Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 15:54:51 -0600
Reply-To: Dave <dave@V-DUB.MUSA.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave <dave@V-DUB.MUSA.COM>
Organization: MURR ECS
Subject: Wasserboxers, heads and Vanagon top speed.
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Since everyone is either agruing about vendors or complaining about
their engines I'll post some good news. As some of you may know I
recently had an engine built for my Vanagon. I choose to use a
Wasserboxer because I beleive is is a good engine, you just need to take
care of it. My new engine was put in just before Christmas and had run
very well ever since. I had it balanced so it runs very smooth and is
very quiet. I have had a few problems, but nothing big, I had to repair
a leaking coolant line which required bleeding the system, but it's not
that big of a deal. I also fried the idle stabilizer control unit,
which also wasn't a big deal. The engine idles fine without it, I'll
replace it before summer when I use the AC. Anyway the engine now has
apx. 2500 miles on it, only problem now is to figure out how to keep the
dirt of my nice clean engine. : )
I have some suggestions for prolonging the life of the heads,
specifficly the water jacket outter gasket and surrounding metal (which
is what fails on a wasserboxer). I use Autobahn coolant which is
supposed to help, it cost me $15 a gallon. I also added additional
grounds to the engine. I added grounds so that each of the heads is
grounded. What this will do is limit electrolosis by limiting the
distance electric charges will travel in the engine. Electrolosis is
what pits the heads. It is also a good idea to keep all of your grounds
clean and firmly attached.
I would also like to invite everyone to come to my site to get a
full write up on the engine and some detailed photos of the rebuild
process, the address is http://v-dub.musa.com . Well that's it, I hope
some of you enjoy reading this. Oh, a note on the top speed of a
Vanagon, my 87, with the old engine, hit the rev limiter in 4th gear and
was going apx. 103 mph (+/- 6 mph) most likely -6 mph, I think my
speedo reads high, so about 97 mph. If someone knows the 4th gear ratio
the exact speed can be determined, I have 205/70 R14 tires running about
30-35 psi.
David Filcoff dave@v-dub.musa.com
Volkswagens! http://v-dub.musa.com
------------------------------------------------------
87 Vanagon, 88 Fox
------------------------------------------------------
St. Louis / Columbia, MO
LiMBO - Gateway VW Club - VWoA VW Club - Missouri Micros
| 
