Wasserboxer
Encyclopedia
The Volkswagen wasserboxer is a four cylinder
horizontally opposed
pushrod overhead-valve (OHV) petrol engine
developed by Volkswagen
. The engine is water-cooled, and takes its name from the ; which when translated into English, means "water-boxer" - or water-cooled boxer - with 'boxer' being an alternative name for a horizontally opposed engine. It was available in two displacements
- either a 1.9-litre or a 2.1-litre; the 2.1-litre being a longer stroke version of the 1.9-litre, both variants sharing the same cylinder bore. This engine was unique to the Volkswagen Type 2 (T3)
(Transporter T3 / Caravelle / Vanagon / T25), having never been used in any other vehicle. Volkswagen contracted Oettinger to develop a six-cylinder version of this engine. Volkswagen decided not to use it, but Oettinger sold a Volkswagen Type 2 (T3)
equipped with this engine.
aluminium alloy
cylinder block
, cylinder head
s, and piston
s; and a die
-forged steel
flatplane crankshaft
with three main bearing
s.
The wasserboxer, as with all Volkswagen boxer engines, directly drives the three-bearing camshaft
via a small steel gear on the crankshaft, and a large aluminium one on the camshaft, so there is no timing belt
or timing chain. The entire mechanism is internal to the engine, so there should be no concerns regarding wear or replacements, as long as the engine oil
is changed regularly. The overhead poppet valves each feature two concentric
valve springs
, and are operated by pushrods, with adjustable rocker arms to facilitate valve clearance adjustment.
It also featured "Heron", or "bowl-in-piston" type combustion chamber
s - where the combustion takes place within the piston area, and not in a recess machined in the cylinder head.
The cylinder bank
s contain cast iron
cylinder liners inserted into the crankcase
surrounded by a water jacket
, with a "rubber lip" style head gasket
, which is a very different design as compared to most engines. The top of the cylinder liners is pressed into a recessed cut-out in the cylinder heads, that are sealed with compressible metal rings, to prevent leakage.
Some wasserboxers were plagued by water jacket gasket failures (often erroneously referred to as head gaskets) due to several design issues. Engine failure was also a result of poorly placed sensors, corrosion in the cooling system, and many areas subjected to leaks.
The switch to water-cooling for the boxer engines was made mid-year in 1982, because Volkswagen could no longer make the air-cooled engine
s meet emissions standards
. (The previous generation Volkswagen Type 2 (T2), currently produced in Brazil, was changed to water-cooled engines since 23 December 2005 in response to Brazil's emission laws; the power plant used in the previous-generation T2 is an Audi
-sourced inline four.) Water-cooled T2 models can be distinguished by a second radiator grille
.
.
Cylinder (engine)
A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...
horizontally opposed
Flat engine
A flat engine is an internal combustion engine with multiple pistons that move in a horizontal plane. Typically, the layout has cylinders arranged in two banks on either side of a single crankshaft and is sometimes known as the boxer, or horizontally opposed engine. The concept was patented in 1896...
pushrod overhead-valve (OHV) petrol engine
Petrol engine
A petrol engine is an internal combustion engine with spark-ignition, designed to run on petrol and similar volatile fuels....
developed by Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
. The engine is water-cooled, and takes its name from the ; which when translated into English, means "water-boxer" - or water-cooled boxer - with 'boxer' being an alternative name for a horizontally opposed engine. It was available in two displacements
Engine displacement
Engine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a single movement from top dead centre to bottom dead centre . It is commonly specified in cubic centimeters , litres , or cubic inches...
- either a 1.9-litre or a 2.1-litre; the 2.1-litre being a longer stroke version of the 1.9-litre, both variants sharing the same cylinder bore. This engine was unique to the Volkswagen Type 2 (T3)
Volkswagen Type 2 (T3)
The Volkswagen Type 2 was the third generation of the Volkswagen Transporter and was marketed under various nameplates worldwide – including as the Transporter or Caravelle in Europe, Microbus in South Africa and as the Vanagon in North and South America.Larger and heavier than its...
(Transporter T3 / Caravelle / Vanagon / T25), having never been used in any other vehicle. Volkswagen contracted Oettinger to develop a six-cylinder version of this engine. Volkswagen decided not to use it, but Oettinger sold a Volkswagen Type 2 (T3)
Volkswagen Type 2 (T3)
The Volkswagen Type 2 was the third generation of the Volkswagen Transporter and was marketed under various nameplates worldwide – including as the Transporter or Caravelle in Europe, Microbus in South Africa and as the Vanagon in North and South America.Larger and heavier than its...
equipped with this engine.
Design detail
The wasserboxer featured a castCasting
In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process...
aluminium alloy
Aluminium alloy
Aluminium alloys are alloys in which aluminium is the predominant metal. The typical alloying elements are copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon and zinc. There are two principal classifications, namely casting alloys and wrought alloys, both of which are further subdivided into the categories...
cylinder block
Cylinder block
A cylinder block is an integrated structure comprising the cylinder of a reciprocating engine and often some or all of their associated surrounding structures...
, cylinder head
Cylinder head
In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head sits above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming the combustion chamber. This joint is sealed by a head gasket...
s, and piston
Piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from...
s; and a die
Die (manufacturing)
A die is a specialized tool used in manufacturing industries to cut or shape material using a press. Like molds, dies are generally customized to the item they are used to create...
-forged steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
flatplane crankshaft
Crankshaft
The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation...
with three main bearing
Main bearing
In a piston engine, the main bearings are the bearings on which the crankshaft rotates, usually plain or journal bearings.All engines have a minimum of two main bearings, one at each end of the crankshaft, and they may have as many as one more than the number of crank pins...
s.
The wasserboxer, as with all Volkswagen boxer engines, directly drives the three-bearing camshaft
Camshaft
A camshaft is a shaft to which a cam is fastened or of which a cam forms an integral part.-History:An early cam was built into Hellenistic water-driven automata from the 3rd century BC. The camshaft was later described in Iraq by Al-Jazari in 1206. He employed it as part of his automata,...
via a small steel gear on the crankshaft, and a large aluminium one on the camshaft, so there is no timing belt
Timing belt
A timing belt, or cam belt , is a part of an internal combustion engine that controls the timing of the engine's valves. Some engines, such as the flat-4 Volkswagen air-cooled engine, and the straight-6 Toyota F engine use timing gears...
or timing chain. The entire mechanism is internal to the engine, so there should be no concerns regarding wear or replacements, as long as the engine oil
Motor oil
Motor oil or engine oil is an oil used for lubrication of various internal combustion engines. The main function is to lubricate moving parts; it also cleans, inhibits corrosion, improves sealing, and cools the engine by carrying heat away from moving parts.Motor oils are derived from...
is changed regularly. The overhead poppet valves each feature two concentric
Concentric
Concentric objects share the same center, axis or origin with one inside the other. Circles, tubes, cylindrical shafts, disks, and spheres may be concentric to one another...
valve springs
Spring (device)
A spring is an elastic object used to store mechanical energy. Springs are usually made out of spring steel. Small springs can be wound from pre-hardened stock, while larger ones are made from annealed steel and hardened after fabrication...
, and are operated by pushrods, with adjustable rocker arms to facilitate valve clearance adjustment.
It also featured "Heron", or "bowl-in-piston" type combustion chamber
Combustion chamber
A combustion chamber is the part of an engine in which fuel is burned.-Internal combustion engine:The hot gases produced by the combustion occupy a far greater volume than the original fuel, thus creating an increase in pressure within the limited volume of the chamber...
s - where the combustion takes place within the piston area, and not in a recess machined in the cylinder head.
The cylinder bank
Cylinder bank
Internal combustion piston engines are usually arranged so that the cylinders are in lines parallel to the crankshaft. Where they are in a single line, this is referred to as an inline or straight engine....
s contain cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
cylinder liners inserted into the crankcase
Crankcase
In an internal combustion engine of the reciprocating type, the crankcase is the housing for the crankshaft. The enclosure forms the largest cavity in the engine and is located below the cylinder, which in a multicylinder engine are usually integrated into one or several cylinder blocks...
surrounded by a water jacket
Water jacket
A water jacket is a water-filled void surrounding a device, typically a metal sheath having intake and outlet vents to allow water to be pumped through the void. The flow of water to an external heating or cooling device allows precise temperature control of the device.-Applications:Water jackets...
, with a "rubber lip" style head gasket
Head gasket
A head gasket is a gasket that sits between the engine block and cylinder head in an internal combustion engine. Its purpose is to seal the cylinders to ensure maximum compression and avoid leakage of coolant or engine oil into the cylinders; as such, it is the most critical sealing application in...
, which is a very different design as compared to most engines. The top of the cylinder liners is pressed into a recessed cut-out in the cylinder heads, that are sealed with compressible metal rings, to prevent leakage.
Some wasserboxers were plagued by water jacket gasket failures (often erroneously referred to as head gaskets) due to several design issues. Engine failure was also a result of poorly placed sensors, corrosion in the cooling system, and many areas subjected to leaks.
The switch to water-cooling for the boxer engines was made mid-year in 1982, because Volkswagen could no longer make the air-cooled engine
Air-cooled engine
Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over hot parts of the engine to cool them.-Introduction:Most modern internal combustion engines are cooled by a closed circuit carrying liquid coolant through channels in the engine block and cylinder head, where the coolant absorbs heat,...
s meet emissions standards
Emission standard
Emission standards are requirements that set specific limits to the amount of pollutants that can be released into the environment. Many emissions standards focus on regulating pollutants released by automobiles and other powered vehicles but they can also regulate emissions from industry, power...
. (The previous generation Volkswagen Type 2 (T2), currently produced in Brazil, was changed to water-cooled engines since 23 December 2005 in response to Brazil's emission laws; the power plant used in the previous-generation T2 is an Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
-sourced inline four.) Water-cooled T2 models can be distinguished by a second radiator grille
Grille
A grille or grill is an opening of several slits side by side in a wall or metal sheet or other barrier, usually to let air or water enter and/or leave but keep larger objects including people and animals in or out.-Spelling:In the United States, "grille" is used to differentiate the automotive...
.
Variants
All data from ETKAETKA
ETKA is the official electronic parts catalogue for Volkswagen Group motor vehicles. Launched in 1989, ETKA superseded the older parts books and microfilm-based catalogues. ETKA is an abbreviation from the . It is produced for Volkswagen AG by the Munich-based specialist automotive industry...
.
| engine ID code | compr. ratio Compression ratio The 'compression ratio' of an internal-combustion engine or external combustion engine is a value that represents the ratio of the volume of its combustion chamber from its largest capacity to its smallest capacity... | DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung is the German national organization for standardization and is that country's ISO member body. DIN is a Registered German Association headquartered in Berlin... -rated max. motive Motive power In thermodynamics, motive power is an agency, as water or steam, used to impart motion. Generally, motive power is defined as a natural agent, as water, steam, wind, electricity, etc., used to impart motion to machinery; a motor; a mover. The term may also define something, as a locomotive or a... power Power (physics) In physics, power is the rate at which energy is transferred, used, or transformed. For example, the rate at which a light bulb transforms electrical energy into heat and light is measured in watts—the more wattage, the more power, or equivalently the more electrical energy is used per unit... | fuel Fuel Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air... system | years | notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.9-litre engines — 1914 cc | ||||||
| DF | 8.6:1 | 44 kW | 34 PICT-5 carburetor Carburetor A carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom.... |
08/82–07/92 | ||
| DG | 8.6:1 | 57 kW | 2E3 or 2E4 carburetor | 08/82–07/92 | ||
| DH | 60 kW | Digijet (Digital-Jetronic Jetronic Jetronic is a trade name of an fuel injection technology for automotive petrol engines, developed and marketed by Robert Bosch GmbH from the 1960s onwards. Bosch licensed the concept to many automobile manufacturers. There are several variations of the technology offering technological development... ) fuel injection Fuel injection Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s.... , vane-type air flow meter Air flow meter An air flow meter, is a device that measures how much air is flowing through a tube. It does not measure the volume of the air passing through the tube, it measures the actual speed of the air flowing through the device in a defined time segment. Thus air flow meters are simply an application of... |
01/83–07/85 | |||
| EY | 7.5:1 | 55 bhp | 34 PICT-5 carburetor | |||
| GW | 8.6:1 | 66 kW | Digijet (Digital-Jetronic) fuel injection, vane-type air flow meter | 08/83–07/85 | ||
| SP | 54 kW | 2E3 or 2E4 carburetor | 08/86–07/89 | Switzerland only | ||
| 2.1-litre engines — 2109 cc | ||||||
| DJ | 10:1 | 82 kW | Digijet (Digital-Jetronic Jetronic Jetronic is a trade name of an fuel injection technology for automotive petrol engines, developed and marketed by Robert Bosch GmbH from the 1960s onwards. Bosch licensed the concept to many automobile manufacturers. There are several variations of the technology offering technological development... ) fuel injection Fuel injection Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s.... , vane-type air flow meter Air flow meter An air flow meter, is a device that measures how much air is flowing through a tube. It does not measure the volume of the air passing through the tube, it measures the actual speed of the air flowing through the device in a defined time segment. Thus air flow meters are simply an application of... |
08/84–07/92 | sold in Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... an countries not requiring catalytic converter |
|
| MV | 70 kW | Digifant II Digifant Engine Management system The Digifant engine management system is an electronic engine control unit , which monitors and controls the fuel injection and ignition systems in petrol engines, designed by Volkswagen Group, in cooperation with Robert Bosch GmbH.... fuel injection, vane-type air flow meter |
08/85–07/92 | also used until the end of Vanagon importation into the US in 1991 | ||
| SR | 64 kW | Digifant II fuel injection, vane-type air flow meter | 08/86–07/92 | Switzerland only | ||
| SS | 9:1 | 68 kW | Digifant II fuel injection, vane-type air flow meter | 08/89–07/92 | ||