Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2000 15:50:16 +0000
Reply-To: Mark Keller <kelphoto@ISLANDNET.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Mark Keller <kelphoto@ISLANDNET.COM>
Subject: Re: Poor MPG, '81 Westy -- Injector Problems?
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My opinion would be for you to Consider these things:
<BR>weight of your van. Extra Weight less gas mileage
<BR>Stance of the Van, does it sit level?
<BR>Alignment of all four tires, are they within specifications?
<BR>Get a vacuum gauge on your engine. How much vacuum do you have
at 60 mph Cruise? Should be 12" or so. Anything below 9" and something
is overloading the engine?
<P>If you vacuum confirms a 12" at cruise, then driving style may be more
of issue.
<P>True enough, tires, can be a issue, but to me your MPG is to far off.
<P>To recap, if your wheels are straight, and nose isn't high, your weight
is within tolerance, and engine is actually producing power, the gas mileage
should follow.
<P>BTW my wife would average 5 MPG less on a trip, because she would drive
up on slow cars, people who can seem to maintain highway speed, then brake,
the wait for a good time to "ACCELERATE" back up to highway speed.
<P>There are lots of little things to help you mileage. Driving down
hills, depending on your verve, a little faster to build up momentum, and
then let the speed bleed off naturally as the van climbs the hill.
<P>Conserve your Momentum!
<P>MY opinion. Email me with your comments and we will work through
this together. BTW only if you can verify the above items will you
have a baseline from which to troubleshoot you van's poor MPG
<P>Sincerely,
<P>Mark Keller
<BR>91 Carat WLE automatic 21-23 MPG routinely
<P>Lee Wood wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>Reading Malcom Stebbins' MPG survey confirms what I've thought
for a long time: my '81 Westy is getting poor gas mileage.
<P>I have about 2,000 miles on a rebuilt engine and the builder (local
German car garage in Menlo Park) can find no problems which might cause
poor fuel mileage. Also, it tends to overheat. (I posted yesterday about
the radiator behind the front fresh-air intake actually being an oil cooler.
I really DO need that cooler, even on a fresh engine.)</BLOCKQUOTE>
I'm wondering if my fuel injectors might be clogged or something. Would
this cause poor fuel economy *and* overheating?
<P>Opinions? How to fix?
<P>Lee</BLOCKQUOTE>
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