Folks,

Brad and I did the run down to Bakersfield and picked up The Van today. Shot a few pics which I'll attach. It was pretty uneventful -- which is of course what you want. I'll let brad cover the driving impressions.

It was a smooth pickup -- give them money, oggle the new porsche turbo, think about measuring the cayanne v8 (lol) and take off.

There are a couple of issues. Some of the guages don't work. Temp guage, gas guage and so forth. They came on a couple of times during the drive (apparently) but there's clearly a bug in the wiring somewhere. (we checked the fuses -- from what we could see, they were fine) The fact that they came on a couple of times seems to indicate that they work but have a ground problem or some other gremlin.

But stage one is complete!

kim.

qwer

ijmuhk

'ipo

I'm glad to know you guys, it's a real privledge.



M

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I should have explained the guage pics -- the van is running. No temp. No gas.

kim.

If I guess right what do I win?

I'm guessing a red van made by VW?

It should be decorated with some green ribbon in the festive spirit.

Kewl....some good news to cap off the day. You guys are awesome.

Bummer about the guages, but it sounds like a glitch that can be fixed up in Dave's neck of the woods. Keep us posted as the road trip continues.

This could be a problem when it gets driven up to Seattle

decorated -- hm, I like that idea! Got's some think'n to do. Tomorrow, I'll have a look inside -- it was a little grubby on the quick inspection but we just wanted to get back on the road.

kim.

Wonderful news Kim.

Or some strings of stinky marijuana buds for Dave

You might be right. I'm not sure what B's plans are -- and since he drove it up from Bakersfield, I'm guessing he'll have some opinions on what the right plan is. It's certainly not good to have the gauges not operating correctly -- you could cook the motor without any idea that it is happening -- and of course, you could run out of gas too.

kim.

I didn't say what the green ribbon should be made of.

SWEET !! ThankyouThankyouThankyou

Looks GREAT ! Cant wait to ride in it.

Sucks about the gauges... Didnt someone say a regulator/relay is notorious for failing ? I'll search...

Thanks again, Kim & Brad

At 914World.com we put YOU in the drivers seat.

It wont be driven to Seattle. I need to speak with Craig about putting it on the transport truck on Monday or so.

I also need to contact a local VW dealer and see if these vans are supposed to be gutless pieces of shit.

I swear you have to kick it in the ass to get it to move.. It turns 3750RPM at 75mph and feels like it runs out of umph at 4k.

Call me crazy, but I think the cam timing is off or something. I have never driven anything that wouldnt get out of its own way.

Oh.. heat doesnt work very well either.

Joy.


B

Brad, you are too much!

I have to second that opinion on the Dealer......

Maybe a turbo would help......Wait, you can't turbo a VW Van!


Geoff

I'm pissed. Can you tell ?? Does it show ??


B

God dam that's good to see! It's now just little crap. Can't wait to see dave driving it around. Hopefully it will get more power with and adjustment, who know's, dave doesn't need to drive fast anyway . Oh yeah, how does the lift look/ work on it?
Eric

Gutless, huh... I've been telling my wife to stop driving so "offensively" or agressively, to aid in the transfer of vans. Ours is a V6 3.8 Chevy. Guess she'll be losing the "V", 1 cyl, and 1.3L.

Wonder how 300 lbs. of wheelchair will affect it ?

man o man...


Very funny, Vegas... very funny

I didnt test it.. but it is the nicest thing on the whole vehicle. It does have a rattle to it (the lift) when you hit a decent bump.

I dont know anything about these vans.. it just doesnt want to accelerate. It rquires 3/4 throttle to get it to move (not exaggerating)

It could be normal...


B

Pissed, or disappointed ? I feel I've let everyone down by letting my guard down AND placing trust where I shouldnt have.

I'm more disappointed (at myself) than pissed off.

I'll get over it. I'm pissed because it feels gutless. I figured it would at least be pretty quick. The lift isnt that big. Maybe 180lbs.. which shouldnt slow the van down. It has a hitch on it (Draw Tite) but I see NO F-ing way that the van could tow anything.


B

Yo Dave,

It's way too late to mess with feelings of disappointment. We are where we are. And in fact, since it's now in the neighborhood where more eyes/hands can be applied to it if necessary, things are looking up. Tomorrow when the light is better, I'll rummage a bit and shoot more pics.

I've no clue on how to operate the lift -- but I'll poke a bit and see if a newbie to this stuff can do it without screwing it up. (feel free to clue me in)

I'll try to make sure a 914 is in the pic -- lol.

kim.

How much would a paint job cost?
Yellow Vans are Faster.


Hey Dave, I hope you still have the same address.
I sent you something in the mail on monday.

A quick google search of "vw eurovan performance" reveals typical 0-60 times of ~12 seconds (gata love google)! Looking at the specs it doesn't look like the van should feel "gutless" at all, and it should still be packing a punch at 4,000rpm...

-Kevin

I consider myself to be pretty good with engines.. it seriously feels like the timing is off. It feels like full advance is in by 1200rpm (which is not good).

I'll call New Dimensions and ask them. They do a lot of EuroVan work up here in the bay area.


B

Nice.

Once we fix the guages can we buy some hubcaps for it?

I always thought those things were cool..................

Hmmm... mixed feelings about what I'm reading here
Hope things will turn out OK...

cheers,

Jeroen

The van is in our control now. I'm sincerly relieved. Once it gets up to Dave he may have to sort a few things out. That not your fault Dave. If some POS dealer chose to take advantage of you in an auction, how can you control that? Things are well documented. It will work out in the end.

Good memory Dave....
There's a voltage regulator in the instrument cluster, it's the solder joints to the circuit board that crack over time. Easy 30 minute fix for someone with electronics repair experience. If someone wants to tackle it, I can fax a diagram and my phone # to talk you through it. I would not drive the van until this is repaired, far too easy to overheat it without knowing something was wrong. I can't believe the dealer let the van go without telling you the gauge was inop and giving the option of repair. (Prolly new cluster, big $$$)

It would be best if the van was sorted out effin before Dave gets the van, guys. Remember, he can't turn a wrench anymore.
So Brad, if you could take a few minutes to check out the little problems that exist I am sure Dave would really appreciate it.
We are soooo close to the finish line.


Thanks guys!!!

Geoff

Wow! The van actually exists!


Giant leap forward anyway. Good work guys.

NOW is it ok to rip on the POS dealer?

sm

I'll work with Ed on fixing the gauge cluster. It was very very cool running up hwy 5 so I wasnt too concerned with over heating it. The gauge did flick on towards the end when I was climbing the hills back into the bay area. I made sure the electric fan was working prior to leaving. The dealership really amazes me. They didnt even wash the damn thing or make any attempt to clean it up. From the mileage on the work order and the mileage we shot a pic of... they didnt even test drive it. I put the some odd 10 miles on it before I decided we should snap some pics of the gauges not working and document eveything.


Oh.. yes. The dealership was TOLD to look at the gauge cluster.


B

Easy for me to say, but you should have left it after your test drive. Told them of your concerns. And said, "don't call me until they are rectified." Just a thought.
CCLINVANVILLE

bitches!

I hate fuckin' dealers! slimeballs of the earth! I'd trust a drug dealer before a dealer.

Craig, I almost turned it around.. then I recalled TWO people taking 10 hours out of their day to go get the van. I can only ask so much of other people. I would rather it be up here closer to me and others to have it looked it. This is the third time I have been down there.. I wasnt going back.

B

You did the right thing Brad, now we ( the collective WE) can fix it right (the gauges).

Hopefully, the cam isn't fucked up.....

Geoff

Dave van crew, If you need help with the gauge wiring, resetting the cam index or concerns with the lift give me a jingle. I work at a dealership in south Seattle & commute on the Fauntleroy ferry. (not a vw dealership) & (not all of us dealership techs are scum of the earth if thats whats being implied) I also have experience in the lift section (buddy has a son who survived a auto accident & requires a lift van that we service) I would really like to see thhis van reliable, not on the side of the road.

Sounds like it will be driven on the right side of the road while everyone in Seattle passes it! Haha, maybe that turbo idea will come in handy afterall......



Geoff

Just kidding! Hopefully, it a small problem compared to the blown motor.

The van looks really nice.
Can't we just start another donation fund get a KEP adapter and put a 3.2 with DME in it?

regards,

Steve

OOOOOPs that was dumb it looks like its front engined.
Nevermind.

Steve

They're just VDO guages right?

I'll donate a split temp and gas guage I made for my 914.



Glad we have the van. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help it on the rest of it's journey.

Fiid.

Brad,

Could the gutless-ness be the auto tranny beginning to croak ??

I'm sure the 4200+ pound Van™ with a whopping 109HP and 145 ft/lbs. of tourque isnt the ONLY problem...

Dave,

Honestly it could be going bad.. but it has firm upshifts. The only real issue is the shift into overdrive. It "hits" hard. Much harder than I think it should.

I plan to take it to a VW Audi friend Early next week. If it would run/drive normal.. I would come up for your gathering in it.


B

My birthday ?? I DELETED the post because it quickly went OT...

Would be a GREAT b-day, even if YOU showed up