Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 10:15:51 -0500
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Subject: Re: Boston Bob's Big Valve Engine Report
In-Reply-To: <103.210427b8.2b233d54@aol.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Frank,
Are you sure your oil pressure gauge is accurate? I would be curious to
know what pressure you will have when you switch to 20w-50. Personally,
that oil pressure is way too low. Any healthy engine should be able to
maintain ~10psi/1000 rpm. The engine in the Fun Bus now has 192K on the
clock and with an oil temp of 185F it still hold ~15psi at idle and
~50psi at 4000 rpm. When the oil cooler doesn't quite keep up and the
oil gets to 210F, it will still have 40-45psi at 4,000 rpm. I use Mobil
15w-50 and the oil cooler is mounted up in front of the radiator. My oil
pressure sensor is connected to the port between the pushrods, (center
cam bearing) which is the lowest pressure point in the system so it
includes the drop of the oil cooler, thermostat and almost 25 feet oil
cooler pipes and hoses.
If you don't have you may want to get an oil or sump temperature gauge.
You will then see the effects of speed and load and the relationship of
oil temperature to oil pressure. You'll be amazed at the effects of
keeping the oil level near the full mark and running the engine at 4,000
rpm or above for extended periods.
As for oil consumption, most 2.1L engines use oil. After a few hundred
miles it is broken in as much as it probably will be. Some oil is also
sucked down the intake valve guides. Especially if the oil blocker was
not installed, I rarely se these installed on rebuilt engines or the AMC
heads). I bought my van new and it used a quart in the first 500 miles
and after that it uses a quart every 1,000 to 2,000 miles depending on
driving conditions. My other 87 Syncro is about the same even though it
does not see that much extended high speed driving. Again, you should
not make an effort to keep the oil level at the full mark. Lower mark to
half way will keep the consumption and oil temps down. In the future if
you do another engine, consider Total Seal rings. Their "Gapless" 2nd
ring virtually eliminates blow-by and their 1-piece oil ring reduces
consumption as compared to the 3 piece ring the cylinder kits now come
with. It is a very good product.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
Of Frank Condelli
Sent: Saturday, December 07, 2002 7:02 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Boston Bob's Big Valve Engine Report
Well, Volksies, I'm back from the first big trip with the new
Boston
Bob 2.1 Big Valve engine. Ottawa ~ Pittsburgh & back to have Turkey
dinner
with my family down there. Two turkeys and way too much food but had a
grande time with all the relatives.
The engine now has 3,182 km on it. Now running 10w40 oil it used
one
litre of oil on the way down and one litre of oil on the way back. So
it
seems the rings are still not fully seated. There still seems to be
some
crankcase pressure which is showing up with some small amounts of oil
exiting
the dip stick tube end. Oil pressure reading 2 ~ 5 lb. @ 900 rpm, 19
lb. @
3000 rpm, 22 lb. @ 4000 rpm. Gas mileage on the trip was 16 ~ 17 mp/g,
yes
mp/g not km/l as most of the gas was bought in the US I did not feel
like
doing the conversion back to litres !! Anyways, the low gas mileage may
be
attributable to the big valves and crappy road conditions.....it was
steady
snow storm down and back. Roads in upstate PA near Bradford were the
worst,
covered with some kind of cinder sand mix, we got pelted a number of
times by
passing trucks, resulting in a chip in my not even one year old
windshield
and numerous paint chips in the new paint. Pissed off, you damn right I
am
and I'm just now composing myself to write a letter of complaint to the
PA
dept of Highways ! Probably only good for venting at best though !
So, how does this big valve motor perform ? Well, pretty good
I'd
have to say after taking it through the mountains of PA. Still needed
to
shift to third to get up most of those hills between Bradford and
Kittaning
but we're still dealing with a little less that 100 hp in 3000 lb
vehicle
that was loaded with four passengers and all kinds of luggage !
Acceleration
is where the biggest difference of the big valve motor shows.
Definitely an
improvement there. The engine is also very smooth running at highway
speeds
which I held at below 120 km/h for the trip, In fact the majority of the
trip
was done at around 100 km/h. The complete balancing of the engine and
clutch
definitely shows up there.
Back home now I've changed the oil & filter once again and will
put
the engine onto a normal service ritual. Hopefully the rings will seat
in
soon and the oil consumption will go down.
It was nice to not have to lift the engine lid during a
trip......just
for a change !! Thank you Bob for the nice waterboxer engine !
Cheers
Frank Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
<A HREF="http://members.aol.com/BusFusion/bfhome.htm">BusFusion</A> a VW
Camper camping event, Almonte, ON, June 12 ~ 15, 2003
'87 Westy & Lionel Trains
Member: <A HREF="http://www.vanagon.com/">Vanagon List</A>, <A
HREF="http://www.bcn.net/~limbo/">LiMBO</A>, <A
HREF="http://www.westfalia.qc.ca/">IWCCC</A> & Capital City VW Club
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley
<A HREF="http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/stebro.htm">STEBRO/Vanagon
Stainless Steel Mufflers</A>
<A HREF="http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html">Frank Condelli &
Associates</A> or http://frankcondelli.com
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