Club 80-90 Forums

I've spotted what looks like a lovely Syncro 1.9 watercooled Westy.

Are the Syncros reliable and tough?? What (if anything?) goes wrong with them?

Are they much slower and thirstier than the equivalent 2wd model?

My only experience of 80's 4x4 cars was a Citroen BX 4x4 which was extremely fragile.

best advice is to read a lot of the posts on here...

Like anything, documented history and visual excelence help, but will not garantee a trouble free purchase..

The transkission takes a pounding, especially when the VC goes tight and they do (or fail open)
all tyres must be the same make and type withthe same wear.. that will be a good indicator of owner care, but most wont have...

I bought mine.. some time ago.. drove it 750 km back home, discovered some rust , got peed of and stuck it the barn while I worked away from home... finally only a few weeks ago, completed a front whel arch transplant and fixed a few other probs, test ans registration, went on my first offroad event and had a ball.. but.. its been driven about 2000km now in my hands and the gearbox has started to show signs of distress, so a rebuild is on the cards.. so it was either on its way out when I bought it, or I have done something to it.. my VC was tight so maybe this didnt help..
When things go wrong, like th the box, it aint gonna be cheap.. there are 8 cv joints in the system and 2 UJ's all have to be in very good cond.

But if you buy at the right price...

oh should have said, remember, even the youngest ones (like mine) are 14 years old or as old as 20... they all need carefull care and attention.

These vans are tough, but like anything they have weaknesses (age definitely being one of them!)

Unevenly worn tyres cause transmission problems, no doubt, but also balljoints in the suspension wear, CVs wear and lower suspension arms on the older vans are starting to rust out. Are you spotting a pattern? Age and wear.

I ran a Syncro doka for 3 years as a working farm vehicle and the only big failures were a cambelt that killed an engine (twice in a month, due to retarded garage skillz in Niton) and a driveshaft coming adrift, slightly randomly.

If I'd had the knowledge and support this site offers now, then, I would be confident that the doka would have been one of the most reliable vehicles I've owned and the technology is such that almost all work is relatively straightforward and can be completed fairly easily (even if some things are real gits to get at!)

All older vehicles will suffer mechanical failures from time to time. Not many older vehicles will put as large a smile on your face so regularly as a well maintained Syncro.

If you don't go in thinking you can run it for banger money then you'll enjoy it and it will be a rewarding ownership proposition. It's a specialist vehicle, but a pretty reliable one. Remember that Steyr-Puch were involved in the development and assembly, you only have to look at what else they've made (even the Panda 4x4) to understand the depth engineering that is intrinsic in the Syncro.

Best to read this then, to get a feel for them.

http://www.club80-90.co.uk/wiki/index.p ... _-_Testing

they are as said above, incredibly tough, but a 15~20 year old one, unless its been meticulously maintained, will have maintenance 'holes' in it. And of course, there's an awful lot of butchers out there, drivers as well as mechanics (usually of the main dealership ilk).

As always, buy well, and you won't have too many problems all at once, thats what can get you down a bit, when absolutely everything needs doing all at once. And try to keep a grand back, earning interest till you need it, unless the perfect one turns up and is definitely worth the extra grand.

Best tips: Don't buy the first one you see, don't buy without a test drive and best of all, take someone along that knows them VERY WELL.

Without this club and Syncronauts to drive alongside and pick their brains, it would be about 10x as hard to keep one on the road, if its got problems.

I'm still not put off yet!

There appears to be a few parts here that get talked about a lot.

Propshaft UJ - This doesnt worry me too much

CV Joints - Again, driveshafts dont concern me too much

Viscous Coupling - This could be a sod if i have to replace it but at £450 its not the end of the world

What about the transfer box? Does this give trouble?

If the VC was to fail could i simply disconnect the prop and drive it? My main concern is to be stuck in Norway or Iceland with no drive.

Also do you get much warning when these failures occur?

The trabnsfer box is effectively the front diff with its VC. They can be noisy (diff whine) but don't fail as such. Its the gearbox that matters, £5-£800 to fix if its not a good one, unless you can find a good one going cheap (unlikely)

Yes can take the prop off and run it pretty much as a 2WD... s if you buy one with a good box, you can always put a VC in it if its condition is debatable. Its not usually black and white though, but if its failed 'open' then thats pretty obvious the moment you go off-road. Gradual tighetening with age and miles less so, but not something to worry about unduly, putting it in is not a BIG issue.

Your next decision would be this: Diesel (1.6 TD) or Petrol WBX (1.9 carb or 2.1 Injected WBX)

I drove Torz's 1.6Td and Matt's 1.9 last night.

Its got to be the petrol engine for me although it would have to be gassed as the fuel consumption would cripple me.

So the box is where its at when it comes to the serious money then? Can you still get these new or is it a case of re-con?

Are the re-con ones any good?

Propshaft UJ - This doesnt worry me too much

If this goes then, in my opinion, the cheapest most sensible thing to do is get a new prop. This will cost just under £200. If a UJ has gone you will be made aware of it because of the vibration it will cause.

Viscous Coupling

Read the stuff on the syncro pages, will either fail closed in which case you will feel it getting more aggressive when conering etc, or will fail open i.e no drive to the front. If failed open obviously it won't be stressing the drivetrain so fine to drive, and if its getting tight then as you say drop the prop and it will be fine to drive (apart from being only 2wd!)

What about the transfer box? Does this give trouble?

No, because the isn't one. The Viscous coupling does that job.

One other thing you want to be aware of too that you haven't mentioned is gearbox failure

Cheers,
Sam.

sorry, my keyboard's a bit slow

There may be a few new ones about, but not directly from VW and if they were, you're talking £2500 +

Plus, remember, there are several different ratio boxes, so you have to find the right one, to match your front diff.

The 1.6TD isn't a bad unit and many substitute the 1.9TD Passat engine for it, although these are getting less easy to find with a reasonable mileage.

Do places like Syncronutz do re-con boxes??

By the way, sorry for asking so many questions but thank you very much for the replies, its really giving me some good info.

Yes, and straight secondhanders too if they've got one, as does Syncrospares in Devon and there are a few rebuilders around the country that have specific skills and parts. Don't worry, if it breaks boxes are available or it can be fixed - the trick is not to let it go too far and break it badly. A good one isn't too weak for the job, they're just all slowly getting into the mileage range where one or two parts fatigue or get worn out and then one thing then leads to another. Insensitive handling of the gearchange with its long and often worn selector mechanism doesn't help, and lubrication weeps if left unattended can slowly lead to low oil levels too.
Someone that knows them can tell you a lot just by test driving it. Even noting the style of gearchanging of the previous owner can be educational; if they drive it like a one ton Gti or more appropriately like a two ton truck. There's a few references in the Wiki on this.

On the other hand, quite a few have had new boxes or rebuilds already, so you could end up with a good one. If you like a Syncro but think the box may be not the best, just allow £500 or so to cover it in the years to come.

Its got to be the petrol engine for me although it would have to be gassed as the fuel consumption would cripple me.

Hi Ian
My 1.6TD has been replaced by a 1.9TD (AAZ), which doesn't really give it more power but the increased torque is useful, especially round town with the upped gearing now it's got 15 inch wheels. These seem to give it better top end though so that it cruises nicely at 75mph, and people do talk of relatively easy mods to get 100+ bhp out of these engines (but still haven't got round to them myself...).

I reckon I get about 25-30 mpg

The engine's do seem to appear (eg futbus's recently advertised), just not when you actually need one!

Good luck

Just to let you guys know i pick up my new Syncro tommorrow! CANT WAIT

dont worry about parts availability for syncros,got 15 gearboxes here either recon or straight out of van and tons litteraly of all things syncro,cheers cj.