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?

[tooSavvy]

"..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.."

 

 

I really like the sound of all that, frankly.. Whats not to like

[DaveDorson]

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.

 

I'm gonna thrown £100 and the box of stuff at Steve to sort it out mate to be honest.

 

That way I can crack on with doing the beetle and the T3 van instead.

[DaveDorson]

"..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.."

 

 

I really like the sound of all that, frankly.. Whats not to like

 

It's a sensible choice.

The T3 drives so much nicer than the T4's for one, and the T4 is a LWB van, which means it's a bit of an awkward sod to use for shopping and stuff.

 

By the time the T3 is done, a T4 camper will be worth all the money, so if I do a decent job of it, I should be quids in.

[DaveDorson]

Cam belt kit arrived last night.  Turbo should be shipped today/tomorrow and I've got a gear lever exention and a pool ball gear knob to fit when they arrive (the weight should improve things a bit).  Going to modify the shift linkage for a smaller throw as I'm a midget with tiny arms and it's effort on these.

 

I see what's meant by the stupid gear lever position now.  What were they thinking.  The T3 vans are so much better in terms of driver ergonomics.

[DaveDorson]

Oh, MOT...

 

Completed it mate.

[DaveDorson]

Radiator has seen better days, so a new one is going in while the cam belt gets done.  Makes sense.

[DaveDorson]

Well, found the source of the oil leak.

 

Cooler missing a bolt so not sealing, done the gasket while at it as it's a common failure.  

 

Rocker cover gasket missing a bolt, also replaced.

 

The water pump was well shagged, but given I'm doing the belts it made sense to buy a pump too so that's being changed also.

 

Coolant flushed, found another grotty water pipe so new parts now ordered.

 

Now to wait for my bits to turn up so we can nail it back together.

[jon.k]

I got one of these in similar circumstances this year, but I’ve been too afraid to put it on here because it’s actually not shite. I’ve done the clean, service, tidy, insulate, line and add a battery and lights. Best mod though... factory cruise control stalk just plugs in!

we even went camping on a campsite for a night.

[Matty]

Everyone says that about the gear lever but I never struggled. Maybe I just have right long arms

[jon.k]

I went for the £3 eBay gear lever extension. Miles better now.

[Lord Sterling]

On 4/27/2019 at 2:23 PM, DaveDorson said:

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

Sounds normal to me. I rarely ever see any if these VW T4/T5 vans doing any sort of speed at all.

[wuvvum]

My T4 (2.4 NA diesel) became appreciably quicker once I removed the bolt on the underside of the accelerator which was blocking the last inch of pedal travel.  Even then it wasn't a fast van.  Sounded nice though. 

[DaveDorson]

On 5/4/2019 at 1:38 PM, Lord Sterling said:

Sounds normal to me. I rarely ever see any if these VW T4/T5 vans doing any sort of speed at all.

They're actually quite spritely when they're right.

[DaveDorson]

On 5/3/2019 at 1:54 PM, jon.k said:

I got one of these in similar circumstances this year, but I’ve been too afraid to put it on here because it’s actually not shite. I’ve done the clean, service, tidy, insulate, line and add a battery and lights. Best mod though... factory cruise control stalk just plugs in!

we even went camping on a campsite for a night.

Looks alright that 

[jon.k]

On 5/4/2019 at 1:38 PM, Lord Sterling said:

Sounds normal to me. I rarely ever see any if these VW T4/T5 vans doing any sort of speed at all.

The owners are all just chillin’, dude.  My 2.5 would easily do 80 but I just set the cruise to 65 and think about the flowers.

 

36 minutes ago, DaveDorson said:

Looks alright that 

Thanks! Yes, I was never really interested in these until this one came up, and now I love it. You might get attached. They are old enough to feel like proper vans, but new enough to be easily usuable. 

 

 

 

[DaveDorson]

Belt are in with new stuff, found the remains of an old auxiliary belt in there too. ?.

 

Looks like it's got a recent new set of aux tensioners and a recent bottom pulley as well as a set of Sachs front shocks fitted.  Nicely.

 

While it's apart it makes sense to see what the old EGR has done to the inlet manifold...

 

It's a bit grim.  Currently the inlet is soaking and will get jetwashed clear, the small deposits you see are from the egr valve only..

 

Turbo actually doesn't feel like it has any play, it's free too so I might have a spare one. The boost pipes were best described as badly fitted though (read, they were hanging off).

 

Oil leaks, well if it has an O ring or gasket it's shagged so they've been replaced now.

 

 

[shedenvy]

Fantastic progress. Great to see you elbow deep in this so soon after taking it on. Would an '02 have an obd2 port?  You could try a bluetooth jobie and an app like Torque. As long as it's making boost there's probably nowt wrong with the turbo. 

[wuvvum]

I think the requirement for commercial vehicles to be OBD2 compliant came somewhat later than for cars.  Certainly none of the vans I've owned from that era have been.  Even my current 2006 Maxus won't talk to my generic code reader - I need to pull my finger out and install the commercial bit of the knock-off Delphi software I bought off eBay.

[DaveDorson]

3 hours ago, shedenvy said:

Fantastic progress. Great to see you elbow deep in this so soon after taking it on. Would an '02 have an obd2 port?  You could try a bluetooth jobie and an app like Torque. As long as it's making boost there's probably nowt wrong with the turbo. 

 

3 hours ago, wuvvum said:

I think the requirement for commercial vehicles to be OBD2 compliant came somewhat later than for cars.  Certainly none of the vans I've owned from that era have been.  Even my current 2006 Maxus won't talk to my generic code reader - I need to pull my finger out and install the commercial bit of the knock-off Delphi software I bought off eBay.

It's got an OBD2 port, you time them using vagcom.  

I'm just helping over lunch doing a few bits, Steve is doing the grunt work cos I'm earning a living in the day and spend a few weekends either sorting the workshop or I'm at the race track. 

I've actually got this weekend free so if the parts all show up then I'll go help Steve with the last bits and we're all sorted, the following weekend I'll be at Doorslammers at Santa Pod.  

Time of year means my time actually on the spanners is quite limited which is why I threw the belts job at my trusted friend Steve.

[DaveDorson]

So I'm still waiting for the rad.  Popped my head in at lunch today and helped get the water pipe swapped over and helped with reassembly of the inlet and the egr stuff (might have stealthily installed a well hidden delete while at it, some solder caps are now preventing exhaust crap from entering the inlet).

The n75 valve doesn't appear to be functioning correctly which is leading to the wastegate opening before boost is made, which is probably why no power.   Another one to add to the list.  Didn't get to test this theory properly because no radiator is installed at the moment.

 

[DaveDorson]

Apparently the radiator is due to be delivered today so I can get it properly timed up and find out what's going on with the boosting, or lack thereof.

 

Expect some weekend updates, I'm hoping to go home, get the rad, run it to Steve and then meet someone at my unit to sell yet more of my chod (the 320k miles petrol golf mk4, my Dad has replaced it with a 2008 Kia Caren's diesel... Oh yes!)

[Dave_Q]

On 5/8/2019 at 8:21 PM, DaveDorson said:

So I'm still waiting for the rad.  Popped my head in at lunch today and helped get the water pipe swapped over and helped with reassembly of the inlet and the egr stuff (might have stealthily installed a well hidden delete while at it, some solder caps are now preventing exhaust crap from entering the inlet).

The n75 valve doesn't appear to be functioning correctly which is leading to the wastegate opening before boost is made, which is probably why no power.   Another one to add to the list.  Didn't get to test this theory properly because no radiator is installed at the moment.

 

Check the wiring to the N75, have had a tdi Audi before where the wiring had broke just before the connector, it was mounted by the radiator so probably got brittle over time.

 

Same symptoms, no power, fixed it and the turbo turned back on.

[DaveDorson]

2 hours ago, Dave_Q said:

Check the wiring to the N75, have had a tdi Audi before where the wiring had broke just before the connector, it was mounted by the radiator so probably got brittle over time.

 

Same symptoms, no power, fixed it and the turbo turned back on.

Apparently if the valve has gone, given I've blocked the egr, I can use the n18 instead.  

 

VAG com after a quick drive will tell me what's what, but that needs the rad which failed to arrive today.. ?

[DaveDorson]

Radiator finally arrived and with Steve, who was doing the diesel leak off pipes when I arrived to deliver it.

Annoyingly DPD didn't deliver it on Friday and rather than let me collect from them on Saturday, made me arrange a collection today at mid day.

I won't dwell, because it's the right part and it's saved me £50 off an already discounted Euro Car Parts one, but I've spent the weekend in a foul mood over it and my van being in Peterborough and me being unable to drive the van home over the weekend as a result.

 

It does mean I got to spend the weekend getting increasingly annoyed at my Mrs for making me do shopping and gardening and stuff.

 

[DaveDorson]

Thirty fucking quid for some bloody coolant.

It's starting to get expensive now. I knew a cheap van was a bad idea. ?

[DaveDorson]

Right...so what next for this thing..  well I've bought a clutch pedal repair plate so I'll do that as it addresses the common pedal box failure before it happens, and I've got my lever exention and gear knob sat at home, so they'll get added.

I plan to replace the gear shift bushes and I'll document this with photos as I do it for your viewing pleasure, I'll also modify the fore/aft shift ratio by repositioning the shift rod, as it's very long at the moment.

Hopefully the van will be ready to collect and I can start doing some photo heavy updates after the weekend. I think the first step will be empty the van out and clean it up properly so I know what I'm working with , and plan the way forward. 

 

Bodywork to address, some new tyres to fit up and then start to build a camper into it, starting with insulation and planning some clever venting for comfort.

 

Apparently to register it as a motor caravan I need to add windows to the side.  While I'm not keen on this, without doing so means I'm subject to van speed limits, something I may need to live with, as I want to keep it looking like a builders van, but with better tyres.

[shedenvy]

Good info on the windows. Is that info on gov.uk? Does it also apply to tax rates?

[DaveDorson]

36 minutes ago, shedenvy said:

Good info on the windows. Is that info on gov.uk? Does it also apply to tax rates?

It is Indeed.

I don't think it impacts VED at all, not sure about congestion changes etc though, not looked at it.

[Dave_Q]

Think motor caravan is a bit more involved than that featuring permanent cooker and sink. You may be thinking of dual purpose vehicle.

[DaveDorson]

1 hour ago, Dave_Q said:

Think motor caravan is a bit more involved than that featuring permanent cooker and sink. You may be thinking of dual purpose vehicle.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/registering-a-diy-caravan/converting-a-vehicle-into-a-motorhome

 

Nope, there's more to it, but a permanent side window is part of the deal.. it's all on the doovla website