Hi Jean-Pierre,

160,000 KM on an aircooled bottom-end is not a problem. The heads
however, typically have a 50,000 mile life-span before the guides or
seats wear. I would recommend frequent valve adjustments and
compression tests as a good way to keep track of the health of the
heads.

In my experience I have found the tranny is near bullet-proof, and
shouldn't be messed with unless there are signs of a problem. The
hydraulic clutch is a different matter.

It's unusual to "blow-up" an aircooled engine on the highway if you
give it regular maintenance and watch your gauges. A cylinder head
temp gauge is highly recommended for this, particularly as the head
is the weakest part of that engine and the vanagon is quite heavy for
an engine of that size.

Happy Trails,

Greg Potts
1973/74/75/77/79 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
www.pottsfamily.ca/westfakia
www.busesofthecorn.com

On 3-Nov-06, at 3:08 PM, Burdett, Jean-Pierre wrote:

> I've search in the vanagon archives and the type2 but wondering
> when is
> a good time to rebuild the top end & transmission.
>
> Do you guys wait until your engine blows up on the highway or is there
> adequate warning signs?
>
>  I'd like to know what are the signs and what is the best way check /
> validate the health of the engine & tranny.
>
> I have have an air cooled 82 with 160,000 original kilometres on
> it. It
> seems to be running fine, an extra oil cooler was added and oil / temp
> guages were added it runs consistently at 200 degrees, oil pressure is
> always consistent, and I even spoke to the mechanic who had been
> working
> on it for a year - told me it was in great mechanical condition. It
> does
> not burn oil.
>
> However the problem is there are NO service records before 140,000 kms
> so I really want to be proactive with the maintenance.
>
> I am a little afraid of that 3 / 4 gear cracking too any thoughts?