Aircooled VW South Africa

Hi Im new to the forum and would like some advice as to where I can take my Caravelle 2.6 for an engine conversion. Im in East London but will take it anywhere in SA for a good job to be done. Which engine conversion would you recommend that is fuel efficient as Im starting a "tour" business.

Thanx
Cj

Hi and welcome here to the forum.

What engine you have currently? the 2.6 - whats wrong with it?

The 2.6 is running very high on fuel.
Thanks for the prompt reply

Stuart Stirling from Syncro Doctor in Pretoria can help. He does a TDi conversion that is probably just what you need. He's on these forums; I'm sure he'll contact you.

what fuel consumtion do you get? I think they claim about 11l per 100 @90. We get between 14 and 16l/100km on a 2.6 micrbus with a trailer.

Who has done this conversion before? What are the pros and cons? Is the tdi really light on fuel?

Louis i get around 4 or maybe 5 if im lucky.
After I had it on a dyno it ran 8km per l.
I then did a service on the vehicle and replaced the sump as there was a leak on the sump. It went back to the 5km per l.
The oil cooler rubber is also broken and I cant get that part anywhere in the country. That is why I want to change the engine.

Hi CJ

as per your PM, i will answer here as well, the best option is the 2.0i golf motor with MP 9, we fit a lot of them to syncro's. they have shorter diff ratio's than the 2.6. a syncro with 14" wheels does 4600rpm at 120k/h and with 15" wheels does 4300rpm at 120k/h, i think the 2.6i 5 speed does 120 at 3800rpm. please confirm this.

In a syncro we get between 8-9.5 km/ litre.

The nice part is you bus id still a VW, can still take it to VW for services/ maintenance etc. the golf motors are easy to work on.

My parents have a 2.6 in their syncro and that gives 6.5 km/litre. my diesel 1.9 td gives 8.5 because it over revs.

Stuart

CJ whats the mileage of the motor? when last was it serviced? Our kombi is now on 240k km
I have notice to get about 7.5 for city driving without a trailor and of you push it hard (inc a trailor)to maintain 120 kph then its falles to 6km/l through mountain passes.
@fig is your merc that light on fuel?

louisvr45 wrote:@fig is your merc that light on fuel?

I get better than 7km/l in mixed city/freeway driving, and I make full use of the car's acceleration. Consumption tends to increase slightly the further I get from the last service. It has a manual gearbox, which probably makes a difference.

Louis its mileage is 280000 and it was started just after the service.
Syncromad it sounds like a good idea but i dont have that amount of cash lying around.
I can get a audi 2.2 motor for a good price that is why I asked you if you do the audi conversions.
Im driving a microbus 2.3 at the moment and Im getting 7.5 - 8km per litre that is why I asked about the audi motor. The microbus has a audi 2.3 motor in it.
Syncromad do you do other motor conversions to the caravelle's

Hi

sorry for the late reply, yes we fit any thing, but would still suggest the golf 2.0i, with the audi 2.2 you would need to either get the complete K-jectronic system or convert to carb. they seem to have less power than the golf, just feels that way, specs say more but that is how it feels.

I run a 1.9 golf 4 TD in my syncro, give me approx 8km/l, a lot more expensive to fit than the 2.0i
my parents have a 2.6i in their syncro and it also gives approx 6.5 to 7 km per litre.
the golf 2.0 usually gives between 8 and 10km/l depending on how you drive.

Stuart

I'll start by saying I know very little about engine conversions, and I am merely voicing my opinion, BUT (there always is a but isn't there) ,
it seems a bit counter productive to me, to spend thousands on an engine, then more on installing it, fine tuning it, testing it, sorting out teething problems (time and money), just to gain perhaps .5 to 1km per litre. You also can't tell me the replacement engine setup will be more reliable in the long run than the original engine designed to work with the rest of the vehicle in the first place? How many thousands upon thousands of KM do you have to do before you recover the cost and effort? Perhaps the pro's in the business have it down to an art, and my fear's are unwarranted. My 2c's.

We do a lot of conversions, and i agree the Karma, rather spend a little on sorting the current motor, it takes for ever to recoup the cost of the conversion if you are doing the conversion for fuel consumption reasons, even at a KM/ litre difference you will take 35000km to get your money back. a proper tune up/ no dyno needed for the 2.6, maybe a few new parts and the thing should be better, the 2.6 motors are not very fuel efficient in the caravelle but they are not bad, should be able to get at least 7km/l easily.

I would only do the conversion if the current motor is beyond repair, like we do for wbx 2.1's when the throw a rod through the block.

Stuart

I saw the other day from a road test of the 2.6 microbus in the car 1995 mag, they claim 7L/100km @ 60km/h and at 80 its 8.5 @
100 they claimed 11.9 witch is 8 and at 120 its 15.86. they road test came to 16.25 witch is 6.1 km/L

But a few years ago we had our radiator broken and as soon as you go over 80/90 the temps rises we got with a fully loaded kombi and 3m trailor 9l/100km or 11 km/L

if you have a light right foot then it can be light on fuel otherwise it suffers from its aero dynamics

Im looking for a 2.3 or 2.6 kombi motor as mine has a loss of compression on no4 piston.