Syncro
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JohnConnolly
- Posts: 3336
- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2000 12:01 am
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Vgonman
- Posts: 635
- Joined: Wed May 01, 2002 1:01 am
VW GIRL,
Hey, I am the guy that looked at that syncro in the summer, and have fooled with my share of vanagons.......
That motor needs a lot more than head gaskets. It has been running with a oil/coolant sludge in there for a while, and it has a LOT of miles on it. Best thing to do is pull it and rebuild it..............but is it worth the money? It is kinda ratty............i offered the guy $1000 for it if he could get it to me, or $1000 if it could drive back..........but it really could do neither. Remember i can to jumper to the fuel pump just to get it to run? It is very very crusty underneath, and a lot of those water pipes are just holding on.
Here is what will happen. You will pull the heads to do the head gaskets, and because of unfamiliarity with the motors, will accidently pull a cylinder off the piston, too. So, now you gotta pull the motor. Or, second most likely case, you will get a head off ok, and will seee that it is dropping a valve or has a severe crack in it between the valves. Then you need new heads which ain't sheap, of send the old ones to head flow masters in CA............he rebuilds them for about $550 a pair, and is supposed to do good work. But, it will take him a few months to get them back to you. I guarantee you that the cam is absolutely shot in the motor..it is not a good assumption to figure it is ok with a vanagon motor with over 100k on it................Or, find another motor, rplace the head gaskets on it, and just swap. You will be much better off then fooling with that motor (even though you will have the same old cam issues). The exhaust system on a syncro is unique to the vehicle and very expensive,,,,,,and it has to be removed to do the heads. It would be a miricle for something not to break..whether it be a stud on the head or a flange on a pipe. Not trying to be a doomsayer to you, but these are the realities of these cars........you gotta be prepared going in to the repair. The repair will NOT go as easy as it looks in the repair manual. Quite the contrary.
As John says, it is an expensive vehicle to maintain and can be a money pit. On the positive side, the syncro drivetrain is good in that van, so there is someone out there that has one that would love to buy it for parts........but for where you live the best thing you can do is sell it to someone for parts and get a cheap running passenger vanagon. No use for 4wd all the time in Gainesville..............
It is one of those cars that I was sort of glad i didn't buy.I am sure you know that feeling..more trouble and $$ than it really is worth.........now if the interior and body were perfect that would be different...but it is nasty inside and it is beat up on the outside............
I just did head gaskets for a customer a month or so ago in the van with a motor that had 20k miles on it...........they had a bad o-ring in the rear heater core and it sucked air into the system and made it run hot. Well, I did it in the van, and it took me a full 10 hour day on a clean motor with good heads..................parts for it are cheap, but the time and patience and experience factor are what makes it tough. I have bought 3 vanagons in the last 2 years where someone started to replace a head and then took it ot the junkyard............a lot of similarities to ACVW but a bear to work on.
Hey, I am the guy that looked at that syncro in the summer, and have fooled with my share of vanagons.......
That motor needs a lot more than head gaskets. It has been running with a oil/coolant sludge in there for a while, and it has a LOT of miles on it. Best thing to do is pull it and rebuild it..............but is it worth the money? It is kinda ratty............i offered the guy $1000 for it if he could get it to me, or $1000 if it could drive back..........but it really could do neither. Remember i can to jumper to the fuel pump just to get it to run? It is very very crusty underneath, and a lot of those water pipes are just holding on.
Here is what will happen. You will pull the heads to do the head gaskets, and because of unfamiliarity with the motors, will accidently pull a cylinder off the piston, too. So, now you gotta pull the motor. Or, second most likely case, you will get a head off ok, and will seee that it is dropping a valve or has a severe crack in it between the valves. Then you need new heads which ain't sheap, of send the old ones to head flow masters in CA............he rebuilds them for about $550 a pair, and is supposed to do good work. But, it will take him a few months to get them back to you. I guarantee you that the cam is absolutely shot in the motor..it is not a good assumption to figure it is ok with a vanagon motor with over 100k on it................Or, find another motor, rplace the head gaskets on it, and just swap. You will be much better off then fooling with that motor (even though you will have the same old cam issues). The exhaust system on a syncro is unique to the vehicle and very expensive,,,,,,and it has to be removed to do the heads. It would be a miricle for something not to break..whether it be a stud on the head or a flange on a pipe. Not trying to be a doomsayer to you, but these are the realities of these cars........you gotta be prepared going in to the repair. The repair will NOT go as easy as it looks in the repair manual. Quite the contrary.
As John says, it is an expensive vehicle to maintain and can be a money pit. On the positive side, the syncro drivetrain is good in that van, so there is someone out there that has one that would love to buy it for parts........but for where you live the best thing you can do is sell it to someone for parts and get a cheap running passenger vanagon. No use for 4wd all the time in Gainesville..............
It is one of those cars that I was sort of glad i didn't buy.I am sure you know that feeling..more trouble and $$ than it really is worth.........now if the interior and body were perfect that would be different...but it is nasty inside and it is beat up on the outside............
I just did head gaskets for a customer a month or so ago in the van with a motor that had 20k miles on it...........they had a bad o-ring in the rear heater core and it sucked air into the system and made it run hot. Well, I did it in the van, and it took me a full 10 hour day on a clean motor with good heads..................parts for it are cheap, but the time and patience and experience factor are what makes it tough. I have bought 3 vanagons in the last 2 years where someone started to replace a head and then took it ot the junkyard............a lot of similarities to ACVW but a bear to work on.
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VWGirl
- Posts: 895
- Joined: Tue Sep 10, 2002 12:01 am
I looked at it yesterday... it looks like a pain to pull the engine... too much water related crap... who's idea was it to run water through an engine in the first place? wish I could meet them and smack them around a bit!
The van actually runs fine... I've only driven it about 3 times... and only about 60 miles (the last trip was 30). The only concern I had was that the light for the coolant (i think?) was on until the van got warmed up and then it shut off. the brakes kinda stick a bit since it sits so much. I don't know if you remember seeing that the belt for the water pump was missing... I discovered this a few weeks ago... I would have never driven it had I known... There is a space for a third belt on the main pulley too... what is that for?
I was thinking of converting the van eventually to a different motor... but seems like a big pain with the syncro factor. The interior is really NOT bad at all... there are a few small tears in the headliner and one tear in the driver seat. one of the arm rests has come off, but is in the van... Needs vaccumed and cleaned... it looks a lot better since i got most of the junk out of it. It's an offroad vehicle that had travelled around the country... what shape do you expect it to be in? I know for a fact it was driven offroad a LOT here in gainesville... which is probably the only thing I would use it for.
Do either of you know if all syncros were california spec? this one is, but it was sold at some point to a dealer in new hampshire...
Maybe I will just fix the belt and drive it til it won't drive anymore... how hard is the belt to fix? and out of curiosity, how exactly DO you replace the head gaskets? you sell those john? how much?
I have the van cause I got a good deal on it... turns out I could have just claimed it as mine since it was in my posession with the title for well over a year... but I paid for it... or will some day...
This is the only van I own, and I do not intend on buying another... nor could I afford to since I just bought a house... the van doesn't live in Gainesville anymore, it lives south of the prairie in Micanopy... there is actually one other vanagon in my town... and I think 2 VW's total other than my 15...
I don't think it's so bad...
The van actually runs fine... I've only driven it about 3 times... and only about 60 miles (the last trip was 30). The only concern I had was that the light for the coolant (i think?) was on until the van got warmed up and then it shut off. the brakes kinda stick a bit since it sits so much. I don't know if you remember seeing that the belt for the water pump was missing... I discovered this a few weeks ago... I would have never driven it had I known... There is a space for a third belt on the main pulley too... what is that for?
I was thinking of converting the van eventually to a different motor... but seems like a big pain with the syncro factor. The interior is really NOT bad at all... there are a few small tears in the headliner and one tear in the driver seat. one of the arm rests has come off, but is in the van... Needs vaccumed and cleaned... it looks a lot better since i got most of the junk out of it. It's an offroad vehicle that had travelled around the country... what shape do you expect it to be in? I know for a fact it was driven offroad a LOT here in gainesville... which is probably the only thing I would use it for.
Do either of you know if all syncros were california spec? this one is, but it was sold at some point to a dealer in new hampshire...
Maybe I will just fix the belt and drive it til it won't drive anymore... how hard is the belt to fix? and out of curiosity, how exactly DO you replace the head gaskets? you sell those john? how much?
I have the van cause I got a good deal on it... turns out I could have just claimed it as mine since it was in my posession with the title for well over a year... but I paid for it... or will some day...
This is the only van I own, and I do not intend on buying another... nor could I afford to since I just bought a house... the van doesn't live in Gainesville anymore, it lives south of the prairie in Micanopy... there is actually one other vanagon in my town... and I think 2 VW's total other than my 15...
I don't think it's so bad...
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bugboy696
- Posts: 309
- Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2003 12:01 am
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Vgonman
- Posts: 635
- Joined: Wed May 01, 2002 1:01 am
Lauren,
When i was there there was a belt on the water pump.............it probably broke after that
. But one thing i DO remember is that the color of the motor oil was collee brown from coolant leaking into it................I am surprised that you drove it anyway! Only bad things can happen.............until it gets fixed. Pulling the motor ain't a biggie, but the rusty stuff breaking makes it a pain.
When i was there there was a belt on the water pump.............it probably broke after that
. But one thing i DO remember is that the color of the motor oil was collee brown from coolant leaking into it................I am surprised that you drove it anyway! Only bad things can happen.............until it gets fixed. Pulling the motor ain't a biggie, but the rusty stuff breaking makes it a pain.-
VWGirl
- Posts: 895
- Joined: Tue Sep 10, 2002 12:01 am
when i checked the oil it was fine :-/ when I checked the coolant... it was just water... it's still running off that wire running to the battery... and there is some sort of parasitic drain on it... I got the radio to work over the weekend... that was all I did... the house project is first, but my boyfriend wants to drive the van, ergo I have to get it fixed 
If I don't have to pull the engine I don't want to... I haven't priced head gaskets... I am trying to save for a fence
bug boy... we don't have vanagon trucks here...
If I don't have to pull the engine I don't want to... I haven't priced head gaskets... I am trying to save for a fence
bug boy... we don't have vanagon trucks here...
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bugboy696
- Posts: 309
- Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2003 12:01 am
Here's a single cab one for sale 
I love these trucks
http://www.canadatrader.com/trader/resu ... id=2773842
I love these truckshttp://www.canadatrader.com/trader/resu ... id=2773842
this is for sale near me....ad from local paper....-
VWGirl
- Posts: 895
- Joined: Tue Sep 10, 2002 12:01 am
BUT THAT'S IN CANADA! so what is that like $500 US?bugboy696 wrote:Here's a single cab one for sale
http://www.canadatrader.com/trader/resu ... id=2773842
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Syncro Australia
Syncro
Have a look at my web page for syncro information
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~pjlander ... syncro.htm
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~pjlander ... syncro.htm