Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (January 2003, week 3)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Tue, 21 Jan 2003 10:38:42 EST
Reply-To:     Willolyn99@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Bill Marshall <Willolyn99@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Bad Tiico's and Good Samaritans (story)
Comments: To: Tiicolist@vgonman.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

I hate my Tiico engine, and it hates me.

January 17th, all of my belongings were loaded into a big moving van, speeding across the country. My wife and I were moving from Florida to Chicago. We loaded up the vanagon the night before, with some necessities for the trip and camping gear for staying in the new house until the moving truck arrived. The van was checked out -- oil, coolant, hoses looked good, no leaks, wires all tight, plugs clean. Everything in good shape. Early that morning, we set out for Tennessee and an overnight stop, before heading into Chicago.

Everything was great. We made it through Florida slightly ahead of schedule. As we drove through Georgia, everything was still fine. It was about 1 PM, and the drive had been easy. Suddenly, in a construction zone, we lose all power. I coast down a little hill, and make it past a bridge under construction before I find a place to pull over. Just great, I think to myself. I've got the van stuffed full -- my wife and I, our 2 greyhounds, and our cat in a big plastic carrier, in addition to lots of other stuff we were taking with us.

I tried to start the engine. It turned over rapidly, and didn't fire. I hopped out and began the external troubleshooting. No big fuel leak. Fuel pump making correct sounds. No wires hanging. Starter still tight. I have the wife turn over the engine. It spins rapidly, with a weird whining and clicking. Time to go in.

We start unloading our belongings on the side of the road. Dogs and cat get pushed forward. On a positive note, it was sunny and warm. I get the decklid off and take a look inside. Nothing obvious, nothing hanging off or broken. I always hope for the easy stuff, but no luck. The wife turns over the engine, and again rapid spinning with the occasional clicking. About 5 minutes later, it hits me. I check the little crack where you can see the timing belt, and have the engine turned again. No movement.

Oh crap, I'm in the middle of nowhere and I need a South African version of a German timing belt.

I talk to the wife about what it is, and what we have to do. I grab a cell phone, but have no one to call. My brilliant move of the day was to get out and walk back to the construction zone. I found the foreman, and explained my situation to him. He called around and eventually had his supervisor call the sheriff who called a dispatcher who knew a guy who tows. We were in business. An hour later, we were on the back of truck.

The nice gentleman who drove the truck was a great, helpful guy. However, he spoke a version of English that we northerners don't quite understand. Everything he said got repeated, sometimes twice. Some things we still don't understand. Oh well. He new of only one VW place, and it was in Valdosta, about an hour back. With no other option at the time, we went.

The VW dealer in Valdosta was nice, but was backed up for 2 weeks. I pleaded with him, to no avail. He did know some other mechanics in the area who did VW stuff, and called them for me. I talked to a couple guys before I got ahold of Bill Clapp. He agreed to work on it right away. I got the parts from the dealer and away we went.

Bill had come to the dealer to pick us up, and have the tow truck follow him. We went deep into the woods. Two roads after the pavement ended, we were at Bill's compound. I felt a lot better when I saw his place. He had bunches of VW's, various models in various states of repair. It turns out he is a restorer of VW's, specializing in Bugs and Ghias. We roll right in and put the van on a lift.

Bill had never heard of or seen a Tiico, but he knew a bit about the Golf and Jetta, so he was somewhat familiar. He had a look, and pulled off components, until the belt was revealed. The REAL problem then presented itself.

The belt had not broken. There was some collateral damage to it, but it was still intact. The problem was the tensioner pulley. The bearing had failed and burned out, freezing up. The cheap plastic guide pulley then melted, and the belt skipped off. The pulley failed at 27,000 miles. These engines suck.

At this point, we realize that we have the wrong replacement belt and pulley. Bill doesn't have one in stock, so he makes us dinner, and after we drive off to the parts store. Did I mention that Bill was a great guy? We drove to the store in his restored bug, a piece of art if I've ever seen one. The oversized fenders where white, and the body was a prismatic paint that reflected every color from gold to purple to green. Beautiful. The new tensioner we got was only $27 dollars, and had a metal pulley.

We worked late into the evening. Bill put up my wife and dogs in his house, where they were entertained by playing children, singing and music playing. Great hospitality to a couple of strangers and their dogs! We got the belt and tensioner on, and tried to start the engine. Sadly, it still spun and wouldn't start. We peeked under the valve cover, and found that some of the lifter weren't touching the cams.

Bent valves.

The Tiico is a high-compression engine (10-to-1), so losing the timing meant catastrophe. The pistons slammed into the open valves, bending them and jamming them into the guides. They are stuck open, so no compression, expansion, etc. The head is screwed.

At this point, our only option in to rent a car to get us to our house before the moving truck arrived. Bill put us up for the night, letting us and our dogs stay in his master bedroom while he slept on the couch. What a guy! It turns out that Bill was raised in South America, where hospitality to strangers is an art form. He and his wife were absolutely great to us, and we are in his debt.

The next morning, Bill drove me to the local "airport" to rent a car. No minivans available, the best thing was a Kia Sportage with a roof rack. We got us and the pets in it, plus some other stuff, and a big load on the roof. We still left more than half of our stuff in the vanagon. We thanked Bill, and arranged for him to continue repairing it so that we can go back in the future and pick it up. The drive to Chicago was long, and we arrived at 4 AM, but we made it.

The Vanagon is still shop-bound, will be done this week. I just gotta figure out how to get it: fly down & drive back, have it trucked, or find someone who need to go from Valdosta, GA to Chicago, IL.

The moral of the story? -there are good people in the world, and if you are lucky you can find the best of them when you need them the most. -don't buy a Tiico engine -- get a used engine and do it yourself -even when bad things happen, lots of good things can follow. We lost the van, but we were so lucky otherwise it was weird.

PS: Free plug for our rescuer, who does awesome restoration work and has won awards for it: Bill Clapp Clapp's Custom Automotive Refinishing Valdosta, Georgia 229-561-1495

Bill Marshall '85 GL Tiico "Pandora" Aurora, IL


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.