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jberger
Samba Member
Joined: November 17, 2003
Posts: 2476
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 Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2021 8:48 pm Post subject: Re: 1st gear oil change... SURPRISE! |
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Surprised.. not surprised that I’m the first one suggesting sending a sample to blackstone for a baseline analysis? It’s fun and affordable!
J |
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4Gears4Tires
Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2018
Posts: 3048
Location: MD
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| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2021 9:20 pm Post subject: Re: 1st gear oil change... SURPRISE! |
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That magnet idea is awesome.
_________________
'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition |
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d_walküre
Samba Member
Joined: October 09, 2008
Posts: 72
Location: Tulsa, OK
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| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2021 10:06 pm Post subject: Re: 1st gear oil change... SURPRISE! |
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| jberger wrote: |
Surprised.. not surprised that I’m the first one suggesting sending a sample to blackstone for a baseline analysis? It’s fun and affordable!
J |
just looked it up... This is probably a good idea for the SVX engine and tranny with unk driving history. Thanks for the tip!
_________________
JesusV
1987 Vanagon GL Syncro SVX NAHT "Valkyrie"
1993 Eurovan Weekender "Camper van Beethoven"
1959 Bug |
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d_walküre
Samba Member
Joined: October 09, 2008
Posts: 72
Location: Tulsa, OK
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| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2021 10:08 pm Post subject: Re: 1st gear oil change... SURPRISE! |
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| 4Gears4Tires wrote: |
| That magnet idea is awesome. |
We all contribute our small part. Some not so small. I mean, I'd still be removing my headers to do an oil change if it weren't for this forum!
_________________
JesusV
1987 Vanagon GL Syncro SVX NAHT "Valkyrie"
1993 Eurovan Weekender "Camper van Beethoven"
1959 Bug |
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Sodo
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007
Posts: 9613
Location: Western WA
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| Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2021 11:22 pm Post subject: Re: 1st gear oil change... SURPRISE! |
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| d_walküre wrote: |
| Sodo wrote: |
| d_walküre wrote: |
I'm getting a little too excited about my next oil change 😂😂😂
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Uh oh, is this competition?
We’ll see what yer made of pal.... 
How about buying another drain magnet plug and put it in the filler hole? |
Haha! you're on. But, don't need one for the filler bc there's not an exhaust pipe in the way. |
Oops not a tool - suggestion was to buy a 2nd ^^one of these.^^ for the filler hole. 
Then if you wanna peek at your drain magnet, without draining the oil, you can:
put a shopvac on the filler,
remove the drain magnet,
swicheroo with the "fill magnet"
...and post a pic on theSamba
A little bit of steel on the new 'fill magnet' can tell you 'something too'....
But it's not the same indicator as the drain magnet that has steel falling onto it all night long (when the oil is still).
You have a pan of unicorn blood?
Clean your magnet and set it in that overnight and post a pic after a couple days.
It won’t gather up another big hairdo.
~Nothing. Disappointing.
It’s not because your oil is “clean” of steel.
It's a common misconception that the magnet is "the transaxle's filter" to catch all of the steel dust.
The chips of bearing races and gear faces etc.
It can attract large chunks of __yikes!!__ if you have BIG problems.
And lucky for that!
... but it does not drag the small particles (horizontally etc) out of the oil.
The magnet hairdo is simply an indicator of lubricant condition.
The hairdo of silver paste that you see on the magnet is particles that have fallen down (by gravity) from a cone-shaped area above.
Nightly, while the van is parked.
It's a tiny fraction of the steel that's mixed evenly throughout your lubricant.
There are long strings that you'll never see that break off when you take the plug out.
And when you drive they get washed away (violently) by the ring gear nearby.
I suppose you are going to use Swepco 210 or something big-n-hairy for that 240HP ?
I'd buy a $20 gallon of FLAPs GL5 and run that for 200 miles (or whatever) to flush out the remaining unicorn blood --- before putting expensive oil in there.
_________________
'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb |
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Irishcalifornian
Samba Member
Joined: September 08, 2016
Posts: 167
Location: CaliWestyfornia
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| Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 10:31 am Post subject: Re: 1st gear oil change... SURPRISE! |
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| Sodo wrote: |
| Abscate wrote: |
| Put foil on the pipe so you don’t have to smell burning transmission oil for a month, yuck. |
....a month or a minute ?
First it is the Vanagon owners manual that says changing the oil is not necessary. Well they are right..
Then it its the Syncro under-bars, covering the drain plug.
Now Header designers are in on it too!
And TheSamba was kinda "that way..." for a long time.
Vanagon transaxle abuse is systemic.
(sodo = transaxle justice warrior)
Here's a tool I made for my brother who has KEP headers.
J walkure I'd run a $20/gallon of garden-variety gear oil thru there for 500 miles and flush ALL of that sparkly stuff out before buying specialty oil. I'd use GL5 for the modern Extreme Pressure additives.
You might have to shift slower with GL5 than GL4 but that's the breaks, you can learn that.
Buy an old-guy hat and own it.
Just understand that the biggest baddest oil you can get is only a few percent better than GL5. So if $23/quart causes you to run oil for longer than you should, that tiny percent gained by $23x4 = $92 will "go negative" on you.
You should assume that your transaxle, with gears and shafts and bearings sized for appx 60 hp in the mid-sixties, then used for up to 90HP by VW..... will be making unicorn blood even faster with 240HP.
And faster yet, as the parts pass ~90k miles into our antiques realm.
I use the word "assume" lightly.
My advice is to remove any impediment to clean lubricant.
Changing will get easier as you get the proper tubs, pumps, better methods.
There are some Samba threads.
It's antique, rare, and over-engined.
Consider changing it every other engine oil change.
Unless your magnet starts coming out real clean.
Consider the un-likelihood that as the miles increase, that your magnet may starts to come out cleaner and cleaner?....nope.
Logic suggests it will get covered sooner each time with 240HP,
but you can cross your fingers.🤞🏽🤞🏽 |
I had a (welding know it all) friend make me Sodo's tool for the same header problem and it broke with the first sign I put pressure on the plug. It has a 1000 miles rebuilt trans.
Anyway does anyone know where I can find a tool like Sodo's that I can just buy?
Thanks in advance!
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One Life, Live It |
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IdahoDoug
Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2010
Posts: 10251
Location: N. Idaho
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| Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 11:10 am Post subject: Re: 1st gear oil change... SURPRISE! |
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In a pinch (on the road, etc), you can buy a 17mm bolt and stuff something in the plug (wadded up paper, chewing gum, etc) to fill the 17mm hole a bit so the bolt won't go all the way in - leaving enough for you to get a purchase on. Might have trouble if it's way tight, of course, but presumably all here are smart enough not to overtighten things.....right?....
Some great suggestions here for tools though!!
_________________
1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader |
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dobryan
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16504
Location: Brookeville, MD
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| Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:01 pm Post subject: Re: 1st gear oil change... SURPRISE! |
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| IdahoDoug wrote: |
In a pinch (on the road, etc), you can buy a 17mm bolt and stuff something in the plug (wadded up paper, chewing gum, etc) to fill the 17mm hole a bit so the bolt won't go all the way in - leaving enough for you to get a purchase on. Might have trouble if it's way tight, of course, but presumably all here are smart enough not to overtighten things.....right?....
Some great suggestions here for tools though!! |
That is the way I remove the drain plug. I use a 17mm closed end wrench on a 17mm nut set into the drain plug just so. But I never tighten it too tight so it comes out with no fuss. YMMV.
_________________
Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD
"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson
MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646
Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371
The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794 |
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DanHoug
Samba Member
Joined: December 05, 2016
Posts: 4791
Location: Bemidji, MN
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| Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:22 pm Post subject: Re: 1st gear oil change... SURPRISE! |
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you can always watch eBay for one of these.. Saltus 11280 17mm -21mm wrench, made in Germany. got this one from Poland very reasonably.
_________________
-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.
'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd
Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com |
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dobryan
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16504
Location: Brookeville, MD
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Sodo
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007
Posts: 9613
Location: Western WA
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 10:00 am Post subject: Re: 1st gear oil change... SURPRISE! |
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Irish I made a tool for you. Check the Samba PMs.
Here is a pic at Hole-in-the-ground near Descend on Bend.
Its wide angle, tool looks kinda distorted.
I will be passing thru Bend Sept6 as well (Ziggy Marley!)
_________________
'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb |
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ALIKA T3
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2009
Posts: 6360
Location: Honolulu,Hawaii and France
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 10:15 am Post subject: Re: 1st gear oil change... SURPRISE! |
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You guys are reinventing the wheel with all your drain plug tools 
Take a piece of 17mm allen wrench, use a 17mm ratcheting box wrench. Done.
Fits everywhere, can't get anymore compact than this and it's faster.
_________________
Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget |
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Irishcalifornian
Samba Member
Joined: September 08, 2016
Posts: 167
Location: CaliWestyfornia
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 10:16 am Post subject: Re: 1st gear oil change... SURPRISE! |
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Damn Sodo,
That's awesome!
And also weird that I will be in Bend the 6th.
Thank you so much.
Will PM you.
Cheers!
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One Life, Live It |
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Sodo
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007
Posts: 9613
Location: Western WA
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 2:23 pm Post subject: Re: 1st gear oil change... SURPRISE! |
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| ALIKA T3 wrote: |
| Take a piece of 17mm allen wrench, use a 17mm ratcheting box wrench |
Or a regular 17mm box wrench.
Not everyone has an angle grinder or skillz to cut a ~15mm hex plug section from a 17mm Allen wrench.
But that’s a good way👍🏽👍🏽
_________________
'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb |
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