Mike, when my 2.1L engine was rebuilt, my local mechanic - an old-timer
with VW engines - ran it in the shop for an hour, shut it down, drained
the oil and installed a new filter. Then he ran it around locally for
about two hours, low speeds, 20-30-40 max, came back in, drained the
oild, and installed a new filter. Then he told me to make a 500 mile
trip to anywhere, on the back roads, speeding up and slowing down but
nothing above 50. After I did that, the oil got changed, an new filter
put in, and then I drove it steadily for 1000 miles mostly at low cruise
- 55 mph - long non-stop but steady driving. with some minor slowing,
stopping and starting at gas stations After accumulating the 1000  miles
the oil was changed to Mobil One 15W50 and a new filter, and its been on
a regular mileage oil and filter change ever since. Engine is at 70,000
miles now and never a lick of trouble. The compression test just before
Christmas was 150 on all cylinders. I'm pretty happy about that.

What I'm not happy about iis, my water pump has chosen NOW to tell me it
is dying.

Wonderous beasts, these Vanagons.

Regards,

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Michael Diehr wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> First, I wanted to thank everyone for all the suggestions about how
> to deal with my 85 Westy with the blown engine.   After considering
> the whole range of options (from selling it, to putting in a used
> motor from a donor van, to putting in a TDI) I decided on having a
> rebuilt 2.1 installed.     Total cost was a little under $4000, and
> the shop turned it around in about 4 days.   So far so good.   The
> repair included some unusual items (motor mounts, bad distributor and
> a failed ECU, and a requested transmission service) that bumped the
> price up a bit.  Would have been closer to $3300 had I got a stock
> 1.9 installed instead of the 2.1 and not had all the extra broken parts.
>
> Questions about the break-in procedure:   As I understand it, one
> should run regular (non-synthetic) oil, and try to avoid driving at
> the same RPMs, to help the rings seat in better.       Can anyone
> explain the theory here?  Is it really just RPMs you want to vary?
> Or do you want to have a range of RPMs, loads, temperatures, etc?
> What are the critical DOs and DONTs?    For example, would it better
> to do a bunch of short, in town trips?  Or maybe a mix of in-town
> trips with some longer highway driving?    Or, if I was on the
> freeway, should I go steady, or occasionally speed up & put it in
> neutral and coast for a bit (i have an auto tranny).
>
> -mike
>
>