Date:         Mon, 10 Jun 1996 22:45:10 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Cetin Seren <cseren@fore.com>
Subject:      '82 westy trip report / Diesel to Gasoline ('82 and '84)


Gerry's posting came just when I was getting ready to post a trip report
regarding the voyage of the '82 diesel westy from Bethlehem, PA to
Pittsburgh, PA.  The whole trip is about 320 miles, it was kind of strange
to be driving the diesel westy after not taking a longish trip in it for
quite some time.

The engine seemed to get stronger (!) after the first half hour or so, and
the westy was able to keep 65-70 mph all the way through, barring a few
hills on the PA turnpike.  The mileage was 24 mpg (I had been getting 22-23
the last few years).  It was loud as usual.  No soot whatsoever on the rear
of the westy after the trip and no coolant loss either (thanks to an
application of Bars' leaks about 1.5 yrs ago) -- It's hard to believe that
little engine is still doing so good at 110,000 miles!!!

About the only adventure was a semi-failed (!) front (driver-side) wheel
bearing.  The sound was unmistakable when I heard it, about 70 miles from my
destination.  I sat at a turnpike rest stop for a while, weighed my options:
        1) wait till morning and hope the mechanic would ave something that
           would fit (knew this was a very faint hope)
        2) take my chances and ad baby it to my destination.  The outcome
           could be:
                a) I would make it
                b) the bearing would seize completely -- I would end up waiting
                   for the AAA truck in the middle of nowhere for 4 hrs.
                c) the damaged bearing would eventually eat into the wheel axle
                   and The wheel could go loose (I do not know if this is
                   possible -- I was just afraid it could happen)

Well, I took option #2, and drove the last 70 miles at 50 mph, with visions
of herbie the love bug and its occupants watching in amazement as herbie's
front wheel disappears in the distance dancing in my mind, as well as
memories of Bob Hoover's
half-day-trip-that-turned-into-a-three-day-adventure in his bug because of a
similar reason nagging at the back of head.  It turned out that 2a
prevailed, I made it O.K.

....Now I have to find a good VW parts plave here in Pittsburgh....
*sigh*
Cetin




Gerry says:
>Vanagon list:
>  Well, in spite of all the suggestions that I leave the diesel the way it
>is, I just can't.  I can't even keep over 50 on the little hills around
>here, so going through the moutains is going to be really slow.  If it was
>just me and I was a young guy with lots of time and no cares in the
>world, I'd do it in a second;  This, however is not the case.  I have two
>small children.  An extra day or two crossing the country is going to be a
>painful pill to swallow.  
>  There are a couple of other reasons to do it.  Noise is one, the smell
>is another and the soot is another.  So, enough with justifications.  The
>ideal transplant is not available and with my money situation right now it
>isn't going to be available.  So, the obvious donor is my rusting '84 with
>the nice rebuilt-head motor which I recently bought (from the Volks Cafe) 
>and installed.  So, at least I know how to do that part.  I can take it
>out and I can put it in.  The diesel, however, I'm not so confident about. 
>Of course, the manual has the entire procedure on two pages (one side
>each). 
>