Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2013 12:22:44 -0800
Reply-To: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: oil light question
In-Reply-To: <41DF4132-CA9E-4087-AC0A-87517E4BB9BD@aol.com>
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You definitely want to hook up a guage. The port between the pushrod tubes
takes pressure off the main bearings, the most important area. It's
difficult to get at (you have to remove the rock shield, which is attached
over an exhaust stud. I just cut the front leg off since the nut was
frozen).
I think others have said you can use a flexible brake line to attach to the
port in the case.
Wear limit is 28psi @ 4000 rpm in hot engine, 8 psi at idle. My worn 1.9
starts at 60 psi cold idle, drops within minutes to 8. I'm right at the
bearing wear limit, and this is with 15w-40 dino oil. You (and I) want to
go to a thicker synthetic, like Mobil One 15w-50.
Stuart
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Steve Cotsford
Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2013 11:44 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: oil light question
It seems very quiet in Vanagon circles today. Probably means that people
are resting or socializing and generally doing worthy things :-)
I have read some articles on Vanagon oil pressures and I get the impression
that its fairly common for older 2.1s to have problems in that area.
I have seen other types of engines with low oil pressure and generally the
oil light will start flickering at idle when the oil gets hot and thin. I
am unfamiliar with the Vanagon system with two senders however.
My oil light will start blinking on and off at a regular fairly slow timing
and no changes in engine speed seem to affect the blinking. However when
the engine is switched off and restarted, there is no oil light. However
after a few minutes, the regular blinking starts again. And once again, the
speed of the blinking, on-off,on-off seems to be completely unaffected by
engine rpm. My gut feeling is that its not oil pressure or lack of that
is causing this but some other fault. Engine is a 2.1 from a Syncro I
think and its installed in my 1989 Bluestar Vanagon. I am unsure of the
mileage but was told its a little over 100k.
I can go buy a mechanical gauge and screw it into a pressure switch point
but which one? The one near the distributor or the one down between the
pushrod tubes. Which makes the most sense? Are they both connected by
oil passages within the engine? Is this a common fault and is it likely to
be related to something in the gauge assembly and not in the engine at all?
Thanks for any help. Enjoy your new years eve :-) Cheers Steve=