| Archive for THE KOMBI KONNECTION The forum for owners and those who would like to be owners of the worlds most popular camper, bus and van. |
| Alice |
Where's the spark plug? A guide for those who know little.This story started in the 'Alice's new kombi' thread...http://thekombikonnection.myfreeforum.org/ftopic1576-0-asc-0.phpThis is the story so far..... 
(me, Loona, my dog, woz's dog, and my tools) Woz (piratekombi) brought me a $500 kombi (1974 converted panel). I wanted it to not cost a lot and use it as an opportunity to learn how to mechanically maintain a kombi...it was also an opportunity to experiment without messing up our beloved lowlight. So what do I know...NOTHING...What the hell is a tappet...and where are the spark plugs? This thread is to help people like me who love to drive kombis but don't know how they work. Today was my first chance to get under it and learn. My oil was foamy and following the advice in my first thread I did this... 1) I ran the engine for ten minutes. It idled really badly. It would rev high then splutter to nothing so I had to keep pressing the accelerator so it wouldn't stall. It back fired a lot too. 2) I drained the sump by undoing the sump screw (and accidentally dropped it into the bucket of oil which I had to fish it out from). The oil was very very black. 3) I put the screw back in..and put 1 litre of diesel into the oil filler bit in the engine...(Woz had to show me that the black plastic thingy was where you put oil). 4) I left it for 50minutes then removed the screw again and drained the diesel. 5) I put the screw back on then added 1 litre of oil and left it for twenty minutes. 6) I drained the oil then removed the oil filter. I brought the oil and filter from autobarn..the oil was $8 and the filter was $24 (ryco z100). This was a bit tricky...I found we had a tool for removing oil filters...and still had trouble...THEN...I realised I was turning it the wrong way. 
(the old filter is on the left, the new is on the right...the diameters were quite different but the new one still fit) 7) After I took it off I started looking for what everyone calls the oil strainer. I searched and searched expecting something mesh..like a tea strainer. After quite some time I concluded that it was a ball bearing type object where I had removed the filter.  It wasn't too dirty there..an few some bits of sand like stuff but it didn't look too bad.
9) I put the new oil filter back on..put the sump screw back in and put another 3 litres back into the engine. 
In this pic: No. 1= the oil filter in place No. 2= the sump..the nut in the centre is what you undo to drain the oil I wrote front meaning the front of the kombi. So how does the engine sound...well in the time I was waiting for the diesel to do it's thing I did other jobs (which I will show below). I asked Woz to show me where the spark plugs were..WHO DESIGNED THEM TO BE THERE????? Geez...well anyway...while doing acrobatics to get the spark plug out...we dropped it into the engine (or as I've been told a fan casing or something). I yelled at the engine...and the dogs, woz, and the cat. I thought I would blow up the engine next time I tried starting it. But brookie has said this is common and not a problem..it will just add to kombi rattle. So by this time it was too dark to put a new spark plug in and I packed up for the night. Woz said I need to add another half litre of oil and that he will retrieve the spark plug for me tomorrow. I'm quite concerned about how badly Loona idled and surged but Woz said that hopefully that problem will be fixed as we replace oil and filter, plugs, points, condenser, gaskets etc and adjust tappets... we will check the compression tomorrow hopefully. He also suggested cleaning the carbs, they are probably gobbed up new leads wouldn't hurt either. So I guess I'll find out what all these things are...and hopefully my posts will help others that know nothing. |
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| Diddlie |
At last, at last a girlies guide to kombis, thank you Alice! I know less than you so you are a guru in my eyes. | ||||
| Alice |
Putting on a new door handle (outside)The next thing I did should have been a quick job....but...My driver's door handle had no lock barrel at all in it. I thought I had better get one before I put on new door trim (the door cards/inner lining of the door are required for the Vic Roads road worthy certificate). I brought a new door handle from my mechanic at Volkscourt. It wasn't the cheapest, I paid $45 whereas if I had brought it from Mick Motors it would have been $32.34 or The Bus Stop $38.00...but I can be an impulsive buyer and decided that I had to have it at that very moment. 
(the missing lock barrel) To remove the old one I used an allen key to undo the two screws holding it on. The allen key was about $2 from one of those cheap...well $2 shops. 
(Inside of door where the two screws are). Sounds simple.....yes...but...I dropped the screw and the allen key heaps of times into the door. 
(New lock and handle) Biggest tip I could give here is there is a little bit of black plastic (the seal) that is between the handle of the door and the door....hold onto them...I didn't get new ones with my new handle. |
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| Alice |
Where is that stupid spark plug?????As mentioned before, while Woz was showing me what a spark plug is...it dropped out of the spark plug socket and into the engine (sparkplug removers/sockets are the biggest socket in all socket sets, even the set we got from my favourite tool shop...the $2 shop, has one).Apparently dropping it is not a problem and it isn't the engine I dropped it into..it's something to do with the air/fan/or something. I had to go to work so Woz went off to find me the right tool to remove the spark plug from the engine..that isn't really the engine. We got one of those flexible things with a magnet on it but also for $6.90 we got this magical, magnetic, extendable, tool...or better known as the SONIC SCREWDRIVER....which we used to retrieve the spark plug. 
(The extended sonic screwdriver) |
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| Brookie |
This is coming along like a John Muir story- straightfoward and simple to understand plus now you added different characters like clones of Dr.Who. 
This will really start to clock up record views. -------------------------------------- |
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| Kinga |
Hey Alice, just thought I would offer you a hint.
The spark plugs don't go in the doors (so far all the photos are of doors) Try looking around the oil covered thing at the back of the car. |
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| Alice |
Hee hee...That bit is coming...just compiling lots of questions about them 
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| Diddlie |
Doors are good - I know what a door is and ehre to find it 
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| Alice |
I had a meeting fall through this afternoon so I decided to work on Loona..
My list was to; Change sparkplugs Turn the engine on for twenty minutes Use our shiny new compression tester (still to find out what compression is though). And see if I still have an oil leak. Everyone talks like it is really easy to check your spark plugs...it's not! You need to have time because it is fiddly. To find the spark plugs you need to follow the black cords/lead coming out of the plastic orange thing. Each lead ends with a spark plug. You have to unscrew the lead from the top of the plug and then use a spark plug tool to get the plug out. 
(The orange thingy with me following the leads to find the spark plug) A tip here is that the tool come in two sizes...the biggest is the one for a kombi...and guess which one we had..that's right..the wrong one! I really wished I had a spark plug tool. I was using the spark plug tool in my $2 shop socket set and it wouldn't disengage with the plug once I had put it in. This is a problem because I had to keep taking the plug out and it takes FOREVER to find the hole to put the spark plug in. So here's a pic of my old plug (Bosch ) next to the new one. 
I know it should have been obvious by looking at this pic that they didn't match...but the autobarn guy said it would fit.....and it didn't. My old one has a thread at the top...the new one had a top that you thread something into rather than vice versa. I should have had NGK BP5ES not B6ES..but I've been told the preferable plug is Bosch not NGK but I couldn't get Bosch....damn autobarn (or me for being cheap) 
This mirror tool was really handy to find out where to put things. It was about this time I realised something momentous...I wasn't working on a 1972 like Woger...IT HAD AN ENGINE INSPECTION HATCH!!! If I had realised this earlier things might have been easier. I didn't have time to go and get the right plugs before dark so I cleaned the old one with fine sandpaper (just on the very tip bit of metal) and put it back in. Now I could finally hear how the engine sounded after it's oil change. I checked the oil...it was WAY over filled. I didn't know how this had happed because I had put less than 3 litres in. I pm one of the forums gurus and he mentioned about the oil I put in the filter...WHAT OIL? When everyone said that I had to "put in 3 litres plus .5 in the filter" I thought they meant to put it just in the oil filler thing. I didn't realise they meant the .5 litre was meant to go into the filter itself!! So with advice...I managed to get the oil level down by removing that middle lead on the distributer cap and then trying to start the engine. A couple of turns and then I would check the oil level again. It started going down....so I put the cord back on. However, the other end of the lead which goes into the other orange thing (below), that I have been told is a coil, disintegrated and bits fell off it. 
So anyway I attached the lead back on and thought I would start Loona propaly. She did an enormous back fire and then I couldn't get her going again. As I was typing this I thought I would give it another go...And she started well...it is still surging instead of a nice idle but definitely ran better...and I think it's stopped leaking oil! Another tip...don't wear your hair in two buns on the top of your head...your head doesn't fit into the engine! And the best thing is..is that I know where to find the spark plugs!!!!!!!!
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| Archeress |
Fantastic Alice...im watching and laughing and learning all at the same time...great stuff. 
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| 66split |
the shiney bit on the top of your new spark plug will unscrew and leave the thread like you old one. the lead is not screwed on it just pushes on. when you check the oil do it a short while after you turn the engine off as this wil give the oil time to return to the sump so you get a correct reading, if its just a tad above the upper mark i wouldnt worrie too much but if its way over just carfully drain a bit from the sump, dont let go of the drain plug though as you only want to drail a bit and put it back in, have a nice clean container to catch the oil so you can put it back in if you do drop it 
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| Kinga |
That would be why you never see Princess Leia working on Kombi engines 
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| Diddlie |
Brilliant, keep it up Alice
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| Piratekombi |
I suggested to Al that the tips of the plugs looked removable, but she decided it was safer to take them back to check (as their number doesn't match NGK's online recommendation). Her leads also seem to have a small clip across the "socket" that engages the thread and enables them to screw on - they don't appear to want to pull off either. Alice is determined to do as much of this herself and on her own as possible - she has always wanted to be able to learn to maintain a car, but has never had a good opportunity until now. I am quite chuffed - Alice is already offering to service Woger next!  Amusingly though, she seems to be ignoring most of my advice... 
I am hopeful this thread will be particularly useful to new kombi owners that don't know where to start... Great work Al, and interesting posts - keep it up!
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| Alice |
Thanks 66split...I'm having trouble finding the reciept to take them back so it would be better if they did fit
Well there is good news and bad news. The good news is that now I can turn the kombi on and then get out without having to rev it. It still surges a bit and goes...clackety, clack (Woz says this is probably the tappets....whatever they are...I'll work that out another day). The leak isn't as bad as what it was but is still a problem. I thought I found where it was coming from and started reading our books 'How the keep your Volkswagen Alive' by Jon Muir...and 'Volkswagen Official Service Manual' by Robert Bentley (1979). I studied the books for quite a while then said to Woz "I'm pretty sure it is leaking oil from here" (and pointed at the pic in Bentley's guide) Woz replied "Alice...you are looking at pictures of the gear box...not the engine"...so back to studying I went. It is leaking near the oil filter but not from it...here: 
Jon Muir says "If the oil is leaking down the left-hand side of the engine...then you have a leaky oil cooler" (p.90). However..I think it might be a 'filter flange gasket' or maybe the 'relief valve plug' because that is what is on the picture in the Bentley's where I think the oil is coming from. I have no idea what those things are...but they may be leaking. Any more educated guesses? |
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| Brookie |
This is pic of Type 4 . John Muir is usually referring to 1600 in older versions of Idiots.....
I will try and get pic of the "other" filter behind screw on one. 
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| Gabbo's Run |
Alice maybe you could sorta lie under there with the motor running and try and see where it is coming from. could be tube seal or oil pressure switch. thats a couple more for you to look at.
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| Alice |
That picture really helps..it is a lot clearer than the ones I've been looking at..the oil source for underneath is from this spot..
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| Brookie |
The photo I have taken is with heads and barrels off and shows screw on filter and main filter -same as doghouse in 1600- these can leak.
Unfortunately my photo programme is refusing to work but will keep trying Brian's suggestion of oil pressure switch is a good one-it is just behind screw on filter towards centre If you get one of Woz's old white shirts and spread it under engine area overnight the dripmarks may give you better idea
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| Gabbo's Run |
If woz dont want to give you his white shirt , maybe some butchers paper would do just fine.
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| Alice |
Where you described the oil pressure switch sounds like it could very well be that...I'll wrap something around the oil filter and see if I can get a more accurate spot.
I have got under to watch where it is coming from but as I don't know what I'm looking at or for it makes it a bit hard. Once again thanks for the advice...I'll do this next step tomorrow
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| Dingo |
Okay I found the answer to my question in your pictures thread. Here is the outcome. Cool. |
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| Dingo |
p.s. just looking at your oil leak problem, despite all the help and great old engine drawings, you're gonna lose a lot of that head of hair of yours unless you clean that engine first. Easier to see where your new oil is coming from against a clean sump. To do this, head back down to supercheap, or knock some 'engine cleaner/degreaser' off from Woz'z stash if you didnt buy some already. Then nick $4 from his ashtray. Then, drive illegally to nearest jetspray cleaner joint. Then, liberally apply engine cleaner to bottom of engine and gearbox. Then, roll and smoke a cigarette (away from the fumes). Then, twiddle thumbs for about 5-10 minutes. Then, hit the bottom of your engine with the high pressure hose, and watch that baby shine. Try not to get too much water up around the top of the engine where the electrical bits are. And never apply cold water to a hit engine. There are two reasons for waiting like I explained. 1) to give the cleaner time to do its job and 2) to let the engine cool a little. Then wait for another ciggy, then drive home. Then, your oil leak/s will show up better. This works better than the approach I used, which was to fix a small leak by putting a new engine in. |
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| Piratekombi |
We still have about three cans of degreaser left... Alice went under there with a toothbrush (no joke!) and removed a very think layer of tar. If you think the "after" pix look bad - imagine what the "before" was like! 
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| Dingo |
Those were after shots? Geez. Toothbrush. Not bad. I used a twig. Some of that stuff is unreal that gets baked on. |
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