Date: Sun, 1 May 2011 14:56:44 -0700
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: Suitable range for tach?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Hi,
I consider myself pretty conservative and easy on equipment.
and I don't consider 4,400 rpm with a 5,200 rpm starting point for the redline area to be terribly bad.
particularly with the shorter stroke of the 1.9 waterboxer engine.
Doesn't mind reving out much at all I don't think.
I am running a 1.9 in an 87 Wolfsburg with manual trans ..
I find myself more like 'a little over 4,000' rpm with that engine ..
where I might have been at more like 3,800 with the longer stroke 2.1 that was in there previously.
at some point you start thinking about how there's no oil cooler on the 1.9 and oil temps ...but 'rpm by itself' especially for short periods of time ....not a bid deal at all.
on a long grade that is just a 'grinder' and it's happy at 4,200 ...I'll climb at that rpm rather than 4,400 rpm usually. I wouldn't keep it at 4,600 for 3 miles of grade, that's for sure.
I took a tired 1.9 wbxr to probably 6K easily once..
cresting a grade at 60 in 4th with a 5 speed, and picking up speed, at night.
thought I'd better make sure I had shifted up to 5th ....I hit 72 mph in 4th ..
had to be 6K rpm ....didn't hurt a thing. And that particular engine had the oil light on when hot, anytime it was below 1,500 rpm. That engine is retired now ..but for sale as a rebuildable core.
I probably never normally go over 4,500 rpm, especially with an automatic.
----- Original Message -----
From: Rocket J Squirrel
To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2011 2:19 PM
Subject: Re: Suitable range for tach?
Are you saying that it's pretty much okay to cruise at 4,200 to 4,400 in the stock 1.9l ? I seldom exceed 4,100 and that only for brief periods. Am I perhaps being overly conservative?
On Sun, 2011-05-01 at 13:39 -0700, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
yes, I'd say a total range of 4K rpm is too low.
for an automatic transmission 1.9 waterboxer vanagon..
this is what I tell people 'hill climbing mode' is ...
( like long grades where you wish you could go 65 and are happy if you can
maintain 50ish in 2nd )
2nd gear ..
at about 4,200 to 4,400 rpm.
so in that mode, you'd have your tach needle pegged out.
seems kinda dumb to have that going on.
so that leaves you with the 6K rpm choice..
you'll see my post about an 84 or 85 'with-tach' instrument cluster too.
and I think very small tachs look silly ..
on a serious machine, like a Ferrari or a modern Porsche ..
the tach is the biggest and most important insturment, and right smack in
front of the driver, and BIG, not that you need one that big ..
but VW did it exactly right with their tach installation in the vagagon.
Small tachs dont' stand out at all.
and ....this may not have happened to you ..
but since a 1.9 wbxr engine sounds and feels almost exactly the same at
2,600 rpm and 4,20 rpm ..
it's not that hard to be zooming down the highway at 60mph ..
and not feel or notice it's still in 2nd !
a good easy to see tach is handly for that.
(mmmm....that seems strange ..everything 'seems' fine cruising down the
freeway here .... ..but why is my tach saying 4,800 rpm ...?
oh crap, I'm in second !! It happens. )
scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rocket J Squirrel" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2011 1:07 PM
Subject: Suitable range for tach?
> I'm looking at putting a tach that pegs at 4000 rpm. A list member wrote
> to suggest that I should go higher, and I tend to agree with him. But
> the VDO family of tachs that I'm looking at (cockpit series) don't have
> anything between 4000 and 6000 rpm, and 6000 rpm is silly high for a
> stock 1.9l engine.
>
> As I recall, 4000 is pretty much a sweet spot for smooth running of the
> engine. Having a tach that goes all the way up to 6000 rpm seems a waste
> of the gauge face.
>
> I ask the mechanics on the list: is a 0 - 4000 rpm tach too low?
>
> --
> Rocky J Squirrel
> '84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> '74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
> Bend, OR
> KG6RCR
