Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 12:02:46 -0700
Reply-To: Sean Garrett <SEAN.GARRETT@ASU.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Sean Garrett <SEAN.GARRETT@ASU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Bad Valve Issues/Question, Opinion sought.
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
My 1981 newly rebuilt air-cooled (~7k miles on it) has this issue too. I
just think it is normal. When cold I have to depress the accelerator pedal
and pump a tiny bit to get the van to turn over. When hot its a little
easier but still have to "tickle" the accelerator pedal a little.
Another note: the local VW shop that did most of my rebuild did tell me to
plan on new heads every 60k miles. So if your at 50k then you might be in
that gray zone. However there are plenty of qualified listees here that will
tell you that you should get around 100k out of your heads at a minimum.
Maybe its the emissions standards combined with the heat here in Aridzona
that drops their head life to 60k miles.
Your able to climb hills ???? You must have a passenger van, rather than a
Westy :-)
Wait a minute... your in S. Florida... there are no hills there (relatively
speaking) ;-)
Sean Garrett
1981 Westy (his)
1995 Eurovan Camper (hers)
sean.garrett@asu.edu
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jeff Strickrott [mailto:jstric01@CS.FIU.EDU]
> Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 11:49 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Bad Valve Issues/Question, Opinion sought.
>
>
> Hi All:
>
> I have a question regarding testing for bad vales. Here is
> the history.
>
> I have an 82 Vanagon with 50k original miles. As I have been
> reconditioning it, I have been battling a hot start problem.
> That is the
> engine must be turned over for about 8-11 sec's and the gas
> peddle used
> to get it started when the engine has warmed up. I have gone
> through all
> the Bentley's checks on the fuel injection components and have found
> nothing wrong. In the process I have replaced all the gaskets/hoses
> around the air distributor. My engine vacuum is 14.5-15 inHg
> @ 850 rpms.
> It has new points/plugs/cap/rotor. Old plug wires and coil,
> but the coil
> and engine spark seem to be strong enough.
>
> I finally gave up and took the car this morning to a local garage that
> works on bugs/buses (first time visit) to see if they could solve the
> problem. Their opinion was that the car was not running on
> cylinders 1&2
> because if they removed the ignition wires on 1&2 it did not
> effect the
> idle of the engine. They did a compression test on these cylinders and
> got 100 psi. They also checked the FI and concurred that the system
> seemed to be working. Their conclusion is that the valves are bad on
> cylinders 1 &2.
>
> Not ever having driven an air cooled van in its prime, I have
> nothing to
> compare the performance/power of the engine to. But I think I
> would have
> noticed if it was only running on two cylinders. The car seems to have
> enough power to get up to speed on the highway (65) and to
> handle hills.
> How could I double check their diagnosis? Could someone explain what
> would make the valves go bad so early in the engines life? Was this
> normal?
>
> Thanks in advance for the opinions.
>
> Regards,
> --Jeff Strickrott
> 82 Westy, South Florida
>
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