January 31, 2007

• Van Update

  In the previous episode of Van Update, I had broken the fuel injector bracket bolt, leaving the shaft stuck in the intake manifold.

  Well, in the time it took me to worry about it yesterday, I completed the task. I did have to ride the bus to Lake City to get replacement bolts, which took an hour and change, but really..

  No hacksaw required, no nothing. Just a little tiny flathead screwdriver that was already pretty messed up, and a big wrench for hammering purposes. Once I got the bolt turning in the threads, it was all over.

  Put the injectors back, dealt with putting the air filter/air flow meter assembly back (it's kind of annoying), and it started right up, running just fine, never sounded better, horsepower over hills where it never had horsepower before.

  So what did we learn? If you ever buy a used high-mileage car, the first thing to do is adjust the valves. Firstly because it's a good thing to do, and secondly because doing so doesn't require any parts. Er, other than new valve cover gaskets, but those are cheap. And there's also the potentially dead engine because you did it wrong, so do it right.

  I'd like to point out two things, for future googlers:

  1) The Vanagon 2.1l MV engine fuel injector bracket bolt is 6mm with 1mm threads.

  2) I mostly followed the advice of this guy. Obviously I didn't rebuild the hydraulic lifters, but I did test them by pressing down on the connecting rod part of the valve rockers. One was a teeeeny bit soft, but that was it. They weren't making any noise, either. I preloaded by a turn and a half.

  • 6:57 pm
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