Well I have to admit that although I have worked around, designed in, and am conversant with large engines, Cummins, Cat, Deutz, etc. even 180 ton GE locomotives, I have never owned and driven a personal vehicle with an engine that had more than 7 quarts of oil in the oil pan.    Even my diesel Land Rover has less.   Being on a list primarily dealing with VW vans, I confess it did not occur to me that others on the list might deal with very much bigger and more powerful vehicles.    Now I am a little wiser :-)        Steve

On Jan 18, 2014, at 11:58 AM, JRodgers <jrodgers113@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> My Cessna 195 with the 7 cylinder 300 HP Shakey-Jake engine held 5
> gallons of oil. It was a dry sump engine and the oil was held in a
> separate oil tank with an inlet and outlet hose to and from the engine.
> Bad or weak oil lines were not tolerated, needless to say!
> 
> John
> 
> John
> 
> On 1/18/2014 10:19 AM, Dennis Haynes wrote:
>> The Cat C7 engine in my RV takes 20 quarts plus the filters. Many truck engines take 44 or even more.
>> 
>> Dennis,
>>> From my phone.
>> ________________________________
>> From: Steve Cotsford<mailto:cotsford@aol.com>
>> Sent: ‎1/‎18/‎2014 10:50 AM
>> To: Dennis Haynes<mailto:d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
>> Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM<mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>> Subject: Re: Volksiebus - 88 Transporter - Rough Running Engine
>> 
>> 5 gallons of oil in your engine ??     I know the US gallon tends to be smaller than the Imperial gallon but not that much smaller.    I feel sure you meant to say quarts LOL   :-)       Steve
>> 
>> On Jan 18, 2014, at 10:04 AM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
>> 
>>> Every now and then I get a chuckle thinking back to the days when many now
>>> experts couldn't recognize or spell Vanagon. If there is one fault with the
>>> auto repair industry it is the number of folks that learned strictly on the
>>> job with very little in the way available to test or certify technicians. It
>>> is not just Vanagon owners that have trouble getting "competent" work
>>> performed. When I bought my motor home back in 2004 it took almost a year to
>>> get reliable headlights. I replaced the headlight switch myself. I had the
>>> dealer do the first valve adjustment. Ended up with a leaking valve cover
>>> gasket and that was a $400 plus job. Had dealer in Florida do an oil change
>>> once. They tried to charge me 11 gallons of Mobil Delvac 1. My engine only
>>> takes 5.  Had a customer bring me a Toyota with a "pinging" problem. Another
>>> shop replaced the head. Turned out it wasn't ping but piston slap. Common
>>> problem on these engines. Guy paid $3k for the head job and still really
>>> needed an engine. That was a fun court event. That shop ended up paying me
>>> to replace the engine. The fun goes on.
>>> 
>>> When things go wrong many want the quick fix. Adjustments never fix
>>> anything. All changes in operation revolve around something failing. As
>>> these vans are getting old we have to include the wiring as a common
>>> problem. But symptoms should always be diagnosed. Don't just "clean the
>>> grounds". Which ground? Is it the wire or the connector? Is where a bunch of
>>> connectors are tied together? Find the problem, then fix. Don't just unplug
>>> the O2 sensor. What does it do? When is it looked at? You won't fix a no
>>> start with that one. If the input lead is shorted you won't know until you
>>> get the meter. In 25+ years and 150+ Vanagons I've changed 2 air flow
>>> meters. Both were opened and tampered with. They really don't go bad. Even
>>> if worn they really do so little the engine controls compensate if the O2
>>> system is working.
>>> 
>>> The vanagon engine control system really is an easy one. Just a few quirks
>>> with the O2 sensor but overall it works very well. Most often running
>>> problems turn out to be something past the controls. Bad valves, worn
>>> guides, rings, etc. will make more grief then the controls.
>>> 
>>> Dennis
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
>>> Jim Felder
>>> Sent: Friday, January 17, 2014 7:12 PM
>>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>> Subject: Re: Volksiebus - 88 Transporter - Rough Running Engine
>>> 
>>> Dennis, are you saying he ISN'T???
>>> 
>>> LOL I know I am! We have a great shop in town and they call me! Happened
>>> today.
>>> 
>>> Jim
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Fri, Jan 17, 2014 at 5:11 PM, Dennis Haynes
>>> <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>wrote:
>>> 
>>>> Some of us are just waiting for you to go into the Vanagon repair
>>> business!
>>>> 
>>>> Dennis
>>>> 
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
>>>> Behalf Of Steve Cotsford
>>>> Sent: Friday, January 17, 2014 1:17 PM
>>>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>>> Subject: Re: Volksiebus - 88 Transporter - Rough Running Engine
>>>> 
>>>> Seems like I can be amusing to some :-)   Glad to be of service LOL
>>> Enjoy
>>>> it while it lasts ;-)  Steve
>>>> 
>>>> On Jan 17, 2014, at 12:29 PM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> No end of challenging problems between you and Steve Cotsford and
>>>>> his Bluestar!  The list would be boring without you.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Is this the one you've replaced the distributor on? Revisit that
>>>>> first, wires second, injectors third. Stumbling under load is
>>>>> usually a spark or fuel problem.  I just had a similar problem and
>>>>> the coil secondary wire was badly corroded at the coil.  Clean and
>>>>> spray them all
>>>> with a little WD-40.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Stuart
>>>>> 
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
>>>>> Behalf Of JRodgers
>>>>> Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2014 7:23 PM
>>>>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>>>> Subject: Volksiebus - 88 Transporter - Rough Running Engine
>>>>> 
>>>>> Rough engine - the latest pita I'm having to deal with on a string
>>>>> of
>>>> many!!
>>>>> I'm on a roll!!
>>>>> 
>>>>> Ok - hot or cold - engine starts and idles well.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Conditions - ISV disconnected due to Idle issues
>>>>> O2 Sensor Disconnected to put ECU in default mode.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Cold engine: starts easily, idles easily, but upon attempted
>>>>> acceleration it bucks, kicks, snorts, hiccups, coughs - finally
>>>>> smoothing
>>>> out at speed.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Warm engine: starts easily, idles easily, but upon attempted
>>>>> acceleration it bucks, kicks, snorts, hiccups, coughs - finally
>>>>> smoothing
>>>> out at speed.
>>>>> Only the bucking isn't quite so bad. Occurs mostly on the initial
>>>>> acceleration after idling successful.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Suspicion: Throttle body switches out of limits and need adjusting.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Anyone have any ideas about this?
>>>>> 
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> 
>>>>> John
>>>> 
>> .