2004 Subaru 2.5L DOHC turbo Vanagon conversion.

[WillSharp]

Ok, little delayed on posting whats up.
We hooked up the unwrapped harness and have been running it while checking error codes. I have been working on bleeding the air out of my coolant system which has been a pain. Tips?

I jumped the wires for the radiator fan so that its on all the time while were running it and then I have multiple temp sensor that Im watching to make sure it doesn't get too hot. So far, its pretty good. The engine is dropping into low idle like it should, thermostat is opening etc... It will idle for about 9 min or so and then it dies. Were thinking that it is actually idling at too low of RPMs because the throttle position sensor is a bit off on the pedal assembly. Working on that tomorrow. That would be a sweet fix.
Got my boost controller that i haven't installed yet.
Once the engine is willing to idle for longer periods, the plan is to idle it for an hour or so (while monitoring closely) I was told by a mechanic friend that works on a lot of subies that the piston rings should start to set after about an hour of idling. True or not, I should start to see my compression start to come up soon (hopefully!!!)

Just been working on a bunch of little stuff like gas tank etc.

However, I am excited about just finishing a full front end suspension rebuild with complete power flex bushings, GoWesty 1.5" lifting springs, XHD revalved Bilstien shocks, new upper ball joint, radius rod, and outer tie rod ends. left the lower ball joints and sway bar assembly alone as they were in surprisingly good shape. (And I didn't want to deal with pressing the ball joints out). Doing complete rear bushings, shocks and lifting springs next week.
A little tip: You absolutely need some press tools to get the old bushings out and new ones in. I rented all the ball joint press tools and springs compressor types that auto zone had. Worked out well, and saved a bunch of $.

Heres a couple pics of the new front end:
Compressing the spring:

Final product (no caliper installed)

The old hardware:

Gnarly radius rod bushings!

I had to replace one of the radius rods because the metal collar had worn through and about half the radius rod was worn through, not to mention that the whole thing was rust welded together.
I also ended up having to chop out my lower control arm bolt cause it was rusted into bushing collar. Got to love how easy the Powerflex go in! Pretty awesome product.

[Gizmoman]

Your attention to detail is very good. Just a few suggestions;
Couldn't tell from the pictures but be sure to have a formed bead on any tube ends on the pressure side of the turbo. It takes very little pressure to blow them off, no matter how tight your clamps are.

Also, the cone filter in my opinion is not as good at filtering out dust as it may claim. It will also make quite a bit more noise than you may expect. It would ba a real shame to dust all that hard work. There's a reason it moves more air for it's size - bigger holes. A good air cleaner is possibly the biggest improvement one can make towards engine longevity. Possibly you could get some 1/2" open cell foam sheet, oil it, and wrap it around the cone until you get a real filter.

Jim
_________________
82 Vanagon Westy - AAZ 1.9 TD, HE200 Holset, WAIC, 27.75 dia tires, Electric power steering, 5-speed AAP w/.078 5th
Oversize spare carrier - stock location (no longer for sale).

[WillSharp]

[WillSharp]

Ok, Im reaching out to any of you cooling system experts, I need some help with my current engine coolant system.
I have been trying madly to get the engine to run without overheating. I bleed the air from the system according to the Bentley (front raised, bleeder screw open etc.) and believe that I have most of the air out.
Here is the diagram of what my system looks like currently.

I am watching coolant temp via a gauge and thru ECU OBD2 to keep if from getting too hot. after about 15+ min or so of idling I it gets too hot and I shut it down. I have the radiator fan jumped so that it is running all the time. When I feel my main coolant lines running front to rear they stop feeling hot about 3 or 4 feet off the engine toward the front. I blew the lines out really well before doing this so I don't think its clogged. I am getting luke warm coolant out of the radiator bleeder screw but NOT hot, even when the engine is running like 210º F
I am wondering if my engine bay routing is screwing this all up? I am a bit suspect of the flow that is driving the water to the radiator and whether it is just from pressure of the hot coolant in the bay or if the pump is driving it.

I was informed that the lime green bypass line in the diagram was needed to circulate coolant when the thermostat is still closed. I tried crimping that off to see if it made any difference and it did not. The water pump is brand new so hopefully not the issue.

As stated previously, coolant manifold is the stock subaru. NOT the reversed type.

Any advice is appreciated, like i said, this is my first vanagon-subie swap and for that matter my first build of this complexity. I have never had to make a coolant system for a conversion before, so I'm kinda learning as I go.

[alaskadan]

Hey Will, nice build. Seems youve asked a question thats been beaten to death. Im running a na 2.5 without a reversed manifold. Your layout schematic looks ok. My only thoughts are do you have a Libby bong yet, if not make one. Next would be the feed back loop and how close to the thermostat it is . On mine i put a 1 1/2" piece of hose on the barb off the thermostat hosing then a T fitting next. The feed back loop goes on the side leg of the T. That way you are getting hot coolant as close to the thermostat as possible.

[dobryan]

Yep. I would check the temp of the feedback loop. If it is not getting hot then it will not allow the thermostat to open properly.
_________________
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

[dgbeatty]

Let me add my 2 cents worth ( pre inflation )
Did you happen to measure how much coolant you added? Does the amount equal or exceed the total fill capacity?
How did you do the initial fill? Vacuum purge followed by fill, probably the easiest way.
If you have a pressure pump how much pumping does it take to reach 15psi? If the system is full it will only take a few strokes.
Now this is the don't laugh part. On the radiator vent plug replace it with a banjo bolt, fitting, and valve. This will make the next step easier and less messy.
With a full system using your pressure open the new valve on the radiator and start pumping. Yes coolant will come out but it can be used to fill the system. Continue with this exercise until you have push at least 1 1/2 gallons thru. This nearly always pushes out the trapped air.

[WillSharp]

My feedback loop is getting quite hot and I'm almost positive my thermo is opening properly. No, i did not measure how much I have put in so far unfortunately, but I just found out that my plastic hard lines to/from the radiator are toast and need to be replaced.

Im going to try the Libby Bong method after i get the stainless lines in. Hopefully that will work.

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

[bobbyblack]

Seen all kind of wankey thermostats at a shop I haunt. Some of the worst ones seemed to need a larger hole drilled in the thermostat than the bleed hole provides...

Or, since you will be draining it anyway, try NO thermostat for a test... It should really not get hot at all that way. Of course you'll need to put it back in too.
_________________
'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch

[wesitarz]

Do you have your heater valve full open when doing your bleed? Do you have the lines hooked up right to the rad (In horizontal/Down and out)?Do you have your bypass in the heater lines or did you leave it out? (I have a t'stat bypass,expansion tank in the heater line and it runs cooler/more stable after recently adding it. Got away with it for years because my heater valve would never fully close before I fixed it). Maybe your bypass would work better if Tee'd into the heater return at the t'stat? After a fill with a libby bong,I take it for a drive and the temp can go up quite high before the t'stat opens if there is air trapped in there. After the drive I park it nose down and top up the expansion tank next morning.

[WillSharp]

I think I may have a blockage, because I inserted a piece of clear hose on the return from the radiator and removed there thermostat for a test and there was no sign of flow in the clear hose. Thoughts?

[WillSharp]

Its been a while since I have posted as I have been really busy with school and work.
Amazingly, Im still working on coolant. However I have made good headway an I think I am very close to having it fixed.

To start, I took out my thermostat and boiled it in water to confirm that it works, and indeed it does.

Up until recently, I had no flow to radiator or the heat exchanger. I used my air to water intercooler pump inserted on the heater lines to try to purge out as much air as possible.
Then I started getting flow to the heat exchanger which meant by turning on my heater it was acting as a mini radiator for my engine and keeping it from overheating while I was working on purging air trapped elsewhere.

At this time I had the radiator bypassed to eliminate it as a variable. Finally I got hot flow all the way to the front and back! I had a piece of flexible plastic hose inserted to watch air bubbles in the front and it got so hot it blew off the barb and ended my test.

However the good news was that the heat exchanger was able to keep the engine at a constant 194º.
What is think happened is that there was a air bubble trapped in the block somewhere and until I got the heater working I just didn't have enough time to purge it out before it overheated.

Im am going to run some more tests today, Including cylinder compression to see how we stand.

I also am finishing up rebuilding my rear brake drums. New wheel cylinders and shoes.
Dumb question but I am bit confused on the brake adjustment. This is my first time doing rear shoes on a vanagon. I read in a couple spots that they are self adjusting, but I also read that you need to adjust them manually. What is it?
Thanks!

[WillSharp]

Never mind on the brake drum adjustment. I got it figured out.

[WillSharp]

Ok I've got a few questions that I researched pretty extensively that I'm still not getting solid answers to.
1. Can someone post a fuel purge control diagram or something up? I'm pretty confused how people are doing their purge control.

2. Postive crank ventilation (PCV) what are people doing for this? Whats the best routing?
Thanks!

[WillSharp]

Ok, I finally got the cooling system fixed! I just ran it for 40 min and the temp never got above 189ºF. I tried jumping the radiator fan an it immediately dropped to like 180º.

The reason I had such an issue was not my bleeding method. I believe that the engine became air locked where air was trapped somewhere in the block preventing any flow at all. By using my intercooler water pump I was able to start getting flow in my heater lines but still not in the main radiator lines. Having the heater on full blast allowed me to keep the engine cool long enough to pass the trapped air. This eventually gave me flow in all my lines just like it should be.

I have drained and refilled the system since using a little hose and a funnel to fill the radiator thru the bleeder hole, and then using a Libby bong to complete it.

This works well.
I have a additional bleeder inserted on my return line from the radiator to the engine to bleed any excess air.

Thanks everyone for you ideas and tips. I can't believe this took this long to figure out.

Next up is a test drive! I have my back end up on jack stands and I went ahead and put it into gear while the engine was running and my wheels are spinning so Im very excited for that!

[lucianosanchez]

Congrats. Must be exciting. Lets see a video of it driving!
_________________
1983.5 Aussan Brown Westfalia | 2016 to 2020
1983.5 Beige Westfalia | 2019 to Current

[WillSharp]

IT DRIVES!!! Finally! It has been way too long! It hasn't moved under its own power since January so getting a quick drive was awesome. Even better was hearing the BOV kick in, shifting gears in a VANAGON!

I wrapped up a bunch of little stuff and installed my gauge pod permanently on my dash (photos to come). My harness is reasonably tidy but still unwrapped and presumably way too long but still waiting to deal with that later. My PCV hoses are also not done yet and Im still trying to figure out how I should tie them into the intake.

It drives awesome. I only went 2 miles for the maiden voyage but between all the suspension work and the new engine, its no longer the same van. The amount of power behind the pedal is stupid. My Pwr steering pump is making some odd groans but I think it may be a air leak on one of the fittings. My alternator is also not working but these are all little problems. I also somehow accidentally tapped power for my gauges into my brake light and now my brakes are tied with my gauges lol. hit the brakes 100psi oil pressure...

The project is far from over but this was a big step.
Not sure if I have mentioned this previously but the Tuble Generator Valve (TGV) sensors on it are bad meaning that at some point it kicks the ecu into limp mode. To fix this affordably and reliably, Im going to trick the edu with some resistors to make it seem like the sensor is working and then pull the flaps out.
Heres what the TGVs look like:

You can see the motors and sensors on each side. These are used for start up emissions and after about 10 secs they open up and stay open during operation. Its pretty common to remove them which is what I'm going to do instead of paying $$ to get new sensors.

Hoping to get it to the point soon that I can use it a daily driver to get some brake-in miles on it before any actual trips. Im so tired of sleeping in my 4runner!

Here is a shitty I phone video my mom took of the drive:
https://youtu.be/YnEL_X4zEwo
Sorry in advance for the commentary lol.

Im going to work on an updated cooling system diagram that is the actual thing and post it.

[lucianosanchez]

That's just great! All that hard work pays off. Awesome rig.
_________________
1983.5 Aussan Brown Westfalia | 2016 to 2020
1983.5 Beige Westfalia | 2019 to Current

[WillSharp]

Ok heres the final cooling diagram:

This works with the front heater valve open, I have not tested it yet with it closed. The subaru thermostat relies on the hot coolant from the heater lines to get it hot at the thermo housing. I believe that my turbo should also supply this so there will not be a need for a bypass in the heater lines. I will post up what I find.

I inserted an inline bleeder screw that made purging the air out of the return line from the radiator much easier. I used an inline temp sensor adaptor with an actual coolant air bleeder I got at NAPA.

Also here are a couple pics of my Libby Bong:

Also I had to modify my joiner in my intake T for the BOV by just drilling and then grinding a grove so it did not cover the BOV port.

[connorsvw2]

Your system looks very similar to the original KEP cooling system layout, which while effective is ridiculously hard to bleed and has no tolerance for ANY air in the system and risks overheating while trying to bleed.

I ran a modified, non-reversed cooling system for many years with my 2.5 conversion. It was easy to fill and bleed without the Libby Bong and tolerant of minor system air leaks. The system was detailed in the files of the SubaruVanagon site Files, but I don't know if it is still there as I haven't been there in some time. The key is to alter the KEP "blind end" expansion tank, which will never collect system air, into a flow-through design with the inputs being the highest points of the coolant output and the heater output hoses, running through small (1/4 ID) hoses into the upper tank input, and a similar hose (?3/8 ID) running from the lower tank bung to the heater return line at the water pump. This establishes a continuously flowing coolant bypass running trapped air to the tank and heated coolant back to the thermostat allowing it to open without using the lame (IMHO) system of always keeping the rear heater core open so the thermostat will eventually get hot and open.
_________________
'85 Westy Wolfsburg camper/2002 2.5 Subaru since 2003.
'85 GTI 1.8L 1-owner 8v-gave up on 9A 2.0L 16v transplant. Keeping her stock!
'99 Passat 1.8T Variant-AKA "The Money Pit". Still limping along...
'09 Subaru Outback XT 5-speed, 245 hp rocket (wife's car)