Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 09:56:01 -0700
Reply-To: Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@TELUS.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@TELUS.NET>
Subject: Re: slow van, overheating, fast white westy on 91
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Sounds to me as though your van is fine, Aaron. Both my 84 GL and 86 Westy
Weekender climb pretty slowly, especially at altitude. Since a naturally
aspirated engine loses 5% of its horsepower for every 1000 feet above sea
level, we amuse ourselves on long high-altitude ascents by calculating the
likely horsepower left to us at the top of the pass. At 7130 feet in Wyoming
we were down to 52 hp, which pretty much explains everything! I wish that
someone would engineer a turbo or supercharger kit for the Vanagon; like the
Judson kit fot early beetles. You should put it over the scale next time
you pass a closed one.You'll be surprised.
Seeya, Jake
----- Original Message -----
From: "Aaron Pearson" <Aaron.Pearson@GXT.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, July 11, 2005 6:40 AM
Subject: slow van, overheating, fast white westy on 91
we took our '87 syncro 7-pass gl to aspen from boulder (colorado) this
weekend, "moderately" loaded (~200 lbs, plus two light people). we took
it over independance pass and stayed at a national forest campground on
the aspen side of the pass. i'm happy with my van, i know it's slow,
but if it can make that trip in four hours, that's good enough for me.
HOWEVER, on the way back, on 91 between leadville and copper mtn, i am
passed on a steep uphill grade by a 89-91 westy. i'm doing 25 mph in
2nd gear, and this guy (ponytail dude, i gave you a thumbs up- are you
out there?) is at 40 mph at least. i assume he's got a transplanted
engine, but maybe not? i've only driven one vanagon in my life, and
assumed it's normal. the compression is fine on it, it's had a tune-up
within a year, and it sounds and smells fine. but maybe i'm suffereing
needlessly? this is the stock motor, 95k miles.
another calibration point: on i-70 east over eisenhower, i'm again in
2nd going 25 mph. the temp needle gets higher then i've ever seen it (a
full needle-width above the led), so i pull over and cool off. when we
start again, we have the heaters on and keep it below 3200 rpm and we
make it up, no problem. air temp is ~75F.
so, is this right? i've always assumed my van is healthy, but can a
front range local with a stock 2.1 confirm that eisenhower in 2nd is the
best i can hope for? my van is noticeably stronger at 5300' elevation
then 11000', of course, and i'm willing to live with that until it's new
motor time. but if i have the slowest van in the world, i'd like to
know.
thanks, all. sorry for the colorado-specific ref points and long post.
aaron
'87 syncro gl
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