Please reply to Zoran, not me!

-----Original Message-----
From: Mladen, Zoran [mailto:zmladen@solant.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2000 9:43 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: RE: Article about the ECU Chip upgrade from Vintage Vee Dub

According to this article, the fix was made specifically for Australian
vehicles.  What is so unusual about them or the climate, and why is this fix
acceptable for US Vanagons?

Z

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Lilley [mailto:Wolfvan88@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2000 4:35 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Article about the ECU Chip upgrade from Vintage Vee Dub

Here is the article from an Australian mag about the ECU chip from Vintage 
Vee Dub.

Robert

<< From Australian Volkswagen Magazine Issue No2
 Express Publications February 1999
 
 A Wasserboxer Adventure
 
 By Chris Bellamy and Richard Holzl
 
 In the beginning, the water cooled flat four T3 Vanagon seemed a
comfortable
 continuation of the all successful Kombi the vehicle that changed the face
of
 practical transport worldwide. A huge following resulted and many other
 manufactures joined the people mover revolution. Those of us that moved up 
from
 the air cooled to the water cooled Vanagon fell in love all over again with
 Volkswagen’s all improved bus. Did I say all improved.
 
 After coming to appreciate more space, more power, more room and better 
handling,
 some strange things began to happen. Corroded cylinder head studs and
cutting
 power after a few hours of operation in expressway conditions. Many things 
were
 thought to have caused these problems, they appeared at random and struck
the
 population of Vanagon sporadically. Coolant type (tap or distilled water)
and
 running too lean under load were blamed and Volkswagen provided and
impedance
 transformer at the usual price to correct the disturbed signal from the air

flow
 meter to the computer.
 
 With that fixed, there was still a need to address the lean out under load 
and to
 quicken the response from the full throttle switch for emergencies. Given 
that
 the engine accepted type 1 rockers, some Gene Berg 1.4:1 ratio rockers were
 fitted to increase air volume. A dyno run was then made with and without 
rockers.
 This produced a much bigger increase than expected, buy the air flow meter
 overreacted and a too rich condition resulted. Thanks to Mark at Yagoona
 Automotive, a probe into the computer allowed a custom chip to be produced
in
 order to correct the mixture throughout the rev range. Numerous dyno runs 
were
 made to identify the sweet and sour spots resulting from ups and downs in
the
 flow rate of the inlet manifolding and possibly the exhaust. Merely 
increasing
 the richness across the board wasn’t going to be efficient.
 
 The final results were well beyond expectation 49 per cent increase at the 
wheels
 with, as the following text shows, an increase in economy. Combined with
the
 correct coolant in the correct ratio mixed with distilled or purified
water, 
the
 Vanagon engine has a chance for nine lives.
 
 Richard Holzl
 
 Just back from a summer holiday in Deutschland back in spring 97, I chanced
 across a low mileage white T3 transporter Campervan advertised for sale 
locally.
 With many happy memories of long summer evenings in camping grounds,
sitting 
with
 Wasserboxer campervan owners sharing a glass or two of delicious dry white 
wine,
 I soon found myself the proud owner of an Aussie Wasserboxer campervan.
 
 The vehicle in question is a white 1992 T3 transporter with a rear mounted 
2109cc
 fuel injected part water, part air cooled motor and a five speed manual 
gearbox.
 It was built in Hannover in May of that year. It was in fact one of the
last 
T3s
 sold in Australia, with the T4 series having been launched here in 1993.
 
 Whilst a big seller in Deutschland, adverse exchange rates for the DM 
against the
 Aussie dollar meant that’s T3s were an infrequent sight on our roads 
compared to
 the ubiquitous 1980s Japanese vans or the more popular T4 series. Compared 
to the
 old Kombis or T2s, the T3s were higher and wider in size and much quieter
in
 operation. Weight is evenly distributed in the T3 with the fuel tank 
amidships,
 the radiator up front and the engine in the rear. They offer good ground
 clearance and a first gear that is excellent for crossing creeks or
crawling 
over
 rough ground.
 
 My T3 started life as an ordinary van, so it has no leather seats, carpets 
or mod
 cons in the flight deck like the Carat, a common up market T3 in
Deutschland 
but
 very rare in Australia. The original owners of the T2 traveled around Aus
and
 after 3 years, they had it converted into a campervan in Sydney. It was
then 
sold
 and, after languishing in a garage or two in the hands of two other 
uninterested
 owner, I became owner number four.
 
 Never having owned a van before, I found driving a forward control van for 
the
 first time was a great adventure. I do confess to having previously owned 
several
 beetles and a Type 3 wagon, which could have been factors in my purchasing
 another VW. A pre purchase inspection by Quedub in Queanbeyan concluded
that 
it
 was in top shape apart from showing early signs of the dreaded Wasserboxer 
head
 gasket problem which I had fixed before any major damaged occurred.  An
auto
 electrician then checked out some of the odd wiring that other owners had
 introduce, to avoid any nasty shocks when the VW was plugged in at the
first
 caravan park, along with giving the headlights a boost and an alignment so
it
 could be driven after dark.
 
 A unique challenge with manual T3s is the gear stick. It comes nicely
shaped 
for
 the left hand drive, with first gear well placed for the average right
handed
 driver sitting on the left side of the van. By getting vic at Quedub to 
modify
 its shape and Mike at Hellbug in Sydney to fit a gene Berg quick shift, I
was
 ultimately able to avoid continually grazing my knuckles on the radio 
controls
 during quick changes into second. Lubricating all the linkages means that I

can
 now regularly find first at most traffic lights.
 
 Being a campervan, a long range water tank needed to be fitted. This was 
done by
 Safari campers in Yenora who did the original conversion. The campervan
comes
 with a fridge, stove, cupboards, running water, a queen sized bed for two
 downstairs and a bunk space for two kids upstairs in the pop up roof. Being

the
 Spartan model, however, it does not run to a microwave. With all this gear
on
 board and the roof covered with kayaks, the seats with passengers and their

gear
 in the back, I soon discovered that out on the open road, everything slowed

to a
 crawl while petrol consumption with such loads shot way up. As for the rude

signs
 from other drivers….
 
 Faced with this quandary and having fitted an Australian reusable “Finer 
Filter”
 and with the motor tuned as best as it could be, I eventually lashed out
and 
had
 Boris at vintage Vee Dub Supplies fir their Wasserboxer engine mod in March

97.
 This was after having seen, in late 96 edition of a previous VW magazine,
an
 advertisement for the Wasserboxer engine mod and after having approached 
Boris at
 Vintage with a degree of incredulity. To me, the prospect of nearly 50 per 
cent
 increase in engine power at full revs, reduced fuel consumption and the
 possibility of longer engine life seemed an impossible dream.
 
 The vintage Vee Dub engine mod basically involves fitting a new computer
chip
 more attuned to Australian driving conditions, along with Gene Berg rockers

and
 push rod. After out laying nearly $2000.00, I found the difference in on
road
 performance amazing. The water cooled heads defiantly ran cooler. I know
his
 because the air conditioning condenser which sits crammed in front of the
 radiator between the double headlights, now works much better, such that 
both the
 motor and the driver run much cooler. I have also found rolling along the 
Hume
 highway, the van was no longer being run over by B-Doubles and that it
could 
keep
 up with Commodores. Fuel economy was much improved running on premium 
unleaded it
 has managed 31 mpg on the flat open road while cruising at around 60 mph. 
Around
 Canberra, fuel economy improved by about 15 per cent and now it regularly 
gets 22
 mpg on either kind of unleaded fuel. On trips into the Riverina the T3 will
 happily cruise all day at speeds well over the highway limit and it still 
gets 22
 mpg good for a vehicle weighing over 1.5 tonnes and with the aerodynamics
of 
a
 Mack truck. On the flat, it now starts in second gear as well, so the need 
for
 constant gear changing is now a thing of the past. This in turn should 
extend the
 life of what is a very expensive gearbox that must be treated with care.
 
 With all the extra speed, I then found myself requiring more work to be
done 
on
 the suspension. It now boasts KYB  Off road  gas shockers at the rear with
 regular KYB gas shockers on the front. With some damaged front end parts
also
 replaced and a front end alignment, the campervan (with its 300 to 500 kg 
payload
 on board and relative high center of gravity) now handles much more like
the
 adverts said it would when it was new.
 
 In the bush, the T3 is like the Hilton on wheels, while on the open road,
one
 gets very used to happily rolling along with an endless supply of cold
drinks
 coming forth from those sitting in business class next to the fridge.
 
 Around town, its different the lack of power steering means that parking it

at
 Woollies is not much fun. So in mid 97 I acquired a low mileage 1970 Beetle

from
 the Riverina to use as a town car. I find the Beetle is simplicity itself
by
 comparison with no computers or microwaves to worry about, but one things
for
 certain I do miss that fridge.
 
 Chris Bellamy
 
  >>