Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2014 18:26:16 -0600
Reply-To: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: I am not alone
In-Reply-To: <BAY407-EAS270086854A848B47F87C0AA0870@phx.gbl>
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Dennis,
Just to underscore what you are saying, today I tore down a 1.6 TD from my
old Jetta EcoDiesel. I am preparing it for the machine work to put it in my
Westy.
I have done many a 1.6 diesel engine for a Westy, and every one of them
that had over 50K miles on it was showing bearing wear, meaning that you
could begin to see copper in the bearings or were deep into it. At 80 or
100 thousand miles, you will always be deep into it.
This Jetta engine had air and power steering, and I ran it mercilessly up
and down the interstate when I drove it. So the engine was worked pretty
hard. It had about 220,000 miles on it when I pulled the engine out. When I
opened it up today, I couldn't believe the condition of those bearings.
They were absolutely like new, no copper showing anywhere. I know it was
the first time it had been opened because it had the separate thrust
bearings that the factory used, not the one-piece replacements.
The weight and wind resistance on a vanagon are very, very hard on an
engine.
The waterboxer is a great design to go as lomg as it does and hold up as
well as it does.
Jim
On Sun, Feb 23, 2014 at 5:57 PM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>wrote:
> I think the Water boxer has an I'll deserved bad reputation. While head
> sealing and outer gaskets can be troublesome many failures are still due to
> support system failures. Look in the yellow pages. There are an awful lot
> of
> engine shops and large scale rebuilders for many engines and A lot of them
> do not do VW's. Having to perform some type of major maintenance at 60k
> intervals is not all that unusual. Go price a timing belt, water pump, and
> front seal replacement on some modern vehicles and you will be surprised at
> what that can cost.
>
> I like the inline engines as they usually offer more horsepower and torque
> at lower speeds. There can also be a fuel economy improvement. However they
> can still lose head gaskets, crack heads, and even have the deck of the
> block get damaged requiring a tear down and machine work. All these small
> engines still have to work hard to push our non-aerodynamic boxes. The more
> work an engine does, the faster it will wear out.
>
> Dennis
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Don Hanson
> Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2014 6:50 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: I am not alone
>
> My Vanagon is pretty easy to keep going. I think the key is to replace the
> troublesome WBX motor... Most of the unreliability issues seem to stem from
> those...
>
> When I first began to consider a Vanagon... a bit of research told me I
> wanted nothing to do with a stock motor..... Every review said they were
> poorly designed and very prone to frequent expensive repairs. I was smart
> enough to choose to do an "end run" and find a Vanagon with a different
> motor... Rather than learn all about how to fix a water boxer and keep it
> fixed...
>
> Yes a 30yr old machine of any sort is going to have things wearing out
> but
> with the Vanagon we're able to do most of the needed replacements on our
> own
> with simple tools. The Trick seems to be to replace stuff before it
> fails...
> On Feb 21, 2014 9:42 AM, "Jim Felder" <jim.felder@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I would not argue with that logic. They have to be pretty smart to
> > figure out how to keep them running at this point!
> >
> > Huntsville has had a military presence back to WWII, and has had NASA
> > since the mid fifties. Back when I was a kid, soldiers could ship a
> > vehicle back to the states at low/no cost. Parts places and mechanics
> > for these cars were everywhere. I was friends with the guy who came
> > here to be Dr Von Braun's Mercedes mechanic and he opened a shop that
> > has survived him, and he spawned a lot of other shops (he was the Fiat
> > dealer for a time, and you know what that means). I came of automotive
> > age at a pretty interesting time. Morgan 3 wheelers, 2-stroke SAABs,
> > Alfa Romeo Giuliettas, all manner of British T-series and on, Simca,
> > Renault, Citroen, VW, Muscovich (sp?), NSA all cheap if you kept your
> > eyes open. A lot of them deserved to be cheap, but some cars were fun
> bargains.
> >
> > If you couldn't find it in town, JC Whitney had it. Look at an old
> > Whitneys catalog and you won't believe your eyes. I have an old one
> > that I am going to scan someday and put up a few pages. You will sob.
> >
> > When I acquired Fifty Shades of Brown, it had a sticker in the window
> > that read
> >
> > SAVE ME FROM WHAT I WANT
> >
> > That is good advice for an old diesel Vanagon owner. I was obviously
> > smart enough to ignore it : )
> >
> > Jim
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Feb 21, 2014 at 11:25 AM, Stuart MacMillan
> > <stuartmacm@gmail.com
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > University towns have always been VW centers, especially for campers.
> > The
> > > Seattle area has three VW dealers, one four blocks from the
> > > University of Washington campus. They all sold a lot of campers over
> > > the years, which
> > is
> > > why we still have so many around.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > At least that seems to be true in the west, and Huntsville too
> > > apparently. Hmm, does that mean smart people own Vanagons?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Stuart
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > *From:* Jim Felder [mailto:jim.felder@gmail.com]
> > > *Sent:* Friday, February 21, 2014 9:09 AM
> > > *To:* Stuart MacMillan; Vanagon mailing list
> > > *Subject:* Re: I am not alone
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I'm in Huntsville (Madison, technically). No shortage of parts here,
> > > thanks to me! LOL
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Plus we have a really good shop here and another in a nearby town. I
> > > looked at a Carat automatic yesterday at my local shop. It was
> > > parked out front with a Birmingham tag. The shop owner said that
> > > they owner has the car towed to Huntsville for any kind of service
> > > more complicated than an oil change.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > About a week ago a friend with a westy stopped by for a part. There
> > > were my two in their respective driveways, and this one on the
> > > street. My neighbor, who just bought a red passat TDI wagon, stopped
> > > and rolled the window down and said "You better keep them apart!
> > > They're starting to multiply!!!"
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Jim
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Fri, Feb 21, 2014 at 10:24 AM, Stuart MacMillan
> > > <stuartmacm@gmail.com
> > >
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > I've heard that Huntsville has a pretty good quantity of Vanagon
> owners.
> > > Aerospace folks seem to like them. Drive up for a weekend to get
> > > your
> > fix!
> > >
> > > Stuart
> > >
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> > > Behalf
> > Of
> > > JRodgers
> > > Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2014 10:10 PM
> > > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > > Subject: I am not alone
> > >
> > > For the longest kind of time I have not seen any Vanagons around
> > > Birmingham, AL but my own. Never see any mention of Birmingham on
> > > the Vanagon List so have wondered if I am all alone in the big city.
> > >
> > > Well, today, just after parking my van and nearing the steps into
> > > the house, I hear this familiar engine sound, and almost
> > > simultaneously hear the unmistakable sound of a Vanagon horn down by
> > > the street. I turn and look toward the street in time to see TWO
> > > Tintop Vanagons with cargo carriers on top - one behind the other,
> > > one blue, one green, chugging up my hill. They waved, blew the horn
> again, but didn't stop. Wish they had.
> > >
> > > But it's nice to know I'm not alone in the big city.
> > >
> > > John
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
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