Club 80-90 Forums

Hubby just took my van to be tuned up, the bloke said it'd need a carb conversion or new carb to meet today emissions levels. He's asked a couple of places and they said it wasn't worth getting a conversion kit or a new carb and he could just rebuild it to get the same effect. The rebuild was £35 and the conversion kit was over £300 but there were none available anywhere he tried. Any thoughts on whether the rebuild will get it through the MOT or do we really need the new carb or conversion kit. Thanks

Hi, what engine is it for?

Sorry, it's a 1.9 petrol watercooled engine.

Thought it might be a 1.9 but does this 'bloke' really know Volkswagens. A carb change seems an extreme solution. In nearly all cases they can be rebuilt but emissions depend on other factors too. More to the point, todays emission levels are not the same as those applied to older vehicles anyway.

Give us an idea what region you're in. There may well be someone local better placed to assist, including 80-90 members.

Er...welcome by the way.

I'm in Tunbridge Wells, on the border of Kent & East Sussex cowkid. The mechanic seems to know his stuff in general but don't know if he's had loads of experience with VW's. It'd be great if you were able to put me in with some VW specialists closer to home

You could try whatlington garage for another recommendation. They're a vw approved garage, the owner nick has a red T25, I know its a bit out of your way.
http://www.whatlingtongarage.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yup, I think you'd be well advised to get another opinion. A garage that even works on beetles and bays would be a better bet. If the carb is worn I can put you in touch with someone who can sort that, but without seeing it it would be unreasonable to speculate on its condition.

A compression check is the first thing needed - it will give a strong indication of the state of the engine. If that checks out ok, its just a case of working through spark and fuel side to nail any issues. They're robust engines all things considered but lack of maintenance can create accumulated problems. Definately don't go swapping carbs yet or you may just cause more headache if not heartache and a thin wallet. Theres not that much that can't be fixed on that carb but there may be air leaks that have compensated for by enrichening the mixture. Do ask around for someone who knows these engines.

sunluvva wrote: cowkid.

OOps sorry CovKid

It's had the compression stuff done and new sparks etc. He said the engine itself was as sweet as a nut. His main concern was that he couldn't get the emissions low enough as it was.

We've been looking around online and it seems there are no conversion kits available nationwide for water cooled engines!

Thanks Cyrus, that garage is only half an hour away so not too bad. I'll give him a ring tomorrow.

The original carb is a good one when running correctly. A compromise between performance and economy - about right given the work the engine has to do. Common problems are leaky gaskets and vacuum hoses. Sometimes they end up getting messed with to get over these weaknesses which are generally easy to fix. Good luck - and come back. Let us know how you get on.

Lol, loving the cow - you might have to change your name

Until 2 weeks ago the van had been sitting up a lane in rural Spain for almost 10 years. We'd managed to get it going now and then when we went out there but couldn't drive it around properly as it wasn't legal there or here. Now we've got it back to the UK he's done lot's of little jobs on the car and it's all ready to go through the MOT apart from the emission levels. Do you reckon if he got a rebuild kit it would sort it out - hubby's pretty handy with mechanics so can do the job then he gets his mechanic to check it.

try John Bowles in Sevenoaks,he does a lot of VW's and races VW powered single seaters,my father in law say's he is also very good with VW gearboxes

Thanks Scottbott, I've just seen that john Bowles has a unit in T.Wells literally around the corner from my husbands workplace - could be useful