to say that I've never used it myself. A Google search turns up a a lot of differing opinions on the stuff. Youtube has many videos which show cars spewing copious amounts of smoke out the tailpipe during the Seafoam process.

 

[Jeff2]

Also, cheap gas can add to a carbon build up problem. These cars like high quality gasoline. What I mean is not "high octane", but the proper level of detergents, which is higher than the minimum standards set by the US Government. Because of this, cheap gasoline is not good for our VWs!

For more info, I suggest this site:
Top Tier Gasoline

 

[tedybear]

Also, cheap gas can add to a carbon build up problem. These cars like high quality gasoline. What I mean is not "high octane", but the proper level of detergents, which is higher than the minimum standards set by the US Government. Because of this, cheap gasoline is not good for our VWs!

For more info, I suggest this site:
Top Tier Gasoline

That's an excellent suggestion. Back in the 'day' we had a local gas station called "HighWay Oil" company. It had the cheapest gas of any station in the area--it also had the most complaints regarding water and dirt in the gas.

One of the dirty secrets about gas stations? In our area the same trucking company and the same "Delivery" companies? All go to the local stations across the board. There's only one station that advertises "USA ONLY" gas, and has the option for E85 free prem. unleaded gas. Sure it's 92-93 octane and the performance cars love it! But it's also much more per gallon, and for some of us? We're stuck with 87 octane and 10% Eth. in the gas. (I'll admit, my Bronco II ran better with the 5% mix then it does with the 10%. Its making he&& with my fuel system)

As for the seafoam? Back a while ago I was given a "hard sell" by Valvo'scream' quick oil express..(or whatever they want to call themselves) So I was driving a company mini-van with over 85,000 miles on it. Ran like a Swiss watch! The 'tech' was pushing hard for their "Fuel Injector Cleaner" and I watched another car have the process done. Looks more like a smoke screen show with all the smoke out of the tailpipe. That always left me to wonder if it did anything good? Because that much smoke? Could just be the mixture doing a "Smoke and Mirrors" show for the lemmings of the world.

Granted, I'll probably dump some into the fuel tank for the injector cleaning part...But sucking it into the intake via a vacuum hose? And then some claim that process "Cleans" the injectors? I call B/S. It doesn't do anything to the injectors if it's dumped into the intake.

I'll see if there are any truly independent studies behind it.

S-

 

[Jeff2]

While it's true you will see the same delivery trucks driving to all the different stations, from what I understand the gas station companies get to specify the detergents and additives they want in their brand of gas. I've been told this gets added to the gasoline at the depot when filling the tanker truck that delivers the gas to the station. I know this is all second hand information, but that, added to what the manufacturers are recommending, gives some weight to the argument that not all gasoline is the same.