Idamagedmine =
some time ago,
but didn't know until I removed the tail light to clean the idle =
stabilizer
control that I saw what i had done. So I removed that crap from there =
and went
to Pep Boys and bought a flexible wire reinforced air intake hose, and =
took care
of that. My fault, though.
Hector
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, October 13, =
2001 3:50
AM
Subject: Engine power =
loss
=
Well, just
when you thought you knew everything there was to know about these =
Vanagons,
something new crops up. I've been on this List since its =
beginnings,
work on them for a living, and yesterday came across something I've =
never seen
talked about here before nor have I come across it in my shop. =
For the
last month or so my '87 Westy seemed to be loosing power. It =
would not
achieve more than 120 km/hr on a flat road and acceleration was not =
what it
had been. With over 350,000 km on its original engine I began =
thinking
thoughts of Tiico swap. Did a compression test, fuel pump test, =
air flow
meter test and all seemed normal. The engine starts up just fine =
and
idles perfectly. When revved up standing still it seemed =
fine. So
yesterday I start looking again for something. Thought maybe the =
CAT was
blocked somehow but that was hard to imagine as the guts of the CAT =
have been
! removed a long time ago. Some small fire proof rodent got in =
there
? The exhaust seemed fine so what the hell goes on here ? =
So,
while revving up the engine from the engine compartment yesterday, all =
of a
sudden I notice that the rubber boot between the throttle valve and =
the air
filter housing is collapsing when revving up the engine. Humm, =
not
getting air, but I just checked the air filter and it was fine.
Sooooooo........I start following the air intake track to the =
outside.
Well, friends, that really well German engineered PAPER and wire flex =
ducting
that goes up inside the right rear quarter of our vans to allow air to =
be
sucked into the engine had deteriorated to the point it had collapsed =
and had
now blocked solid the air intake track ! Engine was trying to =
suck in
what was left of this fine piece of PAPER flex ducting. Ripped =
it all
out of there which was a major PITA as you gotta remove the right tail =
lamp
assembly, a! nd the cheapo plastic firewall that has the air intake =
passing
through it. Then rip out the plastic tube which connects to this =
crapo
paper flex tube. After I got that all outa there I went for a =
spin over
to the local Home Hardware to look for some quality ducting that maybe =
could
be used to "upgrade" this genuine VW piece of crap. Now the =
Westy's
running like she used to. Plenty if power, well not plenty but =
you know,
like it used to be anyways. So, at the hardware I find some 4" =
diameter
aluminium flex ducting for home use or in my case automotive =
use. Take
this home and spend the next hour getting it squashed oval so it will =
get on
up inside the wall of the van and connect to the plastic intake piece =
located
behind that black plastic grill thingy on the right rear outside of =
the
van. Bet you didn't know that was in there ! Ha ! =
Never over
'till it over ! Something new everyday. Vanagons provide a =
lifetime learning experience. Now what other vehicle can give =
you this
ki! nd of enjoyment ? A Fiat perhaps ?
Peace =
Frank
Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
BusFusion a =
VW Camper
camping event, Almonte, ON, May 30, 31, June 1, 2, 2002
'87 Westy =
&
Lionel Trains
Member: Vanagon =
List,
LiMBO, IWCCC & =
Capital City
VW Club
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa =
Valley
STEBRO/Vanagon =
Stainless Steel
Mufflers
Frank Condelli =
&
Associates or
http://frankcondelli.com