DIY/How To: Rebuild 2.1L VW Vanagon Waterboxer Adventure

[spridgetkuik]

the music sucks....just give us the info

[inthetubedeep]

@spridgetkuik Thats my neighbors band and the music is cool, if you play better music that youtube won't block then knock yourself out and upload it and don't complain, enjoy the vid

[inthetubedeep]

@spridgetkuik Maybe you'll learn something!!

[Andor3000]

To refill coolant on my wasserboxer I coupled a 2inch pvc pipe to the mouth of the reservoir extending higher then the bleeder valve on the rad. Filled it up till it started pouring out of the bleeder and then siphoned the excess coolant out of the extension pipe. No jacking or reving required!

[seanagon182]

Hey. nice job dude. I just finished the exact same job. my sleeves were leaking coolant into bottom end. I ended buying new AMC;s. And doing rings too. Fun job. toughest part was getting all the contradictory advice from different experts. Not to mention, pulling the wrist pins. that was fun. Did u make a pulling tool for the pins?

[inthetubedeep]

@seanagon182 You havent't lived til you pulled a waterboxer! Yes I made my own wrist pin puller, I used a long 1/2inch bolt, ground a nut down, so it would pull through the piston, but enough to grab the pin- works great. you can see it in the vid several times see at 3:43-4:13, at 4:12 you can see it clear. I had a problem with the oil pressure sensor- when it got hot it would flash and buzz(the better of the 2 signals, if light flashes only its BAD!) and my high pressure steering hose leaks..

[inthetubedeep]

@seanagon182 but I think it just did not have oil completely in the system, it hasn't done it for a week now-- I haven't hardly driven it, only 200 miles since rebuild, have to get it smogged and pay the over due DMV fees...next week I'll get it all taken care of and the Vanagon will be back on the road-- may post a follow up to the rebuild.

[wankelFan2]

why do you have a german plate on the bus? :D

[inthetubedeep]

@wankelFan2 The image you see isn't the 90 Vanagon I rebuilt on this vid-- its my 83 Westfalia which my parents bought new through the European Delivery Program in 1983 (VW no longer offer EDP), you buy it here(8-10% discount) and pick up in Germany drive it anywhere in Europe and they ship back for free. The plate you see at 03:46 is a plate I took out of a waste bin in a Munich Auto Registration office! (someone stole the original German Tourist Plate)

[mstasz101]

Cool Vid. Does anyone know of any good literature on rebuilding?

[binnsh]

Do you mean that other cars don't require you to jack the front wheels a foot off the ground, while revving the piss out of it while trying to pour coolant in with your other hand, while someone else watches for bubbles up at the radiator bleeder to fill the cooling system? Isn't this normal? When I had the pushrod tin off. I drilled holes for access to the drain plugs on the engine, a little VW oversight!

[binnsh]

Did this job myself years back, with the engine in place- not fun, should have pulled it for better access to the piston pins and clips. I remember making my own reamer to cut the burr to remove the piston pins from some EMT. Big insight while torquing the heads was seeing some spring back in those long studs, a little dot of grease in the nuts and I felt better about the torque. Hope it's still running well for you!

[inthetubedeep]

@binnsh The 2nd to last piece of the puzzle was the radiator fan motor(Power steering pressure hose leaking, $350!!)-- it was bad-- GoWesty has the reman for $300, without the fan blade, the dealer must have come across a hidden stash because when I started this project they were $800, now they have with blade for $319! So I'm picking it up today, took a while to bleed cooling sys, but thats always a bitch. Used the VW AKD 456 000 02 Cylinder cup nut sealant-- thats a must!

[xennelul]

I just did a head rebuilt with the engine in place.

Everything is back together and it is running but I have no idle unless the engine is warm and the engine is definitely running rich and stalls at idle speeds. Any suggestions?

[inthetubedeep]

@xennelul Check the connections on the idle stabilizer unit if your vanagon has them, depending on the year. My 83 has 2 on the throttle body, if they die your idle will be off, my 90 does not have them, at least not on the throttle body Also check you vacum hoses, usually no cold idle means vacum leak, you should hear a hissing or sucking sound if thats the case. Also check all your ground connections, you'd be surprised what a bad ground can cause! What year is your Van?

[inthetubedeep]

@VehementOgre Vanagons are the bomb-- just stay away from 83's... 1st year for water cooled and they ALL SUCK

[Giantman2001]

Respect!

[inthetubedeep]

@Giantman2001 Thanks mate-- earned with heaps of cuts and bruises!

[Kbrusky15]

"The coil wasn't connected to the dizzy!!!" I was screaming that while you turned it over for the first time.

[inthetubedeep]

@Kbrusky15 Yeah good eye! I turned it over a few times unconnected to get the oil pump primed-- it still took about 3-4 minutes running before the oil light went off...thanks for watching!