What to do with my old VW T4 van?

[mangocrazy]

I was mooching about a T4 forum and someone had an OE caravelle brochure (carved on stone tablets) that said oil must be checked every journey as oil usage could be as high as 1l/1000km.

It's become a habit to check oil levels before any journey of more than 40-50 miles. The joys of living with a 20 year old/250k miles van I suppose...

[Demannu]

My merc 316 is 20 in 3 months, uses a litre between oil changes (15k)

[mangocrazy]

My merc 316 is 20 in 3 months, uses a litre between oil changes (15k)

That's exceptional.

[Screwdriver]

I thought you could weld and had time on your hands?

Yes I suppose so, I can weld but what I don't know is how bad this vehicle is and waht needs to be done. No chance of me getting it up high enough for a good look and not enough experience to know what I am looking for. They are a very friendly garage (I've done a fair bit of work for them in the past) so they will give me a free estimate.

The other thing is, as I begin to emerge from hibernation, I have a ton of stuff to do and while I am fairly confident I could get the van sorted myself, it would take me ages. If the numbers work out, it might be more cost effective for me to just get it done professionally. They'll probably be happy for me to chip in perhaps with the odd panel that I can certainly make more quickly and cheaply.

It's not beyond the realms of possibility it is too far gone with some serious structural element I haven't seen yet.

[demographic]

Got a 220, 000 mile Toyota Hiace here, I won't say it doesnt use oil but I would say that it's not significant over a thousand miles.
It gets servived every six or so months cos thats dentists checkup day and I just take a day off for both. And I think fresh oil doesn't slip past the rings as much as oil thats past its best.
Hell, I think its still on its original clutch.

[DefTrap]

My 210000 mile really crappy 406 uses hardly any oil, like literally a sip between oil changes. It's like those terrible old pair of shoes you have that look really frightful and you shouldn't really be seen dead in but somehow you just can't bear to throw them out.

[Bigjawa]

It's a 250k van, you could spend on the engine and the box or something else pack up shortly after, usually when one thing big goes a whole lot fails in quick succession.

You have to decide if it's worth the gamble.

[Screwdriver]

Stuck a new battery in the old bus and it starts with easy start but won’t keep going. Tipped in a gallon of petrol just in case but it still won’t start or run on petrol alone.

It’s a fuel injected V5 2.5 litre Audi thing, been stood for years so I assume something in the injectors is gummed up??

What should I try first to get it going? It’s there some sort of product I can pour into it to “free it up”?

[Felix]

Stuck a new battery in the old bus and it starts with easy start but won’t keep going. Tipped in a gallon of petrol just in case but it still won’t start or run on petrol alone.

It’s a fuel injected V5 2.5 litre Audi thing, been stood for years so I assume something in the injectors is gummed up??

What should I try first to get it going? It’s there some sort of product I can pour into it to “free it up”?

Not air in the fuel lines? Partly clogged fuel filter or even drain as it could well have condensation water in it.