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Wed Dec 13, 2006 6:35 pm

Hi all, first post, so please don't be too harsh. I'm in the UK, btw.

I'm new to this whole VW thing. My dad was a mechanic for years, and I'm fairly technically minded, so I could use some pointers for getting started.

I've had a browse around, and then regstered, and I'm thinking that this is the right forum, and the right place in the right forum, for asking about some things for my LT35. Feel free to shift it to the right place if not. It's from 1989, so pretty new for around here. So far I have added a full bulkhead to split it up, and an MP3 playing stereo.

What I need to know majorly, is, does anyone know the recommended tyre inflation pressures, and the tyre specs? (Yes, I'm trawling through the 16 pages of tyre thread that is stickied, but since I don't know what you guys call what I call an LT35, and I have no manual for it (see below), I thought I had better ask a direct question!)

Also, I need a copy of the manual or somesuch so I can fix various things up and keep it roadworthy, and find out things like what flavour oil she likes best...

Finally, can anyone recommend a good repair manual? I need to fix the air blowers, which have just stopped working, so can I get some recommendations?

She's a great van. Tops out at 55, done quarter of a million miles by the clock, air cooled 2.4 litre diesel, used to be red, now a sort of showing rust white. Oh, and she leaks water in the rain, but I'm hoping some seam sealant will stop that. Got her through the MOT for £200 which is pretty good, there's some work needed for next time, though.

Any help greatly apprieciated.

Wed Dec 13, 2006 9:44 pm

Not many of us colonists have ever seen an LT35. There are a few international posters, but most here are from the US.

Wed Dec 13, 2006 10:34 pm

I've always wanted to see one of those. Me thinks they are even more rare on our side of the pond.

Although I'd enjoy seing more about your L35, I suspect you'll get more help in the Vanagon forum as, to my understanding, they are essentially expanded caravans.

Good luck, Mark

Wed Dec 13, 2006 10:59 pm

soapy wrote: air cooled 2.4 litre diesel.

Ok, I'll be the first to admit I have no idea what an LT35 is........however I am interested in you telling me more about this power plant!

Is it a VW engine? My google is broke bloke.......so post up some pics please?

Ta

Thu Dec 14, 2006 1:04 am

this site kicks ass. too bad i can't read german. man, i'd love a 4x4 diesel.

http://www.lt-4x4.de/

go to the "bilder", "noriker", "gebrauchte LT-4x4" sections for some cool pics.

but as stated, they were (unfortunately) never imported to the US, and the ones that are here are a very rare sight. they are completely separate vehicles from the vanagon line. the LT's are a heavier commercial truck platform.

Thu Dec 14, 2006 3:59 am

Thanks guys.

Funny that the Light Transporter never got over there. As they were never exported, there must only be a very few. Over here there were quite a lot of them, though they are, of course, slowly diminishing due to MOT failure and crashes.

I'll share what little I know, mostly taken from the MOT/insurance docs. The shorthand on the insurance certificate says

Volkswagon LT35 ED LWB 2.4D

No idea what the ED stands for, the LWB is long wheel base, the LT stands for Light Transporter. As far as I know, there was an LT28 too, which had a Max Gross of 2.8 tonnes, while the LT35 has a max weight of 3.49 tonnes. This was done for UK license classifications, as over 3.5 tonnes you need a higher class of license, as it becomes an HGV.

I can tell I'm going to have to learn some German now. From what I'm trying to read there, it appears the the LT35 is a 4x4, and the tyres should be a certain size. :-/ I've just posted there in English to ask if they know an English speaking forum.

Thu Dec 14, 2006 7:58 am

soapy wrote: Hi all, first post, so please don't be too harsh. I'm in the UK, btw.

I'm new to this whole VW thing. My dad was a mechanic for years, and I'm fairly technically minded, so I could use some pointers for getting started.

I've had a browse around, and then regstered, and I'm thinking that this is the right forum, and the right place in the right forum, for asking about some things for my LT35. Feel free to shift it to the right place if not. It's from 1989, so pretty new for around here. So far I have added a full bulkhead to split it up, and an MP3 playing stereo.

What I need to know majorly, is, does anyone know the recommended tyre inflation pressures, and the tyre specs? (Yes, I'm trawling through the 16 pages of tyre thread that is stickied, but since I don't know what you guys call what I call an LT35, and I have no manual for it (see below), I thought I had better ask a direct question!)

Also, I need a copy of the manual or somesuch so I can fix various things up and keep it roadworthy, and find out things like what flavour oil she likes best...

Finally, can anyone recommend a good repair manual? I need to fix the air blowers, which have just stopped working, so can I get some recommendations?

She's a great van. Tops out at 55, done quarter of a million miles by the clock, air cooled 2.4 litre diesel, used to be red, now a sort of showing rust white. Oh, and she leaks water in the rain, but I'm hoping some seam sealant will stop that. Got her through the MOT for £200 which is pretty good, there's some work needed for next time, though.

Any help greatly apprieciated.

Hello Soapy.

I think you will find that the VW LT, dating from circa 1979 onwards, is probably almost exclusive, to Great Britain and Europe. Being a water-cooled, front-engined vehicle, it is in no way related to the much smaller 1982~92 VW Type 25 (aka Vanagon or T3).

I believe there is a British based website which deals exclusively with the VW LT. I have a sales brochure for the late-1980s (circa 1986~88) VW LTs, but I doubt whether it gives any tyre-pressure details or engine-oil specifications.

Regards.

Nigel A. Skeet, Essex, England

Thu Dec 14, 2006 11:50 am

Nigel, thanks! That tells me something very important, in that I simply thought that like almost every other VW it was air cooled!

I'll have to keep searching for this other forum.

Fri Jan 05, 2007 7:31 am

soapy wrote: Nigel, thanks! That tells me something very important, in that I simply thought that like almost every other VW it was air cooled!

I'll have to keep searching for this other forum.

Hello again Soapy.

Looking through the October 1998 issue of the Motor Caravan Magazine, published by Link House Magazines, in Croydon, I came across an article on pages 86~88, about a Volkswagen LT 28 Pampas Laredo motorcaravan and some club details.

Volkswagen LT Motorhome Club
G. Sedgewick
107a, Highfield Road
Barrow-in-Furness
Cumbria
LA14 5PB
England

This now seems to have been changed to

VW LT Motorhome Club
Graham Sedgwick,
No. 2 Lodge,
Northside Caravan Park,
North Road,
Carnforth,
Lancs
LA6 1AA

I have never come across a 4x4 version of a Volkswagen LT35, which would have been a special option, either from the MAN-Volkswagen factory or as a specialist aftermarket conversion.

That's all for the moment.

Regards.

Nigel A. Skeet

Fri Jan 05, 2007 10:33 am

Thanks for looking that far back!

I found a handy link from that search I did on them, and it turns out there is someone else VW, the New Lancs VW Club, which has a meeting in Garstang, just up the road from me. So I'll take a trip up and have a chat with them on the third Thursday in Jan.

Ta muchly! I'd not have found them without you.

Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:53 am

The following link to Wikipedia, gives a comprehensive history of the Volkswagen LT, from its introduction in 1975, right upto the present day. There are also some useful links to other Volkswagen LT related websites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_LT

Just LTS are specialised breakers and dismantlers of Volkswagen LT vans in Leicester. They also claim to have, a large stock of fully available second hand Volkswagen LT spares.

http://www.just-lts.com/

Volkswagen Lt Series 1976-87 Owner's Workshop Manual, published by Haynes Publishing Group, priced at £18·99, is available from Books Shop Play.com.

http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/461991/Volkswag...oduct.html

Details

Author Peter G. Strasman

Publisher Haynes Publishing (UK)

Year 1988

ISBN 9781850103233

Format hardback - 312 Pages

Regards.

Nigel A. Skeet

Mon Jan 08, 2007 3:38 am

Perhaps useful for others, there is a seller on ebay called "jpgotwhatyouneed" ( [email protected] ) has the "Volkswagen VW LT 28,35,46 Diesel Workshop Manual" listed in his ebay shop. Says he has 53 copies.

Wed May 02, 2007 5:08 pm

Soapy,

I'm building an LT31 at the moment, hopefully in time for Glastonbury festival! :lol:

I've had to pretty much rebuild the whole van from the floor up - so any info and I'll try to help you out - but by now you've probably turned expert!

For all the US Guys and Gals on here - The LT is just made for being a camper - well worth importing one, because the UK weather is crap and they rust like hell :twisted:

And to top it all, you can stand up in them! :lol:

see 'Other VW's' I just posted my self build project on there!

Wed May 02, 2007 11:53 pm

Sounds great!

I've not become an expert, not by a long way. However, I have fiddled a bit, repainting the front and other stuff. Problem is, I use it nearly every day, and I'm on call all the time, as I'm a locksmith. Not good when you have emptied it out and jacked it up and a call comes in!

I'm currently trying to figure out an earth fault on the lefthand lights, which means the reversing lights are intermittent, the left dipped headlight is dodgy, and sometimes the brake lights don't come on!

The great thing about the chassis and underside is that it is all coated with some kind of fibreglass like plastic to stop stone chips and rust from salt. My investigations have shown me that anywhere that coating has perforated, the metal has long since rusted away. That's what filler is for, though. It's a bit like a Beverley Hills girl - now she's 18, she needs a little bodywork. :lol:

Thu May 03, 2007 4:06 pm

If you find that you have to replace parts of the floor - I can get you details of a company that stocks the correct profile pannels for this.

I used a lot of 3mm high grade steel sheeting for mine, as I never want to have to get back underneath it again.

With regards to the wiring.......I bought myself a haynes manual and started from scratch. The earth points on these vans suffer like the rest with the dredded rust!

If you are having trouble with suspected earthing, connect a long wire from the battery earth and connect it to the problem light earth point, if it then works, there is your problem!.

I'd never try and 'fix' an old earth, but just renew the connection completely - perhaps in a different place that isn't going to suffer with rot as much.

Sat May 12, 2007 2:34 pm

<yesterday>That seems like a logical enough way of doing it. I'll give it a try. I'll have to convince my other half to come and stand there telling me which lights are doing what, and when!

I'll see what the dodgy bit looks like when I find it, but you are probably right, I'll move the earth point a little, then sort out the rust at the old placement, and then seal both new and old points to stop it happening again.</yesterday>

It's not an earth fault. I've got the Haynes manual for the petrol engine, and it has the wiring diagrams, but wow, are they complex! I spent about an hour messing around, I even ran a wire from the lefthand rear sidelight, the only one still working, across to the right lot to test those, and sure enough, they then worked.

The reversing lights don't work, only the left sidelight works, and I have no brake lights. But all the indicators are fine. So the earths are fine.

I did pick up a small voltage on the other lights, perhaps a tenth of a volt or so. I'm a bit confused, though, as it might be unrelated.

Oh, and the glowplug relay failed last night, but I was lucky enough to be close to home, and dropped £20 on a replacement from the local specialist, which was as simple as pull and push to solve the problem.

I'm going to have a look at the back of the fuseboard tomorrow. If it isn't that, then it's got to be a failed wire - but the failures are on different circuits and fuses! Ah well, I hope it doesn't rain...

Sun May 13, 2007 7:50 am

Hi Soapy,

Even after putting in new wires on mine, I found that the rear lights were a bit on the dim side, so I fitted LED stop and tail lights which fit straight in without any further modification.

I got them off of ebay and they were about £4.00 each!

If there are enough hours left before we have to set sail for Glastonbury Festival, I'm going to do the same with the indicators - they should last for around 100,000 hours, which I think will probably do for a couple of years!!!

Another thing I found on Ebay was a guy selling a "letter box" (£25) tail pipe which I have put on and it actually suits the van really well and compliments the rectangle pannels / windows on the van.

I also put a pair of 21 inch chrome wipers on mine, which wipe right to the top edge of the screen with a couple of mm to spare.

On top of that I decided to put LED lit dual washer jets on too - which meant I had to drill two very large holes under the dash so I could put the retaining nuts on and pull the cables through.

I'm yet to start installing the interior in my van, as I've been concentrating on renewing all the brakes and that has lead into other problems itself.

Plus on top of that - it has been raining non-stop here.

I've also been customising the cab area with peacock eye fabric ( sounds grose ) but it's looking rather funky.

I must find a way of getting some pics on here!

Sun May 13, 2007 12:41 pm

Well, I think I've found the issue. As I said "Hope it doesn't rain", it rained solidly for about 6 hours today, so I got a bit wet working things out. However, this did show me the probable issue, which is that the screen is leaking water in at the sides. Fine, not an issue and just something to plug the next time it is dry - but we all know where the fuseboard is on an LT, don't we?

I was tipped off to the possibility of a leak when I changed the faulty relay on Friday, as it was warm, yet had a dirty smudge of dampness on it. The rain today confirmed it perfectly. I also worked out why the floor mat on the drivers side was a bit damp all the time, it's not coming up from underneath, but is also leaking in the window. It's the metal to seal, rather than glass to seal. :-(

Anyone got any tips for sealing these problem areas? I believe it's quite a common fault/problem.

Sun May 13, 2007 5:05 pm

:lol: Funny you should say that!

I had a similar problem in the back of mine!

Until I discovered that I hadn't pushed the rubber seal together properly after refitting the windows. :roll:

However, I'd seriously consider upgrading the stop and tail lights to LED's as they are bright, instant, cold and probably out last the van.

oooh did I really say "out last the van"! ooops - oh well " who wants to live forever " - I hope I do, because then I'll probably have some sort of chance of finishing it :?

Mon Dec 10, 2007 10:53 pm

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=541452

Check it out, its the real deal. Located in Venice, CA. Owned, Driven, Maintained by a VW Mechanic. Needs a good home.

Brian