Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 12:19:46 -0600
Reply-To: "John S. Klun" <jklun@GJ.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "John S. Klun" <jklun@GJ.NET>
Subject: Re: mileage from a 1,9 wbx - was: Re: I Cleaned my AFM...
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Barry-
I don't know what mileage a 1.9l wbx is supposed to get. I consistently
get between 22-25 mpg (depending on lead foot) with mine. On April 9th,
I had to take my son to Denver Int'l Airport for an emergency flight to
PA. I drove him in the Vanagon from Gunnison, CO to DIA. I drove fast
and furious. It included crossing Monarch Pass (11,000+ ft.), Red
Mountain Pass (9,000+ ft.) and a couple of other smaller ones. I drove
with the pedal to the floor the entire (almost) time. Going over the
passes, I averaged 50-60 mph in 3rd (floored); on the down hills, I
pegged the speedo a couple of times. On the flats (what little there
was) I kept it at 80. For the entire drive to DIA and then back to
Delta, CO where I live (I did drive a little slower and climbed
Eisenhower, Vail and McLure Passes), I averaged about 23 mpg.
My engine was rebuilt by Bob Birkholz of Grand Mesa Imports
(970-874-5631) (from whom I bought the Van after the motor rebuild) here
in Delta. Since day one it has run strong- enough for me to ask him
what he had done to the engine. He won't give me a straight answer, one
day he says it has 5 more hp than a reg. 1.9l; other days he says it's
the normal hp of a 1.9l. The only thing I do know is he used sodium
filled valves in the engine to keep it running cooler.
Bob used to build VW racing engines and does rebuilds of air-cooled and
wbx (1.9l/2.l) engines now, Suburu conversions and Japanese engine
rebuilds and replacements. He is very reasonable and a perfectionist.
He changes my oil for me and uses 20w-50 (dino) in the summer and 10w-30
(dino) in the winter. The brand of oil he uses is the house brand from
the local FLAPS (made by a brand name). Since the rebuild/purchase in
10/2000, the Van hasn't burned a drop of oil. The only engine problems
since then have been a loss of power and loss of fuel economy- loose
connection on fuel injector; massive clouds of oil smoke- oil being
stuck above the cylinders (I put a little too much in one day when I
couldn't see the fill line on the dip stick- it was so clean!), and
lately with hesitation, surging and a little bucking- cleaned the AFM.
The engine has close to 30k miles on it now- it is my daily driver, my
truck, my farm vehicle, animal carrier, etc. The body looks like hell,
the paint is crummy, the front stabilizer is broken over the left front
wheel but it runs like a dream. I use Cooper Trendsetter SE 215-70R14
tires inflated to its max of 35lbs- the same tires I used on my Ford
Aerostar. The tread is rugged enough for the ranch roads and unpaved
county roads out here yet it is considered an m+s tire. It gives me good
all around traction for what I need and the price is reasonable.
There is nothing 'aerodynamic' about our Van- it has dents and scrapes
on the passenger side of the van from the front turn signal to the rear
'running' light. The bumper caps are either missing or hanging off, the
rear chrome bumper is dented enough so the rubber inserts won't stay
in. The muffler/tail pipes need to be welded to stop the tinny metallic
chatter/vibration at slow engine rpms.
Once Bob finishes building the Chev. 350 for my '65 p/u, I will
concentrate on fixing the Van up. It will have air conditioning (I
bought off this list) and I am still waiting for parts from a list
member from October last year. The dents will be straightened, scrapes
filled in, new end caps installed, bumpers straightened (or replaced)
and painted a lighter color for the hot weather here.
John Klun
"Barry E. Muller" wrote:
>
> Thanks for the info., may come in handy for me too some day.
>
> -next-
>
> Is 22 - 24 mpg typical for the 1,9L WBX? This is considerably better than I
> see with the 2,1L (17-19 mpg) and inquireing minds want know how this can be
> and what I can do to be one of the few, the proud, who consitantly get 20+
> mpg with their WBX powered vanagons.
>
> bem
> with a light foot and top speed of 63-65 mph in funinabox
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