I missed the beginning of this thread, but still can't understand how pistons are burning if your only getting 16mpg. It can't be a lean running condition. Is ignition timing advanced too much?
My wife and I have been on the road in our '82 air-cooled 2-liter fuel-injected Vanagon for a while now; since my last post, we've driven from Kansas to Ohio, then back to New Mexico, then up to Omaha, where we burned a hole through one of our pistons. Cram Foreign Auto Parts on 72nd Street, staffed entirely with Volkswagen enthusiasts, has been very helpful in getting stuff fixed, and they contract out the engine rebuild work to a guy named John. *snip* It's still noisy, gets 16mpg, has stinky exhaust, has a broken heater, leaks gasoline from the top of the tank (I think a new breather hose set would solve this, but I don't know where to get one on the road), doesn't have a working odometer, and has the battery isolator hooked up wrong. *snip* John, the engine rebuilding guy, called to say that we were very lucky; we hadn't spoiled the heads, but we'd burned through one piston and a second one was just about to go. I'm glad it wasn't the valves. |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.