Author Topic: Please help me decide (TD into 73 bus) (Read 34246 times)

bevboyy · « **Reply #60 on:** April 23, 2007, 11:00:28 pm »

one word - impressive!

jtanguay · « **Reply #61 on:** April 23, 2007, 11:19:47 pm »

hmmmm i just read your site! good work!

you were having second thoughts about keeping the EGR...

for the benefit of the planet, and a quicker death of your engine, re-install!

it basically sends the soot into your oil so you will need to change oil more often. my advice is to rip it out!

Vincent Waldon · « **Reply #62 on:** April 24, 2007, 12:37:33 am »

Hey Speedy... what Andrew said... keep up the great updates !!!

In terms of the low pressure oil sensor... I've been down this road (for a slightly different reason... I use the hole for an oil temp sensor, reasoning that other than the turbo return the oil is at it's hottest at the outlet of the head)... so what to do about the original low pressure sensor ??

My hopeful idea was to use the low pressure switch built into the VDO pressure sensor... however... all of the dual sensors I have found so far have a much higher set point (.7 bar... evidently it's an Audi thing) and on my old beast it trips at idle when the engine is really warm... at least when I tried it in the head position. The last time I bought a new sensor (having run the local junkyard out of old ones) it specifically came with a warning "will not replace existing low pressure sensor"... darn the luck.

I'll be trying it on the oil filter flange (using a relocation kit since the turbo feed gets in the way) and it may work there... if not... well, that's what the gauge and the high-pressure switch will be for.

VDO makes lots of different sensors, so perhaps someday we'll stumble on a VDO part with a 0.25 bar trip.

continuing to live vicariously thru your bus,

Vince

myke_w · « **Reply #63 on:** April 26, 2007, 11:21:37 am »

Quote

http://www.limbobus.org/brazilian_kombi.htm

Looks like you could have done it all stock, or just driven one back from down south.

Andrew

Wow, that is the shiz!

how do we get that drivetrain back to our soil???

speedy · « **Reply #64 on:** April 26, 2007, 10:48:40 pm »

Thanks for the encouragment, guys. Andrew, I'd like to add your comments to my web page - would that be okay? If so, do you want to be called out or remain anonymous?

I was aware that the pre-90 oil drain line would work, but... I could not find one! They are very difficult to find used and ridiculously expensive new. I kept looking at the Quantum line and bracket sitting on the bench and finally I couldn't stand it anymore and started cutting.

Vincent, I already have a VDO dual-pressure sender and it's as you say with the low pressure switch, comes on at idle sometimes when the engine is hot. Since I also have the gauge, this doesn't bother me. I was tenatively thinking about doing the same as you and mounting it at the oil filter with some kind of extension, preferably a hard line since the VDO extension hose I used before hardened and burst on me when I was 500 miles from home a few years ago. I found a 1/8 NPT fitting to cap the hole at a truck stop half a mile up the road - what were the odds? I was laughing hysterically when I saw it. My wife thought I was nuts but she was happy with the result - we kept on driving.

-Dave

Vincent Waldon · « **Reply #65 on:** April 27, 2007, 12:14:19 am »

Speedy... thank heavens for understanding co-drivers, even if they laugh.

I once had an engine compartment fire in my Beetle while driving down the highway. Pulled over... a rag I had stuffed in the tin to keep hot air from recycling had fallen down, touched the header, and caught on fire.

I'm watching the flames lick closer to the carb... my co-driver is dancing around "do something... you have a fire extinguisher... use it !!" and I reply "yeah but it will make a huge mess if I have to discharge it". I ponder some more, the flames lick closer... then I run to the front, grab the thermos of coffee that's supposed to last us the entire 5 hour trip, and douse the flames.
Small price to pay for being able to keep on truckin.

The VDO hose that blew out... was it the big black one with the square aluminum manifold:

http://www.concept1.ca/images/42D%2042-004.jpg

I ask 'cause I'm darn close to buying one of them myself....

My problem with a red light that comes on at idle sometimes is that I've already once had my favorite co-driver drive with that exact red light on for at least 10 minutes, and she is now under strict instructions "ignore yellow and green, pull over on red". Very risky to say "pull over on red, unless this gauge here reads at least 2 bar at 2000 RPM".

Vince

speedy · « **Reply #66 on:** April 27, 2007, 09:12:51 pm »

The hose looks similar but mine did not come with any of the other parts in that picture. I would think any rubber hose would have the problems that mine did eventually, which is why I am going to try to extend it some other way - probably via a braided stainless line (brake line).

-Dave

speedy · « **Reply #67 on:** January 20, 2008, 12:08:10 am »

I tried to start the van tonight. Not done with everything, but done enough to hear it run for a few seconds to restore my motivation. New filter and 4 quarts of oil in the pan (I realize I'm 0.8 quarts low), hotwired the glow plugs and cranked it. Sounds like it is catching in 1 or maybe 2 cylinders and a few puffs of black smoke are coming from the exhaust, but that's all I can get out of it. Also no oil pressure yet (presumably because of the fresh filter). I'm afraid to crank it very long because I don't want to fry the $200 KEP starter. Fuel line does not look like it has any bubbles in it.

Any suggestions on how to get this beast started?

Thanks,

-David

Vanagoner · « **Reply #68 on:** January 20, 2008, 01:50:32 am »

Did you check to make sure that there was no air in the steel injector lines? Also, when "hot-wiring" the glow plugs, in my experience they cool off pretty fast (the time it takes to pull the wire and run up to the cab). You might try glowing for 20 seconds on slow style plugs.
Man, what a cool project you have there! Keep-er goin!

Vincent Waldon · « **Reply #69 on:** January 20, 2008, 03:39:22 am »

Hey welcome back Speedy.

Can't remember your geometry exactly (need to go visit your web site again) but if it's been sitting for a while it might be easier on your starter if you prime a few things first:

- the oil pump can be primed with an electric drill and 13mm socket thru the vacuum pump hole. I usually stick an mechanical oil pressure gauge on the head sensor temporarily so that I can confirm I've good good pressure... priming is good for your turbo as well !

- the fuel system can be primed by applying suction to the out banjo... this draws fuel thru the entire system... filling the filter, the hoses, and the IP so that fuel is ready to hit the injectors.

With fuel and oil at the ready you can crank with impunity !

8v vanagon · « **Reply #70 on:** January 20, 2008, 06:41:08 pm »

Speedy, I really enjoyed reading about your build. I've been running an inline gasser in my '84 vanagon for about 7 years and want to upgrade to a diesel motor. I was looking at the pictures of your exhaust and noticed the similarity to my exhaust. So I thought I'd give you a heads up on a potential problem, heat from the exhaust can deform the plastic cover for the timing belt, resulting in a broken belt, it happened to me. You should consider fabbing up a heat shield to protect the belt cover. Hope this helps

speedy · « **Reply #71 on:** January 20, 2008, 11:42:29 pm »

Guys,

Thanks for the kind words. Priming the oil pump through the vacuum pump hole is just the kind of advice I was hoping for. I will feel a lot better about cranking it when I see the oil pressure idiot light go out. I will do that first thing.

The IP lines were pulled and plugged before I removed the engine from the Quantum and they were still both filled with fuel although the fuel in the return line looked a bit brackish. I'm sure the pump is still full of fuel also. I do not have a spare pump and even if I did, I don't have the experience to swap it out without adding a whole bunch of new variables (timing, mainly) to the mix. So for now I am going to assume the pump is okay.

I did have a thought that maybe the diesel I am using has gone bad. It has been in a 6 gallon plastic gas can inside the Quantum for... ummm... well over a year which means it got very hot and very cold. I think I am going to buy a few gallons of fresh diesel just in case.

Vanagoner, I thought about the plugs cooling off after the first couple of times I tried to start it so the next couple of times I left the plugs hooked up while I cranked. Total time was about 30 seconds. I had read on this board that the plugs might stay on as much as a few minutes under normal operating conditions so I was assuming 30 seconds wouldn't hurt them. Was I wrong? How long can you leave the glow plugs on without damaging them? I hooked up an ammeter inline with the wire to the plugs and they draw about 40 amps initially, tapering off to about 25 amps within 10 seconds. Does this sound about normal?

-David

speedy · « **Reply #72 on:** January 20, 2008, 11:45:42 pm »

Quote from: "8v vanagon"

Speedy, I really enjoyed reading about your build. I've been running an inline gasser in my '84 vanagon for about 7 years and want to upgrade to a diesel motor. I was looking at the pictures of your exhaust and noticed the similarity to my exhaust. So I thought I'd give you a heads up on a potential problem, heat from the exhaust can deform the plastic cover for the timing belt, resulting in a broken belt, it happened to me. You should consider fabbing up a heat shield to protect the belt cover. Hope this helps

Broken belt? Ouch! Did you bend any valves when that happened? Thanks for the warning, I will definitely make up some kind of heat shield before I drive it very far.

-David

speedy · « **Reply #73 on:** January 26, 2008, 08:59:10 pm »

I'm not sure what you mean by timing the pump for #1 - I have not touched the pump since I last shut the engine off. But... I got it started! I primed the oil pump and saw the idiot light go out, which made me feel a little better (Thanks Vincent!). Then I hooked up a second battery for a bit more cranking power. It was still only catching on one cylinder. Then I hooked up a remote start wire and cranked the engine while loosening the hard line at each injector until fuel came out. After that it started hitting on 2. I again tried keeping the glow plugs on while cranking and it finally started and settled down to a nice smooth idle. Whoopeeee! Good to hear it run again.

I have a few more things to do before I can take it on a test drive. Mount radiator and connect to hoses with 90 degree bends, attach expansion tank, connect turbo outlet to intake manifold, fab one more muffler bracket. Everything else can wait until after the first drive.

-David

speedy · « **Reply #74 on:** January 26, 2008, 10:27:45 pm »

Ahhh, thanks for the explanation. I did replace the timing belt, but I did not move any of the pulleys so I figured there was no way it could be 180 out.

-David