Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2011 11:14:47 -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: White Westy convoy, I-4 gasser advice
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there is no debate at all..
that electrical and electronics wise ..
a pre-chamer conventional all -mechanical vw diesel is vastly simpler in
that department, compared to a waterboxer or other EFI engine.
or e-tdi engine.
However, in the mechanical realm ..
I love that many gas engines are non-intererence engines.
If the timing belt gets out of 'exactly right' for .0002 seconds on a
diesel ...it's kablooey, big time usually. No such danger at all on many of
the gas EFI VW engine.
and it's sure nice to not have an injection pump that can leak or need
rebuilding.
and it's sure nice not having a turbo to eventually have issues with ..
though for me.............I've never had one go south or wear out on me...so
not 'bothered' there , having a turbo on a diesel. But ..particularily in
tdi's ..I read about turbo issues fairly commonly.
i'd also say vw diesel heads last 'strongly' till about 80 or 90K miles..
after that age ....seeing cracks and other failures. Other gas vw engines
are not weak in the cylinder head like VW diesels can be.
heck..
I'll stop here..
even an injector spray pattern being bad can do damage to a vw diesel ( not
talking tdi, just pre-chamber engines ) to the head gasket and even the head
itself, rendering it unuseable.
Now that kinda pisses me off..
just due to it not running perfectly in all four cylinders from the fuel
system ..
real damage can occur to head or head gasket. ( can show you the pictures )
.
I find that ..
well ............scary.
combine that with DV owners that can't tell when their engines are not
starting and running right ..
and the basic under-built nature of 1.6's ( they are CAR engines after all,
not a VAN engine reallY ) ..
you have a receipt for ...........expensive repairs.
and ones that could be avoided if people just knew when their engines
weren't working right.
I get DV's in here that have just come from a diesel shop that checked out
the engine ..
said it was fine,.................... yet when I get into it, I find at
least 12 significantly wrong , broken, and worn out things on it.
so 'in theory' ..
or 'with a smart tehcnician-owner' ......'reliable' - yes.
long-liffed ..
not in my experience in the real world, though I have run a 1.9 TD engine of
mine, for over 70K miles just fine, towing to move even .....trips to alaska
..........nothing ever other than normal maintanence - timing belt, glow
plugs, w. pump etc ..........
that was 'from new' , the whole engine, and a german made version. So did
super well there, no complaints. Never let me down in any way.
on the other hand, I've had the same exact engine sold as a good used engine
..
and it needed *everything* done to it. A full going thrugh. Totally trashed
inside. ..and that was suppossed to be a 'good used engine' ready to
install. I wont' even go into what a pure joke the 1.9 timing belt sprocket
mounting method is. On that engine, it totally would have failed there, due
to rust under the sprocket and ultra poor mounting disign ..and that would
have been one big fat kablooey right there for sure.
so ..'it depends' lets say.
No argument with the statement about the electrical/electronic part at all.
long as we're havin' fun !
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Snow" <slowmachine82@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 10:08 AM
Subject: Re: White Westy convoy, I-4 gasser advice
> On 8/15/11 3:03 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
>> I suggest the I-4 route to smooth power and basic reliability ( not to
>> mention being less polluting than 80's era diesel engines are ).
>>
> There are good reasons to convert a diesel van to gas, but I would argue
> strongly that basic reliability is not one of them. I would also argue
> that the increased MPG (mine averages about 28 MPH) of a diesel engine
> in good running condition compensates some (and maybe fully) for the
> allegedly cleaner gasoline engine.
>
> In my driveway, running and driveable:
> '82 Westy with AAZ 1.9TD
> '86 Syncro with 2.1 WBX
> '87 Syncro with TiiCo inline four
> '88 Wolfsburg with 2.1 WBX
>
> The diesel is by far the most reliable, and not simply because it is a
> newer version of the 1.6D/TD. An awful lot, maybe even the vast
> majority, of reliability problems are electrical in origin, not
> mechanical. No fuel-injected gasoline engine can come anywhere near the
> diesel for electrical simplicity. The 1.6D/TD and 1.9D/TD engines
> require, at most, a single 12v connection (battery to fuel-cutoff
> solenoid on the injection pump) in order to run. Even that can be
> eliminated by replacing the solenoid with a plug. Once started, the
> diesel engine can be driven indefinitely in this condition. The
> instrument cluster, ignition switch, and lighting systems can all be
> completely non-functional, or even missing from the van, and the van
> will still drive. A short jumper wire from a good battery to operate
> the glow plugs at start-up would be helpful, but even this can be
> bypassed by pushing, towing, or coasting downhill to start the engine.
>
> If I were choosing, I would rebuild the 1.6TD or replace it with a new
> 1.6 or 1.9 IDI TD engine.
>
> Mike
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