Date: Sun, 28 Apr 1996 19:57:40 -0700
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: ddes@anet-dfw.com (David Schwarze)
Subject: Re: Is this normal? (1977 camper advice)
>About one month ago I purchased my first VW bus, a pea green 1977
>camper with 135,000 miles on the original engine and transmission. It
>had been used by a single family, strictly for camping, and it has a
>beautiful interior.
>
>Transmission:
>
>I have had some difficulty down shifting into first and second gear.
Sounds just like mine used to be. I found that the coupler was broken -
the metal cage was broken. Replacing that solved the problem... and to
think I put up with it for about 5 years before I tried to track down the
problem!
>
>Transmission oil:
>
>My owner's manual says that the gear oil should last forever, but
>after all this time should I change it? If so, is the 90 weight
>hypoid oil easy to find? The only straight 90 weight gear oil that I
>have seen is for marine use.
Can't hurt to change it. The way the old oil looks can give you an
indication as to the health of your tranny. I use regular 90-130 weight
gear oil. I tried synthetic but it didn't do much for me, and it was
expensive. A little easier to shift on cold mornings, that's all.
>
>Engine oil:
>
>Is it advisable to clean the oil screen or should I suppress the
>temptation and only change the twist-on filter?
You should clean the screen frequently. I don't do it every time, but I
probably should. The main reason that I don't is that it doesn't always
seal well, and once it seals I tend to leave it for a while.
>
>I truly do not want to start a religious war, but is there an FAQ
>which summarizes the various arguments about engine oil types in a VW.
>The PO used 10W40 but the local VW guru suggested using straight 30
>weight. In chapter X of the idiot's guide, John Muir recommends
>straight 30 weight, but chapter XX (written after John Muir's death)
>recommends 10W30.
I have used 10-30, 20-50, straight 30, and straight 40. I feel most
comfortable with the 20-50, although I have 10-30 in it now. The 20-50
maintains oil pressure better than straight 30 weight in hot conditions, in
my experience.
>
>Fuel:
>
>Again not wanting to start a religious war, I would like to see a
>summary of arguments concerning fuel octane for VWs. My owner's
>manual says to use 91 RON octane and that this is 87 (R+M)/2 octane
>(the method commonly used in the US). The PO had always used low test
>gas and never experienced pinging when accelerating. Someone told me
>that the higher octane fuel helps the engine run cooler. Is this true
>even if the engine does not ping?
I seriously doubt it. If your engine doesn't ping, putting high octane in
it is a waste of money, IMO.
>My engine does not seem to run hot. After climbing the Blue Ridge
>when it is 80F the engine does not smell hot and the dipstick is
>comfortable to hold. I will find out for sure when I drive across the
>country this summer.
Sounds like your engine is in good shape then.
>To get the emergency brake to hold on a steep hill I need to pull the
>handle back quite far and very hard. Is this normal?
To an extent. Depends on how steep a hill we are talking about. I got
mine to hold much better by adjusting the rear brakes (turning the "star"
wheels
till the shoes almost touch the drums).
>I have not checked the brake pads and shoes yet. Normal braking seems
>to work well, but I see from the service records that the brake pads
>were changed often. Are replacement brake pads from a local auto
>parts store good enough, or should I be ordering them from a VW
>specific house? (I was going to order a set from RMMW but they were
>out of stock.)
In my experience the pads wear out pretty quickly. Busses are heavy, after
all, and the front brakes do most of the work. I think I get around 20K
out of a set, maybe a bit more.
>The line leading to the EGR filter has been crimped off at the exhaust
>elbow. The local VW guru said that this is really common around here.
>Does this affect engine performance at all?
Sorry, I'm not gonna touch this one. :)
>I imagine that I would
>have to fix this were I ever to move to California (and it seems like
>the right thing to do anyhow).
Maybe so, maybe not. I doubt working vs non-working egr will affect your
emissions much (as long as the egr valve is not stuck *open*). God, I'm
probably gonna get flamed from here to Inuvik for that one...
I was surprised that RMMW did not have
>any EGR related items (the pipe, the filter, etc.). Are these items
>available?
I was not able to find them. Junkyard items.
>This is not a California model (no catalytic converter).
>Besides paying the impact fee, should I expect any difficulty bringing
>this bus to the golden state?
Nope, as long as your bus meets 49-state emissions requirements for that year.
>John Muir says to glue a new valve cover gasket to the valve cover
>with "a fast drying glue." What should I use for this?
I just use permatex - the blue or red stuff in the tube.
>I have RMMW and a WC Metric catalogs. I have heard that J. C. Whitney
>is a good source for VW parts. How do I get their catalog?
They are not really a good source for FI busses. They have mostly type I
engine parts. Their rubber seals are garbage, too. I'm afraid I don't
have their # offhand. :(
-David
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David Schwarze '73 VW Safare Custom Camper (Da Boat)
Dallas, Texas, USA '73 Capri GT 2800 (Da Beast)
e-mail: ddes@anet-dfw.com '87 Mustang Lx 5.0 (13.986@100.81)
http://www.teleport.com/~des '93 Weber WG-50 (Da Piano)
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