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Date:         Tue, 29 Apr 2003 14:33:04 -0500
Reply-To:     Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM>
Subject:      Re: The King's English
Comments: To: huotx@VIDEOTRON.CA
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

10 days ago, I go for an oil change (I never do those myself on my car, to dirty), a young new guy (2 days at the job) does my oil change with the manager looking at him carefully, well not enough! ------------------- Clip ---------------------- It is a crazy world! I have several people that have come by my house to get me to do the "Shaping up your new old Van" routine for them. I just make them dump in the MMO before they come my way so it'll have enough time to purge the sludge. They just don't seem to trust people anymore. I have no objections about laying down under a car for 20 minutes, changing the oil, filter and adjusting the valves. Admittedly with the conversation it takes more like two hours but I'm glad to have the company and the $100.00 or so to help them out. ($25.00 of than in supplies). With the responsibilities I have taking care of my elderly parents I seldom get to attend VW events but I always enjoy meeting other VW folks even if they are in Dune Buggies or Kit Cars. As far as the King's English it's best to direct someone to "take a taxi" if they don't like your version of English language. Seems to me that you got a pretty good handle on it. I just had a burned out building restored at the tune of $42,000.00 and the Hispanic contractors did it their way, then the general contractor made them do the job again, but right this time. With me all the time going to the job site, waving my arms vigorously and jumping up and down trying to get my point across. To prove I'm not treating Hispanics unfairly the White, English speaking contractor had them paint about 4000 square foot of new steel siding ................. no!, no! I kept telling him, the paint won't stick with the die lubricant still on the panels, it'll last less than 90 days before it starts flaking off in pieces as big as potato chips. He had six guys with paint thinner washing his paint off the new steel panels. His loss, I gained nothing.

Stan Wilder -------------------------- For those of you that wondered ---------------------------- Shaping Up that new Old Vanagon or Westy This document addresses both Air Cooled Type IV 75-83 and Water Cooled Engines 83-91. It does not Include Diesel or Conversions of any type. Since you're new to the vehicle its important that you get the basic heart of your vehicle in good condition. (BE WARNED! Cleaning your engine can open up oil leaks that are currently sealed with carbon deposits or sludge. It can remove carbon build up from under your rings and cause temporary oil burning until the rings reseat themselves. They may never reseat of the engine is very high mileage). In many cases the Previous Owner has used Oil additives or even special Infomercial products to chemically fix problems. These additives can lead to problems especially those with Teflon in Air Cooled engines. It is standard procedure to avoid all oil additives in VW Air Cooled and Water Cooled engines. In many cases additives have been used to quieten lifters, piston slap, wrist pin clicking or other noise. You definitely want to get rid of these additives before they harm your engine. They may have been added to raise oil pressure or hide any number of oncoming problems. The procedure listed below is my suggestion of what you should do as soon as you get your new vehicle. #1) Check the oil; drain off about a quart of oil through the drain plug, strainer plate or other means. Be sure you get a full quart out, if you get too much you can put it back in as required. #2) Purchase a quart of Gunk / Siloo /Rislone / Berryman B12 or other brand of engine flush and pour it into the engine crankcase. Follow the instructions on the can. Most flushed require only 5 minutes on a cold engine. #3) Run the engine flush for the recommended time and drain it off. Install a new filter and clean the strainer if you have one. Pour in your new engine oil; hold back that last quart of oil. Pour in a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil with the new engine oil. Run the vehicle for about 300 miles with the Mystery Oil Mix in the crankcase. It is best to get this 300 miles around town over a period of one week so the cleaning agents in the Mystery Oil have time to De-carbon the interior of your engine and clean your lifters. You can run this mix for a thousand miles without damage so don't bother to change at exactly 300 miles. What we're wanting to accomplish is just getting the engine to full operating temperature about ten times over a one week period. #4) While running the 300 miles with the Mystery Oil blend in your crankcase you should also run 16 oz of Mystery Oil through your fuel system in a full tank of Gasoline to clean your combustion chambers, piston tops, valves, injectors and ring groves. #5) After you've completed this procedure you should install a new filter (Mahle or Mann), clean your strainer if you have one and install the new engine oil. Leave the oil level about ¼” below the MAX level on your oil dipstick. Stop putting oil in at three quarts and start your engine. Let the engine run for a few minutes and then check your oil level after you have killed the engine and it has set for ten minutes. This will have given the oil enough time to circulate through the system and drip back to your pan giving a true oil level reading. Add enough oil to bring the level up to the ¼” below the MAX mark on your dipstick. #6) adjusting your lifters: (this section applies only to hydraulic lifters and stock VW camshafts) Lifter adjustment should be done on a cold engine. Locate Top Dead Center on #1 cylinder by dropping a thin wire through the #1 spark plug hole and rotating the engine until piston top squeezes the thin wire between the piston top and the cylinder head (don't force it) the rotor arm should be pointing very close to the notch in your distributor rim if you're at TDC. If not you're 180 degrees off. While you're adjusting the valves inspect the valve stems for chips and the adjusting screws for heavy pitting. Either of these signs can represent a weak / bad lifter or a valve seat that is loose. (minor pitting of adjusting screws OK most of the time.) Adjust #1 valves at the following settings. Option #1: One full turn down from the point that the rocker arm just touches the valve stem. Option #2: Using a feeler gauge set the clearance to .006 as the rocker arm just touches the valve stem. Both settings have worked for me and many others. Do Not Use the full two turns as described in Hayes, Muir or Bentley Manuals. #1. Remove the valve covers. Read the part number on your heads, make sure that they are the same. VW heads will have a VW Logo on them, AMC heads will not and they won't have a part number. The one thing you need to establish is that are both VW or both AMC. You can't mix the heads, they should be the same. #2. Loosen the adjusting nuts about two full turns. #3. Start the engine for about 1 minute. Be sure you've got some cardboard under there to catch any oil that slings out. Most cases there will be very little. #4. Go to the back of the car and slip another piece of cardboard under there so I don't lay in the oil that dripped. #5. Bring #1 cylinder up to TDC, Remove #1 Plug, I use a flashlight and a piece of flat steel that comes off windshield wiper blades to get TDC. (others use a screwdriver or coat hanger wire) The steel will not rotate when the piston is at TDC but it doesn't bind the piston. (depends on your piston/head clearance) #6. I rotate my distributor so the notch in the distributor rim is right in line with the rotor arm. #7. I adjust the first #1 intake and exhaust valves to one turn after the rocker arm just touches the valve stem. Or use Bobs way of .006 with a feeler gauge (you are eliminating pre load by using his method, nothing wrong with it). #8. Since I've got a manual transmission I put the gearbox in 2nd gear and rock the car until the next cylinder comes up to TDC, I watch the rotor arm and when it is 90 degrees past the notch and first position I set the next valves. (leave the spark plugs in, only #1 needs to be removed) #9. While all this is going on the sealer that sticks my new valve cover gaskets to the valve covers is setting. #10. Just follow through on each cylinder until you've got them all set. #11. Check the general condition of your valve stems (no chips) and your adjusting screws (few tiny pits OK, but no chips or hard wear signs). #12. Reinstall your valve covers. #13. Crank your engine, pay attention to the oil light, if it doesn't come on immediately stop cranking and then crank again. #14. Your engine may be noisy for as long as 15 minutes, don't panic. Just take a gentle trip around the block and it will normally settle in. #15. I don't bleed the lifters, I've never to my knowledge had air locked lifters. If the above procedure doesn't quieten your lifters then you could possibly have the air locked problem. If you do you'll just have to follow the procedures in the Bentley or get info from Boston Bob about the bleeding procedure. #16. I made a tool consisting of a wood dowel with a finish nail in the end of it so I could bleed the lifters, pushing it down in the relief valve releases pressure in the lifter but I envisioned it as introducing air into the lifters and could never see that it did anything. It could be an option if you decide to try it. #7) After adjusting the valves your engine may be hard to start. Give it a few tries and it should start up. The lifters may be noisy for a few minutes and this can continue for fifteen minutes. I've found that a quick trip around the block at moderate normal speeds will normally quieten the lifters after the adjustment process. #8) Clean all electrical connections in your engine compartment. You can use spray Berryman B12 or other spray carburetor cleaner. Agitate the cleaner with a brush at each connection and then give it a shot of cleaner to rinse out the residue. #9) Inspect the condition of your Distributor Cap (Air Cooled Require Copper Contacts, Water Cooled can use either Aluminum or Copper). Inspect your Rotor Arm for burnt contractor end. Inspect you spark plug wire (Air Cooled Require solid core, Water Cooled Require Graphite Fiber Wires). Clean all connectors in the cap, spark coil and wire to plug. It is best to have all Bosch brand ignition but other brands are good as long as they meet the required contractor requirements. If you have a point set ignition the points should be inspected and adjusted to .016/. 020, this will get you within the required dwell range. Rule: Dwell changes timing so if you change dwell you'll need to reset your timing. Be sure that the right spark plugs are installed. #10) Set your timing as specified by the manual you are using for reference. Take special care to check the timing at the full advance specified. While progressing from idle timing setting to the full advance setting the advance should be constant without dropping back and forth during the increase of engine speed. The timing mark on the Air Cooled is a small saw cut in the rim of the Fan, it is difficult to see and a drop of Liquid Paper or white paint will be a big assist in sighting it with the timing light. #11) Replace your fuel filter, don't pass this up just because the PO said it had a new filter. The Berryman or other Fuel Injection may have loosened up ancient contamination in your fuel tank and started blocking the filter with debris. #12) Test your fuel pressure at the fuel rail per specifications of the manual you are using. #13) Visually check all fuel lines for leaks. Replace any leaking lines or lines that are hard, have splits or any aging signs. #14) Check all vacuum lines for leaks, replace all lines that are soft, split or have loose connection. Installing hose clamps on vacuum lines is a good idea. #15) Addressing oil leaks, primarily on Type IV air cooled engines. (nothing here for Water Cooled) a) Clean your engine top to bottom before pointing at any particular location as a possible leaking spot. b) Most common leaking areas on an air cooled are, valve cover gaskets, push rod tube O rings, loose oil filter, bad gasket on the strainer plate. c) It is best to get the O rings and valve cover gaskets replaced right with the initial investigation of oil leaks. It narrows down a lot of options.

Tips: All ignition wires on Air Cooled should be copper core, even the coil wire, rotor arm brass tip should be about 3/8" wide, narrow blades don't seem to get the full timing arc., contactors in the distributor should be copper. The injector lines between the fuel rail and the injector sometimes have a very tiny leak, impossible to see except with a very bright flashlight that makes them show up. Wrapping them with paper towel will sometimes disclose a leak. Tip: I had a failing spark coil, van ran fine but tach read below proper rpms in the 2500 up range. Low speed and idle it looked OK. New coil, van ran better and cleaner. The tiny notch in the fan pulley is very hard to see. Remove the crossover black pipe for the alternator forced air, remove the bug screen over the fan. Mark the timing on the timing arc and the pulley with liquid paper, white paint etc. so it can be seen. The idle is the large screw in the throttle body, it just controls fine tune idle characteristics. The AFM screw may still be under the aluminum plug that you need to get out (1/8" drill, put sheet metal screw in and pull out). The AFM adjustment screw can be an Allen socket or straight slot. Be sure that the EGR valve on the intake distribution box is either working or blocked off. Check for vacuum leaks .............. everywhere. Also check to be sure you don't have any fuel leaks (I've had leaks at the pump, cracked rubber hose). Partial blocked catalytic converter can cause poor mileage as well. If you set your points to .016 /.020 you'll be in the right dewll. Rule "Dewll changes timing but timing doesn't change dwell".

If you didn't do a compression check before you purchased the vehicle don't waste your time doing a compression check unless your engine has problems. I've seen Air Cooled engines with 80psi average compression that still ran very well and produced enough power to operate very well as long as it was run with respect.

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