Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2015 06:56:54 -0800
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Oil pressure light and buzzer Checking engine grounding1
In-Reply-To: <008b01d11c30$51245ac0$f36d1040$@gmail.com>
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That is very insightful of your old mechanic. It makes sense and explains
why the WBX motors seem to have such a nasty habit of leaking at the heads.
Now before everyone chimes in with "Well, MY Vanagon, it went a million
miles with the factory motor....." or the like, In the real world, other
than Vanagon List, that motor doesn't seem to be particularly dependable or
well designed. The engineers seemed to have overlooked electrolysis, and
they 'sent on' some of the problems from the air cooled pancake VW motors
If I had a WBX motor in my Vanagon, I'd certainly add some grounds to
the heads...makes sense and as Stuart says, can't hurt...I guess.
On Tue, Nov 10, 2015 at 7:23 PM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com>
wrote:
> This is so important. I bought my first Vanagon, an '84 Westy, in 1986
> with 30k miles on it. At 45k one of the heads leaked, and the dealer
> replaced both heads under a "partial" warranty--VW gave me one new head,
> the other for 50% off ($400) and a gasket kit, but the dealer charged $1000
> for the labor to install them. This was in 1988, about $2800 today!
>
> I also got 205,000 out of this engine before I replaced it with a rebuilt
> 2.1. It was running well, I just wanted more power.
>
> I had a conversation about why this happened with the tech who did the
> job, and he thought the head corrosion problem he saw so much of was from
> bad/failed engine grounding. They also replaced the engine ground strap and
> he recommended that I run a 6 ga wire from each head to the case, and
> showed me where to attach it.
>
> Makes sense when you think about it. The heads have a rubber gasket
> between them and the case, rubber hoses connect them to the intake plenum,
> and the cap nuts on the studs have sealant under the flange. This leaves
> the cylinders, exhaust system, and push rods to complete the ground
> connection to the case, which is completed to the chassis by the engine &
> transmission ground straps. This is a connection system that is ripe for
> high resistance over time and floating micro-voltages that can cause
> electrolysis.
>
> Extra grounds can't hurt.
>
> Stuart
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of Dennis Haynes
> Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2015 6:23 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Oil pressure light and buzzer Checking engine grounding1
>
> You are onto something. I never mentioned it for this symptom as a bad
> ground on the engine can cause so many other problems. The alternator path
> includes the engine case and the grounding at the left head and
> transmission. If there is a higher resistance there than there should be
> you will get a voltage drop that will appear between the engine case and
> the chassis. This can interfere with the oil pressure warning system as
> that signal has to go to 0 to keep the light and buzzer off.
>
> With the engine running and a lot of electrical consumers on measure the
> voltage between the engine case and the chassis. If you see a voltage
> approaching 1/2 volt or more that is a problem. After repairing the
> original grounds a separate on from the alternator to the chassis is a good
> idea. I have also found that excessive resistance in the power circuit from
> the ignition switch back can also cause havoc.
>
> Dennis
>
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