Date:         Wed, 3 Nov 2004 22:54:04 -0500
Reply-To:     Robert Harris <rdh24@CORNELL.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Harris <rdh24@CORNELL.EDU>
Subject:      stuck in 4th, further ruminations
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Chris, the fact that you could get 3rd gear for a while there by pulling up
on the shifter makes it sound like maybe, just maybe you do only have a
problem in the shift linkage.  I hope!!!  Worth checking anyway I
guess.  You can see the shift gate from under the car.  Drop the spare tire
and look for a metal box up under the floor pan there -- shift gate is
visible inside.  The main adjustment point is a clamped junction in the
shift tube, just behind the gas tank.  Maybe that clamp has slipped (?)  I
hope for you that it can be so simple and cheap.

Digression.  One person recommended you sell out.  This gets me
thinking.  I guess we all pay a lot, either in time or money or both, to
keep our old Vanagons on the road.  In pure economic terms many of us might
should sell out!  My Vanagon experience is tiny compared to others on this
list, and this may be extreme, but in under a year of ownership I've gotten
used to spending almost as much on parts each month as a new car payment
would be.  Every month I think I have solved the last of the PO's deferred
maintenance and lingering problems, but there's always something more to
break!  Electrics, radiator, tires, heater cores, hoses, seals, shocks,
front end, cat, brakes, cv's, ENGINE, etc... about the only thing left to
go at this point is that 3/4 slider I think!  Is it worth it?  For me,
absolutely!!!  No question.  The Westy suits my needs so I accept high
running costs, and it's getting more reliable each month as problems get
solved.

There's more than that, though.  When I first got my Westy, I tolerated
breakdowns because I had to, because I wanted a little camper and getting
greasy from time to time was part of that package.  Like most folks, I had
no zero interest in what was happening under the hood of my cars.  I put
gas in them, I squished the big pedal on the right, and they went.  Take to
dealer for service every 3K because they tell you to; otherwise
ignore.  Now I find my whole attitude to cars and driving has shifted.  I
find myself paying much more attention to driving... always subconsciously
listening to the motor, watching the gauges, feeling all the little signals
coming out of the car while driving down the road, all to be alert for any
problem... and I get a small pride from this.  I get a perverse
satisfaction out of carrying a hundred pounds of tools and spares in my
Westy at all times!  Maybe you do the same.  I get satisfaction out of
being ready and increasingly able to handle almost anything that can bust,
any time on the side of any road, with some help from the list if need be
(like a couple days ago when I couldn't get the upper ball joint out of one
of the steering knuckles -- thanks for the tips guys!).  I find myself
"looking down" on suburbanites whipping by in whatever SUV they just
leased, and it's not just because the Westy sits you up high on the
road.  Do you guys know the feeling I mean?  I guess almost a prejudice
that those people don't deserve to be behind the wheel just by forking over
the dough each month, with no clue about HOW or WHY their complacent
mortgage-banking or sales-managing or tax-lawyering arse is getting motored
down the road, and worse yet no curiosity.  It's the cost of our prosperity
these days that we have become such specialists: wrapped up in our narrow
professions... expert in that, ignorant about all else, in too much of a
hurry to care.  Vanagons are a good antidote.  I hope you CAN keep it.

Robert Harris
Ithaca NY
'84 Westy "Busaru" EJ22
'93 Honda CB750

>Well tonight in the rainy dark at an intersection it finally bit the
>dust. Luckily I figured out its stuck in 4th and was able to coax it