Volkswagen, the curious history of water-cooled boxers

Boxer engines characterised the early part of Volkswagen's history, driving the brand's entire production up to the 1970s, which then included models derived more or less from the Beetle, including commercial vehicles.

The company made the revolution from 1973 onwards by introducing, with the Passat, Golf and Polo, cars with more modern architecture, front-wheel drive and liquid-cooled inline engines, although the story of the air-cooled boxer four-cylinder continued in Mexico and South America until the early 2000s. In the meantime, however, there was also a series of 'water-cooled' boxers linked to a specific model.

The last 'all-wheel-drive' Transporter

The model in question is the third-generation Transporter or T3, produced from 1979 until the early 1990s, also in Caravelle and Vanagon versions, in Hanover and then in Graz, Austria at Magna Steyr and again for a few years in the South African factory in Uitenhage (now Kariega).

Volkswagen T3 1984

Initially, the model followed in the footsteps of its predecessor, the T2, from which it was derived, confirming the 1.6 and 2.0-litre air-cooled boxer engines, but from 1982 a new series of engines, again around 2.0 litres but liquid-cooled, was offered in selected markets. They had different codes, corresponding to fuel variants (carburettor or electronic injection) and power (from 60 to over 90 PS), but common characteristics.

The first one produced had a displacement of 1.9 litres, 1,914 cm³ to be exact, a bore of 94 mm and a stroke of 69, and featured a cylinder block, cylinder heads and pistons made of die-cast aluminium, a flat forged steel crankshaft supported by four crankshaft supports and compression ratios ranging from 7.5:1 to 8.6:1, depending on the power supply and version.

Volkswagen T3, the liquid-cooled boxer engine

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Like the air-cooled boxers, this also had a single central camshaft with three supports, gear-driven directly from the crankshaft, and two valves per cylinder controlled by connecting rods and rocker arms. The longest-lived variants were the basic carburettor versions with 60 and 77 PS, which remained in production throughout the period from 1982 to 1992. 

The 2.1

A 2.1-litre version was derived from the 1.9, with a stroke lengthened to 74 mm and a displacement of 2,109 cm³. Four different power variants were produced, ranging from 87 to 111 PS, with compression ratios of 9:1 or 10:1 and all with fuel injection, from 1984 until 1992, when this engine series was discontinued.

Volkswagen Caravelle T3 1984

Although robust, some of these engines suffered throughout their career from problems with the cooling system due to their construction. They had cast-iron cylinder liners inserted into the cylinder block with an external chamber through which water circulated, but the seals of these liners tended to wear out quite easily, as did the cooling system, which was susceptible to corrosion in the presence of coolant containing certain types of phosphate.

Volkswagen also converted to liquid cooling the last series of the T2, produced in Brazil from 2005 onwards to comply with emission standards, but with units of different origin.

More VW Transporter:

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