Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 15:50:42 EST
Reply-To: JordanVw@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: JordanVw@AOL.COM
Subject: Re: 5-cylinder swap update (kits are ready!)
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
In a message dated 98-12-09 08:03:42 EST, you write:
<< Chris,
How long have you owned your Audi 5 cylinder car, both in terms of time and
miles. With that in mind, how reliable do you think that power plant is?
I've been very impressed by Ken's very straight tidy well considered Vanagon
posture. I'm thinking he may be the American equivalent to Germany's Winkler
operation in terms of producing a class act conversion.
>>
i am VERY impressed with my '84 Audi 5000s 5 cylinder turbo. (gasoline)
i have owned this car since it was 4 years old. (bought it in '88) ive owned
it for almost 11 years now.
when i bought the car, it had like 40k on it. it now has 160k on it.
i have NEVER even had the valve cover off. the engine has NEVER been out. i
have NEVER replaced the water pump, never replaced the timing belt, nothing
major on the engine itself has ever been replaced. the car burns NO oil... i
change the oil every 2000-3000 miles, because it is an oil cooled turbo ('86
up 5000 turbos are intercooled/watercooled) the only major thing i have ever
had to replace mechanical wise on this car was some power steering stuff, and
the turbo (the orig turbo lasted for 130k mi!!! ) - and both the turbo, and ps
are not part of the actual engine. this is the most reliable car i have ever
owned. People harass me about not driving my VW vans...well, if they were fast
and reliable like my Audi 5000, then i wouldnt need to have my Audi. Plus,
it's kind of nice to be able to go 100 mph + when you want to... (i've had my
audi up to 120mph, and had to slow down because of traffic...but even at
120mph..there are no sounds of strain from the engine, and its far from
redlining.. :<) my audi has started every day, for the past 10 years, and
doesnt leak a drop from the engine. right now my vanagon is pissing green
stuff on the driveway. as far as i'm concerned the vanagon waterboxer was a
mechanical mistake.
audi 5000's are reliable. i have NEVER seen an 5000 5cyl engine go bad. my
mom has a '86 audi 5000s non-turbo, and she beats the krap out of that car,
and it keeps on going...(her idea of an oil change is once every year)
you can find audi 5000 engines basically in every junkyard.
the cars are usually junked because of power steering problems, or other non-
engine related problems. the engines are usually always good, and most of the
time just get crushed with the rest of the car, because nobody with an audi
needs a replacement engine, because they never go bad..
Audi started making the 5000 5cylinder in '78.
there were diesel, and gas 5cylinders available from '78-'83 in the US
in '81 or '82, audi introduced the turbo on the 5cyl.
it was available as a gas turbo, or turbodiesel 5cyl from '81-'83 in the US
then the diesel was discontinued in '84 in the US, and all '84-'91 Audi 5000
(or 100's or 200's) were gas.
the turbos on the '84-85 5000s were oil cooled, and '86-'91 were
intercooled/watercooled.
if you want to put a audi turbo motor in your vanagon, i'd recommend a '86 up
turbo motor, OR there is a intercooler kit that can adapt to the '82-'85
turbos.
any non-turbo 5 cyl is recommended, too. (non-turbos generally being cheaper
to maintain)
chris
'84 audi 5000s 5cyl turbo
'84 vanagon automatic (hopefully with an audi 5cyl turbo motor,soon...)
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