Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 12:30:32 -0400
Reply-To: Jay L Snyder <Jay.L.Snyder@USA.DUPONT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jay L Snyder <Jay.L.Snyder@USA.DUPONT.COM>
Subject: Re: 87 Vanagon problem
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
I had a similar problem with my '85 before I put in my new engine. Low oil
pressure caused the lifters to collapse after driving 20 or 30 minutes at
highway speeds. It started when I added some CD-2 oil additve to help
alleviate the lifter noise I was getting from time to time. I didn't
figure it out right away, but after going through the usual checks of the
FI system, fuel system, ignition, a simple oil change eliminated the
problem. The noise you heard was your lifters giving out. I could just
barely get home. It would never stop running, but it had no power. The
catalytic converter was red hot. Sounded like hell. The next day, it
would run fine. As long as the lifters were happy, the engine was happy.
Your engine may be reaching the end of its life. Change to 20-50 oil, a
good filter and install a pressure gauge. The 2.1s are more likely to
throw a rod than the 1.9s. A gauge will tell you how good the bottom end
of your engine is.
Jay
"A. Widoff" <rompu@MHCABLE.COM>@gerry.vanagon.com> on 06/19/2002 11:55:48
AM
Please respond to "A. Widoff" <rompu@MHCABLE.COM>
Sent by: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
cc:
Subject: 87 Vanagon problem
Hello all.
Iım a Vanagon owner who knows almost nothing about automobiles in general,
let alone Vanagons.
The other day I took a 200 mile trip down to New York. It was a hot day
and
aprox 1 1/2 hours into it the oil buzzer and light went off. This was
something that had happened a few times last year but it seemed that my
mechanic had solved the problem because it had not happened for many
months.
Anyway, I pulled over and checked the oil and indeed it was well below the
low mark on the dipstick. So I put a quart of 10W30 in (which is all I had
in the car at the time).
Nevertheless the buzzer and light continued to intermittently go off for
the
rest of the ride.
On the ride back upstate at night things got even stranger. I began to
lose
power and had to down shift in order to get over even moderate inclines.
Eventually this got so bad that I was only able to go around 30 MPH on a
moderate incline. It seemed that there was a a low and indistinct clacking
sound and it felt like something was terribly wrong. It seemed that
perhaps
there was an irregularity in the running of the engine, an occasional tug
as
if a spark plug were failing to fire (?). Then there was a slight smell of
something burning. We decided to pull over and call AAA. It was 3 AM when
we got dropped off at the nearest service station which was still 30 miles
from where we live. We decided to sleep in the van which was pretty
comfortable with the bed in back.
In the morning the mechanic checked it out and could find nothing wrong, so
we drove it home. Since then thereıs been nothing observable on local
trips.
I got an oil change the other day. I then had a 45 minute drive ahead of
me. After around 20 minutes I was on an incline and when I got to the top
and began to go down the other side the oil light and buzzer went off for
15-20 seconds. It happened once more the exact same way on the way out
there (shorter duration), and then again on the way back (top of an
incline). Other than that, it seemed fine. This pattern has borne itself
out on other 30 minute or so trips over the last few days.
I feel like I might be doing damage to my vehicle by continuing to drive
it,
but my mechanic doesnıt see anything wrong with it. Any insights into this
would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Tony Widoff
Hudson NY
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