The Burning Volkswagen Kombi – A Fiery Problem For A Classic Van
Posted by in Volkswagen Magazine on July 10, 2011
The air-cooled Volkswagen Kombi is an iconic vehicle that just oozes character. Kombis are practical too. You can drive them to work, carry the family around and go camping in them, and you still see them being used on a daily basis as well as being restored for occasional use. There are still plenty of young guys and girls who would like to own one as their daily driver.
Volkswagen kombis do have one disturbing fault though. They catch fire, and then it’s goodbye Kombi.
So just why do they catch fire, and what can you do to stop yours burning?
I haven’t found a definitive article in a VW magazine yet, but I’ve been driving my 1976 2 liter bay window as my daily driver for over 14 years, so I’ve taken an interest in the problem and learnt as much as I could. I’ll answer the question as well as I can.
There are actually a few different things that can cause the Kombi to burn, but they all come back to fuel getting loose in the engine bay. Kombis have a fuel tank in front of and above the engine, a hose going down from that to the fuel pump, and another hose going up through the tinware to the carbies.
Kombis are old now, and they have a lot of age related problems unless they’ve been rebuilt. Even then, it’s most likely not everything has been brought back to as new condition.
One of those old-age problems is perished and cracked fuel lines. Chances are yours have been replaced, but check them anyway. When they crack they can leak gas everywhere. One spark and your Kombi is history. Also, right below the engine are two hot heat exchangers that have the exhaust running through them. I don’t know what causes the biggest problem, heat exchangers or sparks, but it’s largely irrelevant when your van goes up in smoke. Read the rest of this entry »
Vauxhall Part Man – Part Machine
Posted by in Vauxhall Magazine on July 10, 2011
The title of the post may be confusing, well it’s in reference to the new Vauxhall Signum, an executive car costing around £28,000. The reason the title says ‘vauxhall part man, part machine’ is because essentially it is a machine (a car) but it is stuffed full of boys toys that it feels like it was designed for a man and the car itself is a man wanting to show off his toys (in my opinion anyway)
The Signum was launched in 2003 and was marketed as a premium car for work, family and play wrapped up into one with lots of space and style due to its unique vauxhall parts. The car looks as if its based on the Vauxhall Vectra but longer and combines the best vauxhall parts and features from other cars such the storage ability of an estate, flexibility of a larger multiple personnel vehicle and comfort of a hatchback.
To reveal why the Vauxhall Signum is becoming the most popular Vauxhall estate car you have to examine its car parts. Firstly the very impressive 3 litre V6 engine is a powerful engine which can outperform a Ferrari 360 (according to Total Vauxhall magazine). Normally for this type of car engine in this type of car you would expect to pay no less than 35,000 GBP, but the Signum under cuts this budget and still crams in more Vauxhall parts to make the car unique. Of course you can have different version with the most models using the 2.2 Direct ECOTEC car engine (uses petrol direct injection), still excellent value for the money.
With sport models you can get all the trimming from sporty suspension to 19 inch allow wheels and electric door mirror wipers. It would not be a Signum if it did not have the extras such as chrome door handles and carbon-fibre door trims. Read the rest of this entry »