tencentlife/Vanistan engine install thread

[Farfrumwork]

^^ I'd love to hear how the $0.10 motor fares up I-70... I think the E-bound side of the tunnel is the worst. Georgtown narrows aren't easy either (in the van )

Looking good marius!
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sold -> '85 Wolfsburg Syncro / 'Built' DOHC EJ25 (a great machine!)
'07 Legacy spec.B, road tuned stgII
'17 4x4 Sprinter, stone grey, SMB pop-top, on 33"s

"Blood stains, speed kills - Fast cars, cheap thrills - Rich girls, fine wine - I've lost my sense, I've lost control, I've lost my mind"

[ftp2leta]

[tencentlife]

I dunno, Marius will have to tell you.
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Shop for unique Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is kryptonite to doctrine.

[ThorAlex]

NIce! I like ven peopel keep the watserbokser! Looking like a good bild, tensent make nice enjines!
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1990 syncro 1.6TD "Smily"

Ex-vans:
1990 Caravelle coach 1.6TD
1986 Transporter Double cab syncro 2.1 112hp

"I'm wrong so often... It's great!" - Adam Savage

[carterzest]

[0to60in6min]

I think it's time for a logo to make a badge/decal .. but there's no name for that engine yet...

[madspaniard]

[carterzest]

[mariusstrom]

Met up with the mechanic this morning around 10am. We finished buttoning up all the hoses, wires, and finalized bleeding the cooling system.

We then followed tencent's instructions on how to prime the oil system. 50-60 seconds of cranking later, pressure was built up. We then cranked the car up for the first time to bring the camshaft up to snuff. Quite a lot of smoke in the garage (yes, the exhaust was vented) as all the new stuff came up to heat and cooked off all of its protective coverings. The exhaust tip got hot enough to melt off parts of the vent hose, so we ended up opening the doors wide open (and probably pissing off the neighbors simultaneously).

After this, a quick road test, and then the first oil change.

We adjusted the timing, tweaked the fuel mix, and tweaked the throttle/idle settings a touch. Off I went, alone in the Vanagon...

On the highway, I was able to hit 65mph for the first time in my Vanagon. Excitement. However, on hills, I was disappointed with the performance. As soon as I'd hit a grade, the car would slow down. I attributed this to the engine breaking in, and assume it will get better over time. I picked up nod7 for a quick tour and he concurred it felt stronger on the flats than my prior engine, and shared my optimism for break-in time solving the torque/hill power problem.

I stopped over at loogy's house, and he commented that the exhaust had a weird note to it, as though it was firing on 3 cylinders. A light went on in my head - my mechanic had said the exact same thing. I figured at some point I'll check over cabling and what not, but while showing loogy around the engine compartment, the #4 injector cable just popped off. Clearly, the mechanic & I hadn't fully connected it.

Cranking the car up, the exhaust sounded so much better. And suddenly, there was so much more power. I think this probably contributed to the really really hot exhaust (3 cylinders working hard) that I mentioned above.

Moral: 4 cylinders are much, much, much better than 3. (yes, tencent, I re-did the "seat the piston ring" step after getting the 4th cylinder going...)

On the drive home, I hit some hills and easily accelerated up to 65mph. While going up hills. On the flats, I was hitting 70mph at 4k RPM, something I never would've dreamed of with the OE WBX.

Great stuff! I picked up my wife to pick up my other car from the mechanic, and just a few miles away from the mechanic's shop, the exhaust started making a helluva noise. After arriving, I crawled under with the flashlight and noticed that one of the exhaust donuts had failed - similar to blackglasspirate's experience on the RMW Exhaust thread.

This I can fix tomorrow. I'm guessing it was caused by a donut manufacturing defect (we noticed an abnormality on it during installation but thought it would be OK) and exasperated by the hot-running exhaust from earlier. Otherwise, super-excited about this engine and it's ability to haul ass.

Pictures, video, and audio once the donut is fixed.
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Marius Strom Otto: 1988 Vanagon Syncro Westy Camper
[SOLD] Felix: 1967 Deluxe Beetle

[ddwbeagles]

Great to hear and nice job at keeping us "in the know" throughout the process. This is some of the best type of feedback a vendor could hope for. You were upfront with your own (& mechanic's) mistakes and have given honest feedback to date. I suspect your opinion and assessment will only get better as the engine breaks in, but let us know either way.

Whether you/we like the WBX or not, there is one truth we will all face in the future. That is....our engines are getting older by the day and will eventually need replacing. Unlike the Bay Window scene where we can haggle over who builds the best Type IV, Vanagon owners are blessed with a myriad of engine choices. Feedback like your helps guild us on this decision path. Thanks again and great job!
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David W - from Chesterfield, VA / Jefferson SD / Stephens City, VA in that order.

71 Ghia Coupe autostick
78 Westy
86 Vanagon Weekender

[tencentlife]

Well better that it was an injector left loose than a sparkplug, so the cylinder wasn't being washed down with fuel. You should do more of the ring break-in on your next drives.

Seems our expectations of those exhaust donuts were more optimistic than they deserved, most are holding up OK but some are distorting and/or burning out. We're actually testing some rather expensive alternatives and will be sending them out as upgrades when we're satisfied they will hold up. Meanwhile I saw where Mike emailed you the part number, hope you can find those locally to keep you on the road.

And thanks for the report on your swap, hardly any of my customers post on the forum (who would have guessed it's the lurkers who have all the money!) which is why there is so little reporting here about my engines to date (and the fact that no news is good news). So it's good to see someone tell their story despite the risk of it all going spectacularly wrong in plain view!

And the name is Vanistan, y'all. I have a nice graphic in mind, anyone know of a good cheap outfit to get stickers made?
_________________
Shop for unique Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is kryptonite to doctrine.

[Love My Westy]

My OE engine is humming along without a problem on my Oregon trip. I want to make it back to SLC without any problems, but in the back of my mind I wouldn't mind having to order a new Vanistan engine as soon as I get home. Maybe I could get it in time for Syncro Solstice next spring. I'm jealous, but I can't afford to replace my perfectly good OE at this time.

[mariusstrom]

I've got a replacement donut coming in at a FLAPS, but it won't be in until this evening, and we've already got dinner plans tonight.. so no updates until tomorrow.

However, I will say that while driving around with everything working, this engine is astounding. I've not been around in any Suby conversions, but I have been in a syncro w/a 1.8TD conversion, and I'd say this engine seems more responsive, but probably without as much on the top end. We still have a bit of tuning to do with the throttle body and idle settings, as I've got a bit of a flat spot in the power band at 2k rpm (I think this has more to do with the accelerator pedal linkage, as if I put the pedal to the floor in kickdown, it goes right beyond the flat spot).

I will say that driving on the highway last night (just before the donut failed) that it was awesome being in the left lane passing cars. Crazy.
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Marius Strom Otto: 1988 Vanagon Syncro Westy Camper
[SOLD] Felix: 1967 Deluxe Beetle

[noganav]

[mariusstrom]

[xoo00oox]

[mariusstrom]

[vanjoe]

Did you get 10 cents throttle body?
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1990 VW Vanagon tin top weekender Carat
1998 Mercedes S420

"Why is there never time to do it right the first time, but there is always time to do it twice?"

"Back to the basics!"

[ftp2leta]

[noganav]