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Testing 009 (style) vs Pertronix II SVDA Distributors.
Engine temp issues at high speed.

Problem: Engine oil runs hot very HOT at high RPM above 55mph.
Pinging at low speed heavy acceleration when cold.

So I looked for a lot of info when trying to resolve my heating issues see below for tests and results.

Car
Vintage Speedster built in 2011.

Engine
•1915cc Type 1 VW dual port
•Stock cam
•Stock crank
•Stock heads
•EMPI EPC 34 dual carbs (Weber ITC 34 copy’s)
155 main 200 air
Wideband A/F at tail pipe readings are near perfect at all speeds and loads.
•Tri Mill 2 tip exhaust.
•Thin line oils sump
•Full flow oil
•Remote oil filter
Remote cooler in passenger wheel well temp switch at 185F on fans. (Derale Hyper-Cool Remote Fluid Coolers with Fan Kits 15840) factory cooler still installed, dog house fan.

————————————-
Tested

009 W/ igniter 1- ambient 95F
Initial idle advance 10BTDC
Max advance >3200. 32BTDC
Engine oil runs hot very HOT at high RPM above 55mph.
Pinging at low speed heavy acceleration when cold.
Performed well at all operations

Initial idle 5BTDC
Max advance 27-28 >3200
Engine is sluggish on acceleration.
Didn’t drive long enough to check temps.
No pinging

Pertronix II SVDA ambient 95F
Initial idle (no vacuum) 10BTDC
Max advance 32BTDC
No vac advance
Runs better than 009 but still hot at high RPM 3200 cursing >50mph 3200.
Reduced pinging at-load 2-3000 RPMs.

SVDA

SVDA ambient 95F
Initial idle (no vacuum) 10BTDC
Max advance 32BTDC
vac advance
Runs better than 009 but still hot at high RPM 3200 cursing >50mph 3200.
Still pinging a little at loads

SVDA ambient 89F
Initial idle (no vacuum) 5BTDC
Max advance 27BTDC
vac advance connected
Performance is about the same as 009 but did not heat at any operating condition including at high RPM >3200 cursing >50mph. no pinging  

Slight temp increase once slowing down, then dropped to normal even with AC on at city driving speeds. Did not run AC at freeway speeds.
Need to test at 95F but early indications are this is a major improvement in oil temps.

Ported vacuum readings
Idle 900rpms- 0Hg
0-2000rpm No load = 0Hg
2000rpm no load = 5Hg

0 - 10mph full throttle full load 0Hg
2500rpm cruse 12Hg
3600rpm cruse 7lbs
Full throttle acceleration dropped to 0- then holds at 3Hg >3600rpm.

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Sounds to me like you still have too much timing. Some engines cannot tolerate 32 degrees and only can tolerate 29-30.

Do you have any idea what the static and dynamic compression ratios are?

If your heads and piston tops are loaded with carbon, pinging and overheating could easily be the result. You can "steam-clean" your heads by dripping water into each throat with the revs up around 3-4k. A good cloud of white smoke will come out when you do it right, and just do one at a time, engine hot and warmed up, preferably just after a good ride.

The simple fact that you had no overheating at 27 max advance with the SVDA is your clue.

Personally, I'd do the "steam clean" and install the SVDA and set max advance at 30 degrees and run it.

I just had the heads off a couple of months ago to fix an oil leak. No carbon build up at that time. Unfortunately I did not check the comp ratio. Kicking myself... i May try setting the SDVA to 30 and see if I get good results. I was honestly pretty excited that I did not have any noticeable impacts to performance at 27 with the SVDA. Under light load it will advance another 10-12 based on ported vacuums. So total Max is in the range of 37-39BTDC

I have mine set up to go 36 degrees max at very light throttle. But as soon as you put in much more than 10% throttle(I have crank-fried ignition and control load with TPS), the load advance disappears.

My motor tolerates full-throttle 32 MAX at 3800. It's actually at 29.5 degrees at 3300. So you might want to put a slightly heavier spring in and set max advance higher in the rev range, it might cool it down a bit.

It sounds like you're way ahead with knowledge and information, GomerP.

Some VW engines can not tolerate 32 deg. or above advance. I would try to retard the timing a degree at a time and watch to see if you oil temps come down. You need to be careful that you don't retard too far or you will get hot running engine as well. I have not had many type 1 engines that could tolerate 32 deg. advance. The 2276 I just sold ran best at 30 deg. advance using a new Pertronix Flame thrower electronic 009 copy distributor. I would say the issue is mostly in the timing and possibly in the carb tuning being too lean at high rpms. Both can cause the engine to run hot. 

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