Date:         Tue, 23 Apr 2002 18:34:17 +0100
Reply-To:     Anthony Polson <acpolson@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Anthony Polson <acpolson@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Help!  Engine rattle from '84 Vanagon 1.9l gas - TERMINAL?
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

Bad news from the UK.  :-(

My recently purchased '84 Vanagon has a 1.9 liter water cooled boxer engine.
  It runs on gasoline, has a single carburettor and has done 78,000 miles
from new, first as a Transporter (1984-1991) and then as a Reimo camper
(1991-2002).  I have covered over 1200 miles in the Vanagon since buying it
two months ago and the engine has run very well for the whole of that time.

Now to the problem.  Just over a week ago I started the engine to move the
Vanagon just a couple of yards.  There was a noticeable ticking noise from
the engine, but it didn't sound loud.  I assumed that, as the engine warmed
up, the noise would go away.

Today, I wanted to take my son to the kart track and started the Vanagon
with the rear hatch/tailgate open.  The ticking noise was still there but
Boy! it was *loud*!  I ran the engine for about two or three minutes while I
crawled under the engine.  The noise is more of a knock than a tick, and it
sounds exactly the same when the engine speed is rising, falling or
constant.  The tinware prevented me getting close to the pushrod tubes so I
could not tell exactly where it was coming from.

The ticking/knocking speeds up and slows down with engine speed and it seems
to be tick about three four times a second when the engine idles.  The
engine is running rough as though it's firing on three cylinders.  During
the time I ran the engine (two or three minutes) the sound did not vary at
all, either in loudness or tone.


I fear it might be one of the following:

Broken valve stem
Broken valve seat
Broken valve rocker
Broken valve spring
Broken pushrod
Broken tappet (hydraulic)

My expectation is that, at nearly 80,000 miles, it is time for a new engine,
but I would like to keep the Vanagon going until September when I will be
fitting a low-mileage 2.0 liter engine from a 1998 Golf GTI that I bought
yesterday on Yahoo auctions.  <g>

Please can anyone suggest where to start looking, and what for?

Regards,

Tony (UK)


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