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Date:         Sat, 7 Sep 1996 01:18:13 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         DHaynes57@aol.com
Subject:      Re: 1984 Volkswagen Vanagon Eats Water Pumps/Dennis' opinion of emmision mods

In a message dated 96-09-05 19:00:25 EDT, EdBuzz@aol.com writes:

<< << Your story about hitting 85 up a grade is great! I'd love to get to 220k mi. on my motor! How did you "custom tune" your engine? >> AJ, I had been fortunate in working on cars and collecting tools since I was 15.I worked at various German car dealers during college and the after lean years and have worked on cars as an independant private enterprise.In the ensuing years I acquired a Scope and Infrared machine(both necss. for an accurate tune.).When I moved from San Diego to Portland in June some thieves broke into my garage and stole every tool I had including all the custom made ones for VW.Anyway, to set the van to euro spec, 1st disconnect o2 sensor(digifant/digijet) and plug together idle stabilizer(digijet).I reset the ign timing to approx 10 deg btdc( you need to make another mark on the pulley as it is not there on US versions)open the airbox and recalibrate the spring tension( most airboxes develop a flat/worn spot on the circuit board from running at the same setting so this will prolong the life of the box) to acquire a 2% co at idle, reset your idle speed with the screw in the throttle housing, then fine tune the co to remain at 2% at idle w/ the airbox screw. Reconnect the idle stab. and you are done.I donot run w/ o2 sensor.I have found on all cars since the sensors came out in 76 on Volvos, that it makes the mixture too lean and too hot.OK the van spews out a tad more co% and HC, but no less than any car of the late 70s-80s, considering the fact that the o2 is supposed to keep the mixture at .07%, but it really just leans the hell out of the engine.This procedure is very effective on the digifant as well.The engine runs like the dickens.no flat spot, no hesitation, all go right to redline.I also run w/ a test pipe ala euro. I routinely run the van every year on a continuous ski trip of 1800 mi at about 200rpm shy of redline for 36 hrs straight.I think the vanagon engine is pretty amazing considering the fact that this 1.9 engine pushes my 4000lb box around at 85mph+ all day.Unfortunately this procedure requires some way to read the exhaust gases, and, unless you have a machine, or access to one, you will be shooting in the dark.A dwell tach will not be accurate enough to read the subtle changes in co%. I also installed a custom 70C t/stat to keep engine temps in line( see posting to Todd) Of course... I only use the vehicle off-road in order to comply w/ EPA rules.

Ed >>

The O2 sensor system uses a three way cat to control Hydrocarbons, Carbon monoxide, and oxides of nitrogen. The NOX is the real culprit in smog formation and is the most damageing of the exhaust emissions. This can only be tested under load and is why the EPA tried to get states to go to centralized emissions and dyno testing. Increasing the ignition timing also increases the production of NOX as it increases the peak flame temparatures of combustion. By setting the engines the way VW did, they were able to eliminate a lot of emmission parts such as Air pumps(allows richer mixtures) and EGR valves(that NOX thing). By removing this stuff, you contribute to alot more polution than you think and you justify the governments desire to regulate your ability to work on your own car. This is actualy tampering with the Emission control systems and believe it or not is actually a Federal offense(who's looking anyway). I also have to ask how you pass emissions testing with 2.0%CO. In New York, anything 81 and later has to be at 1.2 % or lower,(and idle at 100 rpm or lower). As much as California is known for strict emissions requirements, this limit seems very liberal. If you consider that your van should run at under .5%CO, your settings produce 4 times the pollution per mile than it should. Although this is a 70's era standard, newer cars should be cleaner and that difference is one reason we are facing the clunker laws. The government wants the old cars off the road. Believe it or not, 80% of automotive air pollution is caused by only 20% of the cars on the road. These cars are referred to as gross polluters. The gross polluters are the targets of emission control programs, junker programs etc.

Just my opinion and some facts, Dennis H.


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