The Dispatch | Expert | Scudo Hub

If you have Amazon capability, you could try the Liqui Moly Gearbox Sealant.  i searched for the Mannol equivalent, given the fact its made in Germany, but the liqui moly stuff came up instead.  Go figure.  but that might be

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Liqui-Moly-P … ive&sr=1-1

Gearbox oil wise, all I could find above 75w80 was 80w90 in Europe.  It seems 80w85 is available, but mainly seems to be used by the American market.

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Mannol-Unive … ive&sr=1-3

In reality i don't think you will have any problems finding either product locally, if you are in a big town or city.  In more rural locations, it might be better to try and order online.  But I havent been to the Czech Republic.

I get about that at 60mph, but when the turbo was knackered and the power was less I seemed to get far more.

Did you enjoy your trip?

You aren't wrong about abuse and inexperience causing most problems.  People watch a couple of youtube videos, consider themselves an expert and then get themselves into trouble.  Seems to be at least 4 a year on some of the forums I read that burn a garage or house to the ground from charging LiPo/Li-Ion incorrectly.  I used to charge my cells individually, then build the pack, add a BMS and generally used a Victron charger beyond that for Ion or LFP.  Haven't touched LiPo and never will.

Anyway if you found a good product that works for you, go with it.

Which would buy you a van with a high roof.

4A isn't bad or less than 1A in eco mode.

Yeah thanks for sending me one Chris.

Where did you stick yours, John?  I like to be as stealthy as possible, so don't really want it too overt.  Was considering the bottom of one of the back doors.

If its a peltier type, 5-10A depending on quality of the cooler.  Down the road, look for a cheap 12v compressor fridge.  They use bugger all power and work a lot better (and can come with a freezer compartment too).

If you were really worried about draining the battery, you could put a second battery in the engine compartment, assuming you have that dead space on the left side above the windscreen washer tank.  I don't know if all vans have that space, but it seems like you could easily install a second battery there and connect it to the van battery via a VSR.  Then run the cooler from the second battery.

I think these vans have a tendency towards gearbox issues.  Mine has loose gear selector problems and reverse plus first to third don't stay in fully.  I have read a couple of threads on the net of people with similar problems.  Will probably need to rebuild mine at some point and put a new clutch in.

Funny about your coolant as well.  Mine doesn't leak, but it is not at all clear either.  I honestly don't think its ever been changed.  It's an orange, milky looking fluid that needs to be dropped at some point and replaced.  But it still works ok.

I did a basic service on mine after I got it and I don't think the oil had been done in a bloody long time.  Had to get a piece of scaff on the strap wrench to get the filter off and a breaker bar to get the sump plug off.  But the engine seems pretty bulletproof so far.  Bodywork wasn't bad either.  One weird thing I noticed on mine was after putting the correct amount of oil in the engine the dipstick still showed minimum level.  It wasn't until I got to about 5.2L that it hit the halfway point.  Although I think there is an engine variant that does take 5.5L, but thought it was the 16v.

I had a turbo issue as well, turned out to be a massive split in the intercooler hose.  Also the pipe running from wastegate solenoid had sheared off.  Might be worth checking over the hoses if you have intermittent turbo issues.

Beyond that, half a bottle of Redex fixed a lot of problems.  Like the guy you got yours from, the one I bought mine from didn't seem to have much of a clue.  But everything is fixable with time and money.

My plan is more than likely to do the linkage cables next week and see if that will keep it in gear.  I think it will.  I think, like everything on this van, the last couple of owners did the very least amount of maintenance on it, if any at all.  The fallout from that is to make it mine I need to invest in it, quite a lot.

I will probably drop the fluid again in a month and see how much metal comes out with it.  if it's been grinding, then I would expect some to be in it and it should be easier to spot in relatively new fluid.  To be fair while their was some on the magnet on the sump plug, it wasn't excessive, when I dropped it last week.  This time I will probably have a scrape around in the bottom of the case with an allen key and see whats in the sludge that i probably missed last time.  Then refill with more moly and gear oil. 

Mileage wise I expect to do about 300 a week from now until next June (and maybe more next year), but I'm at college currently (and not locally) so have no choice, and as an aside, also have no real spare cash per se, but can do minor purchases, like brake pads and service items.  But big stuff is a no go at the minute.  Maybe once my bike is gone and a few other things are sold I will have spare money for things like replacement gearboxes.  I know as far as this box goes, I would almost prefer to rebuild it myself, because at least i know it will be completely clean and rebuilt to spec, but it's also a lot of work.  At least it becomes a known quantity, as opposed to buying a scrap yard box that may not be any better than the one I'm removing.

And yes, the clutch will also get replaced when I do the gearbox.  I still don't know much about replacing them, so will have to research a bit.  I've watched JohnDragonMan's videos on youtube a couple of times and a few of the American ones (ChrisFix, Scotty Kilmer) and I have done a bike clutch before, but nothing quite as big as the van clutch.  I will probably try and do a visual guide when I do it, but similarly i don't see it happening until next summer, unless I suddenly win the lottery or something.

Just a follow up.  From what I've read on here and other places.  One of the cables controls gear selection and one controls the slide between ends of the gear selector?  A third one exists that is the lock for reverse gear?

I have the whirring noise primarily on first and reverse and mainly because of the amount of gear stick play when those gears are engaged.  I have also worked out that if the whirring noise occurs when its in neutral, I can stop it by pushing the gear stick to the right, to the position where fifth gear, but not engaging it.

I am looking to do this job by the end of this month.

I was pretty much forced into it by my mate from Uni.  The best part of the last meet was the Old Peculiar on tap.  Apart from that it was a bunch of middle aged 'criminal type' bike gang members (from many bike clubs) with big stomachs and an inability to hold their liquor.  Not really my cup of tea.  Abroad is much nicer and the people are usually more interesting.