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Date:         Wed, 20 Nov 2002 18:03:16 -0500
Reply-To:     "G.M.Bulley" <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "G.M.Bulley" <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Organization: Bulley-Hewlett
Subject:      Re: Know any good, fast mechanics in Austin Texas?
In-Reply-To:  <20021120.140124.1064.2.wilden1@juno.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I'm not trying to dis Stan, but Patrick, if this motor suddenly began making some sort of major mechanical banging, I wouldn't mess around with even turning it over to do a compression check; you are only inviting disaster if parts collide.

I'd pull the valve covers, make sure all the adjusters are in place/the rocker-arm shafts are bolted down, and the pushrods are all seated properly. Those are the only things that *possibly* could go wrong externally. I think what you'll find is that everything is in place, but one of the adjustments is WAY out (loose, or snug) because you have a dropped seat, or a dropped valve. Sorry.

Bringing ideas to life, G. Matthew Bulley Bulley-Hewlett www.bulley-hewlett.com AIM = IExplain4u +1.919.658.1278 "Fax mentis incendium gloria culpum"

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of Stan Wilder Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2002 3:01 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: Know any good, fast mechanics in Austin Texas?

Check the compression before you start spending big bucks on the unknown. This could be anything from a vacuum leak to a dropped valve seat. You could have a combination of problems and they just reached X factor together and caused it to quit. P mail me if you want to do some of the investigation yourself and I'll try to guide you through it.

Stan Wilder 83 Air Cooled Westfalia (Dallas TX)

On Wed, 20 Nov 2002 11:41:08 -0600 Patrick Kreuzer <kreuzer@ECE.UTEXAS.EDU> writes: > Howdy Vanagon aficionados, > Something unfortunate happened to my poor westie last night and I > need > to find a mechanic in Austin who is relatively quick, inexpensive > and > over-all trustworthy (man, am I dreaming of the perfect mechanic > here). > What happened is that I turned off my van and it dieseled for a bit > and > died eventually, not too bad I thought, just carbon deposits. Then I > go > out to start it about 45minutes later and it shook pretty bad when > trying to start at first, then it started (only after depressing the > gas > pedal down a ways) and it would make a loud noise like something in > cylinder 1 was banging around inside (it checked it with a timing > light). For the very short time I tried to run it, the shaking went > away > but it was still banging loudly from around cylinder 1, and it > quieted a > bit when the RPM's increased, but I let it go to idle and it died > quickly. So now it sits in from of the video store parking garage > on > 29th and Guadalupe waiting for help. Sorry about not including my > van > specs in my previous e-mail, but I have a 1983 Air Cooled (CV > engine > code) Vanagon Westfalia with the Weber dual progressive carb. Also > a > matter about the urgency, the only reason I need a mechanic that is > semi-quick is that I need it done by Wednesday of next week so some > friends and I (who are all down here attending UT Austin) can go > home > for thanksgiving (In El Paso). > Thanks in advanced, > Patrick > >

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