Announcer: "When we last left our trusty mechanic" ....
I had gotten just the bus running. I then noticed the oil pressure would flicker at idle. Hmm, curious. I decided to take the camper for a quick test ride and see how everything was working. I hadn't gotten more than 1/2 mile and the temp gauge was heading right to the hot mark. When I turned the bus around the oil light came on. I started to get real nervous. Questions running through my head; what did I do wrong? Everything seemed to be hooked up correctly. By the time I got back to the house the engine was boiling over and the temp light was flashing very angrily at me.
Someone had once told me that the oil pumps on diesel go bad. So I had gotten that idea in my head that the oil pump went bad. I figured the thermostat had stuck closed making the engine over heat.
So $110 dollars poorer, I spent the better part of a day changing the oil pump and thermostat. Just to find out that the problem hadn't been fixed. After an extensive search I found that the oil cooler above the oil filter had sprung a leak. With that problem solved I attempted another test drive. The engine ran good. The power and acceleration seemed pretty good.
The camper ran good for about a month. Then it started hard. I couldn't figure out why. It seemed to run well. I check some wiring and found that the connections were loose. I fixed it then no problem. The Vintage VW club's meet in Orangeburg New York was coming up ad I decided that would be a good trip to make with the new camper.
The Sunday came and I loaded up the van and headed out to New York. I didn't make it. I reached to toll booth on the Mass Turnpike and the Van quit. Just stopped running. I would try and start it and it would sputter like it wanted to run then quit. I found out that the hose that connected the throttle body to the fuel distributor was riddled with holes. Thank goodness for duct tape! We were running again but I didn't make it two miles when it started skipping. I'd had enough. I turned the old girl around and headed home. Of all the VW's I have owned, this is the first time I was nearly left stranded.
When I got home I checked the wiring and found a couple of things that needed to be changed. The bus ran fine, for a while. Then something started to act up.
The fall came and as the weather got colder, so did my troubles with the engine. It ran horribly almost all the time. I started making adjustments; timing, tune up and check the hose for more holes. Tested and replaced defective or suspected bad FI parts; pump, Regulator, relays,and thermo-time switch. Every time I adjusted or replaced a part it would run good, for a while. This run good/run bad affair would persist for almost a year. The engine seemed to be running lean. During the original installation I did not install the Oxygen sensor (O2). I didn't realize the importance of the O2 sensor to the FI. The lack of O2 sensor made it difficult for the FI to compensate for the lean condition. It also turned out that fuel distributor needed to be adjusted to set the CO's correctly. Once I installed the O2 sensor and adjusted the fuel distributor the Van has run great ever since.
Now that the old girl was running the way it was intended, I decided to address a couple of items that, to me, needed fixing. The First item up for bids was the extra long run between the fuel distributor and the throttle body. That little problem was remedied with the installation of an intake for an '87 golf. The throttle body on the '87 is on the opposite side from the rabbit intake. Plus the throttle bore itself is larger. Bonus! Unfortunately, the fit was too tight for it to fit right, so I had to modify the body to allow the new intake to fit. (read: BIG HAMMER and torches) With the installation of the new intake it cut the distance between the throttle body and fuel distributor in half. Making it only about 6 inches longer than stock.
The other problem, if you wish to consider it a problem, was the high RPM's the engine turned when highway driving. The diesel transmission's gearing is almost identical to that of a split-window bus. I'm shifting into fourth gear as 40 MPH. At 70 MPH the engine was turning 5500 RPMs. Most of the Watercooled owners I talked to said that wasn't too bad for the in-line four engine. It seemed really high for me just same. So I have since replaced the transmission with a unit from an aircooled Vanagon. The 2 things that need to be changed is the bell-housing and input shaft. The rest of the transmission is virtually identical.
What a difference! The gearing really made the bus take off. I was a little nervous about the switch. The engine seemed to make its power in the upper RPM range. I thought that the acceleration would suffer, but it seems to be just the opposite. The power and acceleration are as good as ever. What nice is that I'm not shifting into fourth gear at 40 MPH.
The one last thing I would like to tackle is the exhaust system. This spring I'm planning on changing the exhaust manifold and related components. Your probably wondering why? POWER! Let me explain. Engines are essentially big air pumps. The more air it can pump through the more power it makes. The outlet of the exhaust manifold on the diesel engine is about an inch an a half across. Its quite restrictive. I figured VW did this the limit the power and RPMs of the diesel motor. This would be consistent with VW's thinking when it comes to Buses. The original manifold from the GTI motor is about 2 inches. Good, but VW did make one better. I've been told by a few watercooled owners that the larger dual port exhaust manifold used in some early rabbits and later Jettas and Golfs where the best stock exhaust manifold to have. So I have picked up the need pieces and when the weather get better, I'll do my thing. I'm told that the new exhaust will give me about 7 - 10 horsepower increase as well as more torque in the lower RPM range. I hope it works. When I put the exhaust together, I'll write a follow up on it to let you know how I made out.
Well, thats my story. If you ask me if it was worth it, the answer you get might vary depending on how well the Camper is running. I think that the conversion works out well. You get the practicality of the Vanagon with a economical rabbit engine. The one thing that always bothered me when I owned my other Vanagon was the high cost of engine related parts. Now with the rabbit engine, should I have a problem, I can find a whole motor in just about any salvage yard. Most of my driveablity problems were caused by my own lack of knowledge of CIS injection systems. I learn something new everyday. Isn't that the point of life?
If I had to do it all over again, what would I do? Well, first thing I would do is find a later engine with Hydraulic lifters. (quieter) I'd keep the CIS injection. But I would like to have the CIS-E with knock sensor. (Better fuel metering and spark control) Perhaps a 2.0L. In fact I hope to find a later 1.8L or 2.0L. I wouldn't rule out a 16V motor though. But right now I plan on running this engine until it dies. So if you see me at a show or camping. Ask me about my GTI bus. You'll get an earful. =) Take care, and Keep on Busin'
Speaking of reconfiguring, I found that after I replaced the transmission with the air-cooled unit, it did suffer a bit on the low end of power, especially on hills. The engine needs something to get the torque to come on at a lower RPM. Because many of the watercooled cars out there have a close ratio five speed transmission, the engine revs up guickly. VW made the engine so it would start to make peak torque at about 3400 RPM's and when you in a bus, in fourth gear that works out to be about 60 miles an hour. It also means that its a bit of a dog when you hit 45 or 50 MPH going up hill or when shifting through the gears. Redline is 6500 RPMs so you can leave the bus in a lower gear longer, but its also means you need to downshift a bit sooner than you would with a waterboxer motor. I tried to solve that problem with an adjustable cam gear. I advanced the cam timing about six degrees and that seemed to put the power band down to about 2800-3000 RPMs. I think if I could have found a five speed vanagon transmission (nearly impossible) I could have had it re-geared so that the first four gears were the same as the diesel four speed transmission and then had the fifth gear be the same as fourth would be on a waterboxer engine. (make sense? I hope so)
I finally did upgrade the exhaust to a dual down pipe system. What a difference, I used a Dasher diesel dual port manifold and Rabbit headerpipe, had a friend at Monroe make a pipe to connect it to the original muffler and voila, a 10 horsepower increase in performance. What difference!! I also gained about three miles per gallon. I averaged about 23 mile per gallon. Future plans were to put a manifold from a '90 German Jetta with a PF engine code. It has larger diameter ports and is offset enough to clear the engine mount. I still have to parts in case I do this conversion again. (and I will)
About six months before I sold the bus, I burned a valve on my way to the Carlisle Import show. I guess all those months of lean running, bad injectors and that performance cam I tried were just too much. I found when I removed the head, that it was cracked, so I replaced it with a good used unit from a '90 Jetta. That solved my lifter adjusting problem. From then on it ran great.
Final thoughts If there is such a thing. Since I wrote this artical, I have since discovered that most Vanagons have a provision to install an in-line Gold-Jetta engine. You just need to find a donor diesel Van for the parts. Since I bought my current ride, I've been toying with the idea of doing another conversion. Unless, a good 2.0L Jetta three motor comes along, I think I'll use a 89-92 Golf-Jetta PF code engine. This is a digifont engine with a knock sensor. My wifes Jetta has this motor and even in the lighter Jetta, it really cooks. I've had her Jetta up to 100 MPH (loaded with five people too) so I think I can move a Vanagon along a 80 MPH without too much trouble. In the last five years there have been and are a few companies out there offering a complete in-line engine conversion for a Vanagon. In fact one company, Tii Trade Co. is offering a nearly turnkey complete engine conversion strait out of South Africa. Where as many of you know VW South Africa still makes the Vanagon, or Caravelle, as its called there, with a in-line 2.0L engine or a five cylinder. So its not imposssible after all to get a in-line engine for your Vanagon.
I should point out that I didn't do the conversion in my van for more speed, if your looking for a Vanagon to go over 100 miles per hour, maybe you should think of another vehicle. These vans are not designed for speed, first and foremost they were designed for commercial use. Also, I did my conversion, because it was a diesel and I like the idea of having a more readily available engine. I currently drive a '84 camper and belive it or not, the 1.9L engine pushes the van down the road just fine. However, I ask my bus to do something many owners don't. I tow a camper with mine. Yes, I have a Scamp Trailer it weighs about 1200 pound loaded and I like to cruise along at 65 MPH with it. Not impossible for the 1.9L or even the 2.1L but it is a strain and having the in-line engine gave me peace of mind that if it dies, I could buy a good used engine at almost any salvage yard. (actually, with the GTI bus I had an Apache and an enclosed trailer I kept my Disc Jocket equipment in, they weigh about the same as the Scamp) So thats one of the main reasons I'm considering doing another in-line conversion.
Since I've started working at a Volkswagen dealership I've had the chance to look at all the engines VW has to offer, I've noticed a couple of other engines that might make it into a Vanagon without too much hassle. The early 1.8L turbo engine with the throttle cable, looks like a good canidate for a Vanagon. If your into diesels, the 1.9L TDI just might work too. Actually, that has more potential in a Vanagon because it has more torque at low RPMS, it make its peak torque at 1900 RPMs and peak horsepower, by 4200 RPMS. Which fits perfectly to a Vanagon gear ratio. The only real problem I can see, it getting the oil from the turbo back to the engine. The engine lays over so far the the oil return would actually have to travel up instead of down. If your really adventurous and have lots of money, the Audi V8 is basically two 16 valve engines stuck together. That would make some serious power. At a serious price. A rebuilt V8 goes for about 8500 dollars. Cha-ching! Anyway, thats about it, if your thinking of doing your own conversion, and have some questions, send them to ME!! Tak care. -Jim D
