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Mon Jan 13, 2003 8:38 am

This is going to probably make me seem really dim but i keep reading in some of the other postings about F1 and getting the Bentley. What are these?
Also can anybody give me a simple yes or no answer about whether i can try running my 75 (currently LRP) camper on unleaded petrol without having to make any head changes or add any additives to my tank each time i fill up. Please dont baffle me with science as i am just a simple girl who is slowly learning about the wonders of my bus.
thanks

Mon Jan 13, 2003 9:10 am

The F1 your refer to is probably FI and it generally stands for "Fuel Injection." The Bentley is the Bentley service manual that was used by dealerships to work on VWs. There are several good manuals out there, but the Bentley is usually the preferred choice. With regards to you unleaded petrol issue you should inquire with a local VW club or knowledgable VW repair shop. Variations in grades of petrol (both leaded and unleaded) and the additional variations of European busses to US or export busses compounds this question. Many people could give you an exact answer with regards to US spec busses and US gasoline, but these answers may not suffice for your situation. There are just too many variables to shoot from the hip with a one size fits all answer. I have had some very good customers from the UK and you certainly love your busses there so I'm certain somebody local will be able to provide you with very good info. Good luck with your bus.

Mon Jan 13, 2003 9:26 am

Thanks gokayaking. Youve been very helpful on both of my questions that i've posted today. i just thank-god for sites like these that help me with all my bus problems (and they do seem to be never-ending).

Mon Jan 13, 2003 9:59 am

Alexny, if you haven't heard of it "VZ1"
which is www.volkszone.co.uk is a good site in the U.K. for you to go to for more "local" info. Some very helpful people over there on the mechanical tech forum are Moby, Bren and Paul Knight and alot of others... I spend some of my time on that site but it's nice to have you posting questions here too! Good Luck with your Bus!
later, Keith

Mon Jan 13, 2003 10:18 am

cheers Keith. No doubt i'll be speaking to you again, Alex

Mon Jan 13, 2003 3:28 pm

The Volkszone site has been down (again) for most of the day so I'm poking my nose in here instead. alexny, feel free to mail me for the UK info you need.
Moby.

Mon Jan 13, 2003 3:33 pm

Just noticed my address doesn't show above.....Moby5153@hotmail.com.

Mon Jan 13, 2003 3:41 pm

I was just about to e-mail you Moby, I haven't been able to get it to come up all day and I was wondering if it was just y system... up late eh?

Tue Jan 14, 2003 1:54 pm

Hi Keith, you still can mail me! As for your problem "Moby, I haven't been able to get it to come up all day and I was wondering if it was just my system... " ..I guess it is your system, it happens when you get to your age............sorry,.... ..I know this isn't a chat room.

Tue Jan 14, 2003 2:04 pm

You bloody well know what I meant! :D
The damn VZ server, it finally came up this AM when I tried... yes that is still functional too, Baby on the way to prove it! :)

Tue Jan 14, 2003 10:01 pm

alexny290873@yahoo.co.uk originally said... (1/13/2003 at 7:38AM PST)

>This is going to probably make me seem really dim, but....

There's no such thing as daft questions - if you need to know, you need to know, and we ALL started out with no knowledge, so don't feel bad about asking whatever you need to ask :-)

FI is indeed fuel injection.
Bentley in the publisher of very good VW workshop manuals. Web site www.rb.com but you can also get them (cheaper) from www.amazon.com
Other manuals are made by Clymer (not very good) and Haynes (quite good but briefer than Bentley).

Re the LRP. Folks in the US may not have much knoweldge of Lead Replacement Petrol, but we in Australia do - we lost leaded fuels about 3 years before you did, and have LRP as an alternative for those cars which need lead in the fuel.

Your VW engine never did need lead in the fuel - it will run just fine on normal unleaded, which in the UK is 95 octane (the VW engine needs a minimum of 91 octane). The main problem is the valve seats set into the cylinder heads. On old style cast iron heads (Morris Mini, Morris 1100, Ford Anglia and so on) the "soft" cast iron heads needed a coating of lead oxide to protect the valve seat area from waering away as the valves pounded on them, but VW heads have hard steel inserts and so don't suffer like cast iron heads do.

You might have seen ads in the UK for "unleaded conversions". This is a bit of misnomer (almost untruthful) since ALL aircooled VW engines can run on unleaded, but the really early engines (before 1966) wear out the heads a little faster on unleaded fuel because the valve seat metal is not VERY hard, and so an "unleaded conversion" means putting perfectly normal VW replacement heads (with the new harder valve seats) in the engine.

There is no where else in the world that I have seen using this method of getting extra business - I suspect it's something about UK laws which makes it possible to advertise "almost falsely".

If you are interested, there is a useful article on my web site at
http://www.geocites.com/aussiebug1970/octane1.html
Which explains fuels and how they affect the VW engine.

DON'T use LRP. Since the VW engine runs hotter than it's watercooled cousins, the additives in LRP tend to cook on to the spark plugs, causing rough running and hard starting.

In the unlikely event that the normal unleaded fuel results in detonation/pinging (a harsh uneven clicking sound from the engine when it is revving slowly under heavy load), use high octane (premium) unleaded rather than LRP.

And avoid ethanol blend fuels if you can (I don't know if the UK has that kind of fuel yet). Adding ethanol (Alcohol) to petrol results in the engine running lean, since ethanol contains used oxygen - there is less "fuel" in the fuel. An engine which runs lean will get hotter than it needs to, which is not a good thing. It gives poor fuel economy too.

Rob
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repairs and maitnenance for the home mechanic
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/

Wed Jan 15, 2003 1:10 am

Cheers Rob, youre a star. I had a look at your site and i like the straightforward step by step guides to mechanical procedures. Very useful to someone like me who is keen to learn and start doing all of the little jobs herself.