1.6TD 83' Vanagon topic - IDI Engine - VWDiesel.net The IDI, TDI, and mTDI source.

• 1.6TD 83' Vanagon topic by ragulka on 19 Jan, 2009 03:59
• Hi, I'm starting this topic for dumping information about mods and upgrades I'm doing to my van so anyone could see what I've done and maybe get some ideas. Also, I hoe I'm not left alone in case I have some questions myself (which I do a lot!)  
  
  About the van
  First, about the van: It's a 83' watercooled diesel hightop Reimo conversion camper vanagon. It's pretty simple, doesn't have any extras (like power windows, power mirrors or A/C), but it does have a fridge, stove and a bed for 2
  I got a Year ago and have repaired it eversince
  The last upgrade to teh van was egine swap for a 1.6TD from a 90' Golf II. I would have gone for 1.9TD but it was over 2 times more expensive and I thought that it wouldn't make that much difference.
  The egine swap was pretty straightforward except for the driver side rear engin bracket and the exhaust. Also, I couldn't use the original Air filter so I installed a cone-type filter.
  After the engine swap, I can drive the van like it was a normal car No more turtle-acceleration... I can also drive like 100km/h (probably even more but I haven't tried)... It feels nice
  
  Some pictures are available here: http://thevanagon.wordpress.com
  
  
  There are 2 questions that come to my mind right now:
  
  1. NOISE: The engine makes helluva lot noise, especially at highway speeds and when idling (the whole car is vibrating). What can one do in order to: a) isolate or 'remove' idle vibration and 2) reduse noise A LOT on highway speeds
  
  2. VEGETABLE-OIL HEATING: see this topic: http://vwdiesel.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=132879#132879[/url]
• #1 by the caveman on 19 Jan, 2009 07:09
• Welcome
  To answer your questions-1- the noise can be coming from any thing that is vibrating. The most common ones on those trucks are the undershield and the parts that hold it place. Even if the undershield isn't there anymore there may be bits hanging down that now can rattle away. Check at the front end of the motor near the transmission. You may have to crawl under to see them. The other one is between the body and muffler.Remove them all if you don't have or aren't going to put the undershield back. Next are the muffler supports. They break quite often and will of course let the muffler rattle away like crazy if they are broken. Harder and harder to get on this side of the pond, but where you are you may not have to get them from the dealer, other suppliers must have.Third possibility are the motor mounts.
  2-For your WVO conversion i see one major flaw. Those filters on the truck are not good enough. You MUST use a proper fuel filter with some type of water block or separator in them. Even if you boil or have some other system to pre-filter and remove the water first, there will always be water in waste oil. We used to boil suspect oil until there seemed to be no more water. As a precaution we would then test and or reboil the oil to make sure it was all out. No way! As i found out ,even oil that seems good, clear, no bubbles when boiled, etc, can have up to 5 % of water in it. Unless you get a proper water separator for the  wvo system in your truck you will be having to rebuild [not if it's completely corroded from the water and acids] or buy a new injection pump. I have seen pumps from vehicles that had good quality systems in which the pump and injectors failed because the wvo was poor quality. Think about what happens if you go to some small country gas station that when filling you tank with what is at the bottom of their tank. Poor gasoline or diesel will cause all kind of problems. Remember-garbage in, garbage out
• #2 by ragulka on 19 Jan, 2009 07:25
• Hey, thanks for the information!
  
  I don't have an undershield and I don't think I have any pieces left of it
  The noise I'm getting is not like a rattle, but more like a deep vibration... It could be that the engine mounts are causing it...
  
  About the water separator - I've seen some pics on the internet with some fuel filters that have a tiny valve at the bottom, where you can drain the seprataed water out - is that what You recommend using?
• #3 by the caveman on 19 Jan, 2009 07:34
• Yes for the fuel filter. The type you want will have a chemical on the paper element which will not let water through it. The water then runs down the outside and drains to the bottom of the housing where once in a while you can drain it out of that small valve.
  As for the vibration. are you sure the engine is firing evenly on all 4 cylinders?
• #4 by ragulka on 19 Jan, 2009 07:53
• I think so, the vibration goes away on higher RPMs...
• #5 by the caveman on 19 Jan, 2009 12:36
• It should be smooth at idle. Ignore the noise ,make sure the motor is not lumpy at idle. If it only smooths out at higher rpms, you may have some blocked injectors or some other issue. Have you checked the compression on that motor?