1.9 Top MPH

[J188]

Hi,

My van is a 1983 1.9 watercooled petrol, standard setup. I've managed to finnaly sort out the cooling problems I was just wondering what what top speed should you expect ? It will hit 60MPH with my foot to the floor. However to get to that speed I have to push to the floor get to around 50mph, lift off then weld it to the floor again and it'll reach 60mph. There is no continuous acceleration, even though with the pedal to the floor the throttle is fully open. The filter is fine and the pump, I was just wondering if there could be something else in the chain wrong? Or just a simple case it won't go no faster?

Cheers
Ste

[ricicles]

mine did 85 once when it was standard, not into the wind or up a hill though

[ermie571]

Tired engine?

should be a bit better than that? Our tired 1.9 would still hit 65-70 on the motorway, (on flat) though. Show it a gradiant...and well....yep.

Timing right?

There isn't waht you would call rapid accleration though! Will get there, eventually.

Find a rolling road somewhere, and get it checked out if you have done the basics indoors.

Em
x

[dwayne]

My 1.9 is 5000 miles old and will do ( according to clock ) 85 cruising along motorway , slight incline it will drop to 70-75 , steep hill 60-65 , I did however take it to the limit a couple of days ago on a nice downhill stretch of the M11 95 , don't normally drive this fast ...... it was just one of those " come on baby " moments , I had to slow down for the speedcamera at the bottom of the M11, I was so tempted to roar through it and get the pic framed

[jamesc76]

A good tune up and service would probs make a world of difference! Tho rememebr these vans were never designed to do high speeds for any length of time.

[J188]

Thanks for the replies. I'm not expecting high speeds or rapid 0 - 60, I'm quite happy driving along at 60mph, which it does make after abit, but thats the lot and the throttle to the floor, which can't be brill for fuel economy. I'll take it for a good thorough service hopefully will help the old engine

Ste

[Aidan]

depends what gearbox is in it, ABB is 4.57 fd ratio and will be quicker than a ABD, the most common later box, but if it's been swapped for an old diesel box then 60 will be tops, you need to know what code the box is

[J188]

To my knowledge its a factory fitted four speed one. I'll have a look though, biting the bullet though and getting a good full good service of the engine as I don't have a service history and after running it around for a year it probably deserves it

[ghost123uk]

depends what gearbox is in it, ABB is 4.57 fd ratio and will be quicker than a ABD, the most common later box, but if it's been swapped for an old diesel box then 60 will be tops, you need to know what code the box is

Slight thread hijack but the info may well be relevant

Aiden, apparently my bus has been fitted with a "DK" box, which I am told is quite a good strong box off an Aircooled VW of some sort.

Do you know how the final ratios compare with the standard box that would be fitted to a 87ish DG ?

Mine has done 90 but sounds like it's revving up a bit too much at that, so I only ever went that fast once (years ago) just to see "what it would do" My laterst DG, an ex VW recon at some time in it's life, feels much perkier than the original motor did

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@ J188

Might be worth considering that if your top speed is not what it should be, then your MPG is likely to be suffering too. Summat you want to avoid if you are paying for liquid gold and not running on LPG Mine does around 20 to 25 on Petrol depending on the type of journey, I drive it "averagely", i.e. not thrashing it but not pussy footing either !

.

[J188]

Might be worth considering that if your top speed is not what it should be, then your MPG is likely to be suffering too. Summat you want to avoid if you are paying for liquid gold and not running on LPG Mine does around 20 to 25 on Petrol depending on the type of journey, I drive it "averagely", i.e. not thrashing it but not pussy footing either !

.

Yeah that is the main issue really, as it reaches 60MPH but thats foot to floor which can be good for me monies especially on long trips, I'll see how it goes after some tinkering. Thanks for the help

[mikey9]

My late (1991) 1.9 dg HITop manages 65-70 fine and I can get 75 - 80 tops on good level mway (although our nearest bit is >120 miles away!!!!) - all on Petrol....

On LPG this drops by 5mph across the board and I cruise at 55-60 fine although it doesn't get above that particularly quickly - and as all our roads except a few miles stretches of A9 are single carriageways that is fine.

Coming back west from Aberdeen last week into a particularly fine headwind on the nose - we managed 55-60 all the way along the A96 for those who know it - except a few good hills where we dropped to 45 and 4th in the climbing lane(s) - all ok to me - although I would like a bit more oomph.....

[ghost123uk]

I often wish there was an overdrive on my bus as at anything over 70 it does sound to be revving a lot.

It would save fuel on long motorway hauls too.

Not sure what revs it is doing at 70 (anyone know ?) but I am told the red line is 5400

I suppose one could fit bigger back wheels

[Steve T]

correct tyre pressure increased the top speed and MPH to mine, also MPH was more correct compared to Sat Nav (for cross reference), that is the most simple thing to do, did have issues getting / maintaining top speed (so many factors) that turned out to be vacum unit on dizzy. Take dizzy cap off suck on tube to vac unit and see if it will hold vacuum and move arm inside dizzy, like sucking on a straw, if you can keep sucking it is poss defective, if you can suck it and keep youre toungue stuck to the end of it its ok. Plugs and leads poss good idea also simple and will need to be done at some stage, hope that helps

Steve

[AngeloEvs]

Had a similar problem when I first bought mine. Check that you are getting full throttle at the Carb with the Accelerator pedal flat to the floor. The linkage (under the pedal) might need adjusting. Mine was very badly in need of re-adjusting and top speed was about 60mph.

[J188]

Good point cheers, i'll mention that one too, as the push rod did fall out the other week, so something must be a miss there. I've got it booked in for a few jobs next week, going to look at timing, the cable, rotor arm, leads etc see which or combination of all of them and get it sorted