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a1fa
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Joined: September 25, 2011
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Location: Central Arkansas, United States
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 Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 3:33 pm Post subject: |
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Long weekend. Just got back from that BMW rally in Missouri... how much trouble would it be to covert the aircooled to watercooled system, and use a kit to go with ZTEC+turbo route 
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reluctantartist
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Joined: August 13, 2006
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Location: Bloomington, IN
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| Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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You best choice would be to sell this and get a water cooled westy.
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1982 Westy, 1974 412 Variant... Yes, Aircooled's are great! Oh and I do have modern computer controlled vehicles too, but I just don't care about them. |
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a1fa
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Location: Central Arkansas, United States
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| Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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I can live with slow, as long as its reliable. I just rode ~750 miles on an air cooled 225cc motorcycle.... I know slow.
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reluctantartist
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Location: Bloomington, IN
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| Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 10:06 pm Post subject: |
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The aircooled is just as reliable as any other engine, but it is only as reliable as its maintenance. Remember you are dealing with a 30+ year old vehicle so preventative maintenance has to be done, everything that needs to be replaced should be, etc... In your case it sounds like it was driven with a vacuum leak for a while which will cause engine failure in any engine. If you do decide to even get a replacement aircooled, it will only be as a good as the fuel injection system or carb system you put back on it. And if the engine compartment is not sealed correctly and some of the cooling tin is missing the engine is going to fail. Then there is the rest of the vanagon like CV.s and brakes. That said if you operate the air cooled engine within its design parameters it will be very dependable.
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1982 Westy, 1974 412 Variant... Yes, Aircooled's are great! Oh and I do have modern computer controlled vehicles too, but I just don't care about them. |
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a1fa
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Joined: September 25, 2011
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Location: Central Arkansas, United States
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| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 8:30 am Post subject: |
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 Is there a sticky with whats considered preventative maintenance? What should I do with this knock? Drive it until it bombards? Take it apart now, and wait 3-4 months for it to be fixed?
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Volksaholic
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Joined: December 26, 2005
Posts: 1767
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
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| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:58 am Post subject: |
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| reluctantartist wrote: | | The aircooled is just as reliable as any other engine, but it is only as reliable as its maintenance. Remember you are dealing with a 30+ year old vehicle so preventative maintenance has to be done, everything that needs to be replaced should be, etc... In your case it sounds like it was driven with a vacuum leak for a while which will cause engine failure in any engine. If you do decide to even get a replacement aircooled, it will only be as a good as the fuel injection system or carb system you put back on it. And if the engine compartment is not sealed correctly and some of the cooling tin is missing the engine is going to fail. Then there is the rest of the vanagon like CV.s and brakes. That said if you operate the air cooled engine within its design parameters it will be very dependable. |
I don't agree that the aircooled is just as reliable as any other engine... there are some pretty reliable engines being built nowadays. It certainly can be a reliable engine, though. When I built up my only two Type IV engines after doing Type 1's for years I was very impressed with the design improvements, especially in the cooling air flow. On the reliability front... don't forget to put the thermostat in good working order. The bellows often fail, the flaps get bent and don't open/close properly, or the little roller wheel can bind up.
I suggest that you don't allow the current engine to grenade if you're planning on rebuilding it. If you destroy the case, crank, rods, or heads it will up your rebuild costs significantly.
pd
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reluctantartist
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Location: Bloomington, IN
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| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 10:18 am Post subject: |
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Here is a link to a good way of looking at maintenance:
http://www.vanagonauts.com/Observational-Inspections99.htm
Do you have the warranty & maintenance booklet? That also gives you an idea of what to do regularly, and then read the link above. I would suspect anything hose/rubber related. Also it is good practice to regularly check out the FI system as described in 24.15 in the Bentley you can get an idea of the ranges and decide if something looks like it needs to be replaced soon. Keeping track of mpg helps to let you know if something is amiss. I don't know how long you can go with rod knock but I would plan on rebuilding the engine over the winter. From what I found the place I mentioned before is probably the best place to go to for you if you do not want to rebuild it yourself. But get your fuel injection working correctly (i.e. vacuum, etc) before you drive the rebuild, otherwise you are asking for trouble.
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1982 Westy, 1974 412 Variant... Yes, Aircooled's are great! Oh and I do have modern computer controlled vehicles too, but I just don't care about them. |
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Volksaholic
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Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
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| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 10:42 am Post subject: |
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| reluctantartist wrote: | | Keeping track of mpg helps to let you know if something is amiss. |
X2 - calculating your mpg is the simplest routine indicator of engine health that money can buy. Look for trends, though, rather than reacting to tank-to-tank variations.
pd
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a1fa
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Location: Central Arkansas, United States
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| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:32 am Post subject: |
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The MPG as it sits right now is anywhere between 14 to 15 mpg - CITY. 
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Volksaholic
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| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 1:57 pm Post subject: |
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| a1fa wrote: | | The MPG as it sits right now is anywhere between 14 to 15 mpg - CITY. |
That's about the mileage I was getting in a '73 with a gawdawful Weber Progressive carb bolted on. I think you should be getting about 5 to 7mpg better than that, but that's based on experience with Type IV engines in Bays and watercooled Vanagons, not an aircooled Vanagon. Obviously how you accelerate will make a difference, but I don't get the impression you like to smoke the tires when the light turns green.
pd
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a1fa
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Location: Central Arkansas, United States
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| Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 4:17 pm Post subject: |
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Can anyone make a high def video of engine running, and throttle blips; with similar angle and distance as my video. I'd like to compare the two if possible.
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reluctantartist
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a1fa
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Location: Central Arkansas, United States
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:17 am Post subject: |
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Any opinion on the "West Coast Core". I don't want to give up my engine as a core, because it may be in better shape than you get... I may be on a look-out for a donor van/engine to rebuild it while still driving this one around, and then do a swap, and rebuild the other one as a spare...
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reluctantartist
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:39 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | . I may be on a look-out for a donor van/engine to rebuild it while still driving this one around, and then do a swap, and rebuild the other one as a spare... |
That would be the best way to do it. I regret not doing it that way.
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1982 Westy, 1974 412 Variant... Yes, Aircooled's are great! Oh and I do have modern computer controlled vehicles too, but I just don't care about them. |
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a1fa
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Joined: September 25, 2011
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Location: Central Arkansas, United States
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 9:28 am Post subject: |
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Any opinion on the West Coast Core?
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a1fa
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Location: Central Arkansas, United States
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 9:30 am Post subject: |
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...a search answered my own question... i'm just going to pickup a used engine, maybe an 83 and go from there.
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a1fa
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Location: Central Arkansas, United States
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| Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 2:40 pm Post subject: |
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$140 worth of parts ordered from airheadparts..
1 x 070-903-137 - Fan Belt, 10x1165 (Conti)
1 x 022-133-083 D - Rubber "Y", Pwr Brk/Decel Valve
1 x 071-129-967 - Intake Sleeve/Elbow, FI
1 x 022-129-637 - Elbow, Breather Hose/FI Aux Air Valve
1 x 022-133-073 A - Throttle Body Seal, L-Jet/Digijet
4 x 039-133-241 - Sleeve, Intake Manifold Runner
1 x 251-807-123 A GR - End Cap, Bumper Frt Left/Rear Right
Now, I am looking for the J pipe that connects the muffler/cat to the manifold. Is there a replacement out there that does not have a hole for EGR, and bypasses the cat directly into the stock muffler?
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a1fa
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| Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 6:25 am Post subject: |
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should've ordered new seat cushions as well.. 
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a1fa
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Location: Central Arkansas, United States
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:30 am Post subject: |
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 We are taking our first camping trip this weekend... Not too far away from home, just in case. I got the rig registered for $17, and it is a permanent registration...  Score!
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reluctantartist
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 10:24 am Post subject: |
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Make sure you have the engine compartment sealed and your vacuum issues addressed. And most of all have fun!
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1982 Westy, 1974 412 Variant... Yes, Aircooled's are great! Oh and I do have modern computer controlled vehicles too, but I just don't care about them. |
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