It Runs! 50º ABA in 1988 Vanagon Westy

[Vanagon Nut]

I will try the foot powder trick.

Something I meant to mention. Ain't hindsight grand?

If installing a plate to block the OE diesel fill tube opening on the pan, I'd think that taking time to remove the excess sealant at inside of pan would be prudent.

I doubt this would happen but if that excess sealant came loose, it might partially block the oil pick up tube screen.

Another thing to keep me awake a night. Maybe I'll replace that stuff with a gasket and a little sealant next oil change.

Neil.
_________________
1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[burleymotorsports]

[Vanagon Nut]

[Vanagon Nut]

So I've put another 1000 + Kilometres on this swap. No real issues to report. The engine starts and runs reliably even in this recent colder weather ( below 0º C range) and no exhaust cracking issues so far.

It's been dry and snowy recently. The intermittent engine cut outs have not happened at all of late; they only happened on or after really rainy days. Rain water must've been getting in fuel. The engine hot hard start has also not happened of late. I have to wonder if water in fuel was exacerbating that intermittent issue. e.g. water was fouling an injector needle causing it to stick open at times.

The Permatex anaerobic sealant I used at the oil pan drain plug helps keep oil from seeping past the drain plug.

The engine oil light sometimes stays on longer than it should. 5-30 oil may be too thin, even in this colder weather. 10-30 oil might help this. I regret not overhauling the engine head. I've been curious if play between parts in the head affects the oil pump's ability to hold enough oil in the pickup tube when the engine sits unused for more than 24 hours.

Overall I'm still quite happy with this swap. Still too soon to tell if my engine rebuild skills will reveal assembly faults but I feel confident that I can now drive longer distances. e.g. camping trips into US.

Neil.
_________________
1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[82westyrabbit]

Hi Neil. Great to hear that you are driving and enjoying the van. I think I have about 1500 miles on mine. My van is parked for the winter as I am trying sort out the stuff I didn’t finish last winter and getting it ready for spring. John

[Vanagon Nut]

Thanks John.

To help with traction in snow, I've had extra weight over the engine cover for some days now. Nice to know I'm at the point where I don't have to look in the engine bay every few days.

Now I've done it. (jinx)

Neil.
_________________
1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[Vanagon Nut]

So I've put about 7000 miles on this swap. Most of that is from "short" trips, city driving, but have done some longer trips including rough-ish dirt roads.

The only real "issues" remaining:

- rarely, intermittently, van level after engine has sat unused for more than 2 days, first start, load applied (accelerating on highway), brief episode of white smoke, power loss. Once it clears up, all is fine. Possible cause: rich condition at start up. Engine does not appear to be using coolant. I do wonder if oil drains from PCV system into intake and then gets burned off.

- intermittent hot start issue typically after engine fully warm, shut down for about 5 - 20 minutes. When that happens, disconnecting electrical connection to idle control valve OR disconnecting the EVAP hose from the throttle body consistently allows engine to start. It seems more air is required during that issue. Pushing the gas pedal to open throttle does not allow the engine to start. This may be due to the TPS. When cranking, ECU may see it as an input.

Oil use is negligible. At freeway speeds, fuel mileage is around 18 MPG US gallons which seems low but then I drive this van more aggressively and at a higher sustained engine RPM as opposed to my other ABA van. And, I'm calculating mileage from random x kilometres amount per x litres every fill up to US MPG. Maybe not the most accurate means.

Engine cold, first start, oil light sometimes still stays on until RPM raised. I can hear the oil pump prime as that happens. Mostly though, the oil light turns off in a normal fashion.

The exhaust system appears to be crack free so far.

There was an engine oil leak which between Karl Mullendore and I was solved by ensuring the RPM sensor was properly sealed; it was leaking oil profusely at that point.

I'm trusting the engine for longer trips. At some point, I'll send out my spare fuel injectors for a rebuild and see if that at least solves the hot start issue.

Neil.

Off Duffy Lake road between Pemberton and Lillooet BC.

Tribute to lost prospectors at A. Kerick near Gold Bridge BC.

Fort Ebey?

56 Beetle for sale, Port Townsend WA

en route to Gold Bridge BC. This is only part of a GIANT reservoir

river side camp off Duffy Lake road BC

rug bug Madris OR

Bayview state park

free camping BC Hydro near Gold Bridge BC

_________________
1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[82westyrabbit]

Hi Neil. Great to it up and running and that you are enjoying. I had a very busy winter with a few side jobs. So I didn’t sort out a few thing I would have liked to on my van but I am driving it most days. John

[Vanagon Nut]

[Vanagon Nut]

So for R&D purposes, and some fun, took a 2000 + KM trip to Union Oregon (Catherine Creek) bus reunion gathering. Oil use was low to negligible, (no oil added), the hot start issue did not happen and didn't happen prior to leaving after the work I'd done to try and solve that. Idle was perfect the whole time. Cleaned, improved ground strap/connections at tranny and engine block, replacing the used air filter, may have been the bigger factors towards solving the no start, idle issues. (I hope ).

I saw 21 MPG US gallons at roughly 55 - 65 MPH. Engine power was good though higher altitudes seemed to lower the power. Of note, at one point I swear I heard a slight "whoosh" sound when removing the gas filler cap.

The only real "issue" was a flashing red coolant low light warning engine cold one morning. Coolant was low before start of trip (yes, yes, I know) so I don't know yet if coolant had slowly previously evaporated off through a weak valve at coolant bottle cap, a loose clamp, or was burned by the engine. Before my return home, I swapped in a used cap for same. Level hasn't changed in ~ 1000 KM.

Before leaving Canada, I purchased a 100 Watt solar panel

http://papsolar.ca/pdf/MGS%20100W%20Mono.pdf

and 20 Amp MPPT controller with remote display. I temporarily "snuck" the panel wire through the (Canadian model only, sorry ) shore power plug cable opening between cable and hole then to controller placed under bench seat. The "joys" of chasing sun moving panel got old. I'll likely hard mount it on roof or hinge it at luggage rack. Of course the 47.0 x 21.5 inch panel I bought, that might be mountable at luggage rack and *just* stows in area behind upper bed, was the highest priced panel. $178 CND IIRC.

I travelled south to WA 2 to 97, 82 to 84 to Union then roughly the same route to 20 then I5 home.

I found free dispersed camping on 97.

The mineral hot spring spa near Le Grand has nice clean $5 showers.

Weather was mostly sunny but rain in Union pushed me north. I was lucky to have nice weather at Klipchuck

Some random pics.

on 97A in WA state. A nice route.

driving along Gorge in Oregon. Ended up giving a woman a hand with a totally blown tire. By the time I'd fetched more tools to help remove tire tread wrapped up in the strut coil, she had freed all that up and had the spare mounted.

Last camp at Klipchuck

https://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/cs/r...Campground

in WA state not far west of Winthrop. Managed to find abandoned wood for a nice controlled fire. Beer was had.

MPPT controller

_________________
1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[dkoesyncro]

Nice trip report, Union Seneca that's some of this states best imo.

[Vanagon Nut]

[Vanagon Nut]

Another trip report.

~ 1400 miles from home then through WA on I5 then over to Fort Rock OR, Klamath Falls OR, then home.
- part way, noticed about 1/3 litre oil used (possibly excess oil "burned off" to correct level). Did not check oil upon return home though.
- 20 - 21 MPG (US gallons)
- the oil light now consistently goes out properly at first start of the day. Possible reasons: ambient temp related, pump gears have "broken in" (mated) to surface at pick up tube, VW high mile synthetic oil type oil filter I'm now using, swapped in ECU that now makes engine rev to ~ 1200 RPM then drop, as it should. Before, engine didn't do that; I had to hold RPM's up to get pump to prime.
- mostly sunny weather, very little precip
- saw some old friends, met new folks
- enjoyed fire, good convo, libations, food and nature walks

Glitches

- stall in parking lot (still figuring out the intermittent idle issue)
- hazard light wire loose (fixed easily)
- slider door now wants to open slightly on its' own
- initial stiffer shifting in colder weather (first trip in temps that low)
- water in westy froze ? No water camp out faucet at one point

Images were taken with old iPhone, iPad, and better Ricoh WG-4 camera. Some images are a little crooked. Not sure how to use iMac app to level them out.

First camp was at Millersylvania State Park in WA. Only one tent site occupied. I chose a serviced site at $5 more; it got down to freezing temps outside.

took a trail walk

Token lake "art" shots at Millersylvania state park

Later that night, played around with my "FCC" Baofeng 4 Watt handheld VHF-UHF transceiver. Hit 2 different repeaters. Incoming signals were about 4/8 and 5/9 IIRC, I used 442.475 and 145.150 Signal reports showed I could be understood but there was noise, etc. on my signal; I was using a rubber ducky ~ 14" antenna.

Got to Portland, picked up a few ham things from Ham Outlet including an SMA adaptor cable so I could use J pole antenna I borrowed from a friend, with Baofeng hand held.

Drove and drove and drove arriving in Fort Rock OR about 7:30 PM. Host was awesome, had a great time chatting and hanging with other VW bus folks. You'll never guess what my Halloween costume was!

images of buses at event

host kindly drove us to Hole in the ground

always nice to see this kind of thing. The camp area at Hole in the Ground was well kept. Not sure the tree appreciated the screws though. LOL

host, again, kindly took time to drive us to another outing. We took a slightly different route in than shown.

After hanging out with awesome folks and host, I ventured off solo to Klamath Falls. Here I am in free dispersed camping just north of Klamath Falls; I spent 2 nights there. Great fires were had, beer was consumed, it was quite quiet, there was one useable pit toilet. It was cold though. I was thankful to have my Heater Buddy for before bed and in the morning.

The keen eye will note the precariously positioned J pole VHF antenna. I'm still new to amateur radio but am finding the hobby quite fun interesting and potentially truly useful; in camp, there was no real cell signal on AT&T or Tmobile. But, I was able to hit 2 different repeaters, had contact via each, so could've asked for help if it was needed. And, that would've been via a 4 Watt $40 CAD handheld which is pretty cool. IIRC, I used 146.850 "Klamath Hamaker" and Keno (part of a trunk of relays?) 147.180

Ironically, given how flat the terrain was, [edit: while in Fort Rock] I could hit the Fort Rock OR repeater no problem but no one was on it.

for any other ham nerds, the J pole can fit in the westy.

images of river near camp

After Klamath Falls, drove along 140 then took a trail walk from Spence Mountain trail head. I found the trail markers to be a little arcane. i.e. none had maps. Next time I'll take a pic of the map at trail head! Ended up walking much further than I wanted to, which meant getting into camp at dark, but the scenery during walk was nice and the late sun afforded some nice views.

view of lake at boat launch before trail head

view from up on high

On my way home tried to find a spot at Rogue of the Valley state park near Medford. No luck there so ended up staying in a casino parking lot. Thank goodness for having ear plugs on board. An early morning start took me back to Millersylvania park then home.

To cap off the adventure, some local automotive art on ferry ride home

_________________
1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[Jake de Villiers]

Hey Neil, no pix!!!
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'84 Vanagon GL 1.9 WBX
'86 Westy Weekender Poptop/2.5 Subaru/5 Speed Posi/Audi Front Brakes/16 x 7 Mercedes Wheels - answers to 'Dixie'
@jakedevilliersmusic1
http://sites.google.com/site/subyjake/mydixiedarlin%27
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
www.thebassspa.com

[Vanagon Nut]

con sarn it.

Thanks Jake.

Forgot to enable "sharing" on image album. I will try to fix this!

Neil.
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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[82westyrabbit]

It looks like fun. I am glad the van cooperated. You must have a lighter foot than me to get better fuel mileage. Although the speed limits were over 70 for most of my trip so it’s hard to go to slow and survive. I like automotive art but I don’t think I could be seen in that one. I always appreciate trip report it gives me hope that I might actually do a trip some day that’s not business related. John

[Vanagon Nut]

[Jake de Villiers]

Looks like a satisfying trip, Neil. Love the Halloween costume - its just missing the greasy fingerprints!!!

My friend Patrick (also a Samba Member) is currently teaching his annual ham radio course in Vancouver. He's part of the Vancouver Emergency Preparedness group and a long time radio operator.

https://vectorradio.ca/training/amateur-radio-license-course/
_________________
'84 Vanagon GL 1.9 WBX
'86 Westy Weekender Poptop/2.5 Subaru/5 Speed Posi/Audi Front Brakes/16 x 7 Mercedes Wheels - answers to 'Dixie'
@jakedevilliersmusic1
http://sites.google.com/site/subyjake/mydixiedarlin%27
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
www.thebassspa.com

[Vanagon Nut]

The preparedness aspect, and inherent potential responsibilities related to that as a licensed amateur operator, are starting to sink in. A westy fits into preparedness, of course. Right now, my other Westy is my ham shack. Just contacted Anchorage Alaska via CQ and chimed in as a visitor on the "beehive" net in Utah.

I'd like to install a mobile HF or all band set up in this 1988 Westy. As I knew, and am learning more about, antenna design is the crucial factor in all this. But I digress.....

Neil.
_________________
1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[Vanagon Nut]

So I'm at the 15,000 mile mark.

- exhaust appears, sounds, fine. No visible cracks

- intermittent white smoke, power loss, rich exhaust at first cold start: solved. Cause: water in air cleaner, water saturated air filter

- intermittent hot start, likely solved? Hasn't happened for some time

- engine uses a normal amount of oil

- though its colder out these days, engine oil light always goes out normally now. I wonder if this has to do with pump gears mating up with oil pick up tube flange. ("breaking in"). ABA oil pump with diesel Vanagon tube, gear end clearance was reduced by hand.

- engine now uses an extended mileage VW oil filter. 30,000 KM interval?

- intermittent idle dip when coming to a stop happens less, dip is not as severe but I'm not certain it's solved; it still happens even though water in air filter/box issue solved, new filter installed. But so far, engine is now not stalling when dip happens. Maybe water in air filter and air stream harmed the idle control valve and/or a sensor(s) but swapping in a known good ISV at time of issue in hot dry weather, made no change. Installing new wire at ECU 58 Ground (OBD1 Automatic Only) to ground most likely made no improvement to idle dip. Stop and go city driving tends to exacerbate the idle dip. Further testing required with new dry air filter.

Took a few hundred KM trip to Deception Pass and Camano Island in WA state to attend a VW event. Van ran awesome.

Neil.

Camano Island. I was the only one there! Nice weather, perfect camp night.

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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN