[T3] great weekend drive

Sat Sep 24 17:03:29 PDT 2011

Yes, it's the electrodes and centre insulator that is important.  The black
at the edges just shows rich burning on warm up that's burnt off where the
heat is concentrated in normal running.

I would say they look more like my watercooled plugs where the engine is
designed to run lean, than the normal colour for my Type 3s.  However, I've
run diesels for quite a few years now so haven't seen w/c plugs for a while.

I suspect you may be running a bit lean.  I wonder if the resistance of the
cylinder head temperature sensor is a bit on the low side.  I hesitate to
suggest you adjust anything until you've done more miles, as it's running
well, you say.

Dave.
UK VW Type 3&4 Club
===================

-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org
[mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org] On Behalf Of Bryon
Garvin
Sent: 24 September 2011 20:24
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: Re: [T3] great weekend drive

Ok, just returned from a 30-45 minute drive running errands.  I pulled a
spark plug and here's photos of it's condition.  I'm not too good at knowing
what it should look like normally or what it would look like if it was
running lean.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/W9DATbMjFMdymPmLT060TIf_qYKoZb-Wp8u9KA
AaYRU?feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/n_v7t4RD0L8UeJGl1-eL7of_qYKoZb-Wp8u9KA
AaYRU?feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/qpi-1wktQpKLTdQQI70ny4f_qYKoZb-Wp8u9KA
AaYRU?feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/89bjJJ0vBYWYjPAldbEswIf_qYKoZb-Wp8u9KA
AaYRU?feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/sXXsdTH5XS_II8wcQOIakYf_qYKoZb-Wp8u9KA
AaYRU?feat=directlink

Dave said to look for a straw color instead of white....I assume that means
the body of the spark plug?  If so, looks pretty white to me.

The black on the spark plug is more like dust and comes off easiliy, it's
not oily or hard to remove.

Can anyone take a second to look at these pics and let me know if I'm
looking good on the plugs or not?  I'm still running on my 2nd tank of gas
after the really good mileage so I don't have new numbers to look at yet
regarding mileage.

Thanks all :)

 - Bryon, '71 Fastback

On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 3:33 AM, Dave Hall <dave at hallvw.clara.co.uk> wrote:

> It is surprisingly high - I get about the same number but our gallons 
> are about 25% bigger (it's the only thing I can think of that's bigger 
> in the UK than the USA !).
>
> Your tyres are stock size.  Tyre pressure can improve mpg, but reduce
grip.
> I use 20/30 front/rear, but a few psi either side wouldn't change the 
> mpg much.
>
> Probably a good idea to take a look at the plugs after a drive and see 
> if they look straw colour rather than white, to check you're not 
> running too lean.
>
> Calculating mpg on 200 miles of driving gives an idea, but you've done 
> more than that on other driving.  We puzzled at how Brian Fye got 
> better than normal mpg, but never worked out the reason.
>
> Lucky you.  At the equivalent here of $8 for one US gallon, it would 
> be good to get such mpg!
>
> Dave.
> UK VW Type 3&4 Club
> ===================
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org
> [mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org] On Behalf Of 
> Bryon Garvin
> Sent: 06 September 2011 07:13
> To: type3 at vwtype3.org
> Subject: Re: [T3] great weekend drive
>
> >
> >  One thing to be careful about is that you actually torque the CV 
> > joint bolts when everything's back together.
> > They've been known to come loose on you while driving if you don't 
> > have the correct spline driver and a torque wrench.
>
>
> I did have the 12 point star driver and a torque wrench and did them 
> to 25 ft-lbs.  I think I read that right in the Bentley.  If did that 
> wrong, please tell me.
>
> > I went back to the ethanol-free station and filled again to check 
> > the
> > > mileage.  34 mpg !  I was very pleased :)  I got 200 miles in 
> > > before the gauge hit 1/2 a tank.  That sender was recently fixed 
> > > by Jim so I feel it's fairly accurate.  By the time I filled up, 
> > > it was slightly under 1/2 a tank and I got 6.35 gallons in it.
> >
> > Unless this was downhill or downwind both ways, or you were driving 
> > 40 mi/hr the whole way, your mileage was pretty astonishing for a FI
> > '71 and US gallons. I've never done nearly that well without a 
> > strong tailwind.
> >
>
> I felt that it was tremendous mileage and much better than I expected.  
> But I guess if it matters, remember that it was ethanol-free, 92, and 
> I was driving no more than 60 mph because of the roads that I take to 
> get there and probably 1/3 of it was around 50 mph.  There was a 
> somewhat of a tail-wind on the way, but really, I was fighting some 
> buffeting from the side most of the way there.  I'd basically say "no" to
having a tailwind.
>
> >
> > You don't have smaller than stock tires on the front, do you? That 
> > would skew the odometer reading. I can't think of anything else that 
> > would give you mileage that good.
> >
>
>  The tires are 165R15 -- not sure if that's stock or not.  Around 
> town, in normal use, I average about 21 and that's mostly city.  I've 
> been keeping track for 2200 miles and that's the average.
>
> I'm interested to hear your response Jim because currently, this would 
> be the best mileage I get out of any of my cars on the highway and 
> that includes my 96 Jetta.
>
> I'm going to keep driving to this station and running 92 ethanol-free 
> just to see what the around-the-town mileage is.  I don't mind paying 
> that money at this point if I'm getting that kind of return on the
investment.
>
>  - Bryon, '71 Fastback
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