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flomulgator
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 1:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Was that after warmup or is that including cold start?
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insyncro
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 4:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cold start...they idle down lower once warm.
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flomulgator
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PostPosted: Mon May 19, 2014 3:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Update:
The new/used MAF has upheld long-term testing, that slow intermittent failure was definitely the cause of the confounding fuel cut-off. As for the high RPM, the 3200, in retrospect, was definitely due to the throttle cable getting snow freezing to the underside. The high RPM is still present, and still reduces on second ignition cycle, but has become much more reasonable after cleaning the Idle Air Control valve and replacing the VSS (which was starting to corrode at the connections). To solve this thing entirely I think will take a new IAC, but it's acceptable for now.

The better my engine runs the more I like the EG33.
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flomulgator
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PostPosted: Wed May 21, 2014 2:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Got another question for those knowledgeable in Subie power. This last weekend I got rather comically stuck for the first time ever (after years of light off-roading), as seen over here:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=261706&start=660

In the process I dented the crap out of my exhaust crossover pipe where it goes in front of the oil pan. This is the "2" section of a 3-2-1 system, and I'd say the pipe is 30-40% restricted as a result of the dent.

My question is: I have a pretty long weekend trip planned this memorial day. I'd rather delay the repair until I can get Zapp into a welder I like, but I don't know if the mild restriction on the right bank will just increase engine torque a bit, or simultaneously kill my mileage, make half my engine run hot, and thermally unbalance the whole thing so bad it explodes and all of us and Zapp Vanagon die in a ball of fire on I-5.

Leave it be for a bit or take to the local muffler chop shop right away?
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Howesight
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PostPosted: Wed May 21, 2014 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Flomulgator:

Do you have the SmallCar header? (I do). If so, do yourself a favour. Cut it near the dented portion and use a NAPA/Harbour Freight muffler pipe expander (here's what they look like: http://www.harborfreight.com/medium-tail-pipe-expander-37353.html), to open the dented part. Then use a sleeve-type connector over your cut. The reason this is doing yourself a favour is that the SmallCar headers (can't speak for the re-design they now sell) almost always had welding stress/twisting such that you had to wrestle with them just to install them. The stress leads to future cracks and failures. (FWIW, I just got my first weld seam crack last week without any impact damage on the header.)

Bonus: you only need to remove one half of your exhaust system to do this repair.

It goes without saying that I think driving with that restriction is asking for trouble. Yes, you can overheat exhaust valves in this way. The SC header does not use large ID pipe to begin with - - I might have used slightly larger pipes if I had designed it.
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flomulgator
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PostPosted: Wed May 21, 2014 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Howesight. It looks like the small car system, but has been worked on previously (large plate reinforcements welded onto collector areas). When I bought the van the flex pipe in the same area had a hole in it, I went to have it repaired at the same local chop shop but wasn't specific enough and they welded in straight pipe. This section is what is now dented. I guess I could cut the exhaust and drop the whole right side and do that fix, but if I have the shop fix it I'm going to have them put back in the flex pipe.

I appreciate the novel idea though and I just may go that way. More than anything I'm glad to hear about the heating danger; I'm about to drive 500 miles and really don't want to make an expensive mistake.
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flomulgator
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PostPosted: Thu May 22, 2014 12:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Howesight,
I collected all the parts yesterday, but got a little hung up on your suggestion of a "sleeve-type connector". I got a piece of exhaust pipe meant to joint two sections that will fit over my 2" pipe and then U-clamp, but I also saw a wide band clamp of sheet metal available, the same kind used on this 1.8T exhaust:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5...;start=460

Which kind do you recommend?
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flomulgator
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 3:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I kinda meant this thread to be a catch-all for the EG33 but apparently I'm the only one posting to it (or the only one with EG33 issues). Oh well.

Not-so-fun update to my ongoing saga: I finally got it down to SmallCar to have them check through the EG33 systems and give it a general health check. And Zapp Vanagon failed his physical. #4 compression is 115, with a leakdown test pointing to the piston rings. Crying or Very sad

The good news is all the other cylinders are fine, and 100 is considered non-contributing, so I have a while to work things out. The bad news is there is no small fix; Zapp will need a new heart at some point. The low contribution actually explains the low idle imbalance and the occasional misfire. SmallCar added some goo (Power Products?) to the oil and I'll be upping the oil weight from 5w-30 to 15w-40 or so to hang on to compression for now. IAC was dirty but it hardly matters now. Since swapping EG33s will be the simplest, about the cheapest, and will involve the least downtime I think that is the route I will be exploring for now.

Questions: Going forward how often should I have compression on #4 checked?
Engine - JDM or scrapyard? I'd like lower-mileage accessories but all I really need is a longblock.
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 4:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

SVX engines and other Subie engines that are run on dino oil and left unused for a while (like swap candidate engines) have a tendency to develop sticky rings. You might consider a few applications of Marvel Mystery Oil in the oil and running that way for a limited period before each oil change. Even better is a product that Yamaha sells for use in two-stroke and four-stroke engines called "Yamaha Ring Free".

If a few cycles of Yamaha Ring Free (in your gasoline) do not do the trick, you could, with the engine static, introduce some MMO and gasoline missed together into the spark plug hole to allow that mixture to dissolve the varnish and gum causing the rings to stick. For this to be effective, you would need to jack up the vehicle on one side to ensure you can flood the affected cylinder with the gasoline/MMO mixture. Leave the spark plug out while doing this process in case someone tries to crank the engine by mistake. Then, every few hours, with a wrench, rotate the crank back and forth a few degrees to get movement to the rings and, hopefully, allow the mixture to get to the rings.

SVX conversions allow easy removal of the oil pan. You could remove the oil pan, pickup, and windage tray and spray the affected piston with the MMO/gas mixture and/or lacquer thinner using a Windex type spray bottle with a piece of hose attached. This

You could alternate this treatment with full-on lacquer thinner also, between applications of the MMO/gasoline mixture.

Doing this will require you to drain and replace your oil as it will become contaminated. In fact, it would be a good idea to use cheap dino oil for the replacement oil, run the engine up to temperature, and then drain and replace the dino oil with synthetic, using the dino oil to clear out the remnants of the MMO/gasoline/thinner.

It's worth trying this once before re and re on the engine.

Wildthings wrote in one of his threads that almost every used vehicle he ever had featured "low" compression when he purchased them, but with care and attention, and MMO and synthetic oil (IIRC), compression came back over time. There is no way to "re-seat" rings, but rings which are stuck in their ring grooves can be freed up and will seal properly once that happens.
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flomulgator
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 4:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very interesting! The P.O. let this thing sit for long stretches for the two years preceding his decision to sell/my purchase, and I know he only used dino oil.

That may also explain why only one piston is bad, and all others made good compression; it seemed odd at the time.

Clearly if I'm going to do this (I'm going to do this) I'm going to need to measure baseline and results in order to quantify any improvement. Any recommendation on a good pressure tester?
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 8:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

For what its worth, I had a similar situation with my Subie transplant ie the engine sat around for a while and it used oil after installation.

I tried the MMO treatment a couple of times with no result, but a couple of applications of Seafoam made a difference in the oil consumption.

Good luck!
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 8:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jake,
In the oil, the fuel, or both?
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 9:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Howesight,
After much looking I've determined that Yamalube Ring-Free is not available locally. Of course I can get it somewhere, it's just more of a hassle. I did find several comparable products advertising ring-devarnishing from Rislone and Bar's (not my favorite brand); are all these products the same or should I seek out the Yamalube Ring-Free?

Swapped in new Iridium spark plugs this weekend. No magic fix but still a little improvement.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 2:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good news!

I gathered the equipment necessary and collected some baseline data. Compression with my home kit in Cylinder #4 was approx. 115 psi when engine is stone cold. This is approximately what the shop found.

Ran uber-expensive Yamaha Ring-Free as a "shock treatment" (10oz/5 gallons). Just ran the same compression test and now I'm getting 140 to 160 psi in cylinder #4!
For comparison I checked cylinder #2 and was getting 150 psi, so they are comparable compressions. Again the engine was cold, the PSI of the good cylinders (including #2) came in at 170 psi at a shop when checked professionally. There may be sources of error in my testing but I'm thinking it looks like the Ring Free freed the rings and instead of a new engine I only spent $30 on a bottle of magic.

I will follow up at some point with another professional 6-cylinder compression test, a blow by test, and I'm going to run a used-oil analysis as well.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's great news, Flomulgator! I suspect that if you shock it again with more "Ring Free" next oil change, you'll see even more improvement. Has this increase in compression helped with the running problems?

BTW, if you are comparing your compression test results to the Subaru factory specs, the testing method has to be correct:

1. Engine at operating temperature. Yes, I know hot engines give you owies.
2. All spark plugs removed;
3. Battery fully charged;
4. Throttle fully open;
5. Crank until indicated gauge pressure stops increasing. This would be, say, around four or five seconds.

Where did you locate the Yamaha product? It would be good for all Subie conversion folks on the Samba to learn about your results. For some reason, Subie engines seem to be particularly prone to ring sticking. Brian at SmallCar told me some time ago, before I did my conversion, but after I had purchased my SVX engine, to consider re-ringing it because the SVX engines, he noticed, had a tendency to sticking rings.

Well, I have a theory on that now. For locally-sourced SVX engines, remember that the SVX had a biodegradable automatic transmission, so I think a lot of owners let them sit a long time while deciding what to do with them. The folks who then bought the dead SVX cars to fix them or harvest engines also let the engines sit a long time. For JDM engines, same story - - just different. The low speed limits and short trips and use of dino oil created a perfect storm for a sticky-ring environment.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 6:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another reason I have found 4.86 R&Ps + stock gearing a blessing.
Keep them R's up once running good, they enjoy staying cleaned out Exclamation
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 8:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The internet is inconclusive on changing oil after shock treatment. What are ya'lls thoughts?

My other issues have been wrangled to a dull roar and seem unaffected by any compression change. Plugging a small hole I found near the #2 O2 sensor helped with idle smoothness though. Thanks for the heads up for comparing to factory specs.

I located the Yamaha Ring-Free at West Marine. Even then I had to have them order in a bottle, no one stocks it anywhere AFAIK. The store I used was Seattle - Interbay but they are a chain and any store should be able to order bottles.
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

flomulgator wrote:
Jake,
In the oil, the fuel, or both?


In the oil - I ran it for a few hundred miles before an oil change.

Still not great on oil, so I picked up some Yamaha Ring Free from a marine repair shop in Bellingham yesterday: 'West Coast Marine', maybe? As cheap as Amazon with no shipping or waiting.

Going to give it the shock treatment.
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PostPosted: Sun May 24, 2015 11:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

One last post on this sticky ring subject.

Although home compression testing by me indicated the the Ring-Free had done the job, I also did Jake's suggestion and dumped seafoam in the oil and ran it for 300 miles before changing. Grabbed a UOA too before the Seafoam application. UOA showed a touch more chromium than normal, possible ring wear. Just this week had another professional compression and leakdown test, showing even compression at 190 across the board! I can confirm this worked!

Unfortunately the leakdown showed high values on about half the other cylinders, so that's a thing. But still it was very positive to see that cylinder resealed and making strong compression.
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 5:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I remember seeing a photo of an SVX Vanagon's speedo approaching 140mph. Does anyone have a link to this photo?
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