Date:         Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:24:37 -0800
Reply-To:     Michael Sant <michaelpatsant@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Michael Sant <michaelpatsant@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      vanagon 1.9l diesel oil blow by in air filter issue?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; delsp=yes; format=flowed

Hello everyone, I just joined this list. I just bought a 82' diesel  
Westy with an upgraded 1.9l in it, non-turbo. I bought it off the  
samba classifieds from a guy in Albuquerque, NM for $6500. This  
seemed like a fair price after talking to the guy at great length,  
but after driving it home to Portland, OR. I am second guessing it!

So, when I bought it, the seller had messed with the main crankcase  
breather hose and smaller hoses that come off of the intake. He  
installed a 90º elbow into the top of the air filter casing and ran  

this large diameter hose right from the bottom of the engine  
crankcase directly into this elbow. He had also experimented with  
running this hose into a T which he placed in the middle of the  
smaller diameter hose coming from the top of the engine off of the  
intake. He said that this wasn't working, that maybe the hoses were  
too small in diameter. So he then put electrical tape on this little  
breather hose and routed this large hose into the airbox.

As I was driving home, I was keeping the oil pressure gauge at 3-4  
Bars and the oil temp between 100-130 Celsius. I kept my speed to  
55-60MPH on the highway. I was told that the gauge was reading slower  

than actual by about 4-6MPH. I had many hills along the way through  
Colorado and Utah and was often above 7000 feet. So, after about 100  
miles into the trip, I got gas and noticed I was about 3/4 of a quart  

low on oil, I topped it off with the one gallon that the seller gave  
me (he said I would need it!). After driving further, the next tank  
of gas, the oil was about the same 1/2 - 3/4 of a quart low. So, I  
had good power but the oil temp was remaining a bit high. I made it  
all the way to hood river, OR and the oil pressure was dropping, I  
pulled over and added oil. Drove another 100 miles or so and it  
dropped again, this time I pulled off and opened her up. The oil was  
very low and we noticed this large breather hose routed into the  
airbox, this seemed wrong, so we opened up the air box and there was  
all of my missing oil! It had been dumping it into the air filter  
box! So we sopped up all the oil, and capped off this hose with a  
screwdriver, aimed it at the ground and drove home. When I got home,  
the oil was low again and it had been blowing out the oil dipstick  
tube, the dipstick tube was not fitting tight, so I installed a  
larger o-ring.

So, then I took it into a shop and had them look it over, they said  
that maybe it need the valve and cam cleaned and maybe it needed a  
better breathing valve cover. So they steam cleaned her valves,  
changed the oil, filter and air filter. (it had a cheap autozone oil  
filter on it!) and $89 later I picked her up.

So I drove it around town lightly, but giving it some gas, drove for  
about 15 miles and under 50MPH and got home and the airbox was again  
filled with oil!

So, now I have it a a very reputable shop in town and they are  
scratching their heads about how these breather hoses actually go.  
Since this was not an engine typically installed in a Vanagon, and  
since it was done different ways depending on usage and wether it had  

as turbo, it is very confusing about how this needs to be resolved.

Here are my ideas:
1. clogged or bad oil pump allowing too much crankcase pressure to  
build up
2. has wrong 1.6l valve cover and needs a 1.9L style one with a more  
robust oil breather/filter cap
3. needs better oil breather tubes
4. needs an add on crankcase oil filter/breather like the Mann  
ProVent 200
5. needs new rings, (yikes I hope not after paying what I did for her!!)
6. ??? Your ideas?


Sorry, for the lengthy description, but no one I take it to seems to  
have a clear answer about how exactly these hoses, especially the  
large one coming from the crankcase, are supposed to be routed.
So, have any of you ran into this problem? If so, what did you do?

Thanks so much for your time!

Signed,
Sad Biodiesel Westy in P-Town
Mike