William,

I have no idea where in the world or the US you are but, if your in an area
that is not so tightly controlled by so called air standards that require you
to have a Cat. and to have a probe inserted within your Vanagon's rear end
every year, you might consider getting a Cat. replacer pipe. The pipe is
flanged just like the Cat. Only thing is is that you need to drill it and
somehow mount a OX sensor on it. This item can be bought from at least one of
the List's vendors that I know of for less than $30 compared to the $99+ for a
new Cat. You should be able to see a little bit aof an increase in both usable
hp and gas mileage, I would think.

Tyrone
Big Pine Key, FL

87 GL Syncro
85 Westy
etc....

Greenamyer, William L wrote:

> I have a 1984 Vanagon Waterboxer that seems to be eating catalytic
> converters in less than a year.  I have been told several different stories
> about what could be the problem.  Injector pattern not right, wrong mix,
> air-fuel ratio wrong, etc but most of this should manifest itself in some
> other symptom.  The latest from a mechanic is that I should be using premium
> gas in the van (octane 92) rather than octane 87.  I am just at a loss right
> now.  The van gets 20MPG which includes some distance going up a 6 degree
> grade with the air conditioning on and the still being able to acclerate on
> the freeway going 70 MPH.  The 1900 engine has been replaced with a 2100
> (two years and many miles ago).  I am looking for inputs as to what could be
> the real problem.  Also, at idle, the engine seeks a lot of the time.  By
> that I mean it revs up a little and then settles back down to normal.
>
> William