Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2005 17:59:48 -0500
Reply-To: Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Subject: Re: preparing for engine rebuild or replacement
In-Reply-To: <006201c5203a$644d0b90$8564a8c0@CenTrina>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
If your engine always was treated well, had its coolant changed every 2
years, oil regularly changed, you might be able to get to 200K miles
and beyond. A compression test and leak down test will give a pretty
good estimate of the health of your motor.
Since you ARE in the Seattle area, subaru engine conversions are easily
dealt with by SmallCar over in Tacoma (www.smallcar.com). (I had them
do mine and I'm an East Coaster). For your purposes a 2.2 liter subaru
would be probably the easiest path for upgrade. Should work with the
autotransmission very nicely, and will bring no end of smiles down the
road.
On Mar 3, 2005, at 4:46 PM, Trina Lindal wrote:
> Here's the story:
>
> I'm at 140k miles on this engine, a 2.1L '91, automatic transmission
> (not a
> Synchro). I do have a trusted VW mechanic, and we take care of all
> engine
> related things as they are due - oil changes, coolant system,
> cap/rotor/plugs/wire/air filter. So, I'm basically taking good care of
> it
> (as well as a non-mechanically inclined girl can do). The heads were
> replaced at around 110k, the water pump at 120k (those are rough
> estimates,
> based on when they were done). I am not a "hard" driver, although my
> daily
> merge onto the freeway requires me to floor it in order to piss off as
> few
> people as possible! I'm not heavy on the revs otherwise.
>
> So, my questions are:
>
> 1. How many more miles am I likely to get?
> It is a daily driver, but very little stop-and-go, as my commute
> doesn't put
> me in traffic. I also put about 2000 miles on it for road trips each
> year.
> (I realize this can be very individual to each vanagon, so a range with
> whether I might be in the high or low end of it would be helpful!)
>
> Another aspect to this question: Am I safe to be planning my regular
> road
> trips this summer? They are usually within 200 miles of home, but can
> be
> further.
>
> 2. What signs will I have when the engine could be ready to go? And,
> how
> long will I have once I notice those signs? (I should notice them quite
> quickly, as I did with the heads and water pump.)
>
> 3. Rebuild or replace?
> I've read that some people have replaced the engine with a Subaru
> engine...
> what's that all about? Should I - well, the mechanic - rebuild the
> existing
> engine or buy a rebuilt one from somewhere? What about hiring a
> gearhead
> wrencher who's rebuilt Broncos and whatnot in the past? Prolly not a
> good
> idea, but thought I'd ask.
>
> 4. How much money can I expect to spend (rebuilt/replace/buy)? I'm in
> the
> Seattle area, and vanagons seem to be pretty plentiful, if that
> matters. I'd
> mostly just like to be prepared for when the time comes and charge at
> little
> as possible to the credit card.
>
> 5. Am I way off track here and my engine will run forever, so just quit
> worrying? :)
>
> Thanks again,
> /Trina
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