Andrew’s Van Chat: Roadworthy
Now and again, Andrew will be doing a takeover of the blog to talk about some van things. Mostly having to do with the technical and mechanical aspects. The chat this week will have less photos, as I was out of town when this was happening. Hopefully all you that are here to read about van stuff will enjoy!
-Bink
Brand new Valve Cover Gasket installed.
It was time to tear into the Vanagon and get her roadworthy.
Replacing the valve cover gasket was the first repair I performed on the Vanagon. I used a MAHLE brand Valve Cover Gasket ($26.05 at Amazon). While I was in there working, I replaced the Spark Plugs ($4.98/ea. x 4 at Amazon) & Ignition Cables ($27.99 at Amazon) with Mototrcraft brand as well. The engine had Autolite brand spark plugs installed, which is not one of my favorite brands, along with the factory original ignition cables. Being a Ford engine and knowing that Motorcraft is a quality product, this is the way to go.
Now that I got into the engine bay & got a good look at everything, I could tell that some routine maintenance was well overdue. Sure, there weren’t a lot of miles since the previous oil change, but the hand-written date of FOUR YEARS AGO on the oil filter told me that the van wasn’t taken care of as well as we take care of our other vehicles. So, an oil change was next on the list. I poured a can of BG Products EPR (Engine Performance Restoration) into the oil & ran the engine for 10 minutes. This chemical gives the internal engine components a good cleaning. When I drained the oil, the black smelly stuff that came outta the oil pan told me the can of EPR was a great idea. I spun off the old, rusty oil filter and spun on a new Motorcraft filter ($3.97 at WalMart). While adding Motorcraft 5w20 Synthetic Blend Oil, I added a can of BG Products MOA. MOA is a supplement that fortifies the oil and decreases oil oxidation which is what gives you engine sludge.
I felt much better about what was powering our future campmobile now that had those issues wrapped up.
We needed to get it into the shop to give it a good inspection. I am fortunate enough to work in an auto shop and to have access to lifts, equipment, etc. I rotated the tires while it was on the lift. It was obvious by looking at the tire wear that they hadn’t been rotated in quite some time.
While inspecting the brake system, I found the driver front brake caliper was seized. I also couldn’t easily remove the driver rear brake drum. I gave the drum a few smacks with a hammer, but it wasn’t ready to come off. That could wait for another day when I have more time. I was able to remove the passenger rear brake drum. The RR wheel cylinder was leaking brake fluid. That could explain the soft brake pedal feel.
While inspecting the steering & suspension, I noticed there was some play in the driver’s side Upper Control Arm Bushings. All the other rubber suspension bushings were severely dry-rotten. Fortunately, the Rack & Pinion looked good. All the Ball Joints had been replaced at one point in time, but the rubber grease boots were either missing or cracked.
While going over everything, I also found that both batteries were 9 years old. The auxiliary battery was just a standard automotive battery. A deep-cycle or similar battery is preferred for an auxiliary battery. It’s best to have a battery that is made to withstand multiple charges/discharges.
Now that I knew everything it needed, I could make a parts list & start knocking it out. I placed a LARGE order GoWesty for parts to rebuild the steering/suspension/brake systems. While I waited on the parts to be shipped in, I addressed the fluids. I was able to pick up fluids & flush kits from my BG Products representative at work at no charge. I flushed the power steering system & replaced the fluid with a synthetic fluid. I flushed the coolant as well. I also drained & refilled the transaxle fluid. The most beneficial service I performed that day was an induction service with BG Air Intake System Cleaner. This is performed using a tool that inserts into the air intake just before the throttle body. The tool sprays cleaner through the intake system & removes deposits that accumulate on the throttle body and in the upper intake plenum. This really smoothed out the idle and gave the van much more get-up-and-go. I had thought it ran great before, but now it ran so much better that Becky even asked “what did you do to the van?!” It was money well spent. A lot of people say supplements like BG’s products are just snake oils. After using them at work for a number of years and seeing the results, I disagree.
After receiving our order of parts from GoWesty, I decided to start by replacing some of the simple things such as the license plate bulb holders ($9.95/ea.)which were rusted/corroded. I installed a longer set of Bosch windshield wipers ($22.95/pair) to fully cover the windshield, a pair of HD window cranks ($39.95/ea.) from Go Westy, a Go Westy shifter extension ($19.95) to ease shifting through gears, and finally...new speakers! The van still had the original speakers from 1985, and only 1 out of 4 worked. We bought new speakers from Crutchfield. I mounted 5-1/4” JL Audio 2-way speakers ($89.99/pair) in the front door panels. I installed the new JL Audio 6x9” 3-way rear speakers in the overhead cabinet only to find out that new updated wires needed to be run from the head unit in order for them to sound right. Luckily I had some fish tape, and fished new wires up thru the inside of the A-Pillar and back to the rear. Much better.
In the next write-up, I’ll cover some more of the initial repairs we did to the Vanagon. It was a very, very long day to say the least.
Parts Listing and Links:
Running Total of our Van Costs:
Starting Balance: $4350.00
Small Parts Cost: $300.67
Running Balance: $4049.33