Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:40:35 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: The real story about the invention of the WBX?
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why would anyone want a diesel ( btdt ) .....
except for the better fuel milage, they are costlier over the long run to
purchase, own, operate, and repair, or at least 'quite often' they are.
typical example.......
nice used geman -made AAZ went into a vanagon.......the techician/owner took
it to hawaii where he does rental westy's.
it was a darn tight and good AAZ too, only about 40,000 miles on it. Ran
perfect.
He spent.......you know........about 5 grand on that conversion, perhaps a
bit more. Twice what the westy he put it in cost.
got about a good year and a half out of it.
The engine 'overheated' or somehow failed with a rental customer driving it.
I asked him about it just last night even ...........the head is completey
trashed.
he put a waterboxer back in.
diesel engines can do harm to themselvses in ways that gasoline engines
can't ........like a bad injector causing damage in a combustion chamber.
They depend on the condition of the engine itself to create
combustion........if that gets a little weak.........and you don't get
complete combustion.
they are an interferece design and have a critical timing belt.....
and a few other things .......
I'll build 'em , or sell 'em .........but I'm tellin' ya ..........'a good
portion of the time' they are not cheaper to purchase, operate, repair, and
own, even if they do get 30 to 40 % better fuel economy on more expensive
fuel.
They do have great low end torque though,
and you can run plant-based fuels, yes.....no argument there.
and sometimes they have a nasty habbit of smoking, smelling, and rattling
and vibarating.
put it this way ...........
they do not make good 'old' engines. They make good expensive new engines.
the subaru diesel may have some 'not vanagon' friendly
characteristics.........like CAN BUS electronics,
and a too low turbo location for syncro's and off road use.........but
turbo's can be moved too. They're only 2 liters also.
but it's all fun, and I think mainly the real 'thrill' of diesel is 'being
different' than the masses. I 'did vanagon diesel about 8 years btw )
And I won't argue with good low end torque.......you got me there for sure !
...particularily in TDI's.
your crazy freind.
( and I won't even mention a guy I know with a 2004 tdi jetta.......
had an injection pump rebuid that cost about $ 2,000 ........a part that a
fuel injected gasoline doesn't even have...........then it cost about
another $ 900 to get another shop to really dial in the timing belt and
timing exactly right. Ain't no ecomomy there Martha ! )
----- Original Message -----
From: "Allan Streib" <streib@CS.INDIANA.EDU>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 12:25 PM
Subject: Re: The real story about the invention of the WBX?
> On Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:02:55 -0600, "John Rodgers" <inua@CHARTER.NET>
> said:
>
>> Japanese have transmuted it into a very fine piece of modern machinery -
>> the Suburu flat four.- and now the flat six and most recently a flat
>> diesel all of which evidently can fit nicely into a Vanagon.
>
> I soooo wish we could get that Subaru boxer diesel here.....
>
> Allan
