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Sat Jan 22, 2005 6:10 pm

I recently purchased a 81 westy that had sat for 12 yrs. I am not familier with the FI system. I purchased a Bently for the vehical. The PO looks to have replaced the injectors but the air hoses are very worn and cracked. I have good compresson in three cylinders but only 4psi in #1 I don't know of maybe the lifter is stuck or the ring is cracked. Has anyone ever tried to convert a FI into a carb fuel system? Any advice would be great.

Sat Jan 22, 2005 6:45 pm

Yes you can buy a Weber kit, it sucks, don't do it . If it sat for twelve years you more than likely you have rust in the gas tank, don't run anymore gas through the system from the tank, small pieces pieces of rust may get though a saturated fuel filter and will clog fuel injectors.
The 2.0 is the same used in the late 70's Bay window bus.
Most of this stuff applies to you too, read through about Ratwell's bus and learn about rust in the tank.
www.ratwell.com
In order for the Fuel injection to work correct all hoses have to be leak free. so if they are old and cracked they need to be changed.
This is the about the simplest FI system around also works like a champ when it is in good shape. The lack of compression on #4 is your biggest problem, I'd fix that before worring about everything else.

Sat Jan 22, 2005 7:42 pm

Very likely that the low compression is due to a hydraulic lifter that is "air locked up". You have to get it to fill with oil to make it work the valve.

http://www.bostonengine.com/articles/hydraulicll.htm

Plan on changing out all of the fuel lines and the filter as they are probably all filled with remains of dead gas. Make sure the fuel pump is able to pump to the Bentely spec and to hold adequate pressure after the engine is shut off. If it were me, I would also have the injectors professionally cleaned and calibrated which will cost you about $80 for all 5 (including the cold start valve). www.cruzinperformance.com

Change out all of the vacuum lines as you cannot have any vacuum leaks in the FI system for it to work correctly.

You can still do all of that a whole lot cheaper than buying a couple of webers and setting them up and the thing will actually work correctly when you are finished.

Mon Jan 24, 2005 5:25 pm

If it sat that long one or more valves were in the "open" position the whole time. Likely one was corroded open and isn't closing (if one were corroded closed you would have shot a pushrod out!).

Try pulling the valve covers and checking valve height at #1. If one of the valves is lower than the others (needen't be much) you got your culprit. "air-locked" lifters won't hold a valve open but will keep it form opening all the way (or at the right time!).

Try some PB'Blaster in the intake manifold to free up a sticky intake. Cranking it a couple times will get it on the exhaust too.

ATF (tablespoon or so) in the spark-plug holes works well to loosen sticky valves and springs after a loooong hiatus too (let it soak a bit before cranking).

Mike!

Tue Jan 25, 2005 7:51 pm

He'sright. It is most likely that you have a hung valve. After soaking it with penetrating oil, try tapping on it lightly with a small hammer. A lot of times it is all that it takes to return the valve to its' closed position. It's time to replace all of the hoses, regardless of weather or not it sat. Twelve years is long enough, even for a daily driver.

Wed Jan 26, 2005 4:29 pm

Thanks to everyone for the tips. I am going to work on it this weekend.

Thu Jan 27, 2005 8:14 am

I have a question for you guys. I store mine for the winter and do not start it (from Nov. to April ). I do not start it because the battery is out. I did treat the gas so should I automatically lube the lifters next time I start it.

Thu Jan 27, 2005 9:04 am

My suggestion Would be of course to take the battery out every couple of weeks start her up and let it run 15 to 20 mins. get her warm and let that oil circulate all though the engine, like warm life giving blood. When I was growing up in Ohio I remember several people who's campers got parked all winter, and the Batteries came into the garage (so they wouldn't crack in the cold) and went on trickel chargers to keep them fresh. There campers always seemed ready for camping in the spring, so I don't think you really got much to worry about. Now I really think the biggest thing to worry about, is lack of oil on the first start up in April. What I mean is: Oil is "sticky" But in a engine it is made to Flow or move. The longer it sits The more oil is going to "go to ground" or flow back to the pan, leaving a thinner and thinner coating of oil on your parts. Now this may be just brief period at start up in april, but One big no-no I've always been told is never run your engine under its own power dry. I am guessing your lifters are going to make a hell of a racket before they pump up to, but we know that this mostly just makes us very edgy till they quiet down.

Thu Jan 27, 2005 9:27 am

Here is my take on this (since I also do it to my own bus that is stored for the winter):

Fill gas up and include the Stabil fuel stabilizer.
Change oil and filer.
Remove battery(s)
Park in a nice and secure barn.

That is all I do.

I would not go out and start it to let it warm up from time to time during the hibernation period. Just do it when you are ready to get it out in the spring. It can take anywhere from 20 seconds to 20 minutes for those lifters to pump up in the spring. Mine are about 2 painful minutes. After the bus is running, I just drive it home and plan on changing the oil and filter again in a couple of thousand miles.

If per chance the painful lifter noise doesn't go away, I would have to bench bleed the lifter(s) that are in question. I would take the valve cover off, get it to either TDC or 180* just like I was going to zero them out and give them a good push to see who is still squishy and who isn't. Bench bleed the squishy ones and see if that helps.

That was a good tip given above on a sticky valve. Never had the problem before, but if bench bleeding doesn't fix the problem, go to plan B.

Thu Jan 27, 2005 10:10 am

Well there you go, Randy's the man! :D
I've been on the lookout for a clean Texas Vanagon, I'm going to drive it to Randy's house, leave it running with the keys in it, knock on the door and run away. This way he'll be stuck with it and may not take as much flak from the people on the Bay window Forum
Randy explaining his Vanagon to the Bay window board. "Honest guys it was right in front of my house and in the front seat was the title, with my name as owner. it said: In Maine, Randy, owner. So I had to keep it" :lol:

Thu Jan 27, 2005 10:50 am

Thanks Art. I could meet you halfway in.....Kentucky?

Thu Jan 27, 2005 11:22 am

How bout Memphis? Then we'll go to Graceland! :wink:
Got that old Paul Simon tune stuck in my head now.

Fri Jan 28, 2005 2:33 pm

My storage tip would be to change the oil and filter before shutting down for the winter.
When it comes time to start in the spring, pull the coil wire and ground it, remove the sparkers, dis-connect the fuel pump then crank 'til you get oil pressure, then reassemble and start it.

Of course one "dry" start isn't going to kill the engine but I hate to think of the poor thing running without the oil for that few seconds.

I've personally never had an issue with lifters that didn't resolve itself. The one time I replaced lifters due to "excessive" noise I got no improvement (yup, bench bled, oh-so-carefully!).

mike!