There have been several posts to the listserve at http://gerry.vanagon.com/ regarding oil pressure, oil levels and the like on vanagon conversions using the diesel oil pan and mounted at 50 degrees.  If you have a conversion at 50 degrees and you don’t have an oil pressure gauge….GET ONE!  First, check out this post by Frank G. http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0101B&L=vanagon&P=R511&m=115398

   I had purchased a new 36mm (larger) oil pump and was disappointed to find out that the vanagon diesel pick up tube is integrated into the diesel  pump and cannot be unbolted.  Instead, I bolted the diesel top plate/pickup tube to the new pump.  I was contemplating simply modifying the new oil pump pickup tube but thoughts of hydrodynamic high jinks with a custom pickup made me think otherwise.

   My first test drives showed the oil pressure gauge bouncing up and down during highway or higher rpm operation.  There  were no other indications of a problem except that occasionally, I would get the low oil pressure buzzer below 2000rpm when slowing down from highway speeds.  One mechanic suggested too much oil was in the case, another suggested not enough.  Either way, I was not going to drive the van until the oscillating oil pressure issue was resolved.  Oil pressure should be rock steady at a given RPM and load.  I played with oil levels, but the final fix was the addition of the GTI 2.0 litre windage tray between the oil pan and block.  I also removed some of the oil pickup tube “skirt” to allow easier oil entry to the pump.  Oil pressure immediately returned to the standard 1.0 bar per 1000 rpm.

   As Frank G. has observed, the larger 2.0 litre crank protrudes a bit farther down into the oil pan and agitates the oil.  Resulting aeration limits the oil pump’s effectiveness.

   It would seem quite necessary to install the windage tray, carefully measure the oil added, and then mark your dipstick as appropriate.  I also am using the larger MANN filter spec’d for the diesel vanagon.  It does not have an internal drain-back valve but this seems to have cured an initial problem with the oil pump losing prime (no pressure at start) after several weeks of sitting.  Several listees have reported this issue.

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