Date:         Tue, 11 May 1999 15:57:48 -0400
Reply-To:     Joel Shortlidge <shortlid@PURDUE.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Shortlidge <shortlid@PURDUE.EDU>
Subject:      Blown engine with 20,000 In OHIO
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

>     Well she never made it!  I left Purdue at 10:00 pm after replacing
> the thermostat and getting a alignment. She was running great at first,
> fully loaded with my college stuff and cruising the plains at 65-70 mph.
> Then it happened after only 30 miles in northern Indiana!  "The
> BUCKING".  First time it was real bad, had to slow to 40 and shift to
> 3rd!  Then it got going again but still bucking.  Babied it to the next
> exit where it quit on the off ramp.  Started it right after it quit and
> it would shutter and stall at idle! Then tried it after 15 min and it
> ran great drove around parking lot, asked mechanic and he said maybe it
> was the super concentrated fuel injection cleaner and 98 octane I put in
> it to stop the low end problem!!!!!  So I pushed on to Ohio where it
> started again intermittently.  Then it only on deceleration for a long
> time!  So I filled up the tank and it stopped doing it for a while then
> it happened again this time with 3/4 tank!  It got so bad it would not
> STOP bucking.  We made the decision it could go no further this way so I
> disconnected the fuel line from the pump and checked it, it pumped a
> steady stream about a foot!  Checked plugs and rotor and they were fine!
> Rebuilt motor only has 20,000 on it!
>     So she was towed from the toll plaza in Sandusky to Import motors a
> VW dealer in Sandusky!  I had to leave her and keep trucking with my
> friend!  So, what should I ask the dealer to check for?  Sound like fuel
> filter, well I could not get to it because it is a '87 SYNCRO and it is
> hidden on the back side of the %*#% gas tank!   The dealer says after 2 1/2
> hours of dignostic work the rebuilt motor with 20,000 miles on it has 70 psi
> of compresion in two cylinders and 180 in the other two!!!!!!  Anybody heard
> of this dealer? know there reputation?  I would like to go into this as
> knowledgeable as posible.  I talked to my VW mechanic here in NY and he
> dosn't belive the dealer!  He said compresion DOSN'T COME AND GO!  Also he
> said it would not even idle with two cylinders gone!  Is it

> possible it is valves, AFM?  I am planing to tow it home so what should I
> do?  Dolly front, back?  Car carrier?  The shaft is taken out so I can tow
> it on the ground.  But what is better for it.
>     Please anyone help a fellow Vanagon owner get his baby home to a now
> sad 16 year old male longing for his first of many Vanagons.
>
> Joel Shortlidge
> '87 Syncro Weekender