Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2006 01:51:01 -0700
Reply-To: John Lane <westy_cruisin@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Lane <westy_cruisin@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: 86 2.1 L clunking noise under load
In-Reply-To: <BAY111-F18FF9CB6289FB1427E482BB4440@phx.gbl>
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Is the 'clunk' an occasional one or does it do it all the time? Only under a load and/or shut down?
I have a 1.9 and she 'clunks' from the exhaust hitting the rear valance ( I surmise) every once ina while. One of the mount bolts is not tight on the aft frame mount also, which might contribute to the cause on mine. I tend to think the worse when I am on a long trip, especially in a Westy. Not that they are un-reliable...just the reality that if something does go wrong and I cannot fix her with any or the spares I carry, who can?
John Lane
83.5 Westy, Iron Butterfly
Mark hersh <markhersh@MSN.COM> wrote:
Hi Everyone,
We're new to the list and recently acquired an 86 Weekender Westy (2.1 L
stock engine, auto trans) that we took last week from our home in Seattle to
the Missoula MT area. Heading up a steep grade in a National Forest the
engine made a deep clunk noise that I thought might have been a main bearing
going south. We stopped, let it cool, checked oil and coolant, and got out
of there. We took it easy, 50-55 mph but it made the same noise going up
Lookout Pass (MT to ID on I-90) and I eased up on the gas and we crested at
15-20 mph on the shoulder. Ran fine downhill, through Spokane, stopped for
the night having travelled about 150 miles after the first clunks.
The next day we kept it at 50-55 most of the way and crested Snoqualmie Pass
around 40 mph with no apparent problems and made it home ~250 miles. I did
add ATF (about a cup) and one quart engine oil after Lookout Pass but before
Snoqualmie.
I have been having some coolant problems and have been needing to top off
the filler tank occasionally. In one rest stop, it did overflow a bit, but
the gauge never ran higher than 5/8 (OK, maybe 11/16, but not 3/4) and after
the clunk I ran the heaters if it got past 1/2. It always ran less than 1/2
on extended downhills and 1/2.
A friend (with no VW experience) says it's unlikely I could have made it
back 400 miles with a main bearing going south and suggested a loose motor
mount might make such a noise. The van has 240K miles on the odometer and
has had some engine work done in the past (probably goes without saying),
but I sensed both engine and trans were near the end of the wear cycles when
we bought him. With this trip, we have put about 2500 miles on him, but
this was the longest and most strenuous trip we've been on.
Any ideas? Thanks.
Mark & Jennifer
86 Weekender Wolfsburg Edition, "Monty"
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