Date: Mon, 3 May 2004 16:48:09 -0700
Reply-To: Malcolm Stebbins <mwstebbins@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Malcolm Stebbins <mwstebbins@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Woes of season's first trip - long
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
I tell you, these vanagons wear out just sitting in
the driveway.
The van started up just fine after sitting all winter,
even the valve lifters were quiet. I checked the
coolant, the oil the fridge, the sink pump. all was
OK, so off we went --- Halifax to Ottawa, and then for
me, on to Northern Michigan.
The van was running fine. Till we stopped for the
night. Few camp grounds open in late April, so we
'stealth' camped. Found a nice logging road and up we
went, till we got stuck in soft muck. Fortunately
for us we had just passed a truck repair place and a
guy there was able to pull us out at 8 p.m.
So we were a bit more careful in the second 'stealth'
site. As we went to get dinner ready, NO sink water
pump, NO interior lights, mmmmmmm Just had a new
camping battery put in, how could that be?? Turns out
that my great mechanic forgot to hook up feed wire to
the relay to the 2nd battery and having the fridge on
DC all day drained the battery. Thanks Jeff?
Patricia goes to open the hanging closet and the latch
breaks off. Maybe due to the cold.
Next day the weather cools off to just above freezing
and it rains. Now with a carburetor, near freezing
and rain induce carburetor icing (fuel enters the
cylinders as ice pellets and not as a vapor). That
increased outr fuel consumption greatly. AND the
throttle froze OPEN. Sort of a crude Cruise Control.
I fixed that by wrapping the carb throat in insulation
(paper towels and a cotton towel and (what else) duct
tape! Carb was still icing, but the throttle did not
freeze open. So I need to see to that before next
winter. As I had the rear hatch open, the struts gave
way and would not hold the rear lid up. Nearly cut me
in half.
This is just day ONE of the trip and: Got stuck,
latch broke, rear struts gave out, carburetor icing.
What's going to happen tomorrow????
So on across New Brunswick, Maine, Vermont, New
Hampshire and up into Ontario and Ottawa. on the
outskirts of Ottawa the van gets a BAD metallic
rubbing from the right rear wheel. It had happened
once yesterday, but had gone away. I could not see
anything wrong and I hoped it was just some mud from
having been stuck a few days earlier.
I stopped into a Midas shop for them to take a look.
Rear brakes were badly worn and both master cylinders
were leaking fluid and not retracting well. So we
decided to have both rear brakes completely done. As
its a syncro, Midas (thankfully) could not use Midas
parts and had to order the compete vanagon brake kits.
It'll be done tomorrow.
My wife had a conference in Ottawa and so she was
taken care of while staying at the swish Chateau
Laurier.
Next day, the brakes went on, I watched every move
and the guy did a good job, They charged me a LOT,
but who wants a cheap brake job???
Off the hoist and the right rear wheel noise was
WORSE!! Maybe its the backing plate??? fiddle,
fiddle, fiddle. No, still bad scraping noise. I
suggested that I start the van and put it in gear and
rev it. The wheel was wobbling as it spun!!! He took
the hub off and the right rear outer wheel bearing had
DISINTEGRATED!!!! In pieces!! Outer rim was cracked
and the inner lattice holding the bearings was in
pieces.
I had been on the phone with list member Frank
Condelli (45 kms to the east), but he could not get to
it (parts) for a few days, so as this guy was doing
good work, I said "do it". He orders parts and I had
another nice night with my wife at the Chateau Laurier
(and a nice dinner out).
Next day, he gets to work and in a few hours the right
rear wheel assembly is re-built: seals, bearings,
spacer, hub (old one was cracked) etc and the new
brakes from the day before. Good for the van, bad for
my bank account. The van was now working so I took
off for Frank's place in Almonte and asked him to
replace the bearing on the left side. Preventive
maintenance. It was interesting to watch another
mechanic do the exact same job. Both got it done, but
took different paths. Frank was cheaper in cost by
half (PLUS dinner and camping in his driveway). I
should have had the van towed to Franks, could have
saved some $$s.
I was now a few days behind schedule so I said my
goodbyes to my wife and I headed west towards Northern
Michigan. Nice, pretty drive, but cold with rain and
snow through Ontario. But no more van troubles
(except for more carburetor icing).
So that is the story of the maiden voyage for the
season. May your first outting of the season go
better than mine. Malcolm
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