Date: Tue, 7 May 2002 23:19:37 -0400
Reply-To: Karl M <thewestyman@MINDSPRING.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Karl M <thewestyman@MINDSPRING.COM>
Subject: 1.9 WBX -->Tiico , my latest experience (long)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Folks, I just finished a Tiico conversion for a customer, in his '84 Westy.
I'll start by saying that in my professional opinion, the kit is lacking in
many ways, with several glaring faults and missing parts. The project, once
finished and all of the many faults corrected, actually runs very well and
somewhat smoothly. One of the biggest issues I've heard from other Tiico
customers is one of vibration, mainly around 3000~3400 rpm. This engine was
no different. I have found the main culprit to be the engine support
cradles, mainly the left one. For whatever reason (leftover stock from '82
diesel vans??), the left left cradle has rubber-mounted ends. I've found
that this causes a harmonic vibration to be amplified throughout the van at
that rpm range. The right cradle is solidly mounted, so why not the left?
The '83-on diesel vans used both solid cradles, as pre-'83s had vibration
issues. Hmmm...so I happened to have an '83 left cradle handy that I swapped
in, and voila!, the vibration is gone. The only thing remaining is some
tranference of sound under hard acceleration in first and second gear, this
I believe because the rubber engine mounts are pushed to their limit. So,
then I took the rubber-ended Tiico cradle, removed the rubber ends, and
welded the remaining parts solidly, after tack-welding the parts in perfect
alignment on the van. This vibration / mount issue is the biggest flaw in
the kit, as I see it. A further improvement could be to adapt the newest
type hydraulic mounts, which could really cure the vibration blues forever.
The rest of the issues. Although two years ago I told Peter what I thought
[as a professional mechanic] the kit lacked, few if any of the items have
been remedied.
*No oil filler tube is supplied, one must fill [spill] the oil after
removing the engine lid, which is a hassle for Westy owners. The last Tiico
I installed (Syncro) as well as this recent one, both now have oil fill
tubes that I modified from nothing more than stock available diesel Vanagon
units. Why is something not included? Got me.
*Then, the re-use of the Vanagon injectors and fuel pressure regulator.
Ridiculous. Why no new injectors and reg.? This IS a brand-new engine after
all. Again, stock available parts.
*The alternator must be drilled out to accept a larger bolt, then the
bottom must be filed a bit to clear a bad weld on the Tiico bracketry. What
happens if you need a new alternator and are on the road? A simple solution
would have been to make the bracketry with the same size bolt as the
alternator previously used, and better the weld quality or grind down high
spots in said welds. The AC tensioner bracket is not much better.
*Of course there is still no wiring in the system harness for an oxygen
sensor. Why not? This is something that has been promised to be remedied
long ago. This would have been so easy to include in the manufacturing of
the harness, should someone have actually cared enough.
*My custom stainless-steel exhaust brackets now hold the 1.9 muffler and
converter in a much better-fitting manner than installing 2.1 brackets that
Tiico recommends. Again, no provision for an oxygen sensor, so a boss must
be added to the 1.9 converter.
*No instructions or even the proper fittings to reconnect the evaporative
canister. In this case I had to remove and drill into the throttle body to
add a vaccum fitting at the proper location. At the same time, I added
coolant hoses to the warming circuit under the throttle body, this will
prevent icing of that in extreme cold.
*The airbox was too close to the throttle body for the rubber boot to fit
properly, easily remedied by spacing the airbox further into the cavity with
3/4" spacers behind the bracket. Also, the silly restrictive airbox elbow
was eliminated, and a 2.1 intake plenum installed, with sound deadeners in
place, directly attached to the airbox. No intake drone is noticeable at
all. *Many times I needed to dig for fasteners and bolts not included. One
especially irritating one was the clip for adjusting the throttle cable at
the engine end. Not supplied, dealer item, same as diesels use. A 50 cent
item, c'mon!
After over four days of installation and hours upon hours of reworking
things as they should be, the thing actually works well, the power is
nothing extrordinary IMO, but better than the 1.9 certainly was capable of.
My customer now has one of the few Tiicos with all the systems working, oil
filler, proper mounting, etc. We'll see how well he likes it, as in a week
he'll be driving back to Colorado with it. Tiico still has a lot to do to
get this kit up to my ideas of excellence, and I hope they do as this could
be one of the better conversions for most dead waterboxers. For now, it
doesn't quite get my highest recommendation.
Karl Mullendore
Westy Ventures
1987 Westfalia Syncro 1.9TD
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