Date:         Sat, 5 Aug 2000 14:29:15 -0600
Reply-To:     jbrush@aros.net
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Brush <jbrush@aros.net>
Subject:      Re: Air vs. Water - pro's and con's
In-Reply-To:  <NDBBIMMFGLBLCBINBBHOKEAKCIAA.bpchristensen1@home.com>

I've only owned this one 1981 air cooled vanagon. Had a ton of beetles in
the 60's tho :-)

There is no pat answer, as you must know, but FWIW, I got my van in '88
with 95K on it. The PO used it for long trips only, and the motor was well
cared for. I have put aboout 200K on it with no problems at all. The
engine is still pretty strong, and the maintenance is minimal with less
parts and, I think, easier to obtain parts. I confess that the last 3
years I have let my mechanic do the work as they are great and I have no
time, but outside of tuneups, the only costs have been to repair two oil
leaks from the press in plugs that are part of the main block halves. The
first one cost me a clutch as well as the repair since it drained right
onto the clutch. About $900 :(  The second one required the engine to come
out which cost me $400. Outside of those two painful jobs, nothing but
tuneups. The mechanic told me that it was obvious that the engine had
never been out of the van until he pulled it, about 6 months ago. Not bad
at all.

I don't use it around town, only weeked and vactions. It gets a little
slow on the long hills, but its quite bearable. On normal highways I can
keep up with traffic no sweat. 70 and 75 are the max, but I seldom go over
65 anymore. At that speed, I get about 23mpg on the freeways and about 20
elsewhere.

Mine has the auxiliary gas furnace beneath, so heat is not an issue. In
fact its too much, so I get to drive in the winter with the windows open
:-)

The only time I regret having the air cooled engine is when I get in the
mood to upgrade to a TDI, which is a serious thought until I realize I
would have to do all the plumbing and radiator stuff. Other than that, no
complaints about an air cooled. Its a design that has been around forever
and works great.

Good luck.

Regards from Utah,

John


**************************************************************************
Little Child:
    God; how come you didn't help those kids who
    got shot in that school in Colorado?
God:
    I'm sorry little one, but I am not allowed in public schools.
***************************************************************************