revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Thought I'd stick a few phtots up as I go along sorting out my new van.

As some of you will have seen,
We started here.....



128k ex RAC van bought from Ivybridge Commercials.
We struck a deal at £14,300.
2.0 Tdi 140 bhp
Dsg auto gear box,
Tailgate and tow hitch.

I was lucky enough to be able to ride my bike over last weekend to pick it up.

And I've been busy ordering parts ever since

Last weekend all I managed was to pull out the ply lining and give it a good pressure wash and scrub inside!

Rather a concern was when the low coolant light came on. Upon inspection the tank was well under the minimum whci is not a good sign considering the "service" that was carried out just recently!

I've been flat out at work all week and didn't even get around to taxing it until Thursday!

I spoke with the dealer about the low coolant and they asked that I top it up and monitor it. I put in 500ml of water. (it's less than an hour's drive home from the dealer).

Friday, after meeting a mate for breakfast, I eventually rolled around to my brothers unit around lunchtime. I got the back bumper off and after a faff, removed the tow bar as its rusty and needs to be powder coated. I'm powder coating a swingarm I got for my Smc at the same time.

Today was the real challenge....

Not to be a negative nancy, but that's a whole heap of work / expense before you work out what's going on with the coolant level..


Keep it up

Have you not changed its taxation class with the side windows?

David wrote: Sun Jul 06, 2025 8:07 am Have you not changed its taxation class with the side windows?

It can be re-registered as a "van with windows" but it's up to him, he doesn't have to. Even if it was re-registered it's still an N1 Commercial and that's what it will be taxed as.

The "van with windows" thing is usually used by vans converted to campers as it's next to impossible to re-register a conversion as a camper.

*This is from memory of doing mine, I could wrong.

MrLongbeard wrote: Sun Jul 06, 2025 12:27 am Not to be a negative nancy, but that's a whole heap of work / expense before you work out what's going on with the coolant level..


Keep it up

Cutting loads of holes in it might have voided the warranty too.

Having the side windows is a real blessing when driving in France and some blind junctions in UK

My ex-AA VW T4, with factory fitted side windows, has a Taxation Class of 'Diesel Car' with a Body Type of 'Van/Side Windows', if that helps...

And as Yozza says, the side windows are a boon at junctions. Wouldn't be without them.

MrLongbeard wrote: Sun Jul 06, 2025 12:27 am Not to be a negative nancy, but that's a whole heap of work / expense before you work out what's going on with the coolant level..


Keep it up

I was thinking there goes the rejection option now

Is it the bitdi? Egr cooler can be a bit iffy...

MrLongbeard wrote: Sun Jul 06, 2025 12:27 am Not to be a negative nancy, but that's a whole heap of work / expense before you work out what's going on with the coolant level..


Keep it up

You're not wrong.
But the glass had been delivered and I had use of a workshop...

Taipan wrote: Sun Jul 06, 2025 4:06 pm

MrLongbeard wrote: Sun Jul 06, 2025 12:27 am Not to be a negative nancy, but that's a whole heap of work / expense before you work out what's going on with the coolant level..


Keep it up

I was thinking there goes the rejection option now

I really REALLY don't want to reject it. It too a while to find and I specifically chose this one from the 2 available.

The garage I work at will be checking it out for me today or tomorrow. I got a warranty with the van so will be using that if it's more than just a loose pipe. Egr cooler is the most popular failure point.....

Jody wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 1:19 pm
The garage I work at will be checking it out for me today or tomorrow. I got a warranty with the van so will be using that if it's more than just a loose pipe. Egr cooler is the most popular failure point.....

If the EGR cooler is the same as a 2.0TDi Crafter, I have one in the garage...

Well....

Yesterday, we finally got the van in the garage.
Very quickly, this was spotted as the fault


Thats the gearbox oil cooler!
Our guess is that this was done during the flywheel replacement that was carried out recently.

The dealer I bought the van from, has, in fairness, been very good throughout. Answering emails promptly and politely. Isent them the Pic above and they asked for an estimate. I sent one (£456) and was very swiftly told to go ahead and get it done.

Tyremarks (the garage) managed to squeeze it in today, replaced the oil cooler and threw a new map on it while they wet there.

So now I have a van that doesn't leak coolant, does have 180hp (up from 147) and an extra 100 torques. It definitely does still have an egr valve too.

Little bro came through today and repaid some £ I'd lent him for his venture, so I'll be ordering a heater and the swivel seat bases immenently.

While in the tyre workshop, I also put the brand new Michelin from the spare (2019 tyre) to join the part worn on the rear axle. At least now, one of the 3 cheap nasty tyres is the spare, though I still have shit front tyres .
I might change them, but they are brand new shit tyres, and it's not like it's a vehicle that's supposed to handle.....?!??

I was warned that it might be restricted. But it does 80mph, so unless it's restricted to 87mph to reduce the potential for time travel, I guess it's not restricted at all??? +

New map might have deleted the restriction?

Jody wrote: Thu Jul 10, 2025 10:25 pm I was warned that it might be restricted. But it does 80mph, so unless it's restricted to 87mph to reduce the potential for time travel, I guess it's not restricted at all??? +

My transit was restricted to 100mph, as Guy Martin found out the aerodynamics go quite bad at about 120.

I've got some sound deadening in,




And some insulation (Dodo mat)



Another layer of insulation to come, then some paneling.

I fitted an Auto vox v5 pro rear view camera set up. It's pretty good, I'm actually quite impressed. I just wish I could flip the image so I can mount the camera tidier, and I'd like to set it to NOT play a wee little tune every time I turn the ignition off!

Jody wrote: Thu Jul 10, 2025 8:21 pm and it's not like it's a vehicle that's supposed to handle.....?!??

Being able to stop is always something of a plus point though IME.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Mon Jul 14, 2025 8:30 pm

Jody wrote: Thu Jul 10, 2025 8:21 pm and it's not like it's a vehicle that's supposed to handle.....?!??

Being able to stop is always something of a plus point though IME.

My T6 is the 3.2 ton version so it comes with bigger brakes. Standard wheels are up from 16 to 17 inch to fit the discs. I've got Bilstein suspension all round which helps a bit with the handling, it's not a sports car though.