So, LOTS of mechanical work has been going on but not a lot of writing! It’s almost been like a game of whack a mole! They say this about vintage cars and Vanagons. Some of it is self induced, others may be a by product of my “outstanding workmanship”, and the last my be that “it’s just that time” to have that specific part break down.

Case in point, I’ve gotten done with the coolant line upgrades (which it now runs a consistent 196 – 202 degrees) and shock upgrade. However, it appears that while it sat (or maybe I wasn’t looking or paying attention), the brake fluid went down. So, when I was all excited to go do test runs to see how my work performed, it felt like the brakes were a bit squishy! Right away I checked the obvious and found out. No biggie! Right?

Well, right after that, the clutch started to feel like it was slipping and I developed this “thump” in the rear. It was almost as though a bulge in the tire or something that as I drove faster it thumped faster. So, I haven’t driven it much due to these two factors. I don’t want to burn out the transmission or make the problem worse!

However, I did get some videos of driving over my phone while filming the undercarriage. I wanted to post those so people MUCH more mechanically smarter than myself could view! So, here’s the few of them!

Progress continues but is slow at the moment due to colder weather outdoors. So, when not making progress on the van, I do research. This is a video I found along the way. Great information! Enjoy!

Just to be clear… just because I haven’t been taking the time to document or update the blog doesn’t mean things aren’t happening! LOL Actually, I’ve been posting fairly regularly (a few times a week) on Instagram. Work on Van Diesel has been pretty extensive and ongoing. That’s what I plan to cover and update in this post! *whew* Let’s go!

I knew that there were “things” which needed to be done. For example, when I gutted the interior, I knew that I needed to swap over to US electric plugs and external shore power outlet. I knew that if I was going to address that part, I was then going to upgrade the fridge. Then upgrading the fridge led to the back of the fridge looking for rust / sound deadening and insulation. That leads to perhaps a battery upgrade to lithium. Well… you kind of see where this is going, right?

The same is true for the engine! In the previous post about “limp mode”, that lead me on a journey of rubber parts. It seems like the van has struggled with keeping cool since I got it. I mean, it never gets close to overheating but it wasn’t really running as cool as I thought as well. I thought that if I’m doing a cross country journey in 2022, I had better look at rubber upgrades and even to silicone! This allowed me to get familiar with the engine as well. HUGE learning curve for a non-mechanical guy! I found a guy on The Samba who makes silicone 1.9 TDI hoses. Now, I generally would put the link however I wouldn’t recommend this guy to anyone! Let’s just say I got most of the hoses I needed. The others I had to figure out and source since he’s “never seen the hose I needed nor anyone ask him for the one” that I needed.

As part of the process to drain the system, I needed to get under to the lowest point to drain the coolant. When underneath, which I noticed before as well when doing the turbo work, the rear shocks looked a bit tired. So, I investigated replacing and going with Bilstein. I met a GREAT guy, Steve Schwenk, which is known for his springs. Long story short is that his springs didn’t work out due to the height of the van (I have Andrias springs on mine; see pic below). Andrias on top, OEM middle and Schwenk on bottom.

So, I stuck with the springs and Steve was able to find the Bilstein set of HD shocks and drop shipped them. This was during a time where NONE could be found due to pandemic shortages everywhere. Somehow, Steve pulled strings and got it done! Yea, it turned out that they were tired! The old one on the left wouldn’t even return back up!

Since I’m working on a sloped driveway outside, the work is a little bit more difficult and sometimes even sketchy! I mean, lifting the van with a Hi Lift jack, to remove a wheel and then start suspension work doesn’t seem like the safest thing to do. However, I managed to get the rears done fairly quick!

However, then weather and life sets in as well as seeing other “opportunities” (problems) to address. As I was scoping out the front, I see that my driver side sway bar has unseated itself! Holy crap! Perhaps that was the clunk I was hearing when going over bumps?! Ya think?? So, since it was already half out, why not take this opportunity to upgrade a 21mm OEM sway bar to the T3 Technique HD 25mm Anti-Roll bar and end link kit?! I ordered it however they had some manufacturing issues with a factory fire. So, that came a little later (still not installed to date).

Then the weather finally broke and I was able to address the front struts. Now, the rears were literally 2 bolts per side. Boom and done. The front needed a bit more work but compressing springs, removing stuff and then making it all fit back in (it’s all already documented on YouTube by many people!). It took me a little bit, but the fronts were about in the same shape as the rear. Needless to say, I can’t wait to give it a drive to see how it feels!

Now, in the meantime, you have to remember I’m doing multiple projects depending on weather and parts that came in! Some things were easier than others! Like the vacuum system for the differentials. There was a leak somewhere. I didn’t know where… I just knew that it worked sometimes. It seemed like the front came on after a decent period of time. The rear almost NEVER came on but there was some dependency with the decoupler. I worked from the actuators back to the console. Thank goodness I did that because it was a SIMPLE fix of hose leading to the rear actuator. Boom. Done.

Meanwhile, I was working on and sourcing parts for the coolant (remember the top of this post?). I was able to figure out which stainless coolant lines to get as I was disassembling the top end hoses as well as front to rear. This is probably my most recent work and where I’m at right now. Still sourcing some hoses but the swap is coming along nicely! The last picture, below, shows the silicone on top and rubber OEM on bottom. Not a huge aesthetic difference but a piece of mind!

I’ve got the intercooler radiator hoses pulled out and sourced. This is the current state of the coolant work. I’ve got hoses and clamps landing now. I’ve got 3 new electric, aux coolant pumps to circulate. New plumbing to bring in fresh air! One of the things I discovered was that the hose going up to the snorkel wasn’t attached! No, it wasn’t that it was blocking fresh air coming in but water was going down into the hose since it wasn’t attached! Ouch! I’m moving towards the work which was documented here. I’ve found this site to be HUGE with lots of documented solutions! So, I’m just replicating someone’s work.

Now my next bit of work will be connecting everything back up. I’ve taken the last two weeks of the year as vacation. So, I should be able to knock it out! Stay tuned!

For some time now, I’ve experienced “limp mode” in my van. It first manifested itself on a family trip back from Florida. We were heading north on the highway doing about 65 mph (in the slow lane, of course). All of a sudden there’s sort of a jerk forward, a cloud of smoke out the back and then lack of power. The first time I was freaked out! I pulled over to the side of the road immediately, turned it off and looked for any obvious leaks, bursts or the likes. Nothing really jumped out at me! So, I started back up cautiously and entered onto the highway again. I had full power and full boost, so all was good. Engine temps and pressures weren’t abnormal. However, it happened again about 10 minutes later.

This is where I started to think about an exit plan for the family. You see, it was Spring Break and everyone needed to be back to work/school the following day! We searched high and low in northern Florida to finally come up with a rental car place. I sent the “life raft” home with my family as I figured the worst which could happen would be I’d be stranded on the side of the road. Who cares? I’m in a camper! 🙂

I decided to drive a bit slower and not engage the turbo as much as I could. My thinking was that when the turbo was spooling / spooled up, that’s where I was seeing the pressure loss and lack of power. The remainder of the 6 hour drive, or whatever it was, was uneventful! In fact, I think I got home 20 minutes after the family had arrived safely!

Now my quest was on to find a diesel mechanic who could look the engine over, make a prioritized list and start addressing any issues I might have in some sort of prioritized fashion. Little did I know that finding a VW diesel mechanic was going to be SO difficult! My original search was the greater Atlanta area. I found one small shop nearby where there was a “claim” of a “German Master Mechanic”. Damn! That sounds too good! Yea… $1,200 later, no priority list and same limp mode.

So, I broadened my search to the Vanagon community to see who people use on the East Coast. I think I journaled most of that experience here. That ended in an EPIC disaster! After 15 weeks and having a loaner car from Westy Motorwerks, I was emailed on Aug. 3rd saying that his customer needed their car back which he loaned to me and that he’d be leaving around 9 am on the 4th to come pick it up. We exchanged emails back and forth because I told him if he was coming down, he might as well just bring my van with. Since it STILL wasn’t running, he stated he couldn’t drive it down. After that many weeks being up there, I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted it back in my driveway. Some of my concerns were that due to the pandemic, small businesses were closing. I didn’t want my van to be part of a shop’s collateral or anything like that. I figured 15 weeks was MORE than enough to sort through a problem. All I really received is sympathy of why everything wasn’t their fault. (My “official” review of that shop will be on Google Maps as I’m a Global Reviewer and Guide. It won’t be pretty.)

Van is back with more stuff broken than when I brought it up there. Mind you, I DROVE it up there, 3 hours away, under its own power. It was now brought back to me not running on the street, tach broken/non-functioning, oil light on… probably other stuff I’m not thinking of right now. All for the price of… you guessed it, ANOTHER $1,200. You see, when I was up there in July when I was told it was going to be completed and I went to pick it up and it WASN’T completed… after being loaned a car to be able to get back home in (since my son left HOURS ago previously), Wes asked me if I could help him out and pay half of my bill. Honestly, I didn’t have a problem with it. I knew they did some work to it and had mechanic hours into it. However, hindsight is that I should have NEVER been “nice” on a business transaction. Nothing had been completed start to finish. Limp mode was still persistent. Diesel heater was placed in but not plumbed in yet. Tach wasn’t functioning. I should have known yet I was attempting to support a small business in a small Vanagon community who was “recommended”.

Fast forward. I’m going to tackle this project my damn self! First business of order is to rip off the turbo, check for sticking veins and ensure actuator isn’t stuck. After ALL the research I had done on this, I needed a piece of mind to check that off the list! I start talking to a friend of mine and we get into a debate if it’d be easier to remove the turbo from the top or the bottom. I was SURE it was easiest from the bottom but he recalls looking down on it from the top. Since it’s in my driveway, it’s easy enough to prove him wrong! I run out there, stick my phone in the rear wheel arch and snap a picture of the turbo on the BOTTOM of the engine!

I look at the picture and WTH??!! A hose on the intake side of the turbo staring RIGHT at me with these big old cracks!! I take some pictures and start asking the community. Obviously, any hose/pipe in the system is a bad thing so I know it needs replacement! The next piece of this equation was to remove the under armor to get complete access to the bottom of the engine. That was fairly straight forward!

Now that I have those heavy things out of the way, it’s time to get down to business! Two screws loosened off the hose clamps later and I now have the “offending part” in my hands! However, in the process, I find that Motorwerks did not bolt down the turbo bracket nor the intake pipe bracket! Thus, both were able to move and potentially collapse this part causing the turbo to be blocked of air!

I could not identify what the part number was so off to the community I went again! BAM! In just 30 seconds I had my answer! (literally, 30 seconds!) I started my internet part search only to find it available in the UK. Okay…wind partially out of my sails because I didn’t know if this was just a fluke or the issue. None the less, I ordered the part from Germany (along with other stuff but don’t tell the wife!) and had to wait for shipping. Day after day I keep looking for shipping updates but things aren’t progressing as quickly as I’d like. SO…what’s a guy to do but search for the part again? Low and behold, I find that Van-Again in New Jersey has several on hand!!! Damn straight I ordered it! Got it in 3 days!

Moment of truth… I get it installed and take it for SEVERAL hard test runs over the weekend with VCDS logging in the background. ZERO MAF errors nor getting limp mode! The picture (above) shows the clear line of sight to the replacement part. My general assessment is that a trained mechanic should have been able to visually inspect and identify this issue fairly quickly. A shop which has a vehicle for 15 WEEKS should have stumbled across this MANY times over! Instead, Westy Motorwerks claimed it was a bad ECU, alternator, wiring, MAF, N109 relay among MANY other things! Now, again in fairness, there’s a lot of troubleshooting and testing to have been done. However, I cannot help but feel taken advantage of that it was THAT many weeks and my “non-mechanic” self in the driveway identified and fixed it in 20 minutes. Perhaps chalk it up to “beginner’s luck”?

My video assessment

The Westy world or even Syncro world is ALL new to me! Thus, there’s a TON to figure out. Not to mention, a customized Westy Syncro! What’s this switch for? What’s this gauge for? What’s the dummy light blinking at me for? Yes, all valid questions which I’m working through.

The first business of order was to make him road worthy. Thus, Van Diesel needed a new pair of American shoes! Quite honestly, I replaced him with a new pair of identical tires which were already on there; BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 235/85R 16″. Six of them all around! Four on the ground and two spares. The previous ones started cracking which leads to dry rot… I didn’t want to deal with that issue!

Again, the new ones are identical except… well, NEW! 🙂

My next little bit of work will be checking out the fresh water situation and then moving over to propane! The journey continues!