Project Ere Dave, I'm changing in my van at the end of the month, and they've offered me sod all trade in. Do you want it?

[DaveDorson]

Alright then Kev.

I'll take it off your hands.

 

IMG-20190302-WA0006 by davedorson, on Flickr

 

IMG-20190302-WA0005 by davedorson, on Flickr

 

IMG-20190302-WA0002 by davedorson, on Flickr

 

IMG-20190302-WA0003 by davedorson, on Flickr

 

IMG-20190302-WA0004 by davedorson, on Flickr

 

It's got literally days of MOT left and I've got nowhere to put it.

What could go wrong?

[spartacus]

I would imagine it's worth a fair bit in parts. What's its fate?

[purplebargeken]

You could perhaps swap it for a lovely Rover 45 CVT.....

[DaveDorson]

I would imagine it's wortha fair bit in parts. What's it's fate?

 

 

I'll get another MOT on it, tart it up, probably use it as a crew van while I'm at Santa Pod then sell it next season, with a light camping interior and some other stuff I guess.

 

Apparently "swamper" T4's are cool at the moment, so a set of AT tyres, some jiggery pokery with the suspension to make it sit a bit taller, and a decent service and cam belt swap are probably on the cards.

 

This time next year Rodders

[DaveDorson]

You could perhaps swap it for a lovely Rover 45 CVT.....

 

 

Mind if I pass mate?

[wuvvum]

I do like these, apart from that bastard sodding gear lever which puts my back out after about 10 minutes of driving.  Which engine is it?

[DaveDorson]

I do like these, apart from that bastard sodding gear lever which puts my back out after about 10 minutes of driving.  Which engine is it?

 

 

it's a 2.5 TDi, I don't think it's the intercooled one though.

[HMC]

Where’s the OEM (presumably factory fit) flower garland thing that they have on the rear view mirror usually?

[UltraWomble]

 

+

 

+

 

 

=

 

[wuvvum]

it's a 2.5 TDi, I don't think it's the intercooled one though.

 

Does it have a blue I in the TDI badge on the back?  If so, believe that is the non-intercooled version (88bhp).  Still sound nice though, and still go better than the old 2.4D.

[DaveDorson]

Where’s the OEM (presumably factory fit) flower garland thing that they have on the rear view mirror usually?

 

It's in my wife's "slammed" new beetle.

[DaveDorson]

Does it have a blue I in the TDI badge on the back?  If so, believe that is the non-intercooled version (88bhp).  Still sound nice though, and still go better than the old 2.4D.

 

No idea.

 

I think it's a blue I, but I've only ever given the van a cursory glance and joked I'll buy it off him for scrap when he buys a new one.

 

The same joke I've shared with him for 8 years or so

[hairnet]

still burns billys transit into the weeds

 

prolly less rusty too

[Cavcraft]

Don't think you can go wrong with these things, to be honest.

[Felly Magic]

Pineapple it and sell it to a hipster for much profit

[Minimad5]

Pretty sure it's the same block as in a 850 Tdi.

Don't forget the fuel pump belt when doing the cam belt.

If it is the Ael / D5252T variety, they can be tweaked for a few extra ponies, quite easily.

 

Nice van & well done for getting it.

If anyone wishes to sell me a MEGGA cheap van, feel free

[Arthur Foxhake]

I wish to sell a mega cheap van.

Do you have a welder and a spare month?

[Jerzy Woking]

I do like these, apart from that bastard sodding gear lever which puts my back out after about 10 minutes of driving.  Which engine is it?

My T4 gear lever was the same-sodding uncomfortable. A four inch lever extender from eBay fixed that. Mine was the 1.9 n/a so constantly needed to stir the gears to make any progress when loaded.

[shedenvy]

Pineapple it and sell it to a hipster for much profit

Don't pineapple it and sell it to me for a little more than you paid:

Space problem = solved.

[Cavcraft]

Pretty sure it's the same block as in a 850 Tdi.

Don't forget the fuel pump belt when doing the cam belt.

If it is the Ael / D5252T variety, they can be tweaked for a few extra ponies, quite easily.

 

Nice van & well done for getting it.

If anyone wishes to sell me a MEGGA cheap van, feel free

 

Define mega cheap

 

 

I wish to sell a mega cheap van.

Do you have a welder and a spare month?

 

Also, what he said.

[Minimad5]

Define mega cheap

 

Sub £300

 

P.M me details agents (let's not take over this wee thread)

[DaveDorson]

initial inspection last night.

 

The body is basically neglected working van, rather than galloping rot, the rust hasn't holed through so I can probably sort it out with some treatment, filler and a good paint out of a rattle can rather than going full on with it.

The engine is very, very sluggish, I suspect one or all of the vacuum lines that feed the ECU to tell it to add more fuel when on boost are letting the air escape, and that it needs a service, needs the belts doing, and wants the EGR removing/blocking along with the cat smashing out with a scaf bar.

 

The exhaust has seen better days.

 

It will need tyres sooner rather than later.

 

I'm going to address the obvious stuff, clean it up and machine polish it after I make it run like it should.

 

The badge on the back has a blue I, so suspect it's the 88, rather than the 102, but I didn't have a proper look at the greasy bits as I didn't want to appear too keen given the derisory token money that exchanged hands to secure it.

[dave j]

Result! Should be able to make a couple quid when you come to move it on. Especially polished with some vw/Audi alloys on it! I wouldn't mind a t4 one day but my brothers one has cost him a fortune!

[DaveDorson]

Result! Should be able to make a couple quid when you come to move it on. Especially polished with some vw/Audi alloys on it! I wouldn't mind a t4 one day but my brothers one has cost him a fortune!

 

 

I think raise, AT Tyres on the stock steelies with a bit of black paint on them.

It'll make it a more usable van, and it won't ruin the ride, if anything it'll soak more up.

 

it's not like these are hard to lower and raise.

[DaveDorson]

Christ on a rhino this thing is miserable.

 

It's got a rather oily donk and it's not intercooled, the turbo doesn't appear to be making any boost, so those 88 horses it started life with is probably closer to 19 now ????

 

I've been told that it's just had what it needs whenever something has wanted doing to keep it going and given the details of the garage that did the work on it so I'll talk to them tomorrow to find out if the timing and pump belts have ever been done or are due.

 

I don't think it's got a straight panel on it.

[Minimad5]

Not all garages are able to set the fuel pumps up correctly on these, after a belt change, as most just create some timing Mark's and put back 'as was' ... not accounting for the belt stretching.

 

IF it's the engine I think it is, they need doing via DTI gauge, not sure if you can do it like the Volvo (which nicked the engine) and set it Dynamically via the OBD port and correct software.

 

So check it's timed up properly, as this can make it dog slow or a complete bitch to start.

[dieselassist]

...access isn't great on these aul big 5 pot T4's, but it might be worth trying to declag all the black gum out of the inlet; wrap some rags doused in kerosene petrol mix round a coiled coat hanger, n then plate off that EGR guff, as you mentioned above... if its done high miles the inside/internal width of the inlet might now be the width of a bic pen... ...the vw's EGR's seem to like to dump a lotta the soot back in under load; it does transform them cleaning all that crap out, but it is a messy job...

[DaveDorson]

I've bought a used turbo off eBay that supposed to be a good one.

 

Dropped the van off with my mate Nick earlier who's a dub botherer at a professional level so he's going to see what's what and get it MOT'd for me.

 

Joining the A1 in a van with a clear broken turbo charger is not pleasant at all.

[DaveDorson]

Well after the initial shock of me buying a van without talking it through with the Mrs, she's calmed down a bit, abated somewhat by my erecting a shed in the back garden and migrating some of my bicycles into it so they're out of her way.

 

So, I'm alive, I survived the weekend, and managed to flog my 300E Merc in the process, because lets face it, I'm never going to get that W124 done while I've got three VW projects on the bubble, so may as well pass it to a man who will.

 

Yesterday was actually mine and Sarah's 20 year anniversary (since we started dating, she remembers that stuff, I tend not to), but the fact I washed up, bought her food, and did some garden stuff kept her happy enough with the fact I pissed off for the day to sort out the unit and get the Merc moved on.

 

Rang the local garage today that's looked after the van in recent years, who've confirmed it will need the cam belt doing.

 

Checked the cost of doing this.  Almost had a heart attack.

 

Bought the belts (there's two) myself today, as well as some other stuff. water pump, idlers, bolts etc, and had a chat to my mate Steve who does these for £100 if I supply the tools (the book time is 3.7 hours!)  he has the right tools to do it properly, and I don't at the moment because all the stuff I work on tends to be older, and you need a DTI Gauge adaptor, some special VW tools that are specific to this engine and then VAG-Com to fine tune it afterwards.

 

I'm gonna go Nick who I left the van with in a mo to find out what else he thinks will want doing on it.

 

Plan at this stage is though:

 

Fix oil leaks

 

Replace turbo

 

Do Cam Belt and Diesel pump belt.

 

Replace tyres

Tidy the rusty stuff up a bit.

 

Clean it.

 

Use it as a van for a while, and slowly convert to a camper van (the wife is mega keen on this).

Sell for mega profit once my VW T3 is restored.

 

 

[Minimad5]

I have a very crude* set of tool you can use to do the belts.

 

*Crude / Cheap / A bit poo, but they worked for me when I did the 855.

 

Are you re-using the bottom crank pulley and bolt ?

Not sure if VW had a rubber bottom pulley, but check it's not all split and shagged.

As for the bolt, it's a stretch bolt (apparently) so may need to replace it, ooh and it's stupidly tight also.