My 1.9l lived on only 15 psi oil pressure at 60 mph for its last 3000
miles. I finally pulled the trigger and bought a Boston Bob engine.  Best
thing I ever did for this van.  You are looking at about $3000 if you
replace the clutch, hoses, water pump, thermostat, belts, etc., even if you
install it yourself.  I highly recommend an oil pressure gauge for any VW
engine.  The buzzer system you have is known to give false alarms.  A good
quality guage is money well spent.

                                                                  Jay

"A. Widoff" <rompu@mhcable.com> on 06/19/2002 03:06:18 PM

To:    Jay L Snyder/AE/DuPont@DuPont
cc:
Subject:    Re: 87 Vanagon problem

On 6/19/02 12:30 PM, "Jay L Snyder" <Jay.L.Snyder@USA.DUPONT.COM> wrote:

> I had a similar problem with my '85 before I put in my new engine.  Low
oil
> pressure caused the lifters to collapse after driving 20 or 30 minutes at
> highway speeds.  It started when I added some CD-2 oil additve to help
> alleviate the lifter noise  I was getting from time to time.  I didn't
> figure it out right away, but after going through the usual checks of the
> FI system, fuel system, ignition,  a simple oil change eliminated the
> problem.  The noise you heard was your lifters giving out.  I could just
> barely get home.  It would never stop running, but it had no power. The
> catalytic converter was red hot.  Sounded like hell.  The next day, it
> would run fine.  As long as the lifters were happy, the engine was happy.
> Your engine may be reaching the end of its life.

Wow.  Is this a foregone conclusion?  Is there any way for me to find out?
Should I suspend my plans to have the body worked on?

If my engine does give out, would anyone care to give me a quick run down
on
my options (and expenses) from there?  I love this thing.

Thanks to Jay, John, Kim, and now a Dimwitted Moose and Flying Squirrel for
the quick responses.  I'm getting that oil changed as I type.

Tony

> Change to 20-50 oil, a
> good filter and install a pressure gauge.  The 2.1s are more likely to
> throw a rod than the 1.9s.   A gauge will tell you how good the bottom
end
> of your engine is.
>
>                                                                       Jay
>