Just how bad is the Wasserboxer motor?

[joseph928]

When I go back to the Cuckoo's Nest at night and Jack Nicholson gives me a pat on the back, and says well done, good and faithful servant, one more safe trip in the van. All is well in the world!
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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.

[morymob]

My shrink who works part time at the car wash says after 20+ yrs with WBX's i'm still normal (won't define normal tho).

[ftp2leta]

[randywebb]

[morymob]

4 mo for engine rebuild??, spun #3, wonder how that item was addressed??

[AdrianC]

[Zeitgeist 13]

[vanagonjr]

[dspieg]

Original Poster here......

It's been 1-1/2 years since I bought my '87 GL, of which 6 months total have been spent in the shop -- first getting the engine rebuilt (4 months) and then another 2 months getting it re-rebuilt after it spun #3 rod bearing three months/4K miles later. The shop has never told me why the bearing spun nor have they verbally taken responsibility, but although they threatened to charge me MORE money (on top of the $6K+ for the 'first' rebuild) they haven't, and at this point the statute of limitations is up and they WON'T get any more money from me.

Now, with about 10K miles on the rebuilt/re-rebuilt engine, I'm finally starting to get comfortable with it and no longer worrying about imminent failure. It runs great and has plenty of power (seriously); I may be able to attribute a bit of that to the remarkable hollow-ness of the catalytic converter and the Magnaflow muffler just downstream.

So, now at 126K miles. I pledge to the Samba that, if the engine reaches 200K miles without any major problems, I will retract my posts lambasting the Wasserboxer. But not until then.

[[email protected]]

7k - 10k year round of tireless service, for me and the family, always runs... might not be pretty, but it's my bus..

a WBX, very forgiving...
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2001 eurovn weekender 207k fresh batteries

[seanjenn]

/\ /\ /\ Yup, I rage mine year round, 10-15k miles a year.
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1987 GL Sunroof
2.1 4 spd

[Jake de Villiers]

[T3 Pilot]

Your DoKa reminds me of a girl that I dated in college.......
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1988 Vanagon

The most important part in every vehicle is the nut behind the wheel......

[JED THE SPREAD]

[tschroeder0]

Tempting for sure, hell i did it and i did what i said i never would, i did a suby instead of a vannistan. Why, because i thought it would be a cheaper option.

Then came a harsh dose of reality, a used engine can hide many issues, also gone was all that knowlegde that i had put together about that little stock engine and i was starting from scratch.

The RMW kit remians a very good choice, but the diy reality is that you are usually trying to save money, hence a used engine...so now after redoing the rear main because i got it wrong the first time, pulling the engine again for a top end job due to very high oil use much more time and money spent than originally anticipated, a year later i have an engine that is faster and gets better mileage , BUT, would i say it is more reliable than my engine i pulled and sold to a guy has been running it ever since with no problems...hmmm

AND for full disclosure i have spent more money on my "cheap" diy swap then if i would have bought the vannistan unit and dropped it in in a day.

This is neither a endorsement for or argument against a swap but just my story.

[akyrie]

But the pie is soo tempting, it's a religion around here. Don't read too many threads, because they almost all end that way, and I am guilty for wanting the conversion too. No innocence on this end of the internets. Just no trigger pulling....yet.
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Although I got a funny message from the Porsche guys, it read, "what a mighty ship that you must sail"
....has anyone else received that?

82 AHU DK, 1950's Puch-black

[tschroeder0]

The pie in the sky idea that you opt for a swap and then all your issues with reliability are somehow gone is bunk. Status post swap i have spent more time wrenching and trouble shooting then i did in the last ten years with my stock engine, i did my homework, took my time, and still had to deal with a lot of issues.

[retroman]

Love my WBX! Has been totally reliable and I have seen 22 mpg on my last trip of 1100 miles which were 70% off road in rural Nevada .
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1967 bug recovering from a PO
1987 Vanagon Wolfsburg Weekender "Otto" been all over the place with never a problem!

[kennyw]

why all the hate for a hardworking, slightly quirky, engine that's been around for so long pushing one heavy assed vehicle? Especially from people who swaped a boxer for a boxer.

The cheapest Subaru convert, that I found, uses an un-rebuilt 75k-100K engine from 1990-94. Not all that much more technically advanced in my opinion. Not to mention that I have not seen too many converted Vanagons selling for more then the conversion price.

My 88 westy has over 233k on the original waterboxer (head gaskets done around 190k) and I saw 19-21 mpg on my last trip. Oh, I agree that it is under powered by today's standards. Just think about when these things were built. Highway speeds were 55 not 65,75 or 85(S. UT has a section of I15 at 85).

I grew up in VW buses and Vanagons and I don't think the waterboxer killed the Vanagon. VW was clearly going in a different direction and those little Toyota Vans(I used to call them Smurf Vans) were giving the Vanagon a challenge they never had before.
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'15 Tiguan - Victor
'88 Westy - Maggy

[Zeitgeist 13]

My WBX made me do it
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH
'01 Weekender --> full camper
NEAT, no ICE.