Getting 8 Miles to the Gallon!

[DB]

Need some help from the Vanagon gods, just recently bought a '84 weekender with the 1.9 motor, have been driving it around for a week and it is maybe getting 8 miles to the gallon. I was going to do a couple of things and figured I would ask if there is something more I should check into. Currently the car runs and idles well, but gets stinky with a lot of smoke after warm-up and crap gas milage. I know in my other bus that when I replaced the 02 sensor and the temp sensor it solved a similiar issue.

Steps I was going to take:
1. replace oygen sensor
2. replace water temp sensor in upper water jacket
3. replace spark plugs
4. replace air filter

Any other recommendations? Oh by the way I am about to scrap the '85 Vanagon in my drive way so if any one needs any sheet metal, doors, hatches, etc., let me know. I also have a pretty crusty but usable weekender interior that I would almost give somebody if they have a need. Let me know...

Regards,
Don
Rochester, NY

[earthmuffin]

Well I hate to see a post go unanswered for so long so here it is. Don't take this to much to heart because I could be wrong. I read somewhere that the O2 sensor is operable at all engine speeds except warm up and full throttle. If this is true, it would make sense that if your sensor is bad, it would start and idle fine until it is warmed up and at that point your inop sensor would take over and feed misinformation to your ECU. I think this causes an excessive rich condition that would kill mileage and cause smoke. So with that said, you are probably on the right track. Depending on how many miles are on the motor, might be a good time to look into things that might cause poor mileage when added together. Plug wires, cap, rotor, filters and blah, blah, blah, you get the point. These things by themselves won't cause drastic mileage changes, but if you add them all up, you never know. Let us know what you come up with so we can file it away for future reference. Good Luck!!
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This thread SUCKS!!!

[UZI]

my last vanagon got lousy mileage. it was the worst mileage of any vehicle i've ever owned. like 10 in the city and 14 on the hwy. when i sold it the new owner called me up and told me he wanted his money back because the engine needed to be rebuilt.
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Extravagant Lifestyle

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[earthmuffin]

I average 20.5 in the summer and 19 in the winter mixed driving. My motor is pretty new, 10-14 sucks bad.
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This thread SUCKS!!!

[DB]

Thanks guys for the input and replies! I discovered one of the problems is the front calipers were dragging from rust. Jacked up the bus and couldn't even turn the wheels. I was going to pull the motor and trans and junk the rest of the bus, but I think I am getting out of the Vanagon scene minus my Westy camper for the family. I only have so much time to spend and am going to focus my time on the air-cooled projects! Hoping to make some good progress on the 23 window.

Regards,
DB