Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2010 21:13:25 -0700
Reply-To: Pat Sloan <pmsloan@SHAW.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Pat Sloan <pmsloan@SHAW.CA>
Subject: Re: Must sell my Vanagon - Comments appreciated
In-Reply-To: <ca7fa51b8c983452c9b64cbf48ccc8e0.squirrel@ketchup.teksavvy.com>
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Thanks, Greg for your questions. It has a CIS fuel system.
I guess I don't have Vanagon Syndrome if that only occurs on '86 or older.
What it is doing is having great difficulty starting and when driven in the
city (stop and go traffic) it begins to surge and then cough after about 20
minutes driving. Eventually it coughs and won't restart. Sometimes it will
start again after resting for about 1/2 hour. Other times, it gets towed to
a garage for whatever. Right now it is parked on the street in front of my
apt building. It only starts after great difficulty and when/if it does, it
now makes a screeching noise that sound like a bad fan belt to me.
All this in spite of a new battery and ignition switch, as well as
considerable rewiring. I'm told that more rewiring is needed. There is also
a complete new fuel delivery system from new gas tank, lines, pump, filter
and injectors.
4 mechanics have worked on her - 2 of them highly recommended Vanagon
mechanics. One VW mechanic gave up saying that he really didn't like Jetta
engines. Another said that the van had been horribly rewired earlier in its
life and would require many hours more wiring work. One small town mechanic
did a lot of rewiring for cheap and a lot of work on the fuel system, but
eventually gave up because he just didn't know a lot about vans and it was
taking time from his usual customers. I'd like to put the problem to your
inline engine list, but I still am lacking someone local to work on it
without bankrupting me.
I've spent about $2500 on this so far (above and beyond the purchase price)
and have no knowledge, tools or location to work on it myself. Registration
needs to be renewed in a couple of weeks and I have nowhere offstreet to
store it.
So it looks like a rock and a hard place to me. Any perspective from your
end?
Cheers, Pat
-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Potts [mailto:greg@pottsfamily.ca]
Sent: October 16, 2010 4:39 PM
To: Pat Sloan
Cc: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com
Subject: Re: Must sell my Vanagon - Comments appreciated
Hi Pat,
What fuel system is on it? IIRC 1.7s came with carbs or CIS. I owned a
1985 CIS cabriolet; and found that CIS was great when it worked but a
pricey PITA when it didn't.
Vanagon syndrome is a character of Digifant 1986-1991 fuel injection. But
it's certainly possible to put Digifant on a 1.7.
Have you heard of Neil's google group for Vanagons with inline4 engines?
Perhaps we could help you on that list...
Apologies if you've mentioned this previously and it's slipped my mind.
Happy Trails,
Greg Potts
www.pottsfamily.ca
WWW.BUSESOFTHECORN.CA <--- NEW .CA DOMAIN!!!
1987 Wolfsburg Weekender hardtop Vanagon
1988 Wolfsburg Weekender hardtop Vanagon
1973 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
> Lovely 1982 fully camperized Van with clean interior and minimal rust (a
> west coast van all her life). Assuan brown with a white Westfalia roof.
> Good
> exterior and a sweet 60,000-mile Jetta 1.7 litre engine. Lots of recent
> fuel
> line work and rewiring. Needs more. Located in Vancouver, BC.
>
>
>
> What do you guys think would be a reasonable asking price for the above?
> I've posted occasionally about my difficulties getting my van to run
> reliably. She runs sweet and fast on the highway, but suffers from the
> Vanagon Syndrome surging phenomenon when I'm in the city. I made a poor
> choice when I bought it and have spent several thousand $ on a completely
> new fuel delivery system and lots of rewiring. More rewiring needed and I
> have just decided that I can't afford to put any more money into her. So
> sad. I just don't have the skills and resources to keep going.
>
> All my personal regrets aside, I'd appreciate any comments that would help
> me sell her to a good home. I realize that I'm not going to come close to
> recovering what I've put into her. Sobeit.
>
> Many thanks, Pat
>
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