MY '88 had three engine in the vans short life. The first was the factory
engine when the vehicle was new, before I bought it ftom used car lot. When
MY engine failed at about 89,000 miles ( burnt and failed piston) there was
so much metal that went everywhere, that upon being offered "a deal" on
another engine (the current one) I took it. Still running strong at 160,000
miles and 15 years. That made three engines at 89,000 on the van.  Before
the engine failed, I had always thought it to be the original engine. On
teardown ( the one that failed) a yellow tag was discovered on it that said
Remanufactured by Volkswagen of Canada. At that point I knew it was engine
#2. The tear down was finished, an I opted to buy engine number 3 from Jim
Connel at JIM'S AIRCOOLED in Leeds, Alabama, which is close by. He's
building me another engine for another van as I write.

So thats the summary of my engine episodes.

John
On Nov 10, 2015 20:14, "Dennis Haynes" <d23haynes57@hotmail.com> wrote:

> So why did the 88 engine need a rebuild? Maybe you got lucky with the 85.
> Seriously there are many variables that can affect the life of an engine
> and to some extent there is a luck factor. Just one overheating event or
> bad fuel or an engine management problem can change everything. The 1.9 and
> 2.1 have the same size bearing journals. The 2.1 does have a longer stroke,
> produces a bit more power so there is slightly more strain and the longer
> stroke also causes an increase in the rod angle. The 2.1 does put more heat
> into the oil thus the oil cooler. The 2.l also has a slightly improved main
> bearing design with separate thrust plates for the flywheel side. The 2.1
> vans also have bit more load as most have power steering and air
> conditioning. Anytime a 1.9 van comes my way needing an engine I try to get
> a 2.1 in there.
>
> Dennis
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of Dan N
> Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2015 9:00 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Power & MPG Summer/Winter
>
> I have no idea ... except that my mechanic, a specialist in vanagon engine
> said that the main crank is thicker and stronger
>
> I wish I know more... I had an 1985 with a 1.9 that went for 260K miles
> before I sold it...
>
> I had a 1988 with a 2.1 that need a rebuild at 140K miles
>