Date: Fri, 14 May 2010 06:55:12 -0700
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Lube the accelerator cable on a vanagon? and some more..
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Thanks for the tips. The "lithium spray grease" is the operation I'd like
to try next. I haven't really looked closely at the Bently yet. I thought
I would ask here and maybe someone would come up with a better explanation
of how to do it than the book.
Yes, I use the delrin cam/cable guide set-up on the 92 Jetta motor I have
in my 84 and I've been all over that part of the throttle linkage...checking
'range of motion' and angles of mechanical advantatge...All of that seems
correct and free-moving. If I pull on the cable 'beyond the motor' but
before it splices into the Vanagon cable, everything feels smooth.
The cable from the Jetta overlaps the Vanagon cable down near the trans
and is connected with a couple of cable clamps. There is no mechanical
interference at the splice. I am thinking it has to be in the cable in the
van. I should probably replace that. But in the mean time, can't I squirt
some Wurth;s or some bike cable lube into the housing or something and get
better action? "tip-in" that is the term I forgot...
BTW...I recently thought I had a fault with my head..(not my 'melon', the
one on the inline four in my van..) so I sourced a new gasket and some fresh
headbolts ($70) in anticipation of doing a head gasket replacement...but it
turns out I likely had an unfortunate coinciding of a couple of minor
faults, instead the head problem. At least I'm pretty sure now after a
week or two of trouble-free commuting at highway speeds.
I think I had a failing thermostat and perhaps a partially clogged
pressure cap on my expansion tank, plus a couple of small leaks in the
cooling circuit to the rear heater. This was (I surmise) causing air to
enter (and some coolant to escape) from the leaks. This resulted in
over-filling of my overflow tank without the coolant returning properly to
the system. I was also seeing some bubbles in the coolant going into the
pressure tank, a symptom of a faulty head or headgasket, normally. As I
leaked slowly from a hose near my head outlet to the rear heater, and
slightly from the heater (O-rings?==shut off valve?==Core?) that was also
causing an air bubble in the radiator and eventually an over heating
incident (detected in a timely manner) which caused that leaky hose to get
*really leaky, really quick*..as in "stanley-steamer' After replacing the
thermostat and the expansion tank cap and the hose to the overflow tank,
temporarly by-passing the rear heater altogether and fixing the leaky hose
from the head outlet to the rear heater, everything is back to normal...no
more frequent bleeding, no coolant loss, no buildup in the expansion tank.
So now I have the needed parts to swap in an ABA 2-liter block...which I
will do very soon. This swap is supposed to be a significant improvment in
power using the longer stroke ABA bottom end with the 1.8 liter head, etc
bolted right on and everything staying clean under the engine deck...I've
been wanting to do this swap now for a while..found a 2 liter longblock with
low miles for around $200..cute little thing...
Don Hanson
On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 4:52 AM, Ken Wilford <kenwilfy@comcast.net> wrote:
> Don you have an engine conversion right? What cable are you using? I have
> seen all kinds of spliced together stuff and sometimes the cable is getting
> hung up at some point where the two cables are spliced together. I finished
> a conversion that another guy started and the thing drove terrible, had no
> power, etc. He had made his own accelerator cable for the swap (ABA in line
> four) and I decided to go with a Tiico cable that I had sitting around.
> Wow, it made a world of difference in how the van accelerated the power you
> had! I would not have believed it was the same van and that was all that I
> changed. If the cable is not working smoothly it will break on you. You
> can try lubing it with some lithium spray grease but if the cable itself is
> getting rusty and that is what is causing it to bind then it would be best
> to replace it before it snaps (it will, at the most inconvenient moment
> too).
>
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> www.vanagain.com
>
>
>
> Don Hanson wrote:
>
>> Maybe for Scott...
>>
>> Is there some way to make the accelerator cable move the vehicle's
>> throttle more smoothly? Mine seems a little 'sticky'. I've lubed the
>> stuff on the engine and the pedal in the cab without much improvment.
>> This
>> is an 84 manual tranny van. When I go 'off-idle' without using any
>> clutch,
>> the van 'surges' as the throttle is opened. I push on the
>> pedal...harder..harder and all of a sudden, it moves...more than I intend,
>> causing a lurch ahead by the van. Now under partial throttle, everything
>> seems pretty normal..but when I am idling along and want to increase my
>> speed slightly...like when in a line following a pilot car or
>> something...I
>> can't accelerate smoothly without clutching..
>> How do I fix a sticky cable..which I think I am feeling..
>> Don Hanson
>>
>>
>>
>
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