Date:         Thu, 3 Jan 2002 14:31:37 -0800
Reply-To:     Tom Graves <tgraves@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Tom Graves <tgraves@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      '82 California Vanagon:  What is the correct amount of vacuum at
              idle?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"

I have an '82 California spec ( i.e., Hall ignition, 5 degree ATDC) Vanagon. What is the correct amount of vacuum at idle? It's pulling a steady 12" currently. This seems low to me, but I'm told it's due to the late timing for emissions purposes. I'm trying to determine if I have an air leak, because the van can be a little difficult to start when it's warm. A litlle history...

I bought my '82 for $200 at Goodwill in July 1995. I replaced the head that had dropped its valve seat and the 02 sensor it had fried. My family and I took the van from San Francisco to Colorado and back with no problems of any sort. Old Yeller bacame a part of the family, requiring near-zero fixes since then.

Well, all good things come to an end. Some 50k miles later, the lifters had all but given up the ghost, the 2.0 leaked oil at every conceivable spot, the heater fan went South and heat became more concept than reality, but the van kept chugging along. The coup-de-grace came when the front seal on the four speed puked out and seriously impaired my forward momentum beyond 40mph. Great revs, though.

I bought the losing end of an '80 Westy-meets-Suburban. The 'Burb ran a stop sign and T-boned the Westy right behind the driver's door. The impact caused a hail of wood splinters and bent/torn sheet metal but no lasting injuries. (It appears those Mormons driving were closer to God than I would have guessed). Anyway, the motor and tran are now motivating my '82. You Westy guys can e-mail me for any other parts. I'm in Pasadena, CA, so the weather has been good to anything made of metal, glass or fiberglass.

The motor did bring along one problem. My special thanks to all of the great insights on the "bucking when it's running " problems. Based on what many of you wrote, I changed out my O2 and temp II sensors. It's a brand new car now and my chiropractor has just lost another client.  I'll be using some other hints to adjust the CO and AFM spring as well. 

What a great website, folks, and thanks for sharing.

Tom Graves (626) 799-5354