Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2012 11:44:51 -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: reference manual
In-Reply-To: <CAArYBE672gHHsbhX_VHwQDUzDfpTSt2pYD=bc=yR3Q1cx5Mrpg@mail.gmail.com>
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Hey there ...
Anyway(s) ...'GL' refers to it being a deluxe model. I'd say even
'most' are. I have one that is an 'L' model ..that's like a base trim
level in the US.
I'm sure in Germany there are models that are more 'base' than that too.
The Bentely Repair Manual is not hard to find at all.
try evilBay, Amazon for used ...There is even a hardbound version at my
local VW parts store, the only hardbound copy I've seen. They are easy
to get.
I think it's fair to say there is really a LOT to know about vanagons
and waterboxer vanagons ...you could be learning for a long, long time,
as most people do, if they want to really understand them and be good at
taking care of them and repairing them.
I would also start gathering known-good back-up parts, like from
junkyards. I would never go on any real trip without a # of good spare
parts, such as ..and ECU, a distributor, a fuel pump, an alternator
........many of those.
Just about every part you can think of is an issue at some point.
the most failure prone system is the cooling system. There are easily
150 parts in that system, spread out from one end to the other . Many of
them in 86 and later waterboxer vanagons are made of plastic ..
That plastic likes to grumble and fail with age sometimes.
Typical failures include .....the metal inserts slide out of the ends of
the two main plastic coolant pipes, front-to-back.
Typically one front end fails . Have seen that several times.
There is a 'Coolant Distribution Tower' cleverly hidden on the
forward/out-of-sight side of the firewall , on the right side.
Sometimes those just break or grumble where a heater hose goes on.
That is a part that would be very hard to jury rig out in the boonies
somewhere.
Plastic thermsotat housings fail too.
anyway ........there is a lot to know about and to pay attention too.
Typically ....I find quite a few items 'very due' on these fine vans.
I'll keep it short ....older guy with some money to invest in an 86 GL
for his son - He buys it for $ 300 and it is just perfect, not one ding,
perfect blue interior, perfect silver paint.
Badly leaknig head gaskets - very typical. someone had put Barsleak
in the cooling system, and some is ok, but they put a ton of it in.
The guy never said 'careful about how much of my money you spend'
..all he ever said was 'fix it right so my son in the back woods of
Idaho doesn't have problems' ...
He has $ 6,000 in that van now ..and I'm not even an expensive fancy
high-end shop ..
it went on and on ...clutch master cylinder, brake master cylinder , all
new bracks front and rear, new radiator , numberous new hoses and
plastic cooling system parts .........tires ......and about 40 more things.
They are GREAT Vehicles - vanagons. They take 'special care and
understanding' ..
Once fully up to serviceable spec, they are not hard to maintain at all
, 'usually'.
many of them can need 'so much' though ...after 20 + years of just
fixing it when it breaks ..which is an awful way to take care of a vanagon.
some shops could say ...you need a rebuilt power steering rack, a
front end alignment, and those tired bushings there too, and a
new/rebuilt power steering pump .. a good flush and new fluid ....no
problem ....$ 1,200 , or something like that. More even sometimes. I
don't do that generally , unless it's unavoidable, but many shops do.
good luck and start studying I say !
welcome to the group and vanagon-land.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
( in Southern Oregon )
On 7/9/2012 7:46 AM, Gab and Em wrote:
> Where can I get a reference manual?
>
> When I was younger (IE when I didn't have children) and had a 1990 Westy, I
> had a factory manual, purchased for ~1$150; but I think I let it go with
> the van. Shoot me now. Back then, I didn't mind that I didn't know what
> all the bits and bobs were for. Now, with kids, can't stomach not knowing
> what everything is: cylinders willy-nilly here and there, vents,
> lines-gallore, little throttling valves -- I gotta know, man. Know what I
> mean???
> What is all that stuff??? What am I going to do when it breaks down?
>
> Warts sprouting,
> Gabby
> 1986 Westfalia, GL
>
> PS -- What does GL refer to, anyways?
>
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