maxted Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 My wife and I moved to the uk earlier in the year to do some traveling around the uk and Europe. So we got a campervan to travel around in, I thought I might as well make a thread for the few little mods I want to do to it and a few of the places we take it. we both love Kombi vans especially bay window t2’s, but we wanted something with a bit more room and more modern/reliable (turned out should of stuck with old and easy to fix!) anyhow we ended up getting a T5 transporter with a pop top elevating roof, it’s a 2.5 tdi 6 speed making it better for sitting on motorways doing 70-80 mph. It has two burner gas hob and sink with cold water tap/pump, roll out bed (with seatbelts so can still carry passengers legit), and a fridge. It has a lesuire battery with a split charge set up off the alternator and a 240v inverter/charger with mains plug in. heres some photos of it 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxted Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxted Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxted Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxted Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxted Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxted Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 So we had a bad start with this thing not long after purchasing this it starts using water, short story ended up getting a second hand engine with less miles chucked in to get back on the road quicker and kept the old engine aside for spares/ look at rebuilding in the future. (Apparently need special tools for timing ect and even to remove the water pump) so all was well drove over 2000 miles around cornwall and south England over summer taking it easy on the new motor, then on our way heading back to the north of England on the motorway I go to overtake a big Lorry and bam lose all power try merge back in so I can pull over, had a quick visual and couldn’t find anything wrong ect, start it back up and it’s fine so I take it easy all the way back, figure it’s gone into limp mode for some reason. Gutted, manage to get my hands on a obd code reader and find out its over boosting, after some diagnosis and research turns out these things have a variable vane turbo and are prone to get clogged with carbon eventually causing them to stick open or shut, mine stuck midway allowing it to drive ok until you reach between 2400-3000rpm depending on load. Apparently you can fill the exhaust housing with mr muscle oven cleaner to try free up some carbon and get them unstuck but it’s only really a band aid solution (not keen on getting stuck in Europe or cause any damage to the turbo and have any metal through this engine), also during this time it’s developed exhaust leaks around the manifold (that crack around the welds as they are not a cast manifold from factory, good one VW!) which results in gassing out the cabin when the heater fans on and it’s stationary/stuck in traffic (not ideal as it’s been snowing last week so pretty cold with heater turned off!) and being poisoned whilst freezing. Heres an example of the vanes getting clogged So I have found a local shop who reconditions turbos and they let me supply a new aftermarket cast manifold to swap on while he has the turbo off. Looking forward to getting it back with a properly functioning turbo as it has felt quite sluggish for a 2.5 turbo and being able to leave the heater on to warm the cabin before venturing off in the cold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxted Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 with all the negatives out the way, there is a few things id like to do to the van before we head off to Europe -make a roof bed that folds up with the roof when not in use with gas struts (its an optional extra when the roof is fitted) but I will make my own similar -add another battery to the leisure battery setup to add some capacity then add some solar panels and a controller to keep it topped up so the fridge can run with out draining the battery and not need to get an electric site all the time at camp grounds/ freedom camp more. also install some voltmeters to keep an eye on both start battery and leisure volts. -if funds allow some new rims, ideally some 19" to replace the factory 17" alloys, I quite like these and a fiamma bike rack that fits the barn door style so you can still open the door without needing to remove the rack every time like this 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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