Hi Chad,

My 85 Westy now has 262,000 miles on it original engine, original transaxle.
The heads have both been off twice, and one was replaced with a junkyard
head. I drive the van any place any time.
J.R. Beckham
Narragansett Rhode Island
85 Westy 262,324 miles and counting
91 GL

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf Of
Chad
Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2001 12:29 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Engine Reliability

What is the best way to tell if your 1.9l engine is in good condition????
Mine has 150K on it now and still runs very smooth.  Upon replacing the
spark plugs I noticed that the colour of the ends looked good (according to
the Haynes manual, the spark plugs are a good indicator of engine
condition).  It hardly uses any oil......maybe a 1/4 quart a month??? I've
been experiencing O2 sensor related problems but that seems to be it.  I
could use some work on the tranny but I don't know if it a linkage
adjustment or a "rebuild thing."  What I would ultimatly like to know is how
reliable are these vehicles for extended road trips etc.
thanks,
Chad 85GL