Trabant Tech Forum

Thanks all for the advice. I certainly took the expensive route, but l plan on keeping this car a long time and l now know exactly what I have. When I recover from the expen$e I will get this one rebuilt and have a spare either for me or one of you guys!

Just got word from Bounty Flyer who translated a warranty recipt from Hungarian I found in the pocket of the passenger door panel.

Mine has a rebuilt crankshaft at 67198 km on September 9, 2002. I've got about 81,000 KM on the speedometer right now. I hope mine was not rebuilt using the Chineese drill bits!

Is that saying something like:
40:1 fuel/oil mix is not adequate, so be sure to add enough oil for a 33:1 ratio?

Yeah, Bounty Flyer pointed that out. He said 40:1 was the proper mixture and 33:1 was too rich. I've been running 40:1 Lucas for about a year now. No excessive smoke (well except of course when the engine is cold) or plug fouling. Based on what I've heard 40:1 is the "ideal" mixture, especially with the "fuel saver" carb but 50:1 will do the job.

40:1 is easier to calculate. 8 oz per 2.5 gallons or 16 oz per gallon.

According to what I've read I wonder why Hungary chose to sell pump gas at 40:1 while other Eastern Bloc countries sold it at 50:1. Was there some other car being sold in Hungary at that time that actually required a 40:1 ratio? Wartburgs?

I'm still not sure what to do with my Opti-2 100:1 (all ratios) oil. I still have half a gallon of this stuff! Like I mentioned before I ran 10 tanks before I switched to the Lucas and there was no ill effects. I can always use it in my weed wacker and leaf blowers. Who gives a damn if they crap out. Usually something else breaks like the trimmer head/shaft or the pull start system before the rings or wrist pin wears out. I got several of those Poulon motors that are still good engines but something on the device itself is broken.

Interesting thread everybody, learned a lot here.

Hungary does not sell any ratio. You mix it yourself. I've used 50:1 ratio since owning my Trabant, then it seized. I was told by a Hungarian that 40:1 is the best, and 50:1 was too lean. He believed that's why my engine seized.

At this point, my engine is assembled and at a service shop to get them to install my timing plate and set the points and timing. He's had it for 2 weeks now, but no word on the status yet. He said he would call when it's ready.

Uh oh.

I've got well over 40,000km of very hard year-round driving on Lucas semi-synthetic at 50:1… on a crank that was worn when I put it in.

The only thing I can think of, other than a faulty batch of oil or gas is either:

pre-existing wear or damage or

Driving habit. My driving style is at high revs for full power. I never try to accelerate in too high of a gear.
I've created an in-dash tachometer and try to keep the RPM over 3,000 rpm when either accelerating or going up steep hills.

As Bountyflier will attest, I shift at what feels like too high of an RPM, roughly 5,000 rpm. This puts me at 3,000 in the next higher gear.
I consider that a safe minimum speed for full-throttle operation. Operating any motor at high power and low speed is very damaging to connecting rod bearings.



Our motors develop max power at 4,200 RPM, which corresponds to 100km/h in 4th gear. So, any speed over 100km/h is being driven by less than the motor's full power.
If you want good acceleration, keeping the revs at 3,500-4,500 rpm develops best power.

Just got back from some travels. My engine was waiting for me when I got home.
I'll chronicle my new engine swap, and post some pics.
And going forward, I'll go for 40:1, and I think I'll do a tach install, too, Keri, that's always a good idea. I saw your post elsewhere on how to wire it up, that's really helpful.

According to the English owner's manual that Justin has on this site said "back in the day" you could buy pre mixed two cycle fuel at the pump in the Eastern Bloc countries that sold Trabants were sold in. Hungary was the only country that sold their premixed fuel at a 40:1 ratio. All others were 50:1.

Maybe BountyFlyer can give his perspective on this.

I considered a tach but I've gotten so used to using the speeds on the speedometer. It's in the English owner's manual.

2nd : 25 KPH, 3rd 40 KPH, 4th 70 KPH

This brings up another question. Can you blow these engines up by over reving them? That may sound like a dumb question but unlike a 4 stroke, the engine actually stalls out at shift point.

This is a cool fuel and tach combo guage,



I'd have no idea how to wire it up. The instructions seem to be a poor English to Chineese translation. Wonder why fuel level guages from China (like on Ebay) the instructions refer to gasoline as "oil". Lost in translation I guess.

Direct link:

http://www.dx.com/p/2-in-1-motorcycle-digital-speed-table-led-fuel-gauge-black-218225

Boy, talk about dragging this out. I took my engine to a service shop locally to have him set up my timing plate and points. He had the engine for almost 3 weeks. I went there to pick it up yesterday, and he said it was hard to rotate the crank. I had to call a translator for some help with the language. He asked about a gasket between the case halves. I didn't remember one being in there when I disassembled it, and the shop that I got all the gaskets from did not give me one. Plus, the crank is mounted onto ball bearings. Anyway, he is tearing it all apart and will check it and have it done [supposedly] on Tuesday. Total bill is estimated at $66. I've entertained the idea of dragging my car to his shop and just let him finish installing it. Labor is very cheap here.

So how is this progressing?

Tomorrow is Tuesday. I'll see if he's done with it. Not holding my breath, though.

Hi All! Got my new engine in yesterday, and drove the car around last night! Wow! It runs awesome. Significantly quieter, smoother, more power. I am thrilled. If anyone needs an engine, I would highly recommend TrabantWelt.de. They did a great job.
I forgot to order new points, so there's still a little left to do. And I didn't do anything cosmetically, so I will eventually pull the tins, clean the engine compartment, paint the tins.
Showed Rudi to a friend last night who said "This is the second one of these I've seen this week." So now I'm hunting that lead down. Supposedly there's a Trabi sitting in a parking lot in Binghamton. It's been there a while, it's got flat tires to prove it. But apparently the car looks pretty good.

lotsofkids - you're ni Hungary, right? It's odd that the mechanic can't find SOMEONE around who remembers how to work on these cars.

Congrats Bill! Gotta be a good feeling to get it moving again. Did you put the new trans in as well., or is this just a backup at this point?