Dave -- your '84 sounds like mind did =
when I bought
it 4 years ago. You have a bad front heater valve. Easy fix; =
get a
new valve, drop the spare tire, remove old valve, install new =
one.
Sounds like one of your problems could =
be crud on
the connector between FI cable and ECU. This will give a no start =
and fuel
smell from the exhaust. Key thing on old Vanagons is to make sure =
each
electrical connection including grounds is squeaky clean and =
mechanically and
electrically tight. At $200 for the van, a good rule of thumb is =
that
everything that has flow in it (coolant, air, vaccum, electrons) is =
suspect
unless you know for sure that it is good.
John Lauterbach
Macon, GA
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2001 =
12:08
AM
Subject: New to list...a few =
questions,
and I need some stuff
What's up =
guys? I
just bought myself an '84 Vanagon($200!!!), and have spent
the =
last week
or so bringing it up to snuff as best I can. When I got it, =
both of
the water pipes running from front to rear were rusted out and =
leaking, so
I replaced them, along with the gas tank breather(which was =
cracked), and
she's up and running perfectly.
Some background on =
me...I am a
VW employee, I work at a dealership in the
parts department. =
I have
spent the last 4 years of my life dedicated to
repair and =
modification of
VWs(primarily A1 and A2 chassis cars). This van
is now my =
9th VW(I
had 2 Volvos, too), and my second van(my first was a '67
Westy). =
I
currently own 3 VWs, my other two being 16V Jettas. Prior =
experience
with Vanagons includes converting an '88 from automatic to stick. =
Now,
this thing has no A/C, but does have dual heaters. I =
disconnected the
rear heater when I did the other cooling system repairs, as the =
"T"s in
the
lines were also rusted. However, I cannot for the life =
of me
figure out how
to turn off the front heater. No matter what =
I do,
there's still heat coming
out of somewhere, be it the floor, the
defroster, where ever. I have no
owners manual with this =
thing, and
I can't seem to decypher the alien
pictograms on the control =
panel.
Some help on this one would be nice...it's
too hot for heat. =
Issue 2: Hard starting and rich running. Every =
once in a
while, the van
doesn't want to start. Smells like it's =
flooding,
then after x amount of
attempts, it won't even crank, kinda like =
it's
vapor locking. I may have
remedied this with the tank =
breather, but
I'm not sure at this point. Any
common issues with =
automatics and
starting problems? And what kind of gas
mileage are you guys =
getting?
Issue 3: This thing handles like a pig. I =
am used
to track-worthy Rabbits,
and highly modified A2 Jettas that go =
around
turns hard enough to throw
things around the cabin with deadly =
force.
I know better than to expect this
thing to do the same, but =
there's
got to be a way to make it better. Does
anyone make swaybars =
for
these things? I'd rather not lower it, but I'm sure
that's =
an option
as well. Bilsteins are an absolute must, and will be coming =
soon.
;-)
OK, now, I need some things for this Van. For
starters, I need a jack and a
toolset. Anyone know where I =
can get
those second hand? Also, this thing
needs some different =
wheels.
The stock 14" steel wheels are not cutting it
for me. =
I am a
huge fan of steel wheels, especially on a vehicle like this,
and =
my
intentions for it's use. I'd like to do some 15" steel wheels, =
and in
fact, I have a set from a '99 Passat. They are the correct =
bolt
pattern,
however, the hubs on the van are too large for the =
wheels.
I thought about
grinding them out a bit(there's not too much =
of a
difference), but they'd be
a pain to balance. So, does =
anyone have
some wheels out there they'd like to
come off of for a reasonable =
price?
Thanks again, guys. I'm sure I'll have more for =
you as I
get into this
thing, and I appreciate any help you can give me. =
-Dave
'91 Jetta GTX 16V
'88 Jetta GLI 16V
'84 =
Vanagon