I just want to say I am so glad I came across your video. I am refurbishing my 86 westy ac with pretty much all new parts except for the original evaporator and blower unit as i will clean out and reuse those. I was just searching on here to look at cabinet removal of the back ac (im lucky enough to have the back factory ac unit like you pictured in the video) but came across your video. I also have the GoWesty more efficient condenser and while my condenser came in good shape they forgot the metal tube like spacers in the hardware bag and also gave me two left brackets instead of a left and a right (very frustrating). I love seeing how you created your own bracelets as I also was worried about the somewhat inferior mounting system provided and also how much space was between the rad and condenser causing inefficient air flow. So really appreciate you posting this as I will start creating brackets tomorrow (who knows when GoWesty would be able to send me the missing hardware also as the condenser is always out of stock therefore maybe the replacement hardware is hard to get also). Before I start mimicking your bracket system please let me know if it all worked well the way you show in the video or did you end up finding you had to change anything with how you mounted the condenser. Thanks again! Awesome job.
Thankyou for the feedback! Last October as I preparing to install the assembly, I was in a severe car crash which broke my leg and messed up my foot. I am just now getting around to being able to work on things again and will be installing this along with the new engine and transmission real soon. I did measure out and double check the inlet and outlet ports to make sure they clear behind the left side high beam headlight and everything seems in order so far. No issues as of yet, and expect to see a video of the completed installation with additional thoughts when I finally get there. Best of luck with your installation!
I have been following your build and adventures with the EG33 for some time and now have my own EG33 engine in my Vanagon! I have avoided some of your early misadventures, thankfully, and have a powerful and smooth running engine thanks to some good luck finding a low miles engine and some tweeking to the ECU. This vid was very timely as I went through some of the same experiences with installing AC. I also found that the EG33 engine needs more cooling than my previous engine, a 2.5L Subaru when the AC was installed. I also installed the bigger fan motor. I went with the well tested Small Car performance kit. This puts the AC unit behind the dash and replaces the stock heater unit. I have found this to be very efficient and very, very cold even on 100+ deg (F) days. As far as cooling the engine, I found an air dam in front was very helpful--pushes more air through the radiator. But the exhaust path for the radiator air is also very important. I also installed an oil cooler which helps to keep the engine cool as well by diverting heat from the cooling system.
I thought about doing the smallcar kit so I would have it in the dash, but wasn't sure how the other passengers and dog would appreciate that so I decided to go with the setup I built. Do you have an oil temperature gauge installed in yours? Curious if you knew what the temp was at before you did your oil cooler versus after. I have also installed an oil cooler in the other rear duct area but have not plumbed it yet. (Going to build a custom large capacity oil pan with buit in hard lines to get oil from the filter sandwich plate on the drivers side across to the oil cooler on the passenger side without a bunch of line precariously hanging around in the back). I now have a low miles engine to finally replace the JDM one that I put piston rings in some time ago. The cam journals in my ported cylinder heads are finally worn out after being starved for oil from it burning so much over the years, lol. It no longer burns oil which is nice, but a shame the engine was worn out badly ahead of time. Thanks for following along and I'm glad my journey has provided valuable insight to some wanting to do something similar. It has been really fun going at it on my own and coming up with what I have. Great tip about the exhaust air from the radiator. I have been looking at this some as well, and have been thinking about getting rid of the spare tire from the carrier underneath and doing something different for the spare tire. I can't imagine how much more air flow I could get out of the radiator without the tire carrier blocking the air stream underneath. Next time I'm in MN I will be building a custom set of bumpers with a friend, and I think we might go ahead and put the spare tire on a carrier in the back that swings away from the bumper. When you replaced the stock heater box with your AC box, do you still get outside air from the scoop in the front? If so, that something you had to come up with an adapter for?
@@DoogieLabs Thanks for the reply. Yes I have an oil temp gauge and the temps I was getting were alarming in the summer with 110 deg heat--up to 245 on hyway and uphill. I was seeing the water and oil temps going up together--they seem to feed each other so decided I needed to get the oil BTUs out of the cooling system. I installed a thermostatic cooler adapter from Improved Racing (Part # ENV-131), a 14 row cooler from Improved Racing (MHx-14) with their shroud and fan kit, with 180 Deg thermostat in adapter and fan switch. The results have been excellent. On 100 deg day, the temp stays below 220 on long uphills, 200 mostly, and 80 deg day around 200 uphill. It was very difficult to find a place to mount it and installed in LR wheel well. Seems to work well there but would not work with oversized tires. Both of my D pillars were already occupied. I have put a lot into smoothing exhaust air from rad. I removed the spare from there years ago and ran the GW off-road plate as an aero aid (I thought) until the SVX was installed and water temps were going to 200 and above. Then I saw a post on THESAMBA by a guy who was experimenting with air dams and got dramatic improvement in cooling and had the same experience with the GW plate actually hurting cooling. I bought an air dam and removed the plate and now the engine stays at about 180, especially since I installed the oil cooler. I still wanted to be able to carry stuff under the front so got the GW new carry box that fits in the spare mounts, but had the same problem with temp so cut out the front part and replaced it with a screen for air exit and that worked. I moved the spare to the back but I hardly ever carry one now unless I'm going to some remote area. In 25 years of owning this van I have never used the spare and in most areas I could call a tow if needed. The SC AC is great but I can't see any easy way to get outside air to it. It could be done many different ways but is too much work and it has been ok without. The stock air intake has to be blocked off. It's a huge job to install it as it is. I've had to do it twice as the first version somehow got contaminated and started eating compressors. I've adapted the compressor from a 09 2.5 by modifing the SVX mount.
I just found this video and others by you and really enjoyed watching your problem solving. I have a question about an unrelated project that I am working on related to replacing the ECM on my 2000 Dodge Ram Maxivan with 5.9L engine that was converted by Roadtrek into a camper van. I haven't been able to find information anywhere about how to test electrical components that could contribute to the failure of the ECM in order to prevent them from causing failure of the refurbished ECM. I'm not sure what should be tested or where to start. It seems like the type of project that would be interesting to you and others.
Hi Laura, ECMs are generally speaking pretty resilient pieces of hardware. In all my years doing this I've had only a small handful of ECMs that turned out to be "bad". In order to give you a starting place, I would need to hear the story / chain of events that led up to the ECM going bad. Were you driving at the time? Did you come out one morning and have no start? Was there bucking, or any other behavior or check engine codes at the time the problem presented itself? Does the ECM still communicate with a scan tool and just not start?
@@DoogieLabs Thanks for replying. I bought the RV almost two years ago from a couple in their 80's who were the original owners. It had 37,000 miles on it. I didn't notice the check engine light on at the time and am not sure if it was already on or if it came on shortly after I bought it. There were no other symptoms. It even passed emissions in MD a few weeks later. A mechanic checked the error code and tried to erase it a few times but it kept coming back. He said I needed a new ECM but that it would cost a lot of $$. (error message PO601 -- the PCM (ECU)). So I ordered a refurbished one but decided not to replace it before my first big trip just in case I messed something up. I have been driving around with the "new" ECM stored in the RV in case my engine starts to act up. But so far I haven't noticed anything strange that might indicate a bad ECM except for the check engine light. I would like to replace the ECM at some point so that the check engine light goes away, but I need to figure out how to test all the inputs before I do so that the new one doesn't fail.
@@lauragoyer4819 I have some good news for you, P0601 represents an internal ECM problem. Particularly with your ROM checksum. In ECMs the operating system software and engine calibrations are usually stored on the same chip. This is called the ROM, or Read Only Memory. This can be programmed with factory service tools now but in the old days they used to have to program the chip before inserting it (or soldering it) into the computer. When the computer powers on, as a part of its self diagnostics it performs a checksum routine. The checksum is a number derived from a math equation that takes into account every single bit of data that is stored on that chip inside your ECM. Before the chip is programmed with this operating system software and engine calibration data, the software engineers that developed it insert a pre calculated checksum value into the chip for the computer to compare against every time it calls for that checksum routine at power on. If the calculated checksum doesn't exactly match the checksum value burned into the ROM from the factory, a P0601 is set. The good news is, the wiring to the computer is good. There isn't any electrical fault that would have caused this that wouldn't take out other sections of the computer first. Usually when a P0601 gets set it is because the internal chips are really old and the data is corrupting, or a piece of cosmic radiation just happened to smash into the right spot on the chip die and flip a bit. This is a pretty rare occurrence, but not unheard of. (Bit rot from defects and age is more common) As for explaining why it is still running good, the bit that got flipped or data that got corrupted is in a section of the operating system software that doesn't adversely affect engine operation. Perhaps the bit that got flipped is a small piece of engine calibration data, or a function of the operating system that doesn't get used unless a sensor goes bad or is in some other special mode. Checksums often take into account the unused space on a ROM, so it might not even effect anything at all. Back around to that good news I mentioned. I am confident that you can replace your ECM outright and expect to not have the same issue occur again. (Unless you store radioactive material near your ECM.) Whether it be a manufacturer defect with that chip, or cosmic radiation, it was not your existing wiring harness that is at fault here. There is a chance you can fix the P0601 by having the dealership flash the stock software on it again. This should reset the flipped bit since you are reloading the software. If other memory areas of the ECU are good (RAM) this will reset your P0601. If I was you, I would switch them, and keep your bad one as a "spare". Hope this helps
@@DoogieLabs Thank you for this in-depth explanation. Makes perfect sense. I finally feel comfortable switching out the old ECM and will keep it as a spare.
Great video. I have the same engine on my 89 westy. I have rear and front ac and the temp is always above the led light. Where do you purchase that 500w radiator fan? Thanks.
Thanks! I got both the fan and shroud from van-cafe.com They are out of stock on both at the moment. You can find the find around on eBay, but I am not sure at this time where you can find the appropriate shroud.
Doogie Labs thank for responding. Do you happen to have the parts # from Van Cafe? They have one with this part # 251959455M and the price is 499.00. This is the one? Thanks.
@@juanka1053 In this video I am using fan part number 443 959 455N that fits fan shroud 068 121 205. These are the original VW part numbers for these parts.
