Ryan McGee <ryan@falcon.cc.ukans.edu> Writes: > My father is considering buying his first vanagon--an '81 diesel "partial > camper". : > I told him I'd ask the list for some more opinions (I guaranteed him > we'd have a lot to share), both pro and con, about the wisdom of this > purchase. So, here's your chance to influence a VW virgin--what does anyone > have to say about '81s or diesels or both, or about the vanagon experience > in general? Two appealing things about the diesel are economy and simplicity. Economy: My diesel Westy gets an average 28.5 mpg mixed city and highway. The engine is reliable if not abused, and spares are plentiful and relatively cheap. Simplicity: For the home mechanic's viewpoint I'd say that a diesel westy is as simple as an early (pre emmisions, pre fuel injection) aircooled bus, but in a modern, more roomy (but arguably less charmy) package. There is no computer or strange electronics, and the vw diesel was (perhaps) the only diesel of the 80:ies to pass NOx emmissions without EGR. The only emmission imposed equipment is a small hose between the valve cover and air filter box (crankcase ventilation). The pros and cons of the vanagon diesel comes up for discussion every so often here and on r.a.vw. There is a compiled list of some net.wisdom on: http://www.rpi.edu/~bossoj/diesel.html Jack Ewald has some more technical vw diesel info: http://www.fdt.net/~crest/repair.html Another source of (uncompiled) info would be to go to the list archives: gopher://halfdan.med.umn.edu:70/11/Miscellaneous/Vanagon and search for "diesel" or some other relevant keywords (e.g. slowest ;-). Martin ('82 westy diesel 125k)
|
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.