[Paul B]

and a £500 respray will be gash almighty

[butters]

Don't buy a transit it will rot

Probably not quite as quick as a Vito would but it would be a close run thing.

Agree with Paul B - a £500 respray is going to look like your average scrote has done it with rattle cans from Halfords (if you are lucky).

[Bonjoy]

Don't buy a transit it will rot

Not the first time i've heard this sort of comment. I've had a 2002 transit for 5 years now and the only rust on it is some minor spotting on one wheel trim and bottom of side door, both due to me damaging the paintwork and then starting a repair job and not getting round to finishing.

[account_inactive]

If you look at older vehicles (Transit vs VW) you can notice a big difference

[Bonjoy]

Ah but your average VW van owner/driver is also a different beast to your average Transit owner/driver. I suspect the way they are driven and maintained is equally different and this contributes to how shagged they look after a decade of use. It’s another case of nature versus nurture.

[account_inactive]

I'm not sure how driving them is going to make a difference to the visible bodywork (unless you crash).  Time will tell

[Bonjoy]

A lot of the old Transits you see tend to be white subby vans with numerous rusty dints and scratches i.e. multiple minor collisions, probably from poor parking, plus damage from loading unload on building sites.

[nathan wind]

Checked out what looks a really nice ex AA 2.5 tdi T4 last week, re-mapped and seemingly really well looked after.. However whilst looking underneath I noticed some oil collected at the base of the engine, the owner reckons it could've been from when he changed the oil filter recently, could be I guess as I had a similar problem once when a mechanic bodged the filter change in my car years ago.. Anyone got any advice for checking this out further as the van is pretty much mint other than this.. I 'm no mechanic so I guess the only thing I can do is to get it to a garage somewhere for a second opinion before I part with any cash?

Ironically after noticing the oil I paid for an AA vehicle inspection, they guy that did the check mentioned the oil, but didn't offer any explanation as to where it might be coming from.. 

[butters]

Doesn't ring any alarm bells with me but I am no expert where T4's are concerned - try a search on the vwt4forum or the brickyard and if that still doesn't throw up anything then a post might be in order.

[Paul B]

What colour was the engine oil? I only ask as if he's just changed the filter it'll likely still be nice and golden. If it was as black as night I'd start gettting wary of his story. How about the driveway or where it was parked? Stained or clean?

[nathan wind]

Cheers guys..

The oil was black, so defo looked like it'd been through the engine and was collecting in what I guess was the sump tray - according to the guy who's selling he replaced the filter about a month ago - I've read on forums that the filter can be a hard to change so if its not flush I'm assuming oil could be making its way out from the near the seal - the guy did mention it was hard to change too.. No oil on the driveway or near the house from what I could tell.. Bar what looked like spillage from round the filler cap the engine looked very clean and well looked after too, no smoke when it started and drove really well.. no engine slap when changing gear etc..

If it was to be anything major any ideas what it could be?

I guess I need to go back down to where the van is, (70 miles from here - which kinda sucks) clean the oil away from the sump and drive it for five minutes or so and then see if any oil appears afterwards.. if it does see if he'll allow me to get it checked out somewhere.. be a shame if there was something majorly wrong as the van is really cool and in pretty much excellent condition elsewhere, plus I've managed to get a few hundred quid off, (should I go ahead with buying it..) to be fair the guy selling said he'd fix anything that came up as a result of the check too..

here's a link to the van..

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2134956.htm

Paul - just noticed your old AA van in the forums a few days back! wish I'd known you were selling that - looked awesome!

[Paul B]

Yeah it was and TBH I sold it far too cheap.

from what I remember of mine you can see very little under there due to the sump guard (which is fairly quick to remove). Is this where its collecting?

[nathan wind]

[/quote]

Yeah it was and TBH I sold it far too cheap.

from what I remember of mine you can see very little under there due to the sump guard (which is fairly quick to remove). Is this where its collecting?

Defo, from what I saw it looked like a bargain, pop up too if I remember rightly? Very cool!

From what I could tell it would have been the sump guard it was collecting in, not a massive amount there, but still a bit of liquid present, from what I remember it didn't look like it'd been cleaned recently so I guess it could have been all that had collected since the last oil / filter change..

[Paul B]

personally I'd get this off and have a look. Its just a few bolts and you should be able to do it with some squirming.

[butters]

From what I could tell it would have been the sump guard it was collecting in, not a massive amount there, but still a bit of liquid present, from what I remember it didn't look like it'd been cleaned recently so I guess it could have been all that had collected since the last oil / filter change..

That would be my best guess at what the problem is - if the filter is hard to remove then any oil in the filter is likely to have spilled when it was removed and from experience of other cars it is almost impossible to clean it all off afterwards. Can't see it being a loose filter - they should only be done up hand tight (ie no tools used) when replaced and if it was the problem then there would be oil everywhere. I would go with your suggestion of giving the sump guard a good clean and then a decent road test just to make sure - more than 5 minutes if you can as that will allow the oil to get up to temperature.

[nathan wind]

Cheers guys..

I'll head back down there later in the week, take the sump guard off, clean it up, then take it for another drive, see what gives..

If it was to be anything major any ideas what it could be /what I should be looking for? its done 110, 000 miles so I guess some seepage is tolerable / inevitable, but drips anywhere are a major no go..

[butters]

If it was to be anything major any ideas what it could be /what I should be looking for? its done 110, 000 miles so I guess some seepage is tolerable / inevitable, but drips anywhere are a major no go..

No idea what it would be if the problem persists - off the top of my head I would be looking at replacing the filter just in case it hasn't sealed correctly, rocker cover gasket possibly and maybe a blocked breather pipe as a first ports of call but after that no idea. As already mentioned I am no expert on the T4 but if there are no signs of obvious oil leakage (and you would like to think the AA man would have spotted such a thing) then it is probably spillage from the filter being replaced but don't take my word for that. 

As for 110k on the clock - it's only just run in at that mileage and the engine in the T4 is pretty bullet proof by all accounts - my T5 is close to 160k now (with no oil leaks anywhere) and I expect to get the same again with decent maintenance.

[nathan wind]

Cheers man..

Yeah, when I spoke to the AA guy he was pretty blase about the oil and hadn't tried to see if it had come from the filter, even saying he was "unsure where the filters are on a T4" which is pissing me off a bit as I asked them to look at this specifically, checking for oil leaks is almost irrelevant if they aren't going to follow it through.. That said the rest of the van was pretty much clean according to him so hopefully this bodes well.. I'm on pretty good terms with my local garage so when the written report turns up I'll ask them for their opinions too then come up with a plan from there.. At the end of the day, its a really cool van, but if I can't sort it I can leave it as there'll be others.. It'll just mean I might have to go back to Swissy in a Clio..

[nathan wind]

Thanks for the input once again guys, got the van in the end, and all's good - seems like the oil problem was residue from a filter change - have been to the Lakes twice over the last week already and no probs with it at all - very psyched! though also pretty much clueless about how to start the actual process of converting it..

From a trip to the Bowderstone this monday..

[butters]

though also pretty much clueless about how to start the actual process of converting it..

Check out the T4 forum for basic stuff or feel free to contact me regarding conversion stuff - I am in the long and drawn out process of converting my van and can offer plenty of pointers as to what to do and more importantly in what order.

Paul B is also in the process (or may have already done) a conversion on a Caddy so will probably be able to offer some sage words.

[SA Chris]

Is Project Mayhem (apologies if caps are wrong) still nto complete. Noah was quicker than that!

T4 looks ace. Conversion depends totally on what you want to do with it. Varies from doing nothing to doing everything.

[Paul B]

Most of the good info is back in this thread I believe. I'm not sure I ever got around to posting finished pictures but here they are:

[SA Chris]

Looks ace Paul. Is the WUSS numberplate deliberate?

[Paul B]

Looks ace Paul. Is the WUSS numberplate deliberate?

No but very appropriate.  (sadly, its actually for sale, my better half has decided that 'actually' she doesn't want to commute using the train [amongst other things]).

[butters]

Is Project Mayhem (apologies if caps are wrong) still nto complete. Noah was quicker than that!

Noah had a rather pressing deadline to meet which is something that I have not had to worry about till now go but the long and short of it is that pROJECT mAYHEM is not yet finished though it will (hopefully) get finished over the winter finances permitting.