Date:         Wed, 7 Jul 2004 12:40:43 -0500
Reply-To:     Russell Patten <toolvanagon@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Russell Patten <toolvanagon@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      My First Vanagon, a short story
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

   Hello everybody,

   After riding the bus in my city for just over a year (San Antonio, TX,
which has a horrible public transportation system).  And car-searching the
whole time I found an in-expensive used vehical that I actually liked!  Lots
of storage, decent fuel economy for what it is, and wonderfuly SLOW.  No
More speeding Tickets!

   It was a Van-Again.  Or Van-ahgone.  I'm not sure how those Germans
wanted us to pernounce it.  So just purchased my first vanagon, back in
Feburary actually.  Got it for $1900 and included all the repair invoices
and every oil change receipt since 1995.  An 85 Westy with I don't know how
many miles because the odometer doesn't work.  Pulled that apart a few
times, trying to think up a brilliant idea on how to keep that shaft from
slididng off the worm gear.  It's got at least 100k on a over-bore/rebuild
at 140k.  Transaxle still shifts good too, hasn't been rebuilt yet.  Clutch
job at 140k with the engine rebuild.

I have replaced;
   Spark plugs, Wires, Rotor and Cap, All the vacume hoses, all the fuel
lines in the engine compartment, The 90 degree rubber boot going from the
AFM to the intake manifold (25 bucks at my local VW supply house!), the fuel
filter, air filter, repacked the almost destroyed CV's, gotta replace them
soon.  I also timed it after the vacume hoses, now it idles great.

   Having some problems with the Vanagon, which I have affectionalty named
"The Turd" (guess the color).  The fuel pump makes a whining noice.  Has
since I bought it.  More recently it has been not wanting to give power when
I'm supposed to be in the high torque powerband, 2500-2900 rpms.  Seems to
happen when I'm climbing a hill, or off-roading, :-) something requesting
more energy from the motor than regular driving.  If I continue driving
eventually it will not stay running at all, acting as if it is fuel starved.
  When it refuses to move anymore I let it sit for about 30 minutes and then
start it up and drive it away.  I wonder if I should replace the blasted
$175 fuel pump, that seems to be, in my logic, the most likely culprit for
the powerloss.  I have yet to find a fuel preassure guage to borrow.

   And it dosn't like the rain!  A most interesting phenomenon occured two
weeks ago during our one-week long wet season.  I was driving in about 8" of
water (very slowly) and it started dying on me.  Behaving similar, but not
exactly like, the problem discribed above.  I was able to keep it moving but
I had to drive in the 3000+ rpm range, which was frustrating in the heavy
traffic.  I assumed that I got some water in the air box.  But then it
started happening at highway speed, where I doubt I was able to splash any
water up in there.  Maybe some rain got in the fuel tank, past the
deteriorated gasket on my gas-cap.  But it runs fine when everything is
dried out, and that tells me it isn't water in the tank since that would
still be there the next day.

   Somebody replaced the radiator at some point, using some cheap
aftermarket junk.  The bleed-screw refuses to come loose.  It just spins the
nut that is embedded in the radiator.  That made bleeding the radiator very
difficult, I was only able to get it loose once and at great expense of
time.  I don't think I got all of the air out because now it gets a little
warmer than the little red LED halfway point when I'm sitting at a
motorbank.

   Then I decided to go camping.  The refrigerator didn't light.  So I
pulled it out, cleaned it, soaked the jet, re-sealed the compustion chamber
with a new gasket, installed a better cooling fan etc. etc. etc.  Everything
solution I could find on the internet and Vanagon.com.  Runs okay on 110,
12v will keep it there and the propane lights and keeps it at about 70
degrees.  Blast.  Somebody suggested it's just old, replace the tired old
boy.  Do they still make these Dometic fridges?  I was considering enlarging
the combustion chamber with a spacer, then put the next size larger jet on
it.  More heat right?

   I love the van.  Once I get the odometer fixed permamently I'm going to
reset it to zero and watch the years go by.  I am constantly amazed by the
thoughtfullness and ingenuity of this vehical.  I look forward to fixing it
like I looked forward to playing with Legos when I was a kid.

   In closing, I'd like to thank many of the Vanagon list contributers for
their assistance in the repair and maintanence of my vehical.  I've spent
the past five months reading the archives and have gained that many years
worth of experenice from the knowledgeable advise of the many members.  I
also thank you for the years to come.

Keep'em rolling

-Russell

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