Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 00:47:28 -0600
Reply-To: Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM>
Subject: Re: Longevity of Conversion Engines
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
The Air Cooled engines, particularly in a 5000 pound Westfalia are a
ticking time bomb. Consider 67 HP doing all that hard work. In effect
running at 100% capacity a good portion of the time. Its only careful
maintenance and moderate driving that delivers the longevity.
I've always been guilty of running mine hard on the highway at 70-75 but
reading the signs and slowing down on long inclines or bucking head
winds.
I blew #3 cylinder at 85 MPH fighting a headwind of 15 mph. It broke the
rings, ring lands, scored the cylinder and blew oil out on the guy that
was tailgating me at about three feet.
The oil showed up on the rear window (and his windshield) long before the
oil light came on and I got it shut down on the service road right when
the light came on for the first time.
I was 250 miles from home but managed to get back home by putting a quart
of oil in every 35 miles or so.
I wised up pretty quick when I installed new cylinders/pistons/rod
bearings etc. Luckily the heads were not damaged, but there wasn't any
way to shave the repair labor down to less than two days.
I've got to admit that happened within 90 days of buying my Westy and I
didn't know nuttin about the proper care and maintenance of an air cooled
engine.
Stan Wilder
On Mon, 25 Mar 2002 21:54:26 -0800 Robert Keezer
<warmerwagen@HOTMAIL.COM> writes:
> Perhaps this is the reason so many air-cooled VW's emigrated to the
> Pacific Northwest where air condtioning is not too important. That
> is, on the western side of the Cascade range. We are water-cooled
> here.
>
> Robert
> 1982 Westfalia
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> Wrom: MVRESKPNKMB
> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 9:48 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Longevity of Conversion Engines
>
> one thing no one has considered about aircooled engines is air
> conditioning, something that car buyers began to demand in
> increasing
> numbers back in the 70's. air conditioning puts quite a load on the
> engines, especially at idle and low rpm ... like city driving and
> waiting at traffic lights/stop signs. trouble is, that's the time
> when
> the aircooled engine gets the least amount of cooling (from the
> fan)
> ...
>
> porsche didn't have the problem as much, as it was essentially an
> oil-cooled engine, plus it had two extra cylinders to create the
> torque necessary for the air conditioning compressor.
>
> so what to do? watercooled engines don't have the problem ... they
> have radiators with cooling fans to draw air through and cool the
> antifreeze. so a 4-cylinder watercooled engine can handle the air
> conditioning better than a same-size 4-cylinder aircooled engine.
> simple economics ... if you want to sell cars in the u.s., you have
> to
> offer air conditioning. how many aircooled buses out there actually
> have air conditioning? versus how many of the watercooled buses?
> i've
> only seen maybe half a dozen aircooled buses, in the last 30 years,
> that had air conditioning ... and that's down here in the
> southeast.
> on the other hand, i've only seen TWO watercooled buses down there
> that did NOT have air conditioning.
>
> for what it's worth, i started driving vw beetles in 1958 ... moved
> ' to squarebacks in 1968, and into buses in 1970. it was 1986
> before i ever had any car with air conditioning ... just never
> realized what i was missing. :) or i got too old to keep sweating
> like
> that. either way, it's a luxury that i like, and intend to keep
> getting in any car/bus/truck/house/boat/airplane/office/whatever
> that
> i get in the future. :) so i'm seduced by the wet side of the
> farce
> ... by that first 1986 watercooled bus. and i'm afraid i can't go
> back
> ... no matter how many water pumps i have to replace.
>
> it's like diesel engines versus gasoline engines ... it's not
> 'more'
> maintenance; it's just 'different' maintenance. the trick is, do
> the
> maintenance that the engine (and bus) requires and you'll be ok.
> don't
> do it, and any engine will fall apart on you, sooner or later. like
> the old Bardahl ad used to say "pay me now, or pay me later." :)
>
> joelGet more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download :
> http://explorer.msn.com
>
________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.
| 
