Date:         Fri, 21 Mar 1997 20:54:41 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         J Wagner <alpine@cpcug.org>
Subject:      Performance after Rebuild?

I just recently had my 1.9 Wasserbox rebuilt after low oil pressure
caused lifter and cam damage. The engine now has new:

				bearings
				camshaft
				lifters
				oil pump
				rings
				waterpump
				plugs, leads, distributer cap and rotor

among other things(like gaskets, pushrod tubes, clamps...nothing else
major).

Well, this engine which I thought and was told would run like new just
barely runs.  It is lower on power than it has ever been(except when the
lifters went) and refuses to accelerate smoothly.  It stumbles and
hesitates, most extremely from idle to 2000 rpm, never pulling cleanly.
The one thing that does work well is idle.  The idle is now very stable
at about 800 or lower rpm where it used to always drift upwards and
hover around 1200 rpm.  I took it back to the shop the next day and they
rechecked the timing, but  found it to be correct(though they seemed to
only check it at high rpm using a timing light).  Has anyone else had an
experience like this after a rebuild?  Does performance improve with
break-in?  I was told to just put some more miles on it, but in my
experience with motorcycles break-in has been more for longevity than
imediated performance improvements. Any ideas?  Would a camshaft not
properly timed to the crankshaft exhibit these symptoms?  

Thanks,
James Wagner