Date:         Tue, 23 Aug 2005 13:48:20 -0400
Reply-To:     Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Conclusion to:"Trouble on the Road in PA" (longish)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hi gang,
Thought I'd tell you how my recent problems on the road ended up. To
recap (and actually flesh out the story a bit)......
We were heading down near Philly from Toronto when I blew a plastic
coolant tee in the parkiing lot of the Duty-Free at the CanUS border.
Call CAA and got towed to a local garage. He didn't have a tee and
couldn't locate one in town (Saturday). The tow truck driver takes me
over to Home Depot where we find a brass plumbing tee that turns out
to work just fine. Mechanic proceeds to add the coolant I've lost. He
does it with a gadget that pulls a vacumn in the entire coolant system
--- then you drop a hose in a bucket of coolant and it is magically
sucked into the system. I'm impressed but a bit sceptical, figuring
that if this really worked this list would be all over it. We fire the
van up and watch the temperature go up, and up, and up. I'm figuring
there's still air in the system and the mechanic agrees that it is
possible. I suggest bleeding the system the Bentley way but he says no
--- his gadget works best when there is no coolant in the system ---
and proceeds to start pulling hoses and getting as much of the
recently restored coolant out of the van. This takes awhile but
eventually he refills the system with soolant using his gadget. Fire
the van up and watch the needle rise up, up, up again. At this point
he's willing to try things my way though stating that he doesn't think
there's any point. We bleed the Bentley way and sure enough, Bluebelle
drinks another 4 litres of coolant. But still the freaking needle goes
up, up, up. The *&&*%^*ing electric cooling fan isn't coming on. He
starts looking on his computer for wiring diagrams so he can check the
fan ---- I point out that if we pull this plug and jump the contacts
we can test the fan. We try this and the fan works ---- and the temp
stays where it should. We figure that the thermoswitch is gone --- and
I figure the chances of getting a new one right now are nil. I'm
staring at the temp guage and my eyes wander down to an unused switch
on the dash that used to power driving lights. I turn to the mechanic
and say --- why don't we use that switch to control the fan. He says
that he is absolutley forbidden to rig anything like that for fea of
getting sued. But he agrees that it's a pretty good idea and if I'd
like he'll provide wire, connectors and tools and I can do it myself
--- which I proceed to do. So we're back on the road.

Back to the border, as we're sitting waiting to cross the border I
watch needle on the temp guage start to rise. I smugly reach for the
switch and fire up the fan --- the needle continues to rise and rise
---- I turn on the front heater and the needle goes back to where it
should be. Does anyone have a reason/suggested fix for this??? The
needle stays exactly where it should while driving but I can't idle
for more than a couple of minutes --- even with the fan going on high
---- before I have to turn the heater on to keep from overheating.

So we get to our campground near Philly and I borrow a few minutes of
net time from the campground owner to send my "help" message to the
list. I want to thank everyone who replied. It's great to know you can
reach out for help at times like that. I bleed the cooling system one
more time --- get a bit more coolant in it -- but no joy. We continue
our trip, only occasionally having to resort to the heater --- which
was just as well because Washington DC was 100 degrees and 100%
humidity.

The folowing Saturday we leave DC and head home --- about 6pm we
decide not to camp that night but to push on and get home late that
night. Part of our reasoning is that we don't want to get stuck in big
border lineups the next day. About 10 minutes later, the alternator
light goes on and the temp needle starts to rise. I'm thinking 'darn
--- looks like I lost the alternator belt as I pull over the the side
of the Interstate'. Sure enough, I peer under the van and am able to
reach up and grab my shredded belt. We call AAA (I'm thinking I may as
well put them on speed dial at this point). AAA tells me that there
are autoparts stores not too far from us that are open until 9 and
that because we're on an Interstate we're a priority tow and they'll
have a truck to us in 30 minutes. I'm thinking --- maybe we can get a
belt tonight and get back on the road. We wait and wait ---- AAA calls
and asks if we have a tow truck ---- we say no. Turns out they gave
him the wrong mile marker and he's way North of us. By the time he
shows up it's clearly too late to make an autoparts store.

He tows us to an exit near Erie PA --- lots of motels, restaurants and
an Autozone. We've decided to grab a motel for the night. The lady at
the first one informs us that not only does she not have a room, there
isn't one in a 30 mile radius due to a baseball tournament in town.
She agrees, however, to let us camp in her parking lot which we
proceed to do. The next moring I walk to the Autozone ( a halfhour
round trip) and get a belt identical to the old one. When I go to
change it I find that the only way it's going to go on is if I pull
off the alternator (this is an I4 conversion). I' m just tapping the
alternator out of it's moorings when I think "what if I can't get it
back on for some reason?" I try putting the long skinny bolt that
holds it back in position --- it won't go and my heart goes 'kerpop'.
However, a few gentle whacks with the BFH get the pin back in and
tightened. And I go trudging back to the parts store for a belt that's
just a little bit longer. It goes on fine and we're back on the road
again --- and home a few hours later.

I've gone through a lot of coolant this summer --- about a month ago
we were leaving our campsite and my wife noticed coolant gushing out
of the from of the van. One of the rad hoses under the spare tire had
broken. I wrapped the hole with duct tape, then wrapped it with a
sheet of aluminum cut from a beer can and secured the aluminum a
couple of hose clamps. I replaced the lost coolant (funny how I always
have 4 lites of premix with me) and bled the system. That got us
through the weekend and home and I've since replaced that hose and its
aged partner.

Anyways......thanks again to all who answered my call for help

Cheers,
Doug