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Date:         Sat, 9 Jul 2011 15:46:38 -0400
Reply-To:     Gary Bawden <goldfieldgary@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Gary Bawden <goldfieldgary@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Cross-country trip report
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Greetings Vanagonites,

I'm in the middle of a trip after getting Hector (my '85 GL) back from Scott in Medford, OR, who has installed a 1.9 AAZ turbodiesel for me (nice job Scott!).

I left Medford late on June 30th, headed back home to Goldfield, NV, dropped off some stuff, picked up everything I could think of that I needed, and headed out the next morning for Titusville, FL to catch the shuttle launch. Had some difficulty with blowing a coolant hose which was on the engine I supplied to Scott, not his doing at all, in fact he was very helpful on the phone, and actually if it weren't for his encouragement about it still being possible to run the engine without the oil cooler in the circuit I would only have gotten as far as Rifle, CO, where I was seriously considering cutting the trip short and returning home. However, managed to put a hose in from the FLAPS that was actually for a Honda/Kia/Mazda application, ordered a hose from the VW dealer in Orlando, FL, to hold for me when I made it there, and continued on my way, having lost the better part of a day. So I wasn't able to do as much sight-seeing as I normally would have, but to make a long story short, I was able to make it to Florida in plenty of time to see the last space shuttle of the program. It was awesome!

So how do I like the AAZ engine? On hills in the western US it gets the job done, but one really has to watch the exhaust gas temperature (EGT) closely - - it'll creep right up there on the pyrometer, on the long grades I tried to keep it between about 1100 to 1150 degrees, but if you aren't paying close attention it'll go right up to 1250 (redline temp) in a heartbeat. Once into eastern Colorado and beyond, the gentler, shorter hills, along with the increased humidity (my theory), it was actually no problem with the EGT's - - I could stay in fourth gear on any hill on the highway and not worry to much about the temperature. It seems to be getting between 25 and 26 mpg at present, however I have a fuel leak on the injector pump so maybe that'll get better after I get the pump rebuilt. At any rate it is a real pleasure to drive - - I miss the better milage of my old '82 1.6 n/a diesel, which could get up to 32 mpg, but I would have needed another two days to get across the country to achieve that!

Today I'm outside of Ocala, FL, staying at a friend's place, got the new hose in, oil and filter changed, and am ready to go again! Now that I am back to my leisurely pace I will try and keep everyone updated as I meander my way back home.

As a matter of interest, after leaving Utah on the way here, where I spotted six Vanagons, I had not seen one other one until yesterday, saw a dark blue Vanagon outside of Sanford, FL. A young guy at a gas station wanted to know if Hector were for sale, we chatted for a few minutes, and he wished me a Jerry day! What fun!

OK, till I next find some free internet, signing off - -

Gary


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