Newbie questions... car quirks normal.

typed whole think. got limit.... damn

engine temp is supposed to be?
brakes today seemed to stay grabbed after cooling down for a while. could be wheel bearings? car has probably been sitting for a while. its an 89 with 3600 miles on it. almost seemed like my ebrake was stuck on when i started to drive it again after interstate cruising where oil temp hit high 200's .Ebrake was off.
whats the temp lever for next to the ebrake.
would a fan go on a stock engine and help keep it cool.
who would i take it to for an alignment? vw dealer or not?
redline for a stock engine is?

thanks

Nic, where are you located? To check if your e-brake is dragging just feel the rear wheels. Are they hot? That's how I found out which of my rear wheel brakes was sticking. I put my hand on one side and...mildly warm and the other side was hot. I my case I had just installed rear disc brakes and everything looked good until I did the final crank on the rear wheel nuts, which moved the caliper in just a bit on one side.
Ron

Noticed my brake lights were stuck on after driving a bit more last night... I had to unplug them so the battery didnt die, hope i know which wires plug to what :)... I see why its a shaky idea to buy a used kitcar now :)

When the car is cold, it rolls fine in nutral but when its warmed up to about 230 i can get it rolling at a light and then put it in nutral again and it stops on me, like the brakes are on. I couldnt find a brake light switch near the pedals.. where is this at? I NEED to figure this out soon but am going out of town to NJ till wed. Ill have to tackle it when i get back but all suggestions from now till then will be read daily. :) Thanks all.

Nic: You can find the brake light switch(es) on the master cylinder,
which is on the other side of the floor board behind the pedals. Pull the left front wheel and you can get right at it. If you are going to wrench
a little on your car, the best thing you can invest in is a Robert Bentley VW manual. I got mine last week (finally)(with a little prodding from George to whom I'm grateful) and have used it ever since. Tells you anything mechanical you want to know. Your switch is probably bad. They are easy to replace. Mark the wire positions, screw out the old and in with the new. Most models have two, so the "might as well" rule comes into play here.

BD

If you're unfamiliar with the working of the VW engine (or mechanicals) another GREAT book is the Complete VW Idiot Book. It is very well written and has been updated over 30 times since it's first printing in the late 60s.

If your brake light is always on it is probably a loose wire in the back. The switch turns on and off the current to the wires only. You need to find why the lights are on first. Note wiring is grounded to a screw off the lights in the back. If you want to check your switch, crawl under the front with the car on the ground. In front of the car where the brake pedal goes through the floor you can feel a switch with either 2 or 3 wires. That's your switch. Are the wires attached? The switch costs $4.00 to replace and takes 5 minutes. Careful, brake fluid leaks while the switch is out. So out and IN.

Brake drag could be your E brake is too tight. When the car is cold doesn't affect the roll, when the wheel are hot different story. Also, you could check the star nuts on the brake shoes. The shoes might be too tight as well. Sounds pretty easy. As for the engine heat it depends but I think 180 is closer to the norm.

Cheers

so how about the fan? will it fit. What is my power output on a stock vw. I cant image this car ONLY has 60hp. couldnt be...

would the brake dragging put enough extra load on the engine to heat it up to nearly 300 deg?

I will have to figure out which wires to replug in for my tail lights. the builder used t-tabs... I HATE THEM> I will replace with delco weatherpack connectors allround...

I will get those books. thanks... Any other answers you might have to questions i have yet to ask would help LOL :) you know ill ask them so might as well answer what you know i will ask but havent discovered to ask yet. hehe.

o ya, and i think it might be the ebrake... simply because of the squat the car does when starting in 1st after driving for a while...

another thing... there is a breather??? next to a cap on the right side of the engine that i think popped off and oil is now spouting a bit... what is that for? Thanks, again... i will go get those books when i get back to omaha. Im in nj/ny till wed for work.

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Offering clear instructions on how to fix absolutely everything in an air-cooled VW, this book covers all models built through 1978, including the Bug, Beetle, Karmann Ghia, Bus, Camper, and more than 20 other vehicles. 200 photos & illustrations.

Click on LIBRARY and this is a MUST book you can order on line. It's written in EZ speak and was written in 1977 but updated every year.

nic
300 degrees (I assume we're talking oil temp) is way too hot to run the engine. You need to find the cause before you drive it again.
The hose that you were refering to sounds like the crankcase vent line. It should be connected to the air cleaner, idealy with a canaster of some sort to catch the drippings instead of the carb.
ed

The "breather tube" you're referring to should vent into an air cleaner. VW essentially intalled one there to help un-do any unnecessary crankcase pressure build up. It ok for small trace amounts of oil to make it up the hose (the intakje should burn it off) but if you're experiencing quite a lartge amount of oil spurting out, you have a problem.
Oil case temp on a running engine shouldn't exceed 220 degrees. Nominal temp is 200-210

Nic: Baptism by fire? Hang in there.
Ron

Im going to figure it out when i get back. Temp was DEFINATELY above 220. what kind of damage could i have done by driving it for the 30 minutes i did at high 200's?

ill get the books. fix the brakes and do a checkup on the engine... then ill get back to you all. :) thanks.

Nic
If you had good, fresh oil in it and weren't lugging it, you might get away with it for half an hour. I don't know about cyl head temps, I suppose your head might be warped a bit but thats easy to diagnose. Change the oil and check timing, mixture, engine tin, engine compartment sealing etc.
ed