2.0 oil cooler flap?

[david c.]

Hey guys,

My old 912E was long ago (before me) converted to carbs. I never had the engine tin off until last week. I noticed this flap across the top of the oil cooler. Evidently, it was actuated somehow by a rod which was totally disconnected. So, during my ownership, the flap has been down, on top of the oil cooler.

My car is rarely driven when ambient temps are below 50 deg F. How should I rig this flap before I reinstall all the tin, etc. Should it be up or down? What operated that rod in the first place?

Thanks,

David

[DDS]

The rod was operated by a bimetal spring bolted horizontally to the bottom of the left side of the engine. From there, a thin cable turns over a small wheel and runs vertically up through the engine tin to the rod itself on the left side of the cast fan shroud/housing. why not get it working properly? I bet you can get all the bits from the VW dealer if you specify 411/412 or Bus parts. I have had a 1.7 and 2.0 and those parts appear to be the same.
I guess if inoperable, the thing should be rigged to allow air to flow over the cooler.
Dave

[Eat-um-up]

I live in Cali and here I find it best to just take the flaps out. All it does is allow the engine to heat up faster when its cold. by removing the entire unit It prevents the possibiliy of an overheat. sometimes those old things break and close. your luckey you dont drive it much. it will overheat quick if those arent open

[SteveStromberg]

If you remove the flap over the oilcooler you had better start saving up for that motor you always wanted to build, you will need it. The flap over the oilcooler forces the air thur the cooler ,with out it the air goes over the cooler instead of thur it. Steve

[Bleyseng]

Dave, Try to find all the pieces to get flaps to work. They help the get the engine to operating temp and direct the air flow over the oil cooler. You want the engine to heat up as fast as possible to operating temp, this is where it is designed to run. The air control flaps have looong been an issue with air cool mechanics. There is a reason for them that's why Porsche put them in.
Geoff

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76 914 2.0L

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Eat-um-up, I second Steve on this. One of the main functions of the right-side flap is to push air down through the oil cooler. Without it, you are quite likely to suck air up through the cooler. Air below the motor has been heated by the cooling air, by the exhaust pipes, and of course the exit from the heat exchangers is right there. Hot air doesn't cool as well as cool air.

You'll also be getting less air through the cooler, most likely. Which also isn't good for your cooling.

Bottom line, the flaps really really should be there. If you can't stand the thought of a properly-operating thermostatically controlled system, then wire them into the "full open" position. That is with the cross-shaft twisted fully up and forward (CW as viewed from the passenger's side of the car).

--DD

[david c.]

Well, my flap has been down on top of the cooler for at least the last 20,000 miles and three plus years. And, it's been driven several hundred straight miles on 90+ degree days, so I guess it's okay like that. As for warm up, are you saying that the flaps open upward when the car is cold or warm? I haven't taken off the tin on the other cylinder bank to see how that thermostat (or whatever is left of it) is operated? What's over there?

[Bleyseng]

The flaps are down when the engine is cold. As the engine warms up the thermostat bellows expands letting the cable wire release the flaps upwards. The flaps should have a spring on the control rod that forces them up or open. So, as Dave says, just wire them up or open so they direct the air into the oil cooler.
Geoff

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76 914 2.0L

[roadtrp204]

The flap over the cooler is down or covering the cooler in the hot or open position. The cooler flap is hinged about a half an inch from the fan housing and seals on the other end to force air directly through the cooler via the half-inch gap. It is connected to the fan housing and is pulled up when cold by the rod that the other flap is attached to. When the thermostat closes the flaps, the drivers side one comes down from the top of the cylinder tin and the cooler one raised up off of the cooler. The only problems with having the flapper rod removed, but not the cooler flap, is extended warm-up and the possibility of the cooler flap rising under pressure and bleeding air from the cooler. Removal of any of these components is an unwise choice and will not increase either cooling capacity or performance. In addition, unlike a water cooled thermostat that can stick in the closed position, the Volkswagen aircooled thermostats open up as if the engine were hot when they reach their service limits (from my personal experience they are either working or they are sprung open). In short, if you are missing pieces find them, if your thinking of removing them don't, and make sure your thermostat is in working condition.

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Chris
75 914 2.0L