Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2003 23:41:06 EST
Reply-To: FrankGRUN@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Frank Grunthaner <FrankGRUN@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: gutless - My Experience from 1982 New
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
In a message dated 3/31/03 5:52:05 PM, JM060356@AOL.COM writes:
<< It would be nice to know if any one has owned a
vanagon
new how they feel about their purchase then and 15+ years later. >>
I don't have the time for my typical long reply, but I have been baited in
that I bought my Diesel (then) 1982 Westfalia new and picked it up at the
factory. Frankly it has been more reliable than my Volvo 760 GTD, my SAAB
9000S, my Chrysler New Yorker (LHS body style), my Ford Expedition and my
1972 VW Safare High Top Camper. It has been about as reliable as my Ford
Fiesta and less reliable than my Peugeot 504 Diesel Station Wagon or my 1967
VW Sundial Camper.
The '67 was hands down the most reliable machine I ever owned. Never let me
down, even with a bee carcass in the main jet. Sold it because I wanted to
standup inside. Stupid!
So back to reliability. When I picked up the Vanagon at Weidenbruch in late
July of '82, it was really exciting. Within one week, I had damaged the
transmission by throwing it into 1st to save the lives of the occupants
coming down a stunningly steep grade from a beautiful set of castle ruins. As
I look back on it know, I have no idea as to how that diesel pushed the
Westfalia (with 4 adults, 1 child and a substantial amount of support
material) up that road in the first place. The brakes overheated on the way
down and soon 1st was history. VW sent a replacement trans to meet us in
Paris three weeks later and all was fresh again. During the first two years,
no problem. Then a point of continuing aggravation popped up. Primary
problem, starter failure, secondary problem, alternator failure, tertiary
problem, battery failure. Listed in order of degrees of PITA units. All
apparently related to thermal failure. After three alternators, I was clued
into the alternator diode temperature problem. Few diodes, high current,
smoked diode with high engine compartment temperatures. Solution was
replacement with Porsche alternator backplane with all the diodes the case
could carry. Add Porsche/Audi air shroud ingesting air from under the frame
near front of trans.
Batteries were easier. Bought the most expensive, largest battery that would
fit (with the best warranty) and resigned myself to the yearly battery
replacement party. Haven't paid for a battery (primary) since.
The starter was worse. Really ticked off the wife. The yearly two week drift
starting ploy until I had the time to replace it. Again, I used the lifetime
warranty strategy, but it still took replacement time. This problem solved
with thermal blanket around starter and 00 gauge ground wire back to the
battery running from one of the starter mounting bolts. No problems for more
than 3 years (approaching 4). Note this problem was there through both the
diesel and gasoline years.
Went through a muffler during the diesel years but that was around 120K
miles, so I'd call it routine maintenance.
20K miles per tire, +/- 2 depending on brand.
Hard starting one winter requiring glow plug replacement.
One major hit though. Right before I replaced the diesel, I lost the 3/4 hub
for the first time. Ouch, expensive. Curses to the wimpy trans.
All in all, the diesel years showed 1 major defect in the car --- engine
compartment temperatures. The starter and trans contribute to downgrading its
reliability, but otherwise, it just kept spinning. Faithfully! Just had to
learn to drift start.
Of course it was dead slow, so I went to the I4 conversion that I engineered
many years ago. Lots of details in the archives) Following that I replaced a
few starters, tore out the 3/4 hub again (actually screwed up the
transmission input shaft length by 1 mm), and went through several muffler
designs with exhaust system mounts.
But the trans failure was my fault, and the muffler mount issues were just
amateur engineering playing itself out. I finally solved the starter problem,
and the muffler problem, otherwise the machine has been dead reliable. From
the Canadian Rockies to the Mayan pyramids to the tail end of the universe
(Texas from El Paso to San Antonio), to the East Coast and back to California
it has returned the investment many times over.
Now I did lose a pilot bearing and that strikes me as unusual. Otherwise, I
keep tinkering a building what I want.
Oh, yes, I temporally forgot about the GD paper covered headliner. But that
was an excuse to go wood veneer.
So ... reliable, first use, daily driver... Its been that and more these
nearly 21 years. That I4 engine isn't the fastest (turbo will take care of
that) but the thing is as reliable an engine as I've ever seen. Digifant
problems ... I've never encountered any. Just spinning on....
Frank Grunthaner
