Date:         Fri, 17 Feb 2006 21:46:53 -0500
Reply-To:     Milo's Kitchen <sagmoore@ZOOMINTERNET.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Milo's Kitchen <sagmoore@ZOOMINTERNET.NET>
Subject:      Vanagon consciousness? Fryday?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

My '87 Vanagon Syncro has lately had the good sense to break down right in
my own driveway.

My 17 year old son has been driving it almost exclusively for the last 6
months. In early January, the starter crapped out when my son went to leave
for school. I talked to my wife about it at work, and when I got home, I
tried several times and it finally started and I was able to get it into my
garage. It was definitely a bad starter. My son and I replaced the starter
that weekend. All was well.

Last week, the battery died over night, and again, my son was the victim,
(he took my wife's Vanagon to school). After questioning him about it, he
said "Yeah, I noticed that it was cranking slower than normal for a while").
Thanks for telling me, son. Oh well.

My point is; changing a Syncro starter is not that much fun, and I really do
like to work on the thing. Its much easier to do since I converted it to a
Subaru engine. (No Syncro coolant crossover pipes). But not in a parking
lot. Or on the side of an interstate. My son (though enthusiastic) would be
clueless, although he did change the battery.

I worry enough about my son's basic driving skills at 17 years of age, but
to throw in a 19 year old Vanagon's tricks, I wonder if I am doing the right
thing.

I grew up with beetles, learning at a tender age how to hold the heavy gauge
screwdriver just right to bridge the contacts on the recalcitrant starter
motor in a remote location. How to smack the horn while someone else held
the horn button down to get it to pass PA inspection. How to patch the
inevitable rot from salted roads.

When I was regularly driving the Syncro, pre Subie, it started to spit and
quit in a driving rainstorm in the middle of rush hour traffic, no place to
go. Restarting at regular intervals was the only way I got out of that mess,
and when I finally got to place I could pull over, disconnecting the O2
sensor was what fixed it. (in the driving rain).

After installing the Subaru engine, I screwed up big time by not identifying
and forgetting which vacuum hose was which to the diff lock (I was an idiot,
this wasn't apparent for a few days), and as a result I had a rear diff lock
that had "never" worked before, finally deciding to work quite well on a
tight turning interstate exit ramp, knob was selected in. I can only say
that it is both noisy and exciting when one turns the steering wheel and
nothing much happens. Swapped hoses on the side of the road, and all was
well, except for my dress clothes.

Nothing has happened since then to my son, except for the two incidents
above.

Is my Syncro having pity on the uninitiated?

My Subie Carat knows better than to break down on my wife. HeHe.

Dave