Date:         Fri, 30 May 1997 11:58:56 +0000
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Dr. Theodore B. Hoekman" <thoekman@morgan.ucs.mun.ca>
Subject:      Re: Diesel swap

>On 29 MAY 1997 John Kanengieter 	 jkanegie@wyoming.com wrote:
>
> >Does anyone have an inkling of how well a diesel to gas motor swap
> >works out in an 84 vanagon? Ive got a line on an 84 westi with a
> >diesel/stick that doesn't work that I want to change to an 1800
> >rabbit/auto. I am curious how easy or difficult the swap is and does it
> >make for a better vehicle?
> >
> >  DrRufo
>
> I purchased an '84 diesel to gas, and yikes, it was scarry.  The short
>story is that I replaced 2 engines in 150 miles. The long story talks
about
>months of waiting and shipping engines to wyoming, fighting warranties,
>attorny general, better business bureau, blah, blah, blah.
> My trusted mechanic put a 2.2L subaru in his diesel and loves it. He got
>mine running but I was too chicken to drive it anywhere, so I sold it. Of
>course the folks who bought it drove it to Baja twice and other long
>domestic trips without engine problems. Perhaps just bad Carma for me...
> In speaking with other mechanics, they always make the same yuckie face
>when you mention a diesel to gas conversion. I've seen it work, but I'll
>never do it again.
> John Kanengieter 84' Westy (Betty) prior 84'Westy (diesel from hell)

I have a diesel to gas swap, (1986 Jetta, GLI -> 1982 Westy Diesel). I love
it!  Can't understand why VW did not make the transition to a proven
Water-cooled engine in early eighties instead of "futzing" around to build
a boxer that would be reliable.  I guess they finally got it right about as
the series ended.  I have driven mine for about 3 years, close to 30,000
miles (Now have nearly 150K miles on the chassis). In 94/95 drove from
Newfoundland to British Columbia and back for my sabbatical year.  Have had
the small maintenance issues you expect with a 15 year-old car, but the gas
engine has performed flawlessly.

Alistair Bell from Victoria BC also has a conversion which he gave a
"progress report" for a few days ago.

> My '82 westy with the '92 1800 8V engine just turned 140,000 miles the
>other day, which means I've put 35,000 miles on the engine in three years
>(the engine came with 20,000 miles).

> Coincidently it happened the same time I did any sort of repairs on it,
>replacement of timing belt, new cam seal, new idler pulley seal, new valve
> cover gasket, and adjustable cam gear.

> The engine is driven hard and I'm very happy at how it has performed.

> The adjustable cam gear was set up with 2 degrees advance, a conservative
>start to moving the max torque point down the rpm range. It has made a
>difference, engine "comes on cam" a little sooner. Will try a 4 degree
>advance this weekend.
>
> alistair

There are several others on the list with conversions, and to my
recollection John is the only "Unhappy Camper".  The key of course is to
get a knowledgeable mechanic, preferably one who has done at least one
successful conversion before. It is not a trivial job, and if I were doing
it again, I would follow Alistairs model, and use one of the more recent
electro-injection version engines rather than the CIS injection model that
I have. It works well but there are some small annoyances with fuel pump
noise that appear to be related to flow restriction in the diesel gas tank,
and the high flow rate in the recycling loop used with the CIS pressure
feed system. Being able to adjust the power band to match the vanagon
transmission properties would also be a real plus.

My take home message, don't be discouraged by John's unhappy experience.

Regards,

Ted Hoekman


Dr. Theodore B. Hoekman
Faculty of Medicine - Basic Science
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, Newfoundland Canada A1B 3V6
http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~thoekman  (709)737-6703
http://cme.med.mun.ca
Dr. Theodore B. Hoekman  -  Faculty of Medicine
Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NF Canada A1B 3V6
http://cme.med.mun.ca  (709)737-6703