Date:         Sun, 25 Jun 2006 22:52:16 -0400
Reply-To:     Edward Maglott <emaglott@BUNCOMBE.MAIN.NC.US>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Edward Maglott <emaglott@BUNCOMBE.MAIN.NC.US>
Subject:      Weekend Vanwork: Propane, lights, exhaust, gas pedal, etc
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

It was time for the annual state inspection on the van, and an upcoming
trip of 1000+ miles.

First off, exhaust leaks.  Much of the tailpipe was gone.  New one from BD,
and a new gasket.  One bolt actually came out!  2 sheared right away.  One
of them drilled out easy, the other not.  New bolts were plain old 1/4-20,
but grade 8.  Lots of anti-seize compound.  Lots of grinding to get the
output flange on the muffler back to solid relatively flat metal.  Sometime
recently the cap for the sniffer port ahead of the cat fell off.  I can't
even remember how that attached.  I hope i never need that, because I
cleaned out the hole and plugged it with JB Weld and a nail.  I continue to
cobble this exhaust system together thinking it will need complete
replacement soon.  That started  several years ago.

Bulbs.  Needed a new back up light bulb.  That was easy.  Someday, nice
stainless steel screws to hold the tail lights in...  A license plate light
was burned out, and I really didn't need to fix that for inspection because
you apparently only need one to work.  Got a new bulb and stuck it in,
nothing.  I saw that the connectors were very corroded.  volt meter on the
connectors reads about 11.5 with the engine off.  A little low, but should
get something out of the bulb.  I checked the voltage at the contacts the
bulb actually touches.  Same thing.  I didn't go as far as checking how
much current was capable of flowing, but I guess it was not enough to even
get a glow out of the bulb.  I used some PB blaster on the little
connectors, and still had to use a flat blade screwdriver to nudge the
connectors around until I could actually work them carefully off the bulb
holder.  More PB blaster, some filing, back together and it lights.

I also revisited the gas pedal linkages since it was starting to feel a
little reluctant to move off of closed throttle lately.  this is an '86
with AT.  I think the adjustment under the pedal had slipped a little, and
I'm not sure I was getting full throttle or any hot AT kickdown
action.  Tightened up that adjustment; better.  I also wanted to get a
little more positive action of hitting full throttle before AT
kickdown.  So I tightened the adjustment rod at the throttle about
8mm.  Now it was working good.  (My advice for making these adjustments is
to study the Bentley procedure, but don't do it.  You don't have to take
the spring off of the throttle rod.  You want to make sure the throttle
closes all the way when you foot is off the pedal.  As the pedal reaches
the floor, the throttle should go to wide open, then a little more push to
put the AT into kickdown.  Just mess with the 2 adjustments until you
achieve this goal.  I found taking the spring off the rod at the throttle
upset the adjustment so that when you put the spring back in the equation,
things were way off.  Everything is old and at least slightly worn and
stretched.  )  Anyway, I put things all back together, spare tire back up,
etc. and went for a drive.  Uh-oh.  that adjustment on the throttle rod is
too tight and the throttle is not closing.  Idle is now approaching 2000
rpms.  Back that adjustment off a bit and now things are groovy.  Cleaned
and lubed linkages and now pedal action is much more smooth.

Went to get inspection and propane at the local full service garage.  2
guys there and they seem to have some interest in the van.  I see one
looking inside the back here and there, and he asks me if it is the kind
"where the top raises up."  The other guy seems to know a little about VWs
and has a lot of tattoos.  One of them called it a love wagon.  I didn't
tell them that its nickname is the Golden Luvwagen.  Pass inspection, and
then move on to the propane.  I always try to figure out how
knowledgeable  the filler guy is without upsetting them, or tipping them
off to the fact that they are going to have to get down on the ground and
work with a weird system to sell me $5 worth of propane.  OK, he seems to
have an idea.  I mention the "little bleed valve" and he says yeah.  OK, he
hooks up the nozzle, turns on the pump, gets down there and opens the bleed
valve.  Filling going well, I see the liquid propane coming out and he
closes the bleed valve, but not the filler nozzle right away.  Then he does
shut it off.  Hmmm.  I step over and mention about how a lot of these had
the autostop valve, and they were lousy and removed.  He tells me that my
autostop valve is working.  I tell him that I don't have one.  He tells me
yes I do, the label is right here.  (mental note to paint over the autostop
fill valve label.)  So I probably have too much propane, but will check it
tomorrow.

One final project today was to make a portable potable water fill hose.  I
usually would fill my water tank before leaving home, but never wanted to
carry a bulky hose to refill it on the road.  So I got some of that 1/4"
water hose that is often used to hook up an ice maker, and a fitting to
attach it to a garden hose faucet.  < $10 total got me 25' of hose.  I only
used part of that.  It comes coiled and likes to stay that way, which makes
it easy to store.  I found that on my house faucet, I was getting about 1
gallon/minute.  So when I go to refill my tank, I can just set it going and
come back after 5 minutes/gallons are in there.

I am working on a web page detailing my recent instrument cluster
overhaul/upgrade.  It allowed me to say goodbye to the 14 conductor
plastic-with-peeling-copper-traces connector forever!  Stay Tuned.

Edward