Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 15:06:40 -0600
Reply-To: "Justin B. Jensen" <jjensen@SPRINTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Justin B. Jensen" <jjensen@SPRINTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: 80 Westy & Emmissions
In-Reply-To: <20000914202748.20194.qmail@web615.mail.yahoo.com>
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-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf Of
ForestDweller
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2000 2:28 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: 80 Westy & Emmissions
So I just bought an '80 Vanagon Westfalia camper. PO#1 had receipts for
roughly
$3K worth of work and the car ran so smoothly that I figured I didn't even
need
to take it to the mechanic...I paid PO $2.8K, thinking that I had a great
deal
and she had a load off her back, and sailed off to emissions land (here in
WA
state, emissions testing are a part of life).
Here's where it all goes bad. PO#1 had been, as she said, 'crooked' by her
PO
(PO#2). She had been delivered a van w/ a bad junkyard motor, leaking oil
everywhere, that barely ran to the shop...So she (PO#1) had a different
motor
installed & clutch plate, among other things.
With all that money spent, and the car running so well, I figure all I need
to
do is spend a few dollars...fail emissions a couple of times, get a waiver
and
I'm off to surf city. However, my emissions mechanic informs me that this
too
is a junkyard engine, and that my compression is so low (60/70/70/95 #'s)
that
this alone could have fried the catalytic converter (after market cat
~$150.00). Apparently, the rocker arm is frozen, caused by overheating?.
Most likely attributable to lubrication failure (which could be heat
related).
Assuming I can get an emissions waiver, my emissions mechanic says I'm
looking
at a topend rebuild...(~$1500.00 for parts if I do it myself).
Which leads to my question(s):
1. Previous mechanic that installed this junkyard turd claims that the
compression 3mos ago was ~120#'s in all cylinders and that a seized rocker
arm
could be causing all this. Again, not likely. One rocker arm would affect
one cylinder. He recommends pulling the rocker train and doing a
leak down test..looking for a dropped valv seat/burnt piston prior to
rebuilding engine. Logical? How is this done? A leak down test is a good
test however, you do not need to spend the time / money pulling the top end
valve train to accomplish this test. With the uniformly low cranking
compression ratios that you report above for all cylinders, It would be fair
to deduct that this engine has experienced some event that has affected the
general engine health such as extended or no oil changes, overheating,
excessive engine speed on poor maintenance, etc. To restore this engine's
performance you will be doing at least a top end overhaul - valve grind,
cylinder hone, rings, gaskets. I would be suspect of spending any money on
the top end without tearing the whole engine apart to ascertain the health
of the bearings, etc. (You could gain some sense for this via an oil
pressure mapping).
2. If I do perform a rebuild (my first major mechanical endeavor), my
emissions
mechanic suggests draining the oil, setting the motor on an old 50gal drum
to
work on it, using the exhaust system as a handle to lift it onto the drum,
then
taking this off when rebuilding. I've got a copy of John Muir's 'compleat
idiot
- 25th year aniversary edition' from the library...what else do I need?
What's
a good comfortable way to work on an engine? Where should I go for parts?
-Todd
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