VW Trekker Engine Codes

As with all air-cooled VW engines the engine design is a 4 stroke flat-four.

The original engine fitted to the VW Trekker was the air-cooled 1500 flat-4 engine from the VW Splitscreen Bus.  Output from the 1485cc engine was 44HP with its single port heads.  It included a 69mm crankshaft and 83mm pistons.  All the parts originally fitted to the Splitscreen Engine are interchangeable with the Trekker engine.  The only difference was the exhaust system which was unique to the VW 181.

In 1971 the Trekker saw the introduction of the 1600 Twin Port 50HP engine which was also fitted in the 1302S Beetle.

VW Type 181 Engine

Starter Motor

All VW 181 models were originally fitted with the start motor originally installed in the Semi-Automatic Beetle.  The difference with these starter motors was that the drive gear was installed directly onto the end of the shaft.  The shaft on normal starter motors protruded past the gear around 1” and entered into a supporting hole in the gearbox.  The original VW 181 gearbox did not have this hole which is why an Automatic Starter Motor must be used.  If however your gearbox is not original and has this supporting hole then a normal 12 volt starter motor can be used.

If you are still unsure about your engine size then please do not hesitate to contact us.  You can email us at sales@coolairvw.co.uk, Facebook Message us, Call our shop on 01322 335050 or speak to us via live chat below.