Seneca recently ordered a new engine for our bus! We got a 1.9 Litre VW Turbo Diesel that’s slightly used (about 30,000 miles). We’ll be basically doubling our horsepower! No more crawling up hills in second gear going 20 mph! Woohoo!
It took a bit of research and some advice from friends to arrive at our decision to get that engine. TDIs are pretty finicky with grease, so we decided to stick with a TD. We decided to get a 1.9 instead of a Turbo 1.6 so we’d have the extra power to tow a small trailer (full of grease!) and go on the highway without having a trail of honking cars behind us.
Our friend Steve will be helping Seneca with the installation, which they should be starting next week. I’m so glad we decided to invest in a new engine rather than dealing with the underpowered one that’s been giving us so much trouble. If only we’d done it sooner…
Once the new engine is in, Sen will finish installing an auxillary battery, change all the hoses so they’re bio-diesel ready, and we’ll put in the new upholstery. Then she’ll definitely be road-worthy, and possibly even worth living in! We plan to do a lot of traveling this summer, and we’re even considering storing or selling all our stuff and living life on the road in the bus for a while. Stay tuned!
6.19.07 at 10:57 am
zPLease help. My vanagon is broke and I need some help finding someone to help with the 1.9 tdi coinversion. I would really appreciate the help. Also if you could tell me about the costs of the conversion. THank you peace.
8.26.07 at 10:27 pm
That sounds like a sweet swap. I have an ‘82 diesel Westy I swapped a 1.6 TD into and I am getting ready to replace that with a TDI. The 1.6 was a great swap but I think you have gone the best route with the 1.9 mechanical pump. I am looking to set mine up for B100 and not SVO though.
Matthew: if you are looking for a site that will help you toward a TDI swap I recommend this board: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/TDI-conversion/
Volksvegan is a very cool name too. Best wishes and many open roads to you both!
8.26.07 at 10:39 pm
We chose a 1.9 TD instead of a TDI because TDIs tend to cause more problems when running on grease (I guess the injectors can get clogged easily on grease). For biodiesel you should have no problems, except you may need to replace any natural rubber in your engine components with a synthetic substitute, as those can erode over time with B100.
Matthew, sorry I didn’t see your comment earlier. I don’t know a total on the cost of the conversion off the top of my head, but it has definitely been an investment. In addition to the van itself, the greasecar conversion kit and supplies has cost about $1500 and we have replaced a lot of parts and gotten a lot of work done on the bus. I’d have to ask my boyfriend what the new engine cost, but I think it was in the neighborhood of $3000- $4000 with the intercooler, installation and everything. It definitely helps that my bf is mechanically inclined and has done a lot of the work on it himself.
Eventually we hope that running on free WVO will pay for itself, but if not we’re not too concerned about the money. We’re mostly doing this because of the environmental benefits and the fact that we don’t have to support the oil industry.