Vanagon EuroVan
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Date:         Tue, 20 Jul 1999 22:01:20 -0400
Reply-To:     Bulley <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Bulley <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Subject:      New Motor completed, leaks oil, burns, smoke fills cockpit,
              recovers!!!

Our new bigger Vanagon motor (for our 1982 Westy) hit the street 8:10 p.m. Saturday evening. I wish I could say it was uneventful. Everything in my life is normally full of drama and excitement, so why shouldn't starting my new expensive motor follow suit?

After nearly three years of my anal-retentive postings, you know I am quite meticulous. I spared no expense in this rebuild, and did everything straight by the numbers, or improved it slightly. The pistons are bigger, taking it from 1970 cc to 2056 cc. The oil pump is 25%bigger. It has a counterweighted crank. All the parts are zero balanced. The compression is 8.5-1 versus the original 7.4-1. I was punctilious and surgical in my assembly practices...

So we get everything bolted up in the van, and all the hoses connected. We prime the oil system by pulling the plugs and spin it over for a while. Finally, the oil light goes out. The timing is set, all looks well. Fire extinguisher standing by, tools cleared. Hands washed, and coveralls changed. A friend of mine, the young owner of our (former) super quiet/warm 1976 Kombi (see: www.bulley-hewlett.com/VWindex for details), is in the driver's seat to crank it and keep an eye on things...

After a minor timing change, it starts, puffs a few puffs of oil smoke (normal), and settles into a stable, tight idle....SWEET!

So I futz with the timing a bit more, giving a few slight revs now and then. And all seems at peace in my life once again. I begin revving it a little higher and a little higher...up to about 3,000 rpm. Smooth as silk. Sounds like the parts are still a little snug, but are loosening up. Good. So I rev, and adjust...peeking here and there for any problems. Then I see one...hearkening back childhood memories of the falls on the Yellowstone River, oil is ABSOLUTELY GUSHING out of the motor, not a mere seep, mind you...like a river running....ACK!

There is a pool of oil about two meters long, and about a meter wide running down the gentle slope toward the front of the van, and an unpleasant cascade of oil pouring out of the rear of the motor. Of course I screamed SHUT IT OFF!!! And Jamie did. He said the oil pressure light had come on "about five seconds or so" before, and he was about to shut it down before I screamed. He had no idea...

I almost cried. After four weeks of cleaning/painting van parts, $2,500 in parts/labor, two days of assembly, the pressure of finishing this project while working on two other major projects (including buying a house/prepping for a move), I almost sat inside with the windows closed and opened the stove valves. Almost...but the propane tank is off at the sand blaster.

So instead, I said a little prayer, talked over the implications with my wife, who heard the commotion, and brought me what comfort she could. I couldn't pull the motor again. Our cash is tapped out with buying the house. If the motor went long enough without oil pressure, it might be about as bad as when we pulled it. The oil pool was now the length and nearly the breadth of the van, and in the amber street light, it looked like honey. Where was Winnie the Pooh when I needed him? It took two 20-lb. bags of Tidy Cat to soak up the oil. We would have used Fresh Step, but the Tidy Cat was cheaper.

So there I sit, head in my hands, praying about what to do next, as I hear little drops of oil trickling off the various formerly cleaned engine parts. Then it hit me...It couldn't be anything I had done, because I really did go straight by the book...so what does that leave? One thing. The oil filter. I quickly removed the oil filter, and SURE ENOUGH, the intake holes were semi-occluded with assembly grease, and the seal was blown out of its seat. KEWL!!!!

We added 3.2 quarts of oil, replaced the filter, and whispered another prayer as I disconnected the coil wire and turned it over to build pressure again, and see how long it would hold its oil pressure. Crank- Crank- Crank- Crank- Crank- Crank- Crank- Crank, and the light went out, and I started counting. Three seconds, Five seconds, ten seconds, 12 seconds, 15 seconds!!! My bearings weren't toasted after all!!!! Yeah!

Replaced the coil wire, started. Runs like a top. Smooth, strong. Wonderful. No perceptible problems from the ordeal. I suppose all the parts were quite cold, and the oil was quite thick, and had a lot of molybdenum in it from the assy grease/motor honey. So no big deal!!! It RUNS!

Now wouldn't it be nice if that were the end of the story? But you read the subject. "What about the "Smoke" part? What burned???

Nearly the entire van. More on that in the morning

G. Matthew Bulley Bulley-Hewlett & Associates www.bulley-hewlett.com Cary, NC USA 888.468.4880 tollfree


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