Jake, I'll take your numbers to the alignment man and pay what it takes.

If aligning brings my mileage up to normal I'll be a happy camper guy. The
worst that can happen is that it will be Yet Another possible cause that
has been addressed.

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
KG6RCR

On 11/15/2007 10:51 PM Jake de Villiers wrote:

> Mike, get them to set the toe to 1/8" front and 0 rear, the front camber
> to between 0 and 1/4 degree and rear camber to 1/2 degree.  Not 'within
> spec'!    I usually have to pay more for this but its worth it every day.
>
> These settings make for the easiest-pushing Vanagons ever, one man's
> test of rolling resistance.   :)
>
> On Nov 15, 2007 10:37 PM, Michael Elliott < camping.elliott@gmail.com
> <mailto:camping.elliott@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     I'm thinking that there is indeed something messed up with the
>     alignment.
>     Back in January I saw that the outer edges of the two front tires were
>     being worn down to the casing. Took the van to a shop along Highway 1 in
>     Northern California and the fellow pointed out how the upper ball
>     joints
>     were messed up. I had him swap the front tires for the rear and after I
>     got back to SoCal I replaced the uppers. Front tires seemed to be doing
>     just fine after that, but today I noticed that they were rapidly
>     wearing
>     down on the outsides also. I have an appointment with a local shop that
>     was recommended by Hugo's Foreign Car in Encinitas, Dan's Precision
>     Aligning, to get this mess straighted out. I'm curious to hear what
>     they
>     find. Yes, my cruddy mileage might indeed be due to alignment, something
>     that a few list members suggested.
>
>     As a side issue, I did the stall test to the torque converter as Dennis
>     Haynes suggested in case the transmission is slipping. Engine
>     stalled at
>     about 2400 rpm, which is a tad low per Bentleys, for the 1984 auto
>     transmission, but I dunno if it's low enough to worry about.
>
>     --
>     Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
>     71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
>     84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
>     74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
>     KG6RCR
>
>
>
>     On 11/15/2007 10:09 PM Jake de Villiers wrote:
>
>      > Yeah, he's running Ken Lewis' little wonder.
>      >
>      > I think that van must have 1/4" toe-in front & rear or something
>     similar,
>      > the better to scrub off speed and mileage.
>      >
>      > On Nov 15, 2007 9:59 PM, John Bange <jbange@gmail.com
>     <mailto:jbange@gmail.com>> wrote:
>      >
>      >>> My city mpg = 11. My highway mpg = 15.
>      >>
>      >> Wow. That's worse than mine (14-16), and I have an automatic, a
>     mystery
>      >> problem (bad injector, i think) that makes it run rich,
>     constantly make
>      >> jackrabbit starts, and nearly always have the AC running full
>     blast. Do
>      >> you
>      >> have a meter on the O2 sensor?
>      >>
>      >> --
>      >> John Bange
>      >> '90 Vanagon - "Geldsauger"
>      >>
>      >
>      >
>      >
>      > --
>      > Jake
>      > 1984 Vanagon GL
>      > 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
>      > Crescent Beach, BC
>      > www.crescentbeachguitar.com <http://www.crescentbeachguitar.com>
>      > http://subyjake.googlepages.com/ <http://subyjake.googlepages.com/>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Jake
> 1984 Vanagon GL
> 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
> Crescent Beach, BC
> www.crescentbeachguitar.com <http://www.crescentbeachguitar.com>
> http://subyjake.googlepages.com/