Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2015 09:48:34 -0700
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Trip Report: Portland, Or to Algodones, Mx and return..
In-Reply-To: <1333B007-B488-4027-9ED8-918D67B6D2BD@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Like any tool, there is some maintenance that keeps things going without
much trouble, you get to know your van after a bit. Mine seems, like most
of the inline VW gas conversions...dependable and economical with decent
power, I don't think I'd change anything in it except maybe add a traction
rear end or a locking tranny for low traction driving..
On Sun, Mar 15, 2015 at 9:12 AM, Jason Kerr <jcabkerr@googlemail.com> wrote:
> Thanks for this report. Our family is new to the Vanagon world. We got
> an 83 1.9 WBX Westy (with about 7,000 miles on the new motor) back in
> August with a plan to go across the states (NC to CA and back to see parks)
> starting in May. We are just back from a trip to Florida (somewhere in
> 1700 mile range—but not exact with broken odometer) where the only trouble
> we had was a loose alternator belt that I tightened within minutes of the
> first squeal.
>
> At any rate, we are having no major issues, but it seems like we only hear
> about the vans with issues here on the list and on the Facebook pages. It
> is incredibly encouraging to hear about a trips where nothing blows up.
>
> We do have some things I want to do before heading out in a couple months
> (transmission fluid, another oil change, extra parts purchasing, maybe a
> new bearing on the front right wheel, tie rod ends, etc). Thanks for the
> writing about pre-trip maintenance.
>
>
> Jason
>
>
> On Mar 15, 2015, at 11:30 AM, Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> > Again this winter my 84 vanagon with inline VW power took me south for
> > the worst months of our Northwest winter weather, again without any
> > drama. I began tracking my mileage recently, with an app. called
> Fuelly,
> > just before I headed south. I logged almost 13,000 miles since September,
> > with an overall gas mileage figure of 24.4 mpg and an all time high of
> > 27.4. With all my carpenters tools, my toys and dog aboard and half a
> > tank of gas, I weighed the van at 4700lbs. With the weight, my fuel
> > consumption was down appx. 2mpg..but unloaded again now, I am back to
> about
> > 25mpg.
> >
> > Before departure I did some maintenance, as usual. I installed a new
> > set of iridium sparkplugs, the old ones had been in the motor since I
> > swapped to the 2.0 liter ABA block. (~50k miles?) The gap was rather
> > large and they had some deposits indicating my old motor may be getting a
> > little tired....but you can not tell the way the motor keeps
> > performing...Stuck in a new gas filter and changed the oil and filter
> > (15-40 delo oil, wix filter) I also changed a leaking output shaft seal
> > (axle) and topped up the transmission, bled the clutch slave and swapped
> > the brake fluid and upped the tires to carry the added load. Stuck in a
> > new Temp II sender just for drill and cleaned all the electrical grounds
> as
> > well as generally checking everything I could see or reach under the
> > vehicle...I also replaced the O2 sensor with a cheapo unheated one to run
> > with my Digifant engine management system...Works fine except it takes a
> > second or two to get up to temperature...
> >
> > When I finished this trip the van was again due for some
> > maintenance...Oil and filter, cut the filter open and checked for
> > metal....clean inside the filter....Again topped up the transaxle...no
> > metal bits on the drain plug...Examined the tire wear closely...the right
> > upper A-arm bushing is still shot....but no weird wear patterns. The
> > Vanagon drives noticeably lighter without all that stuff aboard....With
> > that weight I actually used my 3rd gear twice, climbing on Hwy 395, a
> high
> > mountain highway in eastern California with some passes above 8000'.....I
> > normally keep my speed around 60-70mph on my travels and have little
> > trouble holding that speed except on long steep passes above about 5000'
> of
> > elevation when fully loaded.
> >
> > Again I pretty much paid for this trip by purchasing medications,
> > eyeglasses, and having some dental work done in Mexico....It seems a bit
> > strange that in our great country we have to pay ten times over for
> > medicine or drive to Mexico or Canada if you are poor like me..I noticed,
> > also, that gas was pretty reasonable for a time, until they found an
> excuse
> > to up the price, PER GALLON, one dollar, all at once! I also got stuck
> in
> > L.A. traffic once...going over Cajon pass at stop and go pace for almost
> 15
> > miles......I don't know how people do that daily...
>
>
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