I have heard that they are a workhorse, I have the 1.6D engine in my camper and although it is relatively slow it just chugs along relentlessly, great on long journeys as long as you don't mind cruising at 60mph ish.
that's great to hear as ours does about +35 mpg and is a plodder. Just wondered about these engines as there seems to be not a lot out there. however they are a bit noisy like an old perkins engine. still if it goes dont put it down.
We rarely see them through the workshop.
I do like them though, endearing, all their owners seem to love them too, happy little buzzing engines!
Not fast but will do what they are meant to all day every day.
we did all the normal bits when we got her first, full service,cam belt and tensioners,new heater plugs,replaced some of the fuel hoses as well as they where a bit hairy around the ends,new brake drums shoes front discs and pads and brake fluid, then full service every year,in fact thats where she is right now getting serviced today (25 years full VW history) MOT tomorrow. When we do a really long drive heading on holidays we put a bottle of injector cleaner in thats about twice a year.
1967 RHD WALKTHROUGH SPLITSCREEN
1971 RHD BAY
1993 MK1 GTI CABBY RIVAGE
1989 T25 KOMET
1991 T25 SYNCRO PANEL VAN
that's my next stage the cam belt, i know when i brought it i was told it had one fitted but this was two years ago let alone i have only covered 3,000 miles in this time(not the main vehicle)
My 1.7D has just died, think was due to the milage, the last 5 years MOTs have had the same milage of 168K miles, the guy was doing around 10k a year in it so probably well over 200k miles it was still running really nice till the weekend, turns out the bores are worn, rings and head cracked but not too bad really. Now having a 1.9D put in.
no mine just seems to be very good on the mpg.. when i purchased the van it came with receipt for over £1,400 rebuild to the engine.. seems great to me. The ex owner who was retired told me that he ignored the temp buzzer and the engine stopped.. its had a new head and rebuild etc
I love my KY. really economical, 36mpg+ with a high top, adequate performance, quiet (when she's warmed up) and will go up any hill you find as long as you keep the revs in the 'sweet spot' (when she 'Growls' a bit) - don't know what that is in exact revs cos I don't have a rev counter.
She's a Camper, not a hot hatch so I don't care about 0-60 in 5 seconds and all that rubbish. Smiles per mile is what it's all about. MMMmmm...
Love this thread! I have a KY too. From my memory during my research 2.5 years ago they were put in by the Germans so that the delivery/post vans they were installed into were more reliable. I have come to think of the engine as a generator connected to a camper van. I never did get round to fitting the turbo
My ky went after many miles of abuse from me. It was fantastic and extremely economic. I have no idea what happened but it started with the buzzer if doom....