Date:         Mon, 5 Jun 2006 13:05:32 -0700
Reply-To:     Mike Meuser <mike@HISTORICALSCALEMODELS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mike Meuser <mike@HISTORICALSCALEMODELS.COM>
Subject:      Re: Reliability?
In-Reply-To:  <OFC87F4784.2A1B38BA-ON85257184.006AEB82-85257184.006BA985@fairchildsemi.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

HI - Not to worry.  I have an 84 that I bought with 70K on it in
1992.  It did have the head problem then and I was able to get a
dealer to fix and upgrade them.  Now the van has 272K and is still
running very strong.  I'm still even on the original clutch but it is
probably near to needing replacing.  I do drive gently and never push
the van or lug it down. Comfortable cruise is around 60mph.  I get
around 20-21 mpg.  I've never replaced the shocks or steering or
suspension parts yet it still handles very well.  When the engine
finally does go south, I'm thinking about a turbo diesel and/or some
sort of hybrid arrangement.

My second westy is an 87 that I recently got.  It has a subaru ej22 -
2.2 litre engine.  Very nice, but a bit of a hassle getting them to
run right.  Mine never did when the previous owner had it, but I've
gotten it to run quite well after a month of tweaking it here and
there.

With care and gentle driving your van should do very well.  I've
never done any towing mine though I might try it now with the subaru
powered one.



When the On 5 Jun 2006 at 15:37, Howard Allen wrote:

> Hi folks;
> I bought my '84 Vanagon last fall to replace our 1971 Dodge full size
> van which we use for romping around the great northwoods dirt roads.
> My motivation was chiefly price of gas, the old Dodge got about 12MPG
> and I think the Vanagon (automatic) gets around 20MPG.  I have been on
> the list lurking ever since, asking a few questions here and there,
> but I am starting to wonder if I made a good choice in buying this
> van.  Seems like there is an awful lot involved in keeping these
> things running what with deteriorating cylinder heads, weird digijet
> stuff, those two little microswitch thingys, etc.  The old DODGE with
> 318 V8 just ran and ran for the ten years we had it and never asked
> for much other than gas, oil, and tires.  One of the last trips was
> 2400 miles pulling a 2400 pound camper down to western PA and back
> with no problems.
>
> My concern is I don't want to find myself stranded in the north woods
> somewhere with a broken van and some exotic part the cause of its
> demise. I realize running a 22 year old vehicle can be challenging,
> but then again my daily driver is my 19 year old K car, which is so
> reliable I haven't had to do anything on it other than replace the
> radiator.
>
> So, at the risk of offending an entire group of folks, what is the
> sense of folks, are the old Vanagons reliable or not?  Would like to
> hear from the watercooled 1.9 owners out there if you don't mind...
>
> Best Regards
> Howard Allen
> S. Portland, Maine
>
> "Incompetents invariably make trouble for people other than
> themselves." - Larry McMurtry
>


Mike Meuser
87 Westy GL / 91 Subaru EJ22
83-1/2 Westy L