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Date:         Fri, 22 Mar 2002 13:35:35 -0800
Reply-To:     Walter Evens <wrevens@MYEXCEL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Walter Evens <wrevens@MYEXCEL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Using American engines for Vanagon swap - why the heck not? -
              Long
Comments: To: jbrush@aros.net
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi John:

The Astro Van folks do not have a list like this (that I know of), however they do have a web ring of sites where people post what they have done to their vans. They too have to make improvements like upgrade the computer so you can go more than 3/4 throttle. Some have even swapped their V-6s for V-8s.

You are right. I took what I read as Vanagons being unreliable. I guess I expected it to be a balance of Pros and Cons and then read more bad than good. I didn't realize the list was a self help support group for Vanagon owners. Sort of a Vanagon Owners Anonymous. (It is Friday, right?) The only improvement I would make to this list would be to have a forum on a site where you could go and read what you wanted and then make a post rather than have 100 to 200 e-mails dumped in you in box every day.

I may end up keeping my Vanagon for my vending route. I just need to either get it going my self or take it to the local fix it guy and have him do the job. We had snow on Monday. I had to go "down the hill" Tuesday and Wednesday. Yesterday was sort of overcast in the afternoon and today is really windy. Unfortunately my garage is currently a mini-warehouse.

I posted my problem to the list but really didn't get an answer so I'm just taking my Bentley and trouble shooting. It idles (when it starts) but it won't go past idle. When I press on the pedal I get nothing and then if I let off the pedal, it dies. I suspect, injectors or ECU. So far I have check the plugs for spark, which they have and checked the fuel delivery rate and it fills a quart jar 4/5 full. Next I was going to check the injectors. Again, the weather hasn't been too good for wrenching.

Like I said, my experience with Vanagons (until this one) has been mostly positive even with all the supposed idiosyncrasies. I'm a week end Gold Prospector and would love to eventually have a Westy Syncro with a trailer made out of a Volkswagen pick up bed. It would work much better than the Astro Van with a tent trailer and a roof rack for my equipment.

Have a great week end.

WE

----- Original Message ----- From: <jbrush@aros.net> To: "Walter Evens" <wrevens@MYEXCEL.COM>; <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Friday, March 22, 2002 12:37 PM Subject: Re: Using American engines for Vanagon swap - why the heck not? - Long

> >a car and had to have something quick. Besides the guy at the Bone Yard > >told me most Vanagon owners have a second more reliable vehicle. He > >drives a T-Bird to work. > > One man's opinion. :( > > >tired of worrying about making it home if I drove it somewhere. Every > >time I fixed one problem some other problem would develop. > <snip> > >front of my house waiting for me to fix it (the weather has been cold and > >windy here in So Cal, believe it or not). > > >I have been on this list for about a month and a half. I have read posts > >from people with similar problems, fix it and then something else breaks. > >People taking a trip (or even afraid to take a trip) and then complaining > >about some sort of mechanical problem they encountered on the way home or > >sometimes barely making it home. People stuck in places like Northern > >California or Texas because their Vanagons broke down. > > Walter, > > This list is here to help people who have problems. You won't find too > many postings from people without troubles. There are countless numbers of > Vanagons out here running like the proverbial clock, (my 81 is one of > them) but you won't read much about them in this group. Sometimes a trip > report validates the reliability of the Van, but if you are going to use > what you read here to decide if your Vanagon can be trusted, you may as > well just burn that thing to the ground, and get used the Chevy Van. These > great folks are here to help people with trouble, what do you expect to > find except people asking for help? > > If you want an idea of the health of the general population, and you go to > the doctor's office or the hospital, you will come away thinking that > everyone is sick and in need of surgery. If you hang out at the > unemployment office, you will soon figure that everyone is out of work. > > For every person who has gone to Texas and had problems, there are a > thousand times that number who have gone, and come back home with no > difficulty. > > If there was a newsgroup for the Chevy Astrovan, it would be mostly filled > with people needing help fixing this and repairing that, and your opinion > of the vehicle might be altogether different. > > Just something to consider. > > Regards from Utah, > > John >


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