I always love Jim's responses. :-)

Jim, what kind of oil on the felt pad? Machine Oil? Motor Oil?

--t

On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 3:39 PM, SDF ( aka ;jim lahey' - Scott ) <
scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:

> I would say that on a waterboxer engine, the spark plugs barely wear *at
> all* ~!
>
> Like 'maybe' the gaps will expand and electrodes get rounded ...a tiny
> bit over time.
> I have boxes of used waterboxer Bosch and NGK spark plugs that are good
> for thousands of miles yet.
>
> However...
> "It's NOT the parts ! ..it's the adjustments."
>
> for sure ...throttle switches fail to make contact after a while.
> Most that I have seen have not been adjusted since the Dark Ages.
> Some are corroded or worn beyond normal adjustment range, but still can
> be tweaked.
>
> timing doesn't get off at all normally.
>
> air filters 'may' get a little dirty eventually ..easily cleaned ...I
> just turn mine over and tap them on a clean concrete floor ...tons of
> dust comes out that way.
>
> spark plug wires ..mostly those last really well...
> but ...they don't last forever.
>
> Rocker arm adjustment ...ideally those never need attention ..
> but sometimes they do. Pretty rare.
>
> Oxygen sensor ...I'm sure there are Many of those running in Vanagons
> mostly dead or lalzy.
>
> Coolant temperature ..very important that it runs up to proper temp.
> 1/3 on the guage is not good, it's very bad.
>
> Changing the coolant.
> you can't change that too often. You never get all the old out ..
> Just look at any place a coolant hose goes on an aluminum connection
> ...corrossion forms there easily ...
> ...that's how the head gasket area inside the engine looks.
>
> Bosch distributor caps and rotors..
> i carry good spares ..but those last practically indefinitely.
>
> for example...every 1.9 waterboxer distributor has a felt pad under the
> rotor.
> Does anyone even remember about those or know what they are for ?
> I've seen multi-thousand dollar rebuilds turned out without a drop or
> two of oil ..or even looking at it, on that felt that is there to lube
> the centrifulgal advance.
>
> and ..checked that the centrifugal advance is functioning properly
> ..that's part of a real 'tune up' ..right ?
>
> it's not 'the parts' ..it's the Service and Adjustment of things, and
> inspection .
>
> What good to new spark plugs do if say ....vaccuum leaks develope slowly
> over time here and there ?
>
> it's far more the lack of service, and keeping the very few adjustments
> correct, than it is 'replacing parts'.
>
> The parts barely wear if you keep it in Full Proper Running Order.
>
> they should start, idle, run, and accelerate perfectly. When they don't
> ....it's not usually from parts not being changed..unless it's been
> totally forever.
>
> have fun !
> Scott
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 2/18/2016 9:23 AM, Dan N wrote:
>
>> I would say 2 oil changes...
>>
>> oil filter every oil change
>>
>> spark plugs wire every 4 oil changes
>>
>> depending what kind of oil you use approx between 8K miles to 10K miles
>>
>>