Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2006 22:35:40 -0600
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: New owner with question
In-Reply-To: <vanagon%2006011521485688@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Pascal Giasson wrote:
> However, it always puzzles me when I read
>about Vanagon with an engine rebuild between 90-125K. Is it because of
>poor maintenance, over working the engine, poor driving skills, I do not
>know but I expect to get alot more miles out of mine before I need a
>rebuild...but only time will tell.
>
>
Pascal,
Interesting commentary, there.
When I bought my 85 GL with the 1.9L wbx, it had 100,000 miles on it and
had never been cracked open for anything. I drove it to the 205,000 mile
mark without doing anything except routine maintenance. I did have the
tranny rebuilt sometime after the 200,000. mark. It was evident when I
bought the 85 that it had been taken care of, and I continued that.
Never ever drove it over 60. And I did get to the 205K.
When I bought my current vehicle, an 88 GL, I took a chance and bought
it off of a used car lot. It had 86K on it. Ran good, sounded good,
drove good. One thousand miles late the tranny gave up the ghost. It was
still in the used car dealers warranty period, and it was pulled and
sent out to someone I trusted for overhaul. Then at 89K miles, the
engine burned a piston completely through. I opted for a complete
teardown and once there, simply bought an new engine outright. While
going through all this, I discovered on the engine that failed, a yellow
tag that said "Remanufactured by Volkswagen of Canada".
I was blown away. That meant that sometime between when the vehicle was
new off the showroom floor, and 89,000 miles, there had already been one
engine that went belly up for whatever reasons, and now the
"Remanufactured in Canada" engine had failed. Two engines in 89,000!!
Somebody had really driven the snot out of my new van to destroy two
engines in less than 100,000 miles. My locally purchased rebuilt engine
that I put in after the Canadian engine, now has 70,000 miles on it and
it is going strong. I take it easy, I don't run it faster that 65 mph,
and usually 63 mph on the open road because that gives me exactly 3500
rpm on my tach. It runs really good right there.
The fellow that did my engine was an old timer with VW engines. He
warned me about driving it hard. He said if I tried to even keep up with
local traffic on the expressways around the greater Birmingham area that
the engine would not last. It just doesn't have those kind of guts. But
drive reasonable, and it will last forever. I took what he said to
heart, and it has performed well.
There are things that can be done to extend the longevity of the engine.
Much of it has to be done at the time of rebuild. The engine that Robert
Lilley built was built specifically for that purpose - increased
longevity. He got an increase in horsepower, but it was mainly for
economy, and longevity that the engine was built. the way it was.Lots of
little tricks.But the main thing is to drive it right.
We often hear how terrible the WBX is but so far my experience has been
generally good. For reliability, I would judge my current engine to
have performed so far at the "9" level. But then that is on an engine I
have had since it was rebuilt, and nobody drives it or has driven it but
me. And I treat my vehicles easy. And I mostly pull all my own
maintenance.
If I ever do an engine conversion it will be to a Subie engine. After
all, they are just a WBX on steroids!!
Regards,
John Rodgers
88 GL Driver
| 
