👍🤔 I was thinking the same when he advertised skillshares! But then again he used skillshares to boost his UA-cam skills thay in return would generate his income to pay for the journey!
Yeah but hands on experience I feel is more useful. It's easy to remember the steps but to actually do it is totally different, especially when doing engine work.
@@KombiLife how does reusing old part prevent you from getting ripped off? As I'm a mechanic. You ripped yourself off sir. And you deserve it for being judgmental towards that Latino mechanic. Lol
Thanks for the comment. There is every chance I am wrong. But I was referring to the Air Correction jet rather than the main jet. It's number 24 on this diagram. www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/carb_sheets/solex_68to74.jpg
They are called temperature gauges use them. You need at minimum oil temp gauge And cylinder head temp gauges for air cooled stuff After having an oil temp gauge I wouldn’t run without it’s eye opening
Agreed. The Kombi's use would be catagorized as severe duty in light of its need to operate in wide differences in atmosphiric pressure and temperature and for long hours (Kombi is not a commuter vehicle, it is an over the road both highway and back country off road capable small bus/van). It must withstand daily 8 to 10 hour work cycles and most automobiles are not built for that. I agree that an air cooled engine should have more instrumentation to monitor engine conditions/parameters. Adding a upgraded fan or other modifications to the cooling system might be in order. The VW engine is world famous and has mountains of aftermarket parts for dune buggy to small aircraft applications. While I might not have choosen a VW for your adventure I believe it a capable chassis with proper prep with its intended use in mind. This is how failure is prevented. I enjoyed the series but did wonder about your mechanical skill and foresight. :) Live and learn.
The "mechanic" probably drilled out the air bleeds. Larger air bleeds lean out the mix by allowing more air to mix with the fuel in the emulsion tubes or wells. It also delays the main circuit pull over. Google carb air bleed.
Thanks for the comment. There is every chance I am wrong. But I was referring to the Air Correction jet rather than the main jet. It's number 24 on this diagram. www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/carb_sheets/solex_68to74.jpg
@@KombiLife Yep, you're right Ben. That is the emulsion tube which has the air correction jet integral to it. Drilling it bigger will make the engine run too lean at sea level. When I travel in Mex in my VW, I have two sets of jets. Sea level jets and high altitude jets for places like Guadalajara and Mexico City. When it's time to change jets, It's a quick swap in a parking lot.
@@lawnmowerdude Mustie is an awesome UA-camr who takes broken crap other ppl don't want and gets it going again, he loooves VW's But he makes you feel like your in the garage with him, sorry can't link but type Mustie and you will find him, as if you needed more stuff to watch... hehe
Also, Ben, your completely undaunted approach to all of those troubles is probably why a lot of people fell in love with this channel - definitely was why I did. The time you spent six months in the garage - almost any other person would have quit, but not you. Amazing.
Thats an Main issue? Never have seen some on any Kombi I have seen recently in South America. Reason for overheating? -> I'm gonna do it immediately! The Engine has to go out anyway the 5. Time in 2 Months... Happy travels
Felix Wi yes! The issue with not running a deflector plate, is that the air gets pushed straight out and doesn’t properly cool the whole of the cylinder.. the deflector slows the air down, and pulls the heat out
In the Swedish VW community, these are called ”glömplåtar” which translates to ”forget plates”. Since you always forget to put them back after the heads have been off.
yeah them would do it, l would add you were running without the rear engine tin, that alone will kill an engine by overheating. the cool air is suppossed to enter the side vents , instead it sucking up the same hot air all over again, that and muffler heat, when you look into the engine bay you shouldent be able to see the ground, l think this time around your going to have a much better time, cant wait to watch them,
You’re right there mate. I was told from Central America north of the importance of the engine tin for cooling. Our CB Performance motor is running so much cooler. Can’t wait to see how it goes in the heat.
Tony Bucca apparently you didn’t do it right.. they are stupid simple to maintain but you have to actually maintain them.. most people think gas n go n expect these 50 year + old air cooled vw’s to run like a new car.. you have to adjust the valves with every oil change, change the oil every 1,000 miles or so unless you have an external oil filter and cooler.. then 3,000 miles religiously.. check your timing at least once every couple months and whenever you take a long trip always allow the engine to cool for 2-3 minutes before shutting it off... if it’s hot drive 5 miles slower.. if it’s cold drive 5 miles faster.. always make sure the engine tins and seals are in place or you will just recycle hot air from your exhaust right into your fan intake causing your engine to overheat and blow... if you don’t know what you are doing then don’t own one.. don’t blame the vw for your ignorance
I have a 68 kombi right now that has a 1500 single port in it.. a whopping 44hp at the flywheel.. it does 65 down the highway no problem.. they aren’t racecars lol but they are extremely reliable when you take care of them..
All the criticism about his mechanical skills, but I bet most haven't the balls to do even a fraction of this immense Journey of a lifetime. Kudos to you Ben. what an awesome adventure, which will I'm sure provide you with amazing memories for the rest of your days :)
Hats-off to you for persevering and learning the hard way! I think most of us would have thrown in the towel way before the tenth engine removal! For anyone else watching, pay attention to what Ben says about the roof-boxes and weight in general - WHATEVER condition your wagon is in, immaculate or on its last legs, it's the same as you - it'll huff and puff sooner and more seriously the more you try to carry. A lot of Ben's issues were related to the age and provenance of Ca'Pito, and the available resources coupled with his self-confessed ignorance about how best to operate it, but the biggest lesson anyone and everyone can take from this and apply to their own situation is to add as much lightness to your rig as you can - consider the weight of every last thing; obsess over it, both when building it and when loading it - light weight will positively affect acceleration, braking, fuel economy, reliability, hill climbing, handling, tyre wear, everything. Sounds like stating the bleedin' obvious, but you'd be surprised how often it's overlooked.
I remember when you were posting on the Samba for help and guys were putting together care packages for you, seems a long time ago. I drive my aircooled from Oregon around Mexico every winter, no problems, but it does take a good bit of preventative maintenance as you say, fix it before it breaks. I compared it to having a sailboat, same idea.
Wow what an amzing apprenticeship into Mechanics. I get approached by people all the time when I'm in my Kombi by people who want to "Live the Dream". I aways ask them..."What is your level of Mechanical aptitude?" Their answer is always the same...."Zero". The dream of owning a Kombi and the reality are two very different things, that said I've been living the dream for over 25 years in my Bus and I plan to never give it up.
c'mon man! You're on youtube! Use youtube to learn about your vehicle inside and out always! I now have an RV, Van and Car all that I manage myself and I've never gone to any mechanic school. I recently even tore out my old york style compressor and bought new gaskets so that i could fully rebuild it and learn how it works. I also replaced the one in my van since it was making noise and learned that a bearing inside overheated (obvious from the blueish/rainbow hue on the metal). Since I watched so many youtube videos about compressors I learned that this is common when it runs with no oil which is what was happening with the previous owner before I purchased it. My point is, use youtube to your advantage anytime something is acting up. Post videos showing the problems if you have to and let people offer advice and help then take your best judgement to choose a solution that works for you. I'm glad you were able to learn more about the vehicle, I love watching your channel and I'm really glad you posted this video because I definitely did learn a few things myself from it!
G'day Back in 2012 when I started this trip and had the initial problems there was much less content on UA-cam. In Latin America I had very limited access to the internet, sometimes non at all. But I did post videos asking for technical help on some forums. Here is one when I totally killed an engine. ua-cam.com/video/m-Tz5v79dEo/v-deo.html
@@KombiLife thanks for replying, i do remember how bad it was then for info. wasn't aware those videos were that day back, but makes more sense now! These days we got scotty, chrisfix and ericthecarguy when we run into issues 🤣. Thank God for the internet! I've been able to save so much $$ and learning so much so fast on my own
The video is already great because of its technical content! Even more impressive is the patience and dedication to do things the way they are. This is the true expedition - an expedition to a strange world and an expedition to yourself. I love this channel!
To rebuild an aircooled engine like that’s its minimum $2500. Line bore means new bearings, and most bearings now don’t have the steel reinforced center mains. Honing the new cylinders because even the German stuff isn’t completely round. Replacing valve guides, valves, seats etc because the heads run so hot they’re always toast. Most times cases need stud inserts if they aren’t too far gone and .060 over already. I worked at a shop that exclusively built aircooled and vanagon engines.
Man! You should know as many people in europe that you can replace this engine for ww golf 1.9 tdi. Engine from 95 till 2000. And you will not have problems. Anyway i following you from the begginer and you inspire me to do same travel. I cant wait to see your new trip from europe. Regards from IbiZa, spain
So awesome, thanks for sharing. Extra oil cooler and engine monitor showing oil temp, cylinder head temp, and all exhaust gas temps would have paid for itself 10 times over. Still so great that you did it and learned so much and pushed through and made it happen.
I have to hand it to you! You deserve an award for surviving your own incalculable continuous mistakes!! I actually find it almost impossible to believe how anybody who hadn't suffered major head trauma as an infant that can screw in a light bulb, make so many obvious mechanical mistakes. Repeatedly!!! Most people would be too embarrassed to admit how you Euthanized your own van time and time again!! Yet you survived!! And my hats off to you..... thank god you didn't go into medicine!! LoL
those old vdub engines are as simple as it gets, i've had lots of them. you can even reuse the copper head gaskets in the event of a cylinder head removal. installing an auxiliary oil cooler with it's own temperature controlled fan, a mount for an in-line, spin on oil filter, and adding an additional in-line fuel filter are excellent upgrades for long trips. a small correction, drilling out the jets allows more fuel, not more air. he probably adjusted the air mixture screw. it is something that should be done as you change elevation due to differences in oxygen levels. just be sure to re-adjust it when you leave the higher elevations. checking the valve clearances regularly is also a helpful tip. having a good repair manual is an absolute must. it will have torque specs, tolerance measurements, and pictures of what it's supposed to look like in the event you can't figure out how to put things back together correctly. i am a mechanic, and was a boy scout and a soldier. prepare for the worst, and hope for the best. spare parts are a good thing to make room for in your kit. enough oil for a change and a filter, a spare carb or a rebuild kit and fuel filter, assorted pre-made brake lines, brake fluid and pads/shoes, a couple of tie rod ends, tire repair plugs and install tool, hand tire pump, new plugs, points and condenser, silicone gasket maker, some high temp, high strength two part epoxy, a small coil of both pvc coated copper electrical and uncoated 10-12 ga. mild steel wire, the tools to remove and replace these parts, and the knowledge to use them are a good start. they don't take up a lot of space, and can be lifesavers in the event of an emergency break down in the middle of nowhere. oh, and don't forget your most valuable tool and important resource, a good helping of common sense.
The air cooled VW does not use head gaskets. You clean up the head surface by hand lapping with a cylinder. Yes, the stock oil cooler needs to be replaced by an external cooler. The stock cooler inside the fan shroud inhibits air flow to #3 cylinder, which will eventually cause failure to that exhaust valve. This engine is partially cooled by oil, yet has very little capacity. Adding coolers and external filters adds to the capacity. Not sure about modifying the air correction jet for high altitude use compared to the main jet. Another factor is spark timing in high altitude. You need to advance the timing about 1 degree per 1000 feet.
@@loboheelerin the 80's and 90's, when you could pick them up for little to nothing, i turned quite a few beetles into sand rails, trikes, and baja buggies, mostly using the 1600 cc engines that i installed 2112 cc big bore kits on, dual webber carbs, and the van irs transmissions. and the german engines have reusable copper gaskets between the head, and cylinders. you might think of them as spacer shims, as they served both purposes. i don't know about super beetles, or the south american versions. you need the beetle front axle unit, as the mac pherson strut supers were not really compatible to off road conversion. i liked the type three engines with the rear mounted cooling fans the best, but they were hard to come by.
You did jump into this adventure without any good sense of what is needed, but you jumped in for an adventure that 99% of the population would never had tried. I've built a lot of things, but I could never just go off on some massive trip. You are made differently and that is a good thing. Thanks for the video too!
This video made me like you 65% more then I already did. If you planned everything out and prepped For every foreseeable thing that could go wrong you probably would not have even made this trip at all. You are a pretty incredible dude
@@KombiLifeI'm shocked to hear you say you didn't think you showed yourself in a positive light. everything about this video showed qualities I strive to have; humor,perseverance, adaptation ,love for adventure, courage and mostly of all humility.
I had a 1978 van with the 2 liter engine that had a head temp switch/sensor and when it went bad, the only days it would not shut down the engine were the cold winter like days. ALWAYS CARRY SPARE PARTS! Belts, plugs, coil, plug wires, fuel line & filter, distributor, and anything else you might need, but on a trip like that I'd carry A COMPLETE READY TO RUN SPARE ENGINE AND a fresh clutch with a lightened flywheel and fresh brakes!! I was living in orange county in CA (sea level) and had a 67ish Chevy pick up truck. I purchased a new carburetor and it ran great starting on the first crank. A guy purchased it and the very next day he called (pissed as hell) complaining I sold him a lemon as it refused to start! He neglected to tell me he lived in lake arrowhead that is over 5000' above sea level!
One more small thing, make sure all of your cylinder and engine tin is intact along with the engine compartment seals. Because the VW air cooled, you need to stop any and all air from recirculating inside the engine compartment. In a perfect world the cool outside air comes in through the vents on the body, goes into the fan, some of it cools the oil in the cooler and the remainder cools the cylinders and heads before exiting the bottom of the engine and out the back. Sealing up the engine compartment is often overlooked when trying to keep the VW cool. I applaud your effort to educate yourself, you were definitely on the right track. Unfortunately, some easy to overlook items kept hobbling your efforts. Best of luck with your travels! BTW, the folks at CB performance definitely know their business, you are in good hands.
Many experts in this comment section i see. Wonderful video, you really memorise things if you actually have a breakdown in a tough spot and are forced to learn.
Brilliant story Ben of your trial and tribulations experienced on this amazing adventure. Your honesty with admitting mistakes made and lessons learnt is wonderfully humble and makes your story so special to follow. Really hope to say hi to you and Leah in Australia one day.
At the time of making the episodes from the "Hasta Alaska" series I didn't always know why things were going wrong. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, I'm able to see the big picture and shed new light on the stupid mistakes I made :D Hope you enjoyed the ride. Watch the full series here: ua-cam.com/play/PL3-CFitnEZXo0tRt7OAzsquQK7KUw79Hx.html Oh and don't miss the Building An Engine to go Around The World Special Episode: ua-cam.com/video/onkxegc7Yk4/v-deo.html
Luks Sembro wayyyy more difficult to repair , needs more skills , parts are difficult to get generally especially abroad , hours of charging time , losing of vehicle character , batteries need replacement every 3 years and charging stations not available
Holy *O_o* mierda, man -- you had me when you pulled the fuking _vipera_ snake out of there!!! My best engine stories (T2) are tame: things catching on fire, fuel line spraying gasoline, oil leak catching on fire, more things catching on fire, the battery exploding and catching on fire, the whole Westy sliding backwards down a cliff and catching on fire -- but I never became an expert on pull/rebuild/replace the engine like you. You, sir, are an example and inspiration!!!
It brings to mind the question which is the best Kombi ? I really have no clue. I suspect it must be in the main fabricated. Can a truck camper be a kombi?
Hey Ben, that was quite the montage😎 Very well put together (the engine also, after a few tries😉) and it really sums up all the challenges you've had with co'pito. Great to see some additional footage from Hasta Alaska (which really got me hooked on the lifestyle) and getting some background info about the breakdowns (personal and mechanical). You've shared some hard-earned insights and all of the above makes this video really worthwhile to watch. Great job!😀 Anyway, keep me (us) inspired with the upcoming adventures and on those adventures there will be a loyal following to help you get out of trouble again, so much to look forward too!😋 Cheers, Gerrit
I'll give you 100% credit for perseverance. As for myself after maybe the 4-5rebuild I'd have pulled the pates, packed my backpack and sold her what I could get and travel on. But that wouldn't be the same story or ending. Always fun to watch.
A bit of wisdom; you can't adjust the jets to let in more air. they meter fuel, not air. Okay that's all the negitve I have to say. I am quite amazed at your tenacity to keep going.
43 years ago, I worked on my first VW engine. 1200cc. They had about 36 hp. Enough to NOT pull a drunk scotsman off the loo. In the span of 2 years, I bought 5 VW's. 3 were IRS trans. 2 were 1500cc. 2 were 1600cc. Now the 1600's had enough hp - the drag the scotsman off the loo, but he still could hang on - to the loo, while I just spun the tires. Now - I could drop an engine, in 2 hours. And have a new one in, running, in 4 hrs total. I must say - I am in Absolute Awe of your managing to smoke 11 engines. Sincerely - they are workhorses, but attention to the elevation and the requirement to adjust mixtures - as you go. Please don't idle them. They bleed, oil, gas and other bodily fluids as you skin your knuckles taking it apart. Cheers to you and the new one!
Well done for owning up to all your mistakes. Don't be too hard on yourself, in the modern world cars are no longer worked on by average guys (far to complicated) so your generation didn't grow up knowing about engines. I am in my fifties and my generation always fixed our cars, we had no money but the cars were simple enough. You have learned an awful lot so well done . My advice would be to fit an oil pressure gauge and and oil temperature gauge. You can see so much from pressure and temperature. All old cars had oil pressure gauges, as soon as things aren't right, it will tell you. All old cars had a water temp gauge but with the air cooled you can substitute that with an oil temp gauge, again, it will tell you when things are not right before it costs money. I wouldn't dream of doing an overland without those two gauges.
We once met a guy traveling on a tiny old motorcycle and while he was on the road for no more than 6 months, he had already blew up 4 engines! We thought he was exaggerating but after watching your video we guess he wasn't. Thumbs-up for sharing all this knowledge and experience with us!
In one of the comments he says they drilled out the air corrector not a main jet. Anyways I like the video, you accept that mistakes were made by you and others. I guess you learned a lot.
Honestly brother your VW van breaking down and what you had to go through to fix it .That is one of the best parts it's the good the bad and the ugly of real life. My brother Dave and me were always fixing his we got good at it too. Your a good guy and it was like making a friend watching your adventure.
I've had similar experiences with my Soviet-era sidecar bikes. I learned a lot, made a lot of mistakes. Longest trip was from Alaska to Georgia with a restored '59 Dnepr. Made it to Illinois before it grenaded. Volkswagens have much better quality engines, but the same lessons apply, know your engine, know what's done to it, know it's capabilities and don't go beyond them, etc. I have nothing but respect for your dedication.
Its actually pretty amazing that someone without any practical knowledge, skill or experience made it that far without any prep or research on only 10 engine removals. Type 1 is a great engine, but only if its kept after and all its nuances understood. In the end it's the experience with all that's learned and gained, that's the real treasure. The trip itself, with all of sights, sounds, interactions, etc. is the icing on the cake. I admit as an owner of multiple air cooled vw's I cringed quite a bit through the vid, but I was pleased to see the determination at meeting all the challenges faced. Good work my man!
I feel your pain....I blew 3 engines one summer. I still drive the same 68 beetle but now it has a toyota echo engine in the front. Purests can suck my dink.
You might not have mechanical talent but you're an expert storyteller, editor, cameraman traveler and human drive. I'd gladly loose my mechanical abilities for your skills.
Had you installed a oil cooler would that have worked to keep the temps down? In a good air flow area. It should be very easy to do too as its commonly done aftermarket.
@@KombiLife How is it mounted ? It's important that the oil cooler exhausts the heat away from the motor and body... Have seen too many people mount oil coolers on the fan housing intake, or underneath near trans only to have that heat be sucked back into engine. A good way is to mount it along the side of the body, so it's drawing air from in the engine compartment ( make sure the rubber engine/body and door seals are in place and functioning ) and exhausting it out thru a hole or louvers behind the factory ones ( make new ones, not the factory ones which are COOLING INTAKES ) If the rubber seals aren't in place, heated air from the exhaust system goes back up into engine, particularly at lower speeds.
Having driven a kombi around Africa for many years, I can say with reasonable certainty that if a kombi breaks down it is not usually because of any inherent mechanical defects, ( In fact I found that even when things get worn out or partially fail, with a little common sense you can still keep going). The major cause of failure is an inability to drive/ operate sensibly in accordance with the prevailing circumstances and a lack of understanding of how to minimize the stresses and loads you are putting the engine and drive train through. I took my late 1980’s 2.1l air cooled kombi places most 4x4’s feared to go, I used it to tow aircraft including LET410’s, Metro Liners and Jet Stream 41’s around an Airport and drove it frequently on long trips at highway speeds with heavy loads all on its original, never overhauled engine until I sold it to a taxi operator with over 200,000 km on the odometer.
Fantastic. Looking forward to your world adventures. Your videos have reawakened the wanderlust in me. Went to Baja last month. Have rented a home and are moving in August. Thank you Ben and crew for making remember that experiences and the relationships formed around them are the only things that really matter in life.
i dont understand why there are so many negative ''holyer than thou'' comments. i think it's really cool that you decided to learn to fix your own engine and never giving up
With regards to the Carb Jet comment that everyone keeps making. Yes, drilling out the main jet would make it run richer, NOT leaner, but I was referring to the Air Correction jet rather than the main jet. Which would make it run leaner. It's number 24 on this diagram. www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/carb_sheets/solex_68to74.jpg There is every chance I am wrong, thanks for the comments, I'm enjoying reading them.
Hey the way I see it, you actually learned something. That's one thing I can't stand with some people is that they can't see what they're doing to their car or bother to dig further into it when troubles arise. Now you could at least diagnose something on your own vehicle when you're not driving the kombi or even better help others with engine troubles as you go on your journeys.
Old vehicles need not much more maintenance than new vehicles. The problem here is that he's driving an air-cooled VW, most unreliable pile of crap that was outdated before the 2nd world war.
@@GlamStacheessnostalgialounge outdated before the 2nd world war? The last time i check... Its never the car... No matter what brand it may be... The fault always goes to the person using the vehicle. How you take care of your car always determines the quality of the ride. ✌️👌
Ben, stop beating yourself up regarding the engine failures. It was a huge learning curve that you were on and hindsight is a wonderful thing. At least you had the bollocks to do the journey, absolute incredible adventure mate. I've been binge watching and loving it. 👍👍 Awesome.👍
i got my 88 f150 with the 300 in it at 300,000ish miles. ive put over 100k miles on it since. only had to replace a clutch and oil. i think its a keeper..
I just got back from a coast to coast trip in my 08 jeep here in Canada. Worst incident for me was dropping my drive-shaft and replacing a pinion seal on the side of a road. Felt cursed at the time but after seeing this video... now I feel blessed. Cost me around $85 and took 3-4 hours while you spent hundreds and months.
I followed you during those years. Always wondered why your rig kept dying. When we were kids (back in the early 60s) we had one with a 36 HP engine. It was slow but kept going. Now I know what went wrong - thanks for this very interesting video.
Wow what amazing trip, reminded me of my grandfather and me driving from Nicaragua to Panama and to Mexico, in a 62 chevy ll having engine, transmitions and axle issues, spending night at shops, driving with no lights at night due to a faulty generator, and not been able to stop due to faulty brake hoses. Learned a lot, this trip that you about to embark will be much better because you are more prepared and aware of what might go wrong, wish you the best.
Amazing adventure. Watching this makes me realize how lucky I have been with VW vans. I tried to buy a classic VW van three times and each time the seller seemed to like me and then talked me out of buying. So I never got to own one. I'm so happy. Thanks for sharing the story. Great video.
Jonathan Arent disagree, how many other cars do you see still on the road pretty much untouched after 50+ years? There are also very few engines that can be rebuilt on the side of the road like these. The new VWs are rubbish though. The thing I don’t understand is how can he make such a reliable engine fail so often!
ben great videos. love your attitude. im a mechanic and live in california. love mexico and they lifestyle there. i ihave a 73 vw bus 1700 i rebuilt up on lopez island north of seattle. on my friends property. some day ill take it to baja. u are right about getting out of your comfort zone. so many people told me when i was young i couldnt do certain things. and if i had been listening to them, id still be living with my mom! its true the old vws are not great cars but its really more about the adventure. i like the old points and condenser. its an easy design and the parts are cheap. ive watched alot of your videos and on the new vw boomerang. you are very diligent! Dont listen to the negative people on here!! At my shop I specialize in old mercedes 1977 to 1985 all diesel and run on biodiesel or vegtable oil. if you are ever in oakland california look me up. billy biodiesel at gmail. wish i could hear more about your experiences with the locals in each country. i speak spanish and so does my daughter. its fun to learn a new language and meet new people. its a very lucky way to live. i think the best of the older vws engines was the 1600 because the parts are more plentiful. its hard to find parts for the 1700. also do u know about zinc and cam? you need ot use engine oil with zinc in it or the cam wears out. some questions ive had are like, where did u meet leia? did u save money up for trip besides working in australia? because you spent money. how did u get the co pito in chile? why did u start in chile? did u take spanish classes before the trip? oh and where did u find alaska? and also one of my favorites is food. would love more videos about the local people and the food. more pictures of food. and where did u go in baja? ive driven all of it and its a magical place. keep up the good attitude mate!! Billy
VW kombis are rated at 1200 kg load capacity. You broke your buses engines by neglecting your air shrouds and using your whip to make it work too hard, maximum revs should be not more than 4500.
I really should be in bed, but I've been watching this video with great fascination instead. Lots of excellent lessons in here... many of which I'll probably never need, but who knows! What I do want to know is... how the hell do you store your footage?? You have SO MUCH of it. There's video for every single moment you talk about. Surely you've got a NAS with like four 4TB drives, in RAID 1... or something? Or maybe you just back it all up to a cloud subscription service? That would be the most responsible thing to do, but you wouldn't have internet access for most of your journey. And when you did, it wouldn't be very fast... How the hell did you do it??? And, have you ever lost any footage?
Hey Taran - we back up everything in triplicate to 3 different hard drives, one working drive, one on site back up, one off site back up - yes, we have a lot of hard drives. Cloud services aren't feasible for us. Now go to bed ;) (EDIT: We're saving up for a NAS, but they're pricey right :)
Low oil pressure, caused by a by passing oil pump. Any gap between the rotors and the base plate and oil pressure plummets, add other issues like over heating due to carburetor issues, timing being out and the oil thins as the engine gets hotter making the issue of a by passing oil pump even worse. The thing is if you take the base plate and use a whetstone you can flat out all the scoring and create a flat surface for the rotors to run against. 4 washers to make up the space removed from base plate and your back in business. Mistakes are great as long as you learn from the first one!
Maybe you should watch skill share on basic engine maintenance and how aftermarket oil coolers work LOLOL
👍🤔 I was thinking the same when he advertised skillshares! But then again he used skillshares to boost his UA-cam skills thay in return would generate his income to pay for the journey!
If only Skillshare had existed back then :)
Yeah but hands on experience I feel is more useful. It's easy to remember the steps but to actually do it is totally different, especially when doing engine work.
it cant be that hard... right?
@@KombiLife how does reusing old part prevent you from getting ripped off? As I'm a mechanic. You ripped yourself off sir. And you deserve it for being judgmental towards that Latino mechanic. Lol
actually drilling the jets he drilled allows more fuel... Your engines kept blowing up due to abuse
This is the first time I heard of anyone blowing up air cooled, 2 digit hp not once but 10!!!! 😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣
Can I cut and paste your comment? 😂 Exactly what I was just thinking 👍
He reminded me of those diva girls who bring their car to the shop "like why do I need to check my oil, It had oil in it when I bought it"
Came to comments to find this. I knew someone would have a clue. Thanks!
Thanks for the comment. There is every chance I am wrong. But I was referring to the Air Correction jet rather than the main jet. It's number 24 on this diagram. www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/carb_sheets/solex_68to74.jpg
Pretty ambitious trip for someone without a clue what he's doing. Great example of learning things the hard way.
They are called temperature gauges use them.
You need at minimum oil temp gauge
And cylinder head temp gauges for air cooled stuff
After having an oil temp gauge I wouldn’t run without it’s eye opening
Agreed. The Kombi's use would be catagorized as severe duty in light of its need to operate in wide differences in atmosphiric pressure and temperature and for long hours (Kombi is not a commuter vehicle, it is an over the road both highway and back country off road capable small bus/van). It must withstand daily 8 to 10 hour work cycles and most automobiles are not built for that. I agree that an air cooled engine should have more instrumentation to monitor engine conditions/parameters. Adding a upgraded fan or other modifications to the cooling system might be in order. The VW engine is world famous and has mountains of aftermarket parts for dune buggy to small aircraft applications. While I might not have choosen a VW for your adventure I believe it a capable chassis with proper prep with its intended use in mind. This is how failure is prevented. I enjoyed the series but did wonder about your mechanical skill and foresight. :) Live and learn.
This video gave me a better appreciation for how it happened. Compelling wisdom in this video. And fun to watch. :)
I noticed you had a lot of missing engine tin... another reason why it overheated.....
Agreed
@Stimpy&Ren I take it you've never owned an air cooled VW then?
Missing doghouse tin not too smart.
@Stimpy&Ren Age means nothing, condition is EVERYTHING.
And the foam seal
Drilling out the main jet lets in more gas not more air. And what you actually need is a smaller jet to let in less gas to avoid running too rich.
nobonkin exactly what I was thinking. Jets control fuel flow.
I came here to post exactly this... larger jet equals rich.
The "mechanic" probably drilled out the air bleeds. Larger air bleeds lean out the mix by allowing more air to mix with the fuel in the emulsion tubes or wells. It also delays the main circuit pull over. Google carb air bleed.
Thanks for the comment. There is every chance I am wrong. But I was referring to the Air Correction jet rather than the main jet. It's number 24 on this diagram. www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/carb_sheets/solex_68to74.jpg
@@KombiLife Yep, you're right Ben. That is the emulsion tube which has the air correction jet integral to it. Drilling it bigger will make the engine run too lean at sea level.
When I travel in Mex in my VW, I have two sets of jets. Sea level jets and high altitude jets for places like Guadalajara and Mexico City. When it's time to change jets, It's a quick swap in a parking lot.
Swap for a diesel vw golf watercooled engine. It's a pretty common and inexpensive swap and WAY more reliable.
If he can't keep an air-cooled running I don't think he will have luck with a different engine.
I agree and all those hills will become effortless too!
Go for a subaru engine like mighty car mods did to their bug
Subaru pos to spun a bearing in the middle of nowhere? No thanks
Ls swap it
Mustie 1 is holding his head lol
So am I as well..... Trip like that with a used VW bus be a VW aircooled mechanic and travel with spare parts, spare Carbs, jets etc.
HAHA! Yeah if I do that trip, I'll put Mustie in the passenger seat..
Who’s mustie one?
@@lawnmowerdude Mustie is an awesome UA-camr who takes broken crap other ppl don't want and gets it going again, he loooves VW's
But he makes you feel like your in the garage with him, sorry can't link but type Mustie and you will find him, as if you needed more stuff to watch... hehe
Also, Ben, your completely undaunted approach to all of those troubles is probably why a lot of people fell in love with this channel - definitely was why I did. The time you spent six months in the garage - almost any other person would have quit, but not you. Amazing.
So true
At 16:39 you forget to put the deflectorplates under the cilinders. Thats the reason that your engine overheated.
well spotted!
Yeah.... that’s definitely a no no.. I’ve taken apart mine once or twice bc of that
Thats an Main issue? Never have seen some on any Kombi I have seen recently in South America. Reason for overheating? -> I'm gonna do it immediately! The Engine has to go out anyway the 5. Time in 2 Months... Happy travels
Felix Wi yes! The issue with not running a deflector plate, is that the air gets pushed straight out and doesn’t properly cool the whole of the cylinder.. the deflector slows the air down, and pulls the heat out
In the Swedish VW community, these are called ”glömplåtar” which translates to ”forget plates”. Since you always forget to put them back after the heads have been off.
yeah them would do it, l would add you were running without the rear engine tin, that alone will kill an engine by overheating. the cool air is suppossed to enter the side vents , instead it sucking up the same hot air all over again, that and muffler heat, when you look into the engine bay you shouldent be able to see the ground, l think this time around your going to have a much better time, cant wait to watch them,
You’re right there mate. I was told from Central America north of the importance of the engine tin for cooling. Our CB Performance motor is running so much cooler. Can’t wait to see how it goes in the heat.
on the map pinned with all your travels i was wondering if that line to the east coast was to visit Mustie1
I had a 68 VW van...I went through 2 engines, and 3 clutches in one year, before it caught fire and burned to the ground....GOOD RIDDANCE!!!!
Tony Bucca apparently you didn’t do it right.. they are stupid simple to maintain but you have to actually maintain them.. most people think gas n go n expect these 50 year + old air cooled vw’s to run like a new car.. you have to adjust the valves with every oil change, change the oil every 1,000 miles or so unless you have an external oil filter and cooler.. then 3,000 miles religiously.. check your timing at least once every couple months and whenever you take a long trip always allow the engine to cool for 2-3 minutes before shutting it off... if it’s hot drive 5 miles slower.. if it’s cold drive 5 miles faster.. always make sure the engine tins and seals are in place or you will just recycle hot air from your exhaust right into your fan intake causing your engine to overheat and blow... if you don’t know what you are doing then don’t own one.. don’t blame the vw for your ignorance
@@mikecorleone6797 Thanks Mike, for all the tips, but I had the 68 back in 1973, so it wasn't old at the time. It was just UNDERPOWERED.
I have a 68 kombi right now that has a 1500 single port in it.. a whopping 44hp at the flywheel.. it does 65 down the highway no problem.. they aren’t racecars lol but they are extremely reliable when you take care of them..
They don't call them Hitler's revenge for nothing :-)
All the criticism about his mechanical skills, but I bet most haven't the balls to do even a fraction of this immense Journey of a lifetime. Kudos to you Ben. what an awesome adventure, which will I'm sure provide you with amazing memories for the rest of your days :)
Cheers Carl.
Typically engine tins, the correct oil cooler and engine compartment rubber seals work wonders when used
Good honest video.Moral of the story subaru ej20 swap it before roadtrip, never re use parts. Its extremely easy to rebuild an engine wrong.
10 different engines and 20 different haircuts. Great video explaining what happened.
It takes courage to make that sort of video. But many lessons learned.
Millions of old school VW owners feel your pain. You rock thank you for continuing to share your journey thumbs up stay awesome.
Every vw owner should have a copy of John Muir's idiot's guide to keeping your vw alive
Hats-off to you for persevering and learning the hard way! I think most of us would have thrown in the towel way before the tenth engine removal!
For anyone else watching, pay attention to what Ben says about the roof-boxes and weight in general - WHATEVER condition your wagon is in, immaculate or on its last legs, it's the same as you - it'll huff and puff sooner and more seriously the more you try to carry.
A lot of Ben's issues were related to the age and provenance of Ca'Pito, and the available resources coupled with his self-confessed ignorance about how best to operate it, but the biggest lesson anyone and everyone can take from this and apply to their own situation is to add as much lightness to your rig as you can - consider the weight of every last thing; obsess over it, both when building it and when loading it - light weight will positively affect acceleration, braking, fuel economy, reliability, hill climbing, handling, tyre wear, everything.
Sounds like stating the bleedin' obvious, but you'd be surprised how often it's overlooked.
I remember when you were posting on the Samba for help and guys were putting together care packages for you, seems a long time ago. I drive my aircooled from Oregon around Mexico every winter, no problems, but it does take a good bit of preventative maintenance as you say, fix it before it breaks. I compared it to having a sailboat, same idea.
I really like how honest and self-reflective you are here. It’s not easy.
Wow what an amzing apprenticeship into Mechanics. I get approached by people all the time when I'm in my Kombi by people who want to "Live the Dream". I aways ask them..."What is your level of Mechanical aptitude?" Their answer is always the same...."Zero". The dream of owning a Kombi and the reality are two very different things, that said I've been living the dream for over 25 years in my Bus and I plan to never give it up.
Watching all your pains with the engine in past episodes this is the one question that was always on my mind. Thanks for finally laying it all out!
😁 about time i confesses to all my mistakes
c'mon man! You're on youtube! Use youtube to learn about your vehicle inside and out always! I now have an RV, Van and Car all that I manage myself and I've never gone to any mechanic school. I recently even tore out my old york style compressor and bought new gaskets so that i could fully rebuild it and learn how it works. I also replaced the one in my van since it was making noise and learned that a bearing inside overheated (obvious from the blueish/rainbow hue on the metal). Since I watched so many youtube videos about compressors I learned that this is common when it runs with no oil which is what was happening with the previous owner before I purchased it. My point is, use youtube to your advantage anytime something is acting up. Post videos showing the problems if you have to and let people offer advice and help then take your best judgement to choose a solution that works for you. I'm glad you were able to learn more about the vehicle, I love watching your channel and I'm really glad you posted this video because I definitely did learn a few things myself from it!
G'day Back in 2012 when I started this trip and had the initial problems there was much less content on UA-cam. In Latin America I had very limited access to the internet, sometimes non at all. But I did post videos asking for technical help on some forums. Here is one when I totally killed an engine. ua-cam.com/video/m-Tz5v79dEo/v-deo.html
@@KombiLife thanks for replying, i do remember how bad it was then for info. wasn't aware those videos were that day back, but makes more sense now! These days we got scotty, chrisfix and ericthecarguy when we run into issues 🤣. Thank God for the internet! I've been able to save so much $$ and learning so much so fast on my own
The video is already great because of its technical content! Even more impressive is the patience and dedication to do things the way they are. This is the true expedition - an expedition to a strange world and an expedition to yourself. I love this channel!
should've swapped for an inline 4 water cooled at the second engine out, also 1000USD is waaay too expensive for rebuilding an engine like that.
To rebuild an aircooled engine like that’s its minimum $2500. Line bore means new bearings, and most bearings now don’t have the steel reinforced center mains. Honing the new cylinders because even the German stuff isn’t completely round. Replacing valve guides, valves, seats etc because the heads run so hot they’re always toast. Most times cases need stud inserts if they aren’t too far gone and .060 over already. I worked at a shop that exclusively built aircooled and vanagon engines.
@@curtislovrak5390 I'm talking about south american prices. Here in Brazil you get a whole engine for 1000 USD. (the 1600cc kind, from an old beetle)
If you are going to drive a carberator car over large elivation changes it is best to have a fuel air mix senser to help with tuning
Man! You should know as many people in europe that you can replace this engine for ww golf 1.9 tdi. Engine from 95 till 2000. And you will not have problems.
Anyway i following you from the begginer and you inspire me to do same travel. I cant wait to see your new trip from europe.
Regards from IbiZa, spain
To kombi Life channel Listen to this guys advice get the engine he's telling you about though a newly
professionally rebuilt one
So awesome, thanks for sharing. Extra oil cooler and engine monitor showing oil temp, cylinder head temp, and all exhaust gas temps would have paid for itself 10 times over. Still so great that you did it and learned so much and pushed through and made it happen.
It went wrong when you picked the wrong van.
This van is the right
Such logic in your schooling of this man in the video. Wish I could come up with something that intelligent. 😑
@@robh87 With that I don't mean it doesn't make problems, but you can fix it yourself. With a new car you would be stuck
@@robh87 you seem pretty intelligent 😂
@@allthesame3856 looks can be so deceiving
I have to hand it to you! You deserve an award for surviving your own incalculable continuous mistakes!! I actually find it almost impossible to believe how anybody who hadn't suffered major head trauma as an infant that can screw in a light bulb, make so many obvious mechanical mistakes. Repeatedly!!! Most people would be too embarrassed to admit how you Euthanized your own van time and time again!! Yet you survived!! And my hats off to you..... thank god you didn't go into medicine!! LoL
those old vdub engines are as simple as it gets, i've had lots of them. you can even reuse the copper head gaskets in the event of a cylinder head removal. installing an auxiliary oil cooler with it's own temperature controlled fan, a mount for an in-line, spin on oil filter, and adding an additional in-line fuel filter are excellent upgrades for long trips. a small correction, drilling out the jets allows more fuel, not more air. he probably adjusted the air mixture screw. it is something that should be done as you change elevation due to differences in oxygen levels. just be sure to re-adjust it when you leave the higher elevations. checking the valve clearances regularly is also a helpful tip. having a good repair manual is an absolute must. it will have torque specs, tolerance measurements, and pictures of what it's supposed to look like in the event you can't figure out how to put things back together correctly. i am a mechanic, and was a boy scout and a soldier. prepare for the worst, and hope for the best. spare parts are a good thing to make room for in your kit. enough oil for a change and a filter, a spare carb or a rebuild kit and fuel filter, assorted pre-made brake lines, brake fluid and pads/shoes, a couple of tie rod ends, tire repair plugs and install tool, hand tire pump, new plugs, points and condenser, silicone gasket maker, some high temp, high strength two part epoxy, a small coil of both pvc coated copper electrical and uncoated 10-12 ga. mild steel wire, the tools to remove and replace these parts, and the knowledge to use them are a good start. they don't take up a lot of space, and can be lifesavers in the event of an emergency break down in the middle of nowhere. oh, and don't forget your most valuable tool and important resource, a good helping of common sense.
The air cooled VW does not use head gaskets. You clean up the head surface by hand lapping with a cylinder. Yes, the stock oil cooler needs to be replaced by an external cooler. The stock cooler inside the fan shroud inhibits air flow to #3 cylinder, which will eventually cause failure to that exhaust valve. This engine is partially cooled by oil, yet has very little capacity. Adding coolers and external filters adds to the capacity. Not sure about modifying the air correction jet for high altitude use compared to the main jet. Another factor is spark timing in high altitude. You need to advance the timing about 1 degree per 1000 feet.
@@loboheelerin the 80's and 90's, when you could pick them up for little to nothing, i turned quite a few beetles into sand rails, trikes, and baja buggies, mostly using the 1600 cc engines that i installed 2112 cc big bore kits on, dual webber carbs, and the van irs transmissions. and the german engines have reusable copper gaskets between the head, and cylinders. you might think of them as spacer shims, as they served both purposes. i don't know about super beetles, or the south american versions. you need the beetle front axle unit, as the mac pherson strut supers were not really compatible to off road conversion. i liked the type three engines with the rear mounted cooling fans the best, but they were hard to come by.
You did jump into this adventure without any good sense of what is needed, but you jumped in for an adventure that 99% of the population would never had tried. I've built a lot of things, but I could never just go off on some massive trip. You are made differently and that is a good thing.
Thanks for the video too!
This video made me like you 65% more then I already did. If you planned everything out and prepped For every foreseeable thing that could go wrong you probably would not have even made this trip at all. You are a pretty incredible dude
Thanks, I was sure this video would have the opposite effect ☺
@@KombiLifeI'm shocked to hear you say you didn't think you showed yourself in a positive light. everything about this video showed qualities I strive to have; humor,perseverance, adaptation ,love for adventure, courage and mostly of all humility.
@@64maxpower oh, he gets high marks for perseverance for sure
@@wakeboardbob it wasnt the perseverance as much as it was the humility that made me a bigger fan
$150 for a cylinder head repair. You get what you pay for 😂
Edward chuc 150 dollars is about a month salary in some of countries. So it wasn't cheap, he burned money
lol, after the 3rd, you still didn't stop and say hello, lets try something new??
I had a 1978 van with the 2 liter engine that had a head temp switch/sensor and when it went bad, the only days it would not shut down the engine were the cold winter like days. ALWAYS CARRY SPARE PARTS! Belts, plugs, coil, plug wires, fuel line & filter, distributor, and anything else you might need, but on a trip like that I'd carry A COMPLETE READY TO RUN SPARE ENGINE AND a fresh clutch with a lightened flywheel and fresh brakes!!
I was living in orange county in CA (sea level) and had a 67ish Chevy pick up truck. I purchased a new carburetor and it ran great starting on the first crank. A guy purchased it and the very next day he called (pissed as hell) complaining I sold him a lemon as it refused to start! He neglected to tell me he lived in lake arrowhead that is over 5000' above sea level!
Why wouldn’t you just buy a more reliable van?
How did you blow up 10 engines in a road trip? Thats an easy one to answer... You did in an air cooled VW...
We can say they are useless for this kind of trips
Buy a Toyota 😃
+Patricio Andres Muñoz Lopez
Or any kind of trip, really.
One more small thing, make sure all of your cylinder and engine tin is intact along with the engine compartment seals. Because the VW air cooled, you need to stop any and all air from recirculating inside the engine compartment. In a perfect world the cool outside air comes in through the vents on the body, goes into the fan, some of it cools the oil in the cooler and the remainder cools the cylinders and heads before exiting the bottom of the engine and out the back. Sealing up the engine compartment is often overlooked when trying to keep the VW cool. I applaud your effort to educate yourself, you were definitely on the right track. Unfortunately, some easy to overlook items kept hobbling your efforts. Best of luck with your travels! BTW, the folks at CB performance definitely know their business, you are in good hands.
Many experts in this comment section i see. Wonderful video, you really memorise things if you actually have a breakdown in a tough spot and are forced to learn.
Brilliant story Ben of your trial and tribulations experienced on this amazing adventure. Your honesty with admitting mistakes made and lessons learnt is wonderfully humble and makes your story so special to follow. Really hope to say hi to you and Leah in Australia one day.
Cheers John. We hope so too.
i'm surprised that tiny 50hp engine can even carry that many people, let alone one that is not even functioning correctly...
Problem was it was under such a load giving more than half of the power all tha time
At the time of making the episodes from the "Hasta Alaska" series I didn't always know why things were going wrong. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, I'm able to see the big picture and shed new light on the stupid mistakes I made :D Hope you enjoyed the ride.
Watch the full series here: ua-cam.com/play/PL3-CFitnEZXo0tRt7OAzsquQK7KUw79Hx.html
Oh and don't miss the Building An Engine to go Around The World Special Episode: ua-cam.com/video/onkxegc7Yk4/v-deo.html
Kombi Life when you are back home get a manual , get NOS parts ( so it won't blow up for at least 10-20 years)so it will last
Why not using an electric engine. Easier to repair, cheaper gas... All good!
Luks Sembro wayyyy more difficult to repair , needs more skills , parts are difficult to get generally especially abroad , hours of charging time , losing of vehicle character , batteries need replacement every 3 years and charging stations not available
Holy *O_o* mierda, man -- you had me when you pulled the fuking _vipera_ snake out of there!!! My best engine stories (T2) are tame: things catching on fire, fuel line spraying gasoline, oil leak catching on fire, more things catching on fire, the battery exploding and catching on fire, the whole Westy sliding backwards down a cliff and catching on fire -- but I never became an expert on pull/rebuild/replace the engine like you. You, sir, are an example and inspiration!!!
It brings to mind the question which is the best Kombi ?
I really have no clue.
I suspect it must be in the main fabricated. Can a truck camper be a kombi?
Hey Ben, that was quite the montage😎 Very well put together (the engine also, after a few tries😉) and it really sums up all the challenges you've had with co'pito. Great to see some additional footage from Hasta Alaska (which really got me hooked on the lifestyle) and getting some background info about the breakdowns (personal and mechanical). You've shared some hard-earned insights and all of the above makes this video really worthwhile to watch. Great job!😀
Anyway, keep me (us) inspired with the upcoming adventures and on those adventures there will be a loyal following to help you get out of trouble again, so much to look forward too!😋
Cheers, Gerrit
Cheers Gerrit, glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for your support in making it happen!
I'll give you 100% credit for perseverance. As for myself after maybe the 4-5rebuild I'd have pulled the pates, packed my backpack and sold her what I could get and travel on. But that wouldn't be the same story or ending. Always fun to watch.
That might have been the smarter thing to do :)
A bit of wisdom; you can't adjust the jets to let in more air. they meter fuel, not air. Okay that's all the negitve I have to say. I am quite amazed at your tenacity to keep going.
43 years ago, I worked on my first VW engine. 1200cc. They had about 36 hp. Enough to NOT pull a drunk scotsman off the loo. In the span of 2 years, I bought 5 VW's. 3 were IRS trans. 2 were 1500cc. 2 were 1600cc. Now the 1600's had enough hp - the drag the scotsman off the loo, but he still could hang on - to the loo, while I just spun the tires. Now - I could drop an engine, in 2 hours. And have a new one in, running, in 4 hrs total. I must say - I am in Absolute Awe of your managing to smoke 11 engines. Sincerely - they are workhorses, but attention to the elevation and the requirement to adjust mixtures - as you go. Please don't idle them. They bleed, oil, gas and other bodily fluids as you skin your knuckles taking it apart. Cheers to you and the new one!
Well done for owning up to all your mistakes.
Don't be too hard on yourself, in the modern world cars are no longer worked on by average guys (far to complicated) so your generation didn't grow up knowing about engines.
I am in my fifties and my generation always fixed our cars, we had no money but the cars were simple enough.
You have learned an awful lot so well done
.
My advice would be to fit an oil pressure gauge and and oil temperature gauge. You can see so much from pressure and temperature.
All old cars had oil pressure gauges, as soon as things aren't right, it will tell you.
All old cars had a water temp gauge but with the air cooled you can substitute that with an oil temp gauge, again, it will tell you when things are not right before it costs money.
I wouldn't dream of doing an overland without those two gauges.
You learn the best from survival situations like this. I had no idea about cars until I had to swap an engine after it threw a rod
great recap! wow so much detail. We truly enjoy your you recount of events. Hindsight is 20-20 isn't it?
Sure is :) glad you enjoyed the video mate
We once met a guy traveling on a tiny old motorcycle and while he was on the road for no more than 6 months, he had already blew up 4 engines! We thought he was exaggerating but after watching your video we guess he wasn't. Thumbs-up for sharing all this knowledge and experience with us!
Ben and The Art of Kombi Maintenance.
I would read it!
Trust me the nostalgia of owning a carbureted vehicle wears off pretty fast
In one of the comments he says they drilled out the air corrector not a main jet.
Anyways I like the video, you accept that mistakes were made by you and others. I guess you learned a lot.
Honestly brother your VW van breaking down and what you had to go through to fix it .That is one of the best parts it's the good the bad and the ugly of real life. My brother Dave and me were always fixing his we got good at it too. Your a good guy and it was like making a friend watching your adventure.
External oil cooler and quality temp gauge.Works in Australia
I've had similar experiences with my Soviet-era sidecar bikes. I learned a lot, made a lot of mistakes. Longest trip was from Alaska to Georgia with a restored '59 Dnepr. Made it to Illinois before it grenaded. Volkswagens have much better quality engines, but the same lessons apply, know your engine, know what's done to it, know it's capabilities and don't go beyond them, etc. I have nothing but respect for your dedication.
And the cost of a brand new engine and gear box at the start vs all the costs, breakdowns, lost time?
he would still blow it up if it wouldnt be modified to not have the common issues most boxers have, like one cyllinder getting hotter than the other.
Its actually pretty amazing that someone without any practical knowledge, skill or experience made it that far without any prep or research on only 10 engine removals. Type 1 is a great engine, but only if its kept after and all its nuances understood. In the end it's the experience with all that's learned and gained, that's the real treasure. The trip itself, with all of sights, sounds, interactions, etc. is the icing on the cake. I admit as an owner of multiple air cooled vw's I cringed quite a bit through the vid, but I was pleased to see the determination at meeting all the challenges faced. Good work my man!
I feel your pain....I blew 3 engines one summer.
I still drive the same 68 beetle but now it has a toyota echo engine in the front.
Purests can suck my dink.
Why you sucking off engines?
@@robhoard9114 judging from him putting a toyota in a VW, he isn't one of these purists that's sucking his dink
This guy is about as determined as it gets clueless and nieve but determined respect fella
maybe you should use skillshare to learn about engines and how they work
😧😂
You might not have mechanical talent but you're an expert storyteller, editor, cameraman traveler and human drive. I'd gladly loose my mechanical abilities for your skills.
Had you installed a oil cooler would that have worked to keep the temps down? In a good air flow area. It should be very easy to do too as its commonly done aftermarket.
that and a gauge so you know when it's getting toasty
Yep our new CB Performance engine has one and it makes a big difference
@@KombiLife How is it mounted ? It's important that the oil cooler exhausts the heat away from the motor and body... Have seen too many people mount oil coolers on the fan housing intake, or underneath near trans only to have that heat be sucked back into engine. A good way is to mount it along the side of the body, so it's drawing air from in the engine compartment ( make sure the rubber engine/body and door seals are in place and functioning ) and exhausting it out thru a hole or louvers behind the factory ones ( make new ones, not the factory ones which are COOLING INTAKES ) If the rubber seals aren't in place, heated air from the exhaust system goes back up into engine, particularly at lower speeds.
Having driven a kombi around Africa for many years, I can say with reasonable certainty that if a kombi breaks down it is not usually because of any inherent mechanical defects, ( In fact I found that even when things get worn out or partially fail, with a little common sense you can still keep going). The major cause of failure is an inability to drive/ operate sensibly in accordance with the prevailing circumstances and a lack of understanding of how to minimize the stresses and loads you are putting the engine and drive train through.
I took my late 1980’s 2.1l air cooled kombi places most 4x4’s feared to go, I used it to tow aircraft including LET410’s, Metro Liners and Jet Stream 41’s around an Airport and drove it frequently on long trips at highway speeds with heavy loads all on its original, never overhauled engine until I sold it to a taxi operator with over 200,000 km on the odometer.
True! Never got less than 100 000km out of an engine overhaul. Don't flog it to death! Remember 50 horse power only!
Length of video video if he would have bought Toyota: 20seconds, "How to change lightbulb in Toyota dome light"
Fantastic. Looking forward to your world adventures. Your videos have reawakened the wanderlust in me. Went to Baja last month. Have rented a home and are moving in August. Thank you Ben and crew for making remember that experiences and the relationships formed around them are the only things that really matter in life.
Awesome. You’ll love it James. Happy travels mate.
But it's such an simple engine and easy to get out to work on it.
15:27 A true-to-life "shade tree mechanic"! I love it!
*broke my engine 10 times because I dont know anything about engines
i dont understand why there are so many negative ''holyer than thou'' comments. i think it's really cool that you decided to learn to fix your own engine and never giving up
This was the point. Never Give Up!
"What was I thinking" well that haircut says it all 😂😂
With regards to the Carb Jet comment that everyone keeps making. Yes, drilling out the main jet would make it run richer, NOT leaner, but I was referring to the Air Correction jet rather than the main jet. Which would make it run leaner. It's number 24 on this diagram. www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/carb_sheets/solex_68to74.jpg
There is every chance I am wrong, thanks for the comments, I'm enjoying reading them.
no no your mechanic reduced the fuel to equal out to reduced oxygen. When you then got to the Andes it ran lean and burned valves and pistons
Hey the way I see it, you actually learned something. That's one thing I can't stand with some people is that they can't see what they're doing to their car or bother to dig further into it when troubles arise. Now you could at least diagnose something on your own vehicle when you're not driving the kombi or even better help others with engine troubles as you go on your journeys.
I suggest you stop treating it as a vehicle... Start treating it as an OLD VEHICLE.
A VERY OLD VEHICLE. SIMPLE 🤨
Old vehicles need not much more maintenance than new vehicles.
The problem here is that he's driving an air-cooled VW, most unreliable pile of crap that was outdated before the 2nd world war.
@@GlamStacheessnostalgialounge outdated before the 2nd world war?
The last time i check... Its never the car... No matter what brand it may be... The fault always goes to the person using the vehicle. How you take care of your car always determines the quality of the ride. ✌️👌
Ben, stop beating yourself up regarding the engine failures. It was a huge learning curve that you were on and hindsight is a wonderful thing. At least you had the bollocks to do the journey, absolute incredible adventure mate. I've been binge watching and loving it. 👍👍 Awesome.👍
Cheers Paul!
Next time 1.9 TDI no problem, many mpg :)
Zvonimir Zgonc good choice but 350 Chevy ;)
@@liammaupin9492 dont think it would fit in a VW
This IS my cup of tea!
Im a mexican why you did not get a chevy van or ford 7.3 diesel or dodge 12valves diesel.
i got my 88 f150 with the 300 in it at 300,000ish miles. ive put over 100k miles on it since. only had to replace a clutch and oil. i think its a keeper..
I think most of the negative comments here are from people who don’t make these mistakes
…because they stay at home, in their comfort zone.
Well said.
It just creates a lot of ignorant comments about German products of that time frame . Ignorance does not reflect on the German . Good video though.
I just got back from a coast to coast trip in my 08 jeep here in Canada. Worst incident for me was dropping my drive-shaft and replacing a pinion seal on the side of a road. Felt cursed at the time but after seeing this video... now I feel blessed. Cost me around $85 and took 3-4 hours while you spent hundreds and months.
You chose to drive an air cooled VW van that's what happened. You want to mess with an engine on a continual basis you have the right engine.
so, the toyota hiace is lame so you choose an unreliable kombi for the trip
@@David-sk7ls that's not wat he is saying.
I followed you during those years. Always wondered why your rig kept dying. When we were kids (back in the early 60s) we had one with a 36 HP engine. It was slow but kept going. Now I know what went wrong - thanks for this very interesting video.
Please explain where you found "electronics" on this car...except from the cellphone in your hand.
Solenoids, fuses, lights, coil, resistor. Basic vehicle electronics.
Wow what amazing trip, reminded me of my grandfather and me driving from Nicaragua to Panama and to Mexico, in a 62 chevy ll having engine, transmitions and axle issues, spending night at shops, driving with no lights at night due to a faulty generator, and not been able to stop due to faulty brake hoses. Learned a lot, this trip that you about to embark will be much better because you are more prepared and aware of what might go wrong, wish you the best.
Your engine kept running hot because you never changed the oil cooler
Amazing adventure. Watching this makes me realize how lucky I have been with VW vans. I tried to buy a classic VW van three times and each time the seller seemed to like me and then talked me out of buying. So I never got to own one. I'm so happy. Thanks for sharing the story. Great video.
Step away from the VW, you have no clue what your doing.
VWs are piles of shit to begin with...be serious.. id never ever ever ever waste a dime on a vw...
Jonathan Arent disagree, how many other cars do you see still on the road pretty much untouched after 50+ years?
There are also very few engines that can be rebuilt on the side of the road like these.
The new VWs are rubbish though.
The thing I don’t understand is how can he make such a reliable engine fail so often!
@@Mi-ck So the T5 is rubbish? The whole T series has been quite good. Or are you talking about VW in a whole?
@@jonathanarent3363 hahahahaha VW's with over 500k km are more common than VW's with less than that
A lot of trouble could have been saved by rebuilding the engine properly the first time around and installing a cylinder head temperature gauge.
Just get the Muir manual, actually read it cover to cover to the point you actually understand what’s going on with them and youre good
iff the mecanithic drilled out the jets it would become richer, not leaner...... just saying...(and thats not the only mistake...) lol
Air correction jet. Not main fuel jet.
ben great videos. love your attitude. im a mechanic and live in california. love mexico and they lifestyle there. i ihave a 73 vw bus 1700 i rebuilt up on lopez island north of seattle. on my friends property. some day ill take it to baja. u are right about getting out of your comfort zone. so many people told me when i was young i couldnt do certain things. and if i had been listening to them, id still be living with my mom! its true the old vws are not great cars but its really more about the adventure. i like the old points and condenser. its an easy design and the parts are cheap. ive watched alot of your videos and on the new vw boomerang. you are very diligent! Dont listen to the negative people on here!! At my shop I specialize in old mercedes 1977 to 1985 all diesel and run on biodiesel or vegtable oil. if you are ever in oakland california look me up. billy biodiesel at gmail. wish i could hear more about your experiences with the locals in each country. i speak spanish and so does my daughter. its fun to learn a new language and meet new people. its a very lucky way to live. i think the best of the older vws engines was the 1600 because the parts are more plentiful. its hard to find parts for the 1700. also do u know about zinc and cam? you need ot use engine oil with zinc in it or the cam wears out. some questions ive had are like, where did u meet leia? did u save money up for trip besides working in australia? because you spent money. how did u get the co pito in chile? why did u start in chile? did u take spanish classes before the trip? oh and where did u find alaska? and also one of my favorites is food. would love more videos about the local people and the food. more pictures of food. and where did u go in baja? ive driven all of it and its a magical place. keep up the good attitude mate!! Billy
Wait, they have modern 2001 Fuel injected VW beetle engines?
where the fuck have you been?
@@tylerdurden2093 Where the fuck have you been?
With you all the way. Kombi life forever🤗
VW kombis are rated at 1200 kg load capacity. You broke your buses engines by neglecting your air shrouds and using your whip to make it work too hard, maximum revs should be not more than 4500.
Thanks for the honesty, and for answering the obvious question. Great story.
I really should be in bed, but I've been watching this video with great fascination instead.
Lots of excellent lessons in here... many of which I'll probably never need, but who knows!
What I do want to know is... how the hell do you store your footage?? You have SO MUCH of it. There's video for every single moment you talk about.
Surely you've got a NAS with like four 4TB drives, in RAID 1... or something?
Or maybe you just back it all up to a cloud subscription service? That would be the most responsible thing to do, but you wouldn't have internet access for most of your journey. And when you did, it wouldn't be very fast...
How the hell did you do it???
And, have you ever lost any footage?
Hey Taran - we back up everything in triplicate to 3 different hard drives, one working drive, one on site back up, one off site back up - yes, we have a lot of hard drives. Cloud services aren't feasible for us. Now go to bed ;)
(EDIT: We're saving up for a NAS, but they're pricey right :)
@@KombiLife what kind of NAS are you looking for? We might have a spare. No promises!
@@KombiLife wait, how do you have an off site backup when you're on the road?? Surely you just mean for past seasons, yes?
Low oil pressure, caused by a by passing oil pump. Any gap between the rotors and the base plate and oil pressure plummets, add other issues like over heating due to carburetor issues, timing being out and the oil thins as the engine gets hotter making the issue of a by passing oil pump even worse.
The thing is if you take the base plate and use a whetstone you can flat out all the scoring and create a flat surface for the rotors to run against.
4 washers to make up the space removed from base plate and your back in business.
Mistakes are great as long as you learn from the first one!