David,
Like I said, there are hills and then there are HILLS. And then there are
MOUNTAINS. I assure you my 90 Westy Syncro is in top condition. There is
nothing wrong with the engine.
Bill
-----Original Message-----
From: David Katsuki <dkatsuki@WORLD.STD.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Tuesday, March 09, 1999 10:06 AM
Subject: Re: THAT slow??? was: Synchro Power?

>Matthew,
>
>I agree completely!
>
>Our 90 Westy has quite low compression in a couple of cylinders and is
>still capable of going up almost all highway hills at 55 or above.    Our
>87 will go much faster, even with 160,000 on the motor.  When it's steep
>enough to have to downshift to 3rd, then the top speed in the Westy might
>be 50 (limited mostly by not wanting to over-rev).   I think 25 mph top
>speed on hills is very unusual and indicative of some significant problem.
>
>Although there are many possibilities, I would first check compression, and
>make sure that the Oxy sensor is good.  (You will usually notice bad
>mileage with a bad one, though.
>
>Another thought about a quick and cheap fix - We had a similar problem at
>one point with our Westy on a long trip and it turned out to be a fried
>distributor rotor, so you might check the resistance of the rotor ifyou
>can't see obvious burning of the resistive element (and I strongly advise
>only replacing with a genuine Bosch rotor, since aftermarket ones seem to
>fail often, from what I've heard and experienced).    Also might check
>resistance of the ignition harness and condition of the distributor cap.
>A weak spark can easily cause low power while allowing ok operation under
>light load and at idle, since when the engine is under load, the compressed
>gas-air mixture in the cylinder is denser and therefore harder to punch a
>spark through.
>
>Dave
>87 Wolfsburg
>90 Westfalia
>
>
>At 08:11 AM 3/9/99 -0500, G. Matthew Bulley wrote:
>>Wow--
>>
>>Our 1982 Westy is no speed demon, but we generally can hang with 45-50 mph
>>(third gear, wound up) on long grades, even with four folks in the van.
>>I've not seen a climb that takes it below 35 (second gear, wound tight).
>>Are we fortunate, or is the Westy Sinkhole ur, I mean Syncro, that much
>>heavier/slower?
>>
>>15mph is bicycle speed...of course, I can't pedal that fast when carrying
>>four people.
>>
>>G. Matthew Bulley
>>Bulley-Hewlett & Associates
>>Cary, NC     USA
>>www.bulley-hewlett.com
>>(888) 468-4880 toll free
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----<<<SNIP>>>
>>With my 90 Westy Syncro fully loaded (not including the water tank) I am
>>reduced to about 25 mph up sustained hills. With a full water tank,
propane
>>tank, and food supply I have been reduced to 15 mph up significant grades.
>>With it empty I can get to Tahoe without dropping below about 45 mph. The
>><<<SNIP>>>
>>
>