Club 80-90 Forums

syncropaddy wrote:

syncrosparesuk wrote:
Did you know service life of VC only 65,000 miles.

Interesting ..... tell that to the one in my Syncro! Its got 275,000 kms on it and still works just fine.

If it's any consolation I've just changed mine after 115.000 km and it's well that I did.
The original one wasn't quite "gone" yet ...but now with the refurb in, I can really feel the difference. Almost no rubbing at all at full lock (even when hot) and still works perfectly off-road.

Derek Drew in the USA looked into fluid replacement in VC's back in the late 90's; he abandoned the idea and decided to sell OEM units instead.

Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 12:53:06 +0100
From: "Dr. Rainer Woitok" <woitok@rrze.uni-erlangen.de>
To: Derek Drew <drew@interport.net>
Subject: Re: Viscous Coupling Test

Derek,

Here we go again ...

I've attached the How-To information to the end. Enjoy! And plenty of
luck with changing the silicone-fluid.

Derek's note:
Rainer was skeptical about my plan to change the fluid. As it turned out, he was right to be skeptical, and I abandoned this idea. I still have the fluid. Anyone want to buy it from me?

Apart from that: Merry Christmas as well as all the best for the next
year to you as well as to your family ...

Sincerely
Rainer

'89 Caravelle GL Syncro 16"

Just about everything you could ever want to ask about VC's has been debated and documented by Derek and others; you may well disagree with some of the findings; as many have, but its an interesting read and informative.

http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/ ... syncro.htm

Based on all this I bought in 2004 an OEM unit on ebay to replace what i thought was a failed aggressive VC in my Autosleeper; I put the new unit in and it cured the scrubbing I was getting after long drives. I was happy.

A year or so later my old unit was put into the DoDoka as that had failed open; it is still in there and nobody seems to complain about its aggressive VC; and it certainly does the business off-road. That VC had 105,000 miles on it when it came out of the Autosleeper.

There may be a weight issue here? The high top Autosleeper is a heavy camper compared with the Dodoka.

Mudlark wrote: Apart from that: Merry Christmas as well as all the best for the next
year to you as well as to your family ...

Sincerely
Rainer

'89 Caravelle GL Syncro 16"

[/quote]

I used to love reading Rainer's posts years ago on the Yahoo chat forum, most entertaining, as he was generally correct, yet people always argued!

The 65,000 miles figure is the OEM quoted fig, there is a world of difference between a VC that is operating as it should and one that is serviceable.....We drive many Syncros that are OK but its easy to feel the VC is tight.

The fluid becomes dark looks, burnt and is very viscous.......knackered VC

We will try to get something set up for UK owners of syncros to supply VC'S at a sensible price.......mind you nothing on a syncro is a sensible price

syncrosparesuk wrote:The 65,000 miles figure is the OEM quoted fig, there is a world of difference between a VC that is operating as it should and one that is serviceable.....We drive many Syncros that are OK but its easy to feel the VC is tight.

The fluid becomes dark looks, burnt and is very viscous.......knackered VC

We will try to get something set up for UK owners of syncros to supply VC'S at a sensible price.......mind you nothing on a syncro is a sensible price

At the end of the VC rainbow is a guy called Walter .....................

Aidan wrote:there's a set of the test equipment at the GM training facility apparantly, or was......

My old boss trains mechanics for Vauxhall now...

hhmm...

We used to keep VC's in stock as most of you know but for their turn around not realy worth it.We now just get them in when needed.
We looked into all the so called alternatives and Dolf is who always came up at the end of each line.Or a new one.
If the whole thing isnt done proply are you willing to fit it to your vehicle with all the hassle and possible knock on damage.
It is not just the fluid that gets old, but the plates can warp and the micro burs wear. So if you dont have access to new ones(Dorf) you are stuffed.
If it was that easy dont you think everyone would be doing it. I sure as hell would and ime shure all the other long standing syncro specialists would as well.
Russel

And the seals probably need renewing too. Seals that can withstand 100 bar, which is another reason why the static torque friction varies so much, and is relatively meaningless. Filling is done to 0.1 gram tolerance.



Mr W. Hürlimann at the gram scales and siloxane filling station

Christ & you trust this guy!
He's got the top resting on the scales!!!
Where's those measuring cups again!

Fortunately, he's learnt not to do that anymore