[T2] Engine stall... + trip report part I

[Joe Average]

On 07/08/2013 10:09 PM, Kevin Guarnotta wrote:
> Oddly (due to the crazy heat) the engine was still so hot, I could melt a
> block of ice on it almost instantly-even after sitting for probably at least
> 4 hours. I could melt ice on the coil, or any engine part. I assume that
> meant it was HOT. It was just too hot out for the thing to cool off. I think
> the temp had only dropped to the high 90’s.
Had that problem too once with a bus. No, I never figured out why 
either. No lasting damage. Vapor lock? Fuel pump that quit? Points that 
weren't pointing? ;)

One thing though - after an hour or so I would have imagined your engine 
is be near ambient temps. When you switched on the ignition - what were 
the head temps and oil temps after cooling off for an hour? You 
mentioned having gauges. It might have felt hot but then it would be b/c 
the ambient temp is 104F and anything made of steel or aluminum is going 
to be hot-hot-hot to the touch all by itself. Might only be 120F but 
that's going to feel hot to me.

I did one of those hot-hot-hot summer trips in a 40HP Beetle when I was 
stationed in Italy. Suddenly the purpose behind their siestas made so 
much sense. Few of the ordinary cars back then had a/c. Lots of 70s and 
80s bread and butter cars still on the road and a few people even used 
them for trips. Of course the late model BMW/Mercedes/Lancia crowd had 
a/c and some of the newest Fiats (500, Uno, Chroma) among others had a/c 
sometimes.

Yes, the car seemed SO hot. I had zero instruments - bone stock with two 
idiot lights - and a hot dipstick to touch for temp per Muir. I learned 
to drive with a very light foot and when that light throttle couldn't 
carry the car up a hill (pretty much every hill) I'd have to shift down 
and run the engine a little faster and drive a little slower.

In the end we began departing very early each morn, driving to the next 
city we wanted to explore - and then parking the car until that 
afternoon about 4PM when we might drive another hour or two to our next 
destination. That also helped my sleepy head caused by the heat.

On the way home to Naples we drove straight through from Venice. What a 
mistake. Roughly 7-8 hours. We didn't leave early enough so we drove 
right through the day's peak temps. Miserable hot, found ourselves stuck 
in idling traffic in a very hot Beetle at one point b/c of an accident 
or two highways merging near a big city (?, it's been 20+ yrs). Whatever 
the case - vastly different from traveling in a modern car that has a/c. 
We also drove through a sudden afternoon downpour that flooded the 
autostrada and filled the heaterboxes with enough water that they 
steamed the windshield. Couldn't see a thing. The post-rain coolness was 
welcome of course.

The Italian version of vacation seemed to be travel an hour and park 
somewhere shady for ~20 mins to cool off with a cool (not cold) water. 
Tinted windows. Stop for siesta nap along the way, etc. Or better yet - 
skip the hot car and go for the air conditioned train. GRIN!

Glad your trip turned out so well. The fruit stand fellow was a real 
Knight. Easy to forget that good people are still out there when the 
news is full of bad news and bad people.

Chris in TN