Date: Sat, 27 Feb 2016 00:34:45 -0500
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: My van is HOME!!!!
In-Reply-To: <CAEwp_cTQdXiFaOWzV5ecKeqX+65rhH4bb7eNFacGKe0PyAVfpQ@mail.gmail.com>
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So, what really is a "balanced" crankshaft? Aren’t they all balanced from the factory? Balanced to a better specification? For some racers counter weight are added to reduce crankshaft whipping at the center bearing or to make things smoother! For a truly balanced engine the balancing has to include the crank, flywheel, clutch pressure plate and even the pulley. Of course once all this is done at clutch cover replacement much of this does not matter anymore. The short length of the WB crank and the opposed cylinder design eliminate the need for the counter weights for street use.
If the engine is set up correctly while things should be checked there should no need for any adjustments at 500 miles or most anytime. The hydraulic lifters properly adjusted will take care of any valve seating that goes on there and the O2 sensor will take care of the fine mixture control. At 500 miles a compression and leak down test should be performed for establishing a baseline and making sure all is well. If the piston-cylinder sets were replaced you need to consider the possibility of broken rings. There is a lot of junk out there. Oil analysis is also a good idea.
The 10w-30 should be fine for normal local driving. Run it at 70-75 for an hour and let's see what happens. Currently I'm running the Mobil 1 5w-50. It is working well from the single digits in New York to the 70s-80s down here in Florida (again, yea)!
As for fuel since I travel a bit I don’t get hung up on brand or type and except for lawn equipment places alcohol free fuel is almost impossible to find so the E10 it is. Just hasn’t been a problem.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Marc Perdue
Sent: Friday, February 26, 2016 10:05 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: My van is HOME!!!!
After 7.5 MONTHS, I brought my baby back home yesterday!!! The engine's been completely rebuilt, with a balance crankshaft and lots of other goodies (I don't have the parts list here just now). Because of the ridiculous length of time it took, and acknowledging my patience, he threw in the trailing arm, some exhaust work, and over
$900 in other parts at no charge. It's too soon to tell ultimately what it's going to be like, but I do have some observations.
1) He replaced the water pump and thermostat and some cooling hoses that I didn't know were near gone until after they came off. It's a wonder they hadn't already leaked. My van had NEVER had the correct thermostat in it since I owned it. The temperature gauge had always stayed at the low end and I thought it was never overheating, except I was always blowing out hoses. Now, it gets up to temperature fairly quickly and stays there, middle of the gauge. From what I've understood from being on this list over the years, this is what it's supposed to do.
2) I had another problem from the time that I have owned the van that I have been chasing down. I'll drive the van the 2 miles to work in the morning (I know, it's horrible for the van; I'll be changing my route to lengthen that) and it drives fine. I start it up in the evening to go home and it stalls every time I come to a stop and runs rough as a cob. This problem persisted through an engine change. After that engine change, I think I changed everything but the throttle body and the distributor. Well, now the distributor's been changed and the problem appears to be gone!
3) Having a newly rebuilt and balanced engine, not quite blue-printed, ported and polished, I expected it to run smoother than it had originally, but it doesn't. I'm hoping the engine builders on the list can help me out here, because I don't know. He claims that the rings and such need to wear in and that it will smooth out over the next 500 miles or so, at which point I will take it back for some adjustments.
I do remember having to do this with my Boston Bob engine, I just don't remember it running quite so rough at first.
4) Since I had his ear, I asked him about oil recommendations.
Pennzoil 10W-30 in the winter, making good oil pressure. I had never been able to run 10W-30 before without setting off the oil buzzer.
5) I got on the road and realized I was low on gas, but hadn't asked him about gas recommendations, so I called him. He recommend ethanol-free regular gasoline, said it was easier on the valves or some such. I was driving into a massive thunderstorm as he was telling me this, so I couldn't catch everything he was saying.
So good to have her home!
Marc Perdue
