Club 80-90 Forums

Currently looking at vans and have seen a (well what looks nice and suits our tastes from the photos but a real inspection will reveal more) van. Just wondering after looking through the WIKI about anyone's views on the engine and gearbox in it. It's a 2.1l water cooled engine with a 5 speed box. Anything I should look out for particularly with this one? If we went for it, how much would I be looking at to get LPG added as a conversion and whe does the tank go?

Hiya - a 2.1 will generally be injected....unless like my vans, the owner has replaced the 1.9 with a 2.1 and is running it with the carb from the 1.9. This is fine - many of us have done it.

I don't know about gas on an injection - i know it can be done but I am not sure of the workings.....it may start on petrol and switch over when it gets to certain revs....but on the carb it starts and runs on LPG.

The 2.1 in good condition is a lovely engine....but find out what the engine code is - it could be an mv, ss or dj. I run the DJ - again I think that is the most powerful of them. They definitely pull better than the old 1.9 (which was incredibly tired lol!)

gas installation £1500 should see it I think. Where it goes? depends on the conversion! Some have tanks under the rnr bed, others have them in the wardrobe at the back of the bus. I run the 5 speed box....at 215,000 its just started to get a bit whiney....but hey....its still going and I have a spare 4 speed if it all goes wrong. The five speed takes some getting used to with the dog leg between 1 and 2. But again, there are many varieties of 5 speeds. I found no savings between the four and five speed, and in my situation, the final drive is about the same revs for the same speed as the four speed in hubby's van.

Hope that helps

Em
xx

Thanks that sounds interesting, where would I find which engine it has and if it is injected? What's it like on economy ( i know van and economy don't really go together) with the bigger injected engine? It's sounding like a possible at the moment.

lpg fitting by these people http://www.gasure.co.uk/saleswbx.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

is highly recommended by lots and prices are shown on there webite.

The 2.1 injection is a lovely engine, I personally dont like the 5 speed gearbox but thats just me being to old to want to get used to the gears in the wrong place

with my injected dj I get high 20s using bp 97 ron. while in france this summer I was using 4 star and getting low to mid 30s. after about half a tank full the engine was running quieter(they're already quite, no induction roar) and returning 80mph at 3500/3600 rpm on the flat

mark

excellent engine
Mark sums it up perfectly

All 2.1 engines are injected.
The injection system is very robust and of simple construction, easy to understand...even for todays modern spotty mechanic.
Expect better fuel economy than the normally aspirated 1.9

kevtherev wrote:All 2.1 engines are injected.

<points back up to three engine codes, DJ, MV, SS>
The difference between the three is that the DJ has Digijet injection, no cat & 112bhp, the other two have the newer Digifant, a cat & 90bhp.

I like our DJ. The big drawback is that it runs very high compression - 10:1 - so the factory ignition timing is for 98RON fuel. However, ours (~200k miles total) has run happily on 95 for 40k in our ownership, with no pinking or other no ill effects apparent. <touch wood>

Get a diesel, they don't break down and if they were too, any garage can fix them.
I'll get me coat.

mark richards wrote:with my injected dj I get high 20s using bp 97 ron. while in france this summer I was using 4 star and getting low to mid 30s. after about half a tank full the engine was running quieter(they're already quite, no induction roar) and returning 80mph at 3500/3600 rpm on the flat

mark

You wish

25 - 26mpg on a run if you drive sensibly
A true 65mph (Sat Nav) at 3500/3600rpm (Speedo will be indicating 71 -72mph)

The nicest standard engine to drive excepting SA variants.

Martin

I wished and got 31mpg on a run from my carbed 2.1 Martin.
filled with just 4.5 lt petrol in a tank emptied earlier before turning to lpg
OK the road was flat and a slight tailwind, foot never moved
kept it at 50, plus a rolling 50 mpg start.
bingo
but agreed totaly unrealistic driving

I can't comment on manual gearboxes in the T25 as mine is an automatic but engine wise, the 2.1 DJ really is a cracking piece of kit. I had my LPG conversion carried out by Steve and John at Gasure near Chester. This makes the van quite economical in as much as for the price of 1 gallon of petrol spent on LPG instead, I can get about 34 miles and automatics are thirsty beggars too. I recently had some work carried out by Andrew at Campershack near Grantham which has improved the van's performance and economy.
I have the toroidal tank fitted where the spare wheel used to live (between the front wheels and above the clam plate). I also had a second, or "leisure" tank fitted underneath the van just below the sliding door which supplies gas to the fridge, cooker and the Propex warm air space heater. (It now also has a bbq take off tap fitted too) This means I no longer have to carry gas cylinders inside the van any more so the 'gas cupboard' was removed which allows me to store the spare wheel there. The other benefit of this is that should I need to change a wheel in the pouring rain, I do not have to lie down in a puddle while I get the spare out from behind the clamplate. I hope this helps.

I love this place I would I bother to bull*hit
your more than welcome come and have a drive, 83000 miles, aap gearbox, never gets tappety and can keep up with our v50 d5 if the mrs is driving it(the volvo that is)

mark

California Dreamin wrote:

mark richards wrote:with my injected dj I get high 20s using bp 97 ron. while in france this summer I was using 4 star and getting low to mid 30s. after about half a tank full the engine was running quieter(they're already quite, no induction roar) and returning 80mph at 3500/3600 rpm on the flat

mark

You wish

25 - 26mpg on a run if you drive sensibly
A true 65mph (Sat Nav) at 3500/3600rpm (Speedo will be indicating 71 -72mph)

The nicest standard engine to drive excepting SA variants.

Martin

mark richards wrote:aap gearbox

http://www.rjes.com/html/gearbox_types.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
AAP - 3935rpm @ 80mph, on 185R14C. 3443rpm @ 70, 2951rpm @ 60, so 3197rpm @ 65.

Against Mark's claim, that's 335-435rpm higher.
Against Martin's claim, that's 303-403rpm lower.

In other words, the reality is just about bob-on in the middle between the two.

Shall we call that a draw, shake hands and and move on, Gentleman?

(If we assume Mark's 80 is indicated, and is a chunk high, then the reality of 71mph @ 3500, 73mph @ 3600 is probably pretty close)

more than happy to move on at high speed

mark

AdrianC wrote:

mark richards wrote:aap gearbox

http://www.rjes.com/html/gearbox_types.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
AAP - 3935rpm @ 80mph, on 185R14C. 3443rpm @ 70, 2951rpm @ 60, so 3197rpm @ 65.

Against Mark's claim, that's 335-435rpm higher.
Against Martin's claim, that's 303-403rpm lower.

In other words, the reality is just about bob-on in the middle between the two.

Shall we call that a draw, shake hands and and move on, Gentleman?

(If we assume Mark's 80 is indicated, and is a chunk high, then the reality of 71mph @ 3500, 73mph @ 3600 is probably pretty close)

Forgetting the revs for a moment, are we really saying Mark managed quote 'low to mid 30's' whilst driving 80mph on the flat ?

Mark also quotes high 20's on 97ron but then mentions 4 star and low to mid thirties......so what is 97ron if not 4 star, same thing isn't it?

Martin