Hello as title says thinking of selling my 4Runner that is built for off-roading and camping for a westy! Looking at the T3s specifically the watercooled years so probably ‘84 and on. What specific things should I be looking for or looking to stay away from when searching? Seems like body panel work can be a lot! I’m pretty handy and don’t want to buy a perfect van, so definitely trying to save some money and get myself something of a project. Let me know any tips you have for my search!

Hiya,

New here but my husband and I own a '85 pop up westfalia. It's in good-ish running condition thanks to an engine replacement last year but after five years of ownership we would like restore the canvas (it leaks and there are wholes in the screen.)

My hussband works a lot so I decided to expand my role beyond shot gun rider/van chef to take on a larger up-keep project. The problem is that I'm a bit clueless where to start. There are several projects it needs work on but the canvas was the most pressing in terms of interior work that I could reasonably take on.

I was looking for a good step by step manual for canvas repair/replacement but couldn't find one. Are there any recs out there? If there are steps I can follow. It's just one corner that needs repair but maybe worth it to do the whole thing?

Thanks for any tips on where to start. This is my husband's second westie and my first. It's a honor of my life to be in this community as naive as I am.

✌🏼 (Van pictured after six hour drive north to view the solar eclipse)

Took a while to find the sticker she gave us, but it also reminded me about the her DOZENS of videos. You can see your van in a past life! She was a gem!! You truly have an angels Westy in your driveway. Give me a shout if you ever pass thru Bellingham, Wa

Ran into her 9/24/2018 at Crater Lake. Amazing woman. We still talk about Bernie and Becky!

I unscrewed that panel cover I shared a pic of in my previous post. It seems this is definitely a shore power port (see below pics). Just wondering what ports you guys have fitted there. I see a bunch of options here: https://www.busdepot.com/camper-parts-accessories/camper-utility-inlets

https://preview.redd.it/upy67lj55vwd1.png?width=414&format=png&auto=webp&s=5448c1765121ae6e2754ba29cc05089007350444

https://preview.redd.it/qp51d4p75vwd1.png?width=414&format=png&auto=webp&s=32211ef713c9353c6b3c83fd570de63c4e8559ba

https://preview.redd.it/8b5v74z85vwd1.png?width=414&format=png&auto=webp&s=89b6ff6702bf65a9b59644422cfd6cfe58f1bff0

https://preview.redd.it/le4ncjga5vwd1.png?width=414&format=png&auto=webp&s=7967671891c3daa95c424c47e882ecc1f2cff583

I am looking to buy a nice, upgraded, converted Syncro VW.

GoWesty used to do this, but doesn’t seem to anymore.

Thanks in advance!

Very long post. Tl/dr at the end.

1980 vanagon with 2.0L air cooled motor which generally has run very well except for a intermittent “bucking” issue which can be very violent. We could drive hundreds of miles without this happening and then it will reappear out of nowhere. When it happens, power drops out and comes back within a 1/4 second. When the power comes back, it slams the van and drivetrain hard and it will break something if it keeps happening. Sometimes it happens just once, sometimes several within a few seconds.

It seemed like it happened over bumps or when wind gusts rocked the van, but not every time. At lot of times, I questioned if what I felt was a road bump, an engine buck, or a combination.

About a year ago I decided to really attack this problem because we had very long trip planned. I read a lot of forum posts about vanagon syndrome, but can’t recall any about air cooled specifically. Lots of posts suggesting to do tune up items like cap rotor plugs and wires. Posts about checking for vacuum leaks. Adding capacitors to the afm harness. New fuel filter. Etc.

Here is what I did do:

• checked resistances for the injectors, afm, Temp II

• Replaced afm with used part that had in spec resistances - original was out of spec

• Installed new Temp II (old one had correct resistance but wire insulation had a break)

• Jiggled engine electrical harness while idling, no trouble found

• Replaced most hoses. Breather to S boot, S boot to decel valve, decel valve to 3 way vacumm boot, cold start valve** to S boot, small rubber vacuum lines at manifold and decel valve / Tee / fuel pressure regulator and distributor while keeping old hard lines

• Notably, did not add any hose clamps where they weren’t in place already. The 3 way boot did not have any and the plastic fittings into the S boot didn’t either.

• also did not replace rough looking intake runner hoses and kept their original twisted wire clamps

• swapped engine computer which previous owner had bought. He replaced original in 1982 with a new unit but kept the old and marked it as a good part.

The problem wasn’t happening in town before we left and for about 4500 miles I felt maybe half a dozen single bucks, minor ones only. Then they started to happen quite frequently if not severely and the van was not drivable in that condition for the 500 miles to home.

At that point I added clamps Willy nilly to anything vacuum related like the 3 way boot. Taped around the S boot holes and pulled the plastic fittings tight to the boot with zip ties. Inspected S boot for cracks but found none. Then we found the throttle body was loose to the manifold. Tightened the two screws and had no more bucking all the way home.

I had been convinced by a mech friend that vacuum leaks would cause this type issue and the throttle body experience just solidified that thinking. At this point, we considered bucking problem to be solved.

Fast forward to August of following year- van had not left town since end of last fall trip. Had no bucking problems around town. We left for a long trip again, thinking that bucking had been fixed last year. Wrong - started up again about 150 miles from home. Found the original intake runner hoses were loose and could slide up and down the intake tubes (could have been like this all along, idk). Did a roadside fix with zip ties to backstop the wire twist clamps and we drove home without issue. Put on some real clamps at home and left again on the trip, driving about 400 miles on first day. Still no issues. At this point all signs still seem to point to a vacuum leak as the cause.

Day two of the trip didn’t go as well. Had a few bucks within the first 4 hours then started getting medium severity bucks every 10-20 minutes. Stopped, inspected the clamps and tightened a few but honestly it didn’t seem like the intake runners were worse than before. Got back on the road and bucking started up within 20 minutes, strong enough we planned to get off at the next exit. Then it happened stronger than ever, engine died and were on the side of the interstate. Managed to get it restarted without doing anything to the engine and drove to exit on shoulder without issue. Drove the backroads to our destination without issue, about 25 miles. So the problem went away without doing anything.

Next morning, with engine idling, we:

• swapped engine computers, no effect.
• Tugged on engine and ignition switch wiring harnesses, no effect.
• Tapped on double relay with screwdriver,no effect.

Decided to drive to flaps for cap rotor coil wires and plugs, but it was immediately obvious while driving we were not going to make it that far, the problem was back nearly continuously and at low speeds 20-30 mph, which had never happened before. Also didn’t seem to correlate with a wind gust or road bump. This was a blessing, as this previously intermittent problem was now happening non stop.

Pulled over and changed the coil to a spare. No improvement.

Did the wire harness tugging routine again, but tried to be more systematic as I realized that in the morning I hadn’t pulled on the harness between engine and front of engine compartment. Engine stalled when I did this. After repeating the stall half a dozen times, I realized that where I was pulling was where the afm harness breaks out of the main engine harness. Working my way up that harness to the afm, I was able to stall the engine by very lightly touching the harness right where it leaves the afm.

Turns out the afm harness terminal on the right side of the van wouldn’t stay in the plastic connector, either the metal terminal was bent / broken or something in the plastic was. Another terminal at the left side of the connector was pushed back into the plastic also, but it clicked when pushed in and seemed to stay put.

Using some electrical tape. I got the broken terminal to stay put by taping the wire to its good neighbor and pulling on the whole connector with a zip tie to keep some tension.

Halfway to our destination, I swapped the engine computer again. Have done this so many times that I cant keep track of which runs were with which computer, but in this final stretch we had both computers installed in the van with no issues.

Also reattached the WOT switch wires which had been disconnected at the time when the wire harness issue was found.

We are at our destination for next two weeks, northern Colorado, so I have the time to try a more legit and permanent fix.

I now think the intermittent contact on the afm harness connector was the true root cause all along, and not a vacuum leak. When we found the loose TB last fall, the afm harness had been disconnected to inspect the S boot so that dis/reconnect may be the real reason why the van seemed fixed at that time. Although the bucking at that time was of a different character - more continuous and mild rather than intermittent and violent.

I have disconnected that connector countless times while working on this van. Had I looked at the terminals closely, it probably would have been obvious the one was not seated.

Feeling triumphant and dumb at the same time.

TL/DR: If you have an intermittent power or other problem, you may find it by jiggling the harness while idling. But make sure you jiggle each branch going to each FI component (injectors, afm, Temp II, ECM, etc.) as well as the main harness bundle every 6” or so along its length.

Also, look at the terminals of any connector that you take off and see if any are pushed back further than the others.

Posting this as a warning to those who don't already know about their unethical business practices. Read their Google, Yelp, and Samba reviews before ordering anything from them.

Yelp reviews

Google reviews

Buyer/Seller feedback from The Samba (snipped to the last 3 1/2 years)

My story is similar to many posted in their reviews - I ordered an engine nearly 2 1/2 years ago. They, at the time, were saying it would be roughly a 20 week build time. They knew they weren't able to get vital components, yet have kept taking peoples' money and promising parts and engines in a reasonable time frame, then stringing people along with excuses.

They've refused to offer a refund, despite the fact that they haven't delivered anything but excuses and empty promises. Their latest was that my engine was going to be ready in September - it's now mid-October, and still nothing.

At this point, I don't even want whatever engine they'll cobble together.

We have a 1985 vanagon GL, engine is 2004 Subaru outback 2.5L My husband has been reading that for a subaru engine you need to use asian specific coolant, and universal is not good But, we need to do a coolant flush and every local place I call to do this for us insists the universal will cover our vehicle, they will guarantee it and everything. Most places will not even use our own coolant if we bought the asian engine specific one for this specific year and bring it in.

So tell me, is the universal coolant they're using at oil change shops actually okay for our engine? Or do we need to buy our own specific asian engine, Subaru specific coolant ?

Think there’s only like 50k miles on it but the odometer is broken. It doesn’t turn on apparently so engine doesn’t work. Asking for my partner who doesn’t have the time to fix it up or look into the cost of fixing it as he is extremely busy and out of state most of the time. He just wants to get it off his hands so I said I would help. Difficult for me to investigate it myself as I am also out of state. Sorry I know the lack of info isn’t much help but I just need help with gauging the price to sell it for

Turned on my headlights this morning and tried to turn them off when I got home but the toggle is stuck and won’t go back to the off position. Anyone else have this problem (and a solution)? Thanks

We have a 1985 VW Vanagon GL, with a subaru engine conversion. Engine is 2004 2.5 L. We don't have the problem when the van is moving, but as soon as it is idling, there is a very strong gasoline smell in the exhaust. My husband first wondered if it was a spark plug issue. Upon further research he thinks that may not be the case, but he says (from googling the issue,) there seems to be so many things that could be causing it. I suggested posting here to see if anyone had any input on what may cause this. Thank you !

I bit the bullet today and fitted the Gowesty Instrument Cluster foil replacement kit (https://gowesty.com/products/instrument-cluster-circuit-foil-replacement-kit-vanagon-1?variant=44078064337061)

Although nerve-wracking cutting out the plug and splicing in the new one, it seemed to go smoothly. However, I'm left with an odd issue that I hope someone can advise on. When turning the van on, the indicator led is permanently on and when operating the indicators, the LED goes off > on > off > on and then stays on when I cancel them (effectively working in reverse)

What have I done wrong?

Thoughts / ideas?

I’m considering doing a Subaru conversion to my 82 westy, I currently have a vw 1.8 normally aspirated engine done by the previous owner and I would like something with more power and reliability. I am curious for those who have done a Subaru conversion how the engine and other components are holding up years and thousands of miles later? Did the conversion cause any major issues and is there anything you wish you would have done differently?

Thank you

I've seen shore power access in other vans, but they seem to be a lot lower. This bolted/screwed plate is located right behind where my stove and closet is located. Any clues?

https://preview.redd.it/ret7sc1p9xqd1.png?width=525&format=png&auto=webp&s=f8ab575929ca4650fd57f3d81028dfdedd025d8c

On the inside is the cabinet on the left, which houses the closet and stove:

https://preview.redd.it/bys6xw3fbxqd1.png?width=604&format=png&auto=webp&s=a568c9eb5b86072f6ecd8c5830ea07bcc7400639

Are engine bay fires still a concern even after converting your powerplant to a Subaru?

I have a standard cream colored, '85 Westy that I had a bit of rust work done on recently and then a paint job and it looks great! Noticed some rocks have kicked up and dinged the paint on the runner under the door and on the rear fender (?) where it flares out. Has dinged the paint down to the metal and I'd like to attend to it sooner rather than later.

I've seen other vans with a black paint along the bottom and over the back wheel and wonder if that's just paint or is a special "anti-rock-banging" paint stuff that is a bit thicker and protects more? Any other tips & tricks for protecting that area from rock chipping? I live in Vermont so dirt roads are not going to be avoidable.