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16CVs Samba Member
Joined: February 22, 2004 Posts: 4026 Location: Redwood City, California
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 7:43 pm Post subject: Official GoWesty Engine Feedback Thread |
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Moderator note: This is the official feedback topic for all GoWesty-built waterboxer engines, including the new 2.7.
I am interested in comments regarding Go Westy's bigger Engines . I am interested to hear ,total miles ,oil leakage and consumption . Reliability and drive-ability issues . As well as cruise ability ,like going over Donner or Grapevine in California .
Have you re geared or changed your Wheel / tire size up or down to make up for increase displacement .
Warranty issues and if you installed it and maintain it your self . I am not interested in Comments about , Subarus ,bostigs and Tdi's ,Volvo or other non Waterboxer VW engines .
I am buying a 2.5 with 50K on the clock and it burns about a quart in 500 miles . Not a deal breaker ,Still runs strong. I just need to get a course of action to get it repaired . The previous owner said the pistons always had piston slap . I talked to Taylor at GW and he said that is normal because of the dis similar metals . Once warmed up it goes away .
I realize that anything other that with anything other than stock there
are always trade offs .
So if you have a GW 2.3/2.4 / 2.5 . Lets talk about them here . Good bad or indifferent .
Save your negative comments for some else's thread . I know a guy who is pulling a TDi and putting a WBX back in so anything is possible . _________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.
Last edited by 16CVs on Tue Apr 23, 2013 9:51 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Vango Conversions Samba Member
Joined: October 04, 2010 Posts: 1054 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 7:56 pm Post subject: |
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There are a few threads about the larger go westy motors. The search engine on here sucks but you should be able to find it. |
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16CVs Samba Member
Joined: February 22, 2004 Posts: 4026 Location: Redwood City, California
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 8:25 pm Post subject: |
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I tried , it was painful trying to find enough to read . You have to dig through every post to find anything .
Find me a thread that is direct and I would appreciate it .
Stacy _________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread. |
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wildenbeast Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2008 Posts: 680 Location: Colorado
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joseph928 Samba Member
Joined: September 22, 2011 Posts: 2114 Location: flagstaff az.
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 8:52 pm Post subject: GW motor 2.3 |
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Love my 2.3, talk about it in one of the other posts. But yes bigger tires 215-75-15 and new gears in 3rd and 4th and new RP -617's and locker. Go Westy did the trans. to, 50,000 miles later all is well! _________________ 1987 syncro westy tin top sun roof , GW2.3, rear locker, decoupler, Gary Lee tire rack & winch mount, lift, south african grill, big brakes , rhein alloy ,15 BFG AT, Fiamma 10 foot awning ,140 watt rear 85 watt front solar , mppt, truckfridge, automatic fire extinguishing system, tencent oil cooler, And a RMW SS exhaust! - 1971 bug convertible 1776 engine- 2010 Subaru turbo - 1993 Toyota 4x4 truck - 1999 Harley 95 CI, big bore, Andrews cams . Also 80-84- vans. Stock 65 sunroof bug. |
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Syncronoid Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2012 Posts: 1111 Location: Stanford, CA and Bend, OR
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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GW2.5 with 13k miles. One year old. Runs like a champ; no problems here. 16" BFG AT wheels. Stock gearing. Usually do 45mph (with a full load) up over Grapevine, Donner, Santiam and Siskiyou Summit. Usually cruise I-5 at 65mph; could do 70mph or more no problem, but what's the hurry. _________________ '90 Syncro Westy w/GW2.5L |
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Vango Conversions Samba Member
Joined: October 04, 2010 Posts: 1054 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 9:11 pm Post subject: |
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Syncronoid, would you care to share your tire size for the original poster? The rim size doesn't affect the rpm but the overall tire size does, I'm sure this would be helpful to her deciding if different gearing or tire sizes would be beneficial. There are lots of tire sizes that fit 16" rims, some are smaller but most are larger than the stock 185r14. |
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syncrodoka Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2005 Posts: 12008 Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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The OP is a he.
Good point on tire size being important not rim size, with tire size the overall diameter can be figured out. |
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Syncronoid Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2012 Posts: 1111 Location: Stanford, CA and Bend, OR
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry, 215/70-16. _________________ '90 Syncro Westy w/GW2.5L |
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Jedi Samba Member
Joined: October 23, 2007 Posts: 734 Location: Cool California
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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love my GW 2.2L... _________________ 1961 Westfalia SO23 Mango Green/Seagull grey
1961 Westfalia SO34 T/BW
1961 Westfalia SO34 SWR
1964 Westfalia SO33 pearl white
1965 Westfalia SO42 Velvet green
1986 Syncro Wolfram grey with black int GL
1986 Syncro Doka
1987 Syncro Sevana beige Adventurewagen
1987 syncro Sevana beige GL
1973 Pumpkin orange Thing
2 1963 Rag top bug's
1965 Manx
1970 Single cab
1971 combi
1990 Vanagon GL
2007 Audi A4 3.2L quattro |
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shorepig Samba Member
Joined: November 30, 2005 Posts: 516 Location: Vancouver, B.C.
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16CVs Samba Member
Joined: February 22, 2004 Posts: 4026 Location: Redwood City, California
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Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 12:01 am Post subject: |
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So what has happened to the present day ? is the van still running ,have you fixed the problem or have you just parked the van ? 2 years is along to have no comments on such a major problem .
Stacy _________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread. |
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AtlasShrugged Samba Member
Joined: October 30, 2008 Posts: 1605 Location: Decatur, Ga. USA
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Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 8:16 am Post subject: |
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16CV's wrote: |
2.5 with 50K on the clock and it burns about a quart in 500 miles |
The oil consumption is pretty high and should require some investigation. Do it so your trip is more pleasant. |
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insyncro Banned
Joined: March 07, 2002 Posts: 15086 Location: New York
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Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 8:27 am Post subject: |
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2.2, 2.3....maybe 2.4
2.5, an oil drinker and now 50k on it....rebuild pending, IMHO. |
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gbrandt Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2006 Posts: 578 Location: Calgary
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Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 2:10 pm Post subject: |
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2.3 with about 25,000 km on it. Runs great, lots of power.
One cylinder has wet sparkplug and blue smoke on startup. GoWesty will honour warranty as soon as I get pictures to them of the heat tabs
Gregor _________________ 'Lucky' our 1987 Red Westy, ASV 1.9 TDI ~130HP, Peloquin differential (had a GW 2.3 that we loved, but it died, we drove it hard!)
We've driven in 49 countries and 5 continents to date
Canada to Argentina and back, 2015 to 2017.
Canada to Europe and back (including Turkey, Morocco and Iceland), 2017 to 2019
Mexico 2022-2023
https://www.instagram.com/live.travel.play/
http://livetravelplay.ca |
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Vango Conversions Samba Member
Joined: October 04, 2010 Posts: 1054 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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Strange that the larger GW engines seem to have oil consumption problems. I bet the previous owner knew what they were doing but if they didn't...
Running a wbx motor with the oil at the max level will cause the oil level to drop down to the 1/2 way point between the full and low marks rather quickly where the consumption usually stops. If they kept the oil topped off that could explain the consumption. If they waited until it gets to the low mark and then they add 1/2 quart and it's still burning a quart every 500 miles, that's a problem. |
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16CVs Samba Member
Joined: February 22, 2004 Posts: 4026 Location: Redwood City, California
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Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:27 pm Post subject: |
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So has anyone had theirs apart and done any work on it . Like a valve job or rings or even head gaskets .
These things seem to be so great that no one has had to work on them ,or their warranty is still in place .
I will be tearing into mine in the months to come ,I do not imagine it will be any different then any other WBX .
Hopefully I will just have to source rings and some gaskets sets .
Stacy _________________ 1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread. |
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slo356 Samba Member
Joined: February 18, 2002 Posts: 365 Location: Central Calif Coast
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Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 7:59 am Post subject: |
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Contact Syncro Safari. I believe he just installed a GW 2.5 approximately within the last 5K miles.
Btw, any engine that has piston slap may be OK, but is a sign of poor tolerancing. It has little to nothing to do with dissimilar metals...think the better manufacturers tolerate it? No way! _________________ '65 T1 Sedan
'87 T3 Syncro |
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inkysocks Samba Member
Joined: April 13, 2010 Posts: 8 Location: New Orleans, LA
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 1:33 pm Post subject: GW Basher? Try this: Three bad GW Engines in a row. |
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For anyone considering a GoWesty engine, consider this: I had three of their engines go bad on me after an average 13,500 miles. I'm diligent with maintenance and have the repair record (and $20k+ in bills) to prove it.
First 2.5L lasted 500 miles. Threw a rod. GW blamed a new guy at the engine builder who blocked a lubrication hole in the crankcase. Replaced at GW's expense.
Second 2.5L threw a rod at about 30k miles. Pro-rated warranty coverage applied to purchase of a 2.4L at a 35% discount.
Third 2.4L showed low oil pressure at 10k miles. Teardown revealed a burnt piston from an overheat (a mechanic screwed up a coolant change in Phoenix, AZ), but also: a warped case, cracked crank, and shot bearings. Karmakanix's head mechanic said those engine-totaling problems were likely because it was sold with a warped case to me initially (the way crank saddles were rehoned provided the clue), but the overheat voided the warranty so I was out of luck, even though overheats don't cause these problems.
Lucas, GoWesty's head, had no explanation of how an overheat caused a warped case, shot bearings and a cracked crank. He offered 50% off another engine if I replaced the entire coolant system, but I was done dropping $10,000 every two years with GoWesty by then. You can imagine why.
If GoWesty's claimed crank failure rate of 1% is to be believed, I'm a 1-in-a-million case. They haven't sold anywhere near that many engines yet, so I don't believe it. I think crank failures are an order of magnitude or two more common than what they let on. Class action lawsuit territory to me.
Be warned. Besides, even their strongest engine only get you 125HP. I'd advise *anyone* to look elsewhere.
Last edited by inkysocks on Mon Jul 15, 2013 1:51 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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markz2004 Samba Member
Joined: November 13, 2007 Posts: 944 Location: Portland, OR
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 1:40 pm Post subject: Re: Three bad GW Engines in a row |
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inkysocks wrote: |
For anyone considering a GoWesty engine, consider this.
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Inky ~ when did these engine failures occur / when did you buy the GW engines? 5 years ago or more recently? _________________ 87 Westy, 250k GW 2.4 - 2.0 , 16" wheels |
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