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Date:         Mon, 22 Jan 2007 18:00:02 -0500
Reply-To:     Bob Donalds <donalds1@VERIZON.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Bob Donalds <donalds1@VERIZON.NET>
Subject:      Re: VW supplied reman. 2.1
Comments: To: Pensioner <al_knoll@PACBELL.NET>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Hey I felt left out of this post or is the entropy part about me

B Bob

----- Original Message ----- From: "Pensioner" <al_knoll@PACBELL.NET> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Monday, January 22, 2007 5:53 PM Subject: Re: VW supplied reman. 2.1

> Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 10:02:15 -0500 > From: Greg Potts <greg@POTTSFAMILY.CA> > Subject: Re: VW supplied reman. 2.1 > >>>>> > Hi Frank, > > It's only a good deal if the build quality is high, and the install > done right. Not all dealers are willing or competent to work on > vanagons, either. > > I winder what happens if you break down in Upper Podunk Wyoming, and > the local dealer hasn't seen a Vanagon since 1991??? > <<<< > > I'll second the first paragraph. However, in Upper Podunk Wyoming, a rural > agricultural area where almost any competent farmer can fix almost any > mechanical device you may not be so SOL as you might think. If something > breaks he fixes it chop-chop, he has to. The local John Deere fellers or > such can also fix almost anything mechanical. However troubleshooting why > your radio quit is not in their particular line of business nor is knowing > much about your ECU, printed circuit dash wiring or the bad smell from the > heater. > > As many have graciously hinted, for those of us with 17yr old almost unique > vans, learning to fettle about successfully and understanding all the > basics, owning and reading the venerable Bentley, carrying those tools and > spares not likely to be found along your route or at your destination, along > with general repair materials to improvise, adapt and overcome is the order > of the day. > > Long gone are the fine cherman mechanics who could fix anything from a > kubelwagen to a 911S using metric slip-joint pliers and old soviet submarine > parts. Now we have only Stephan, Mr. Schwaia, Fred's Garage, Black Rock > Motors and the Kombihaus and the BusFarmers, who know the ins and outs. As > the support for your ancient and crumbling conveyance continues to > evaporate, it behooves you to take the reins and learn to do what will be > necessary to keep the ride rollin' and then practice in a warm, well-lighted > place using only the tools you brought in the van as if your fixing the > failure is all that stood between you and the Jihadists. > > Preventive Maintenance goes a long way towards peace of mind and infinite > understanding of your beast of burden. > > Do some every month, at least LOOK at stuff and see what it looks like when > it IS working. So you can understand what it looked like before it broke. > Now JB Weld, real steel bailing wire, Cloth duct tape, hose repair tape, and > other such things as quick set epoxy are really handy. All the things you'd > need to fix a boat stranded on an unfamiliar beach, like. > > Visit your loco er local recycler and get a few german wiring harnesses or > at least a bunch of wire from one or two including perhaps some connectors > and a few relays and fuses. Now you have the repair materials to fix yours. > > If you modif*ckate your van by wiring in various interesting accessories > MAKE A DETAILED WIRING DIAGRAM based on the track pages in the Bentley and > clearly annotated so you can fix your modif*ckations should you have to. > > Pick up a bicycle box from the local purveyor and make a foldable cardboard > "creeper" for getting out and under. I use a discarded plasticised > corrugated sign kept on top of the engine cover. Easy to slide around on > and shelters your backside from the inevitable rocks, thorns, glass and > scorpions under where your ride died. You don't expect it to go nips up in > a warm, clean, well lighted place, do you? Ask vanmanbajadan about field > maintenance and repairs in the bush. > > At the very least, practice changing a tire or two. A cellphone and a > credit card only works where there is service and landline phones. Squirrel > away a few Franklins in the van just to pay for that out-in-the-tules repair > in cash. If you never venture beyond the gates of the city then you may be > able to just get by. However carry that Bentley. Even the most modest > mechanic can usually read and understand if he has a manual to do it by. > No, esmerelda, Mitchell, AllData and the like don't have very good details > on Vanagons. Get used to driving that "unique whip" and that entails. Be > humble. Owning a high maintenance lady like ours can be a humbling > experience, so get a good start. > > Understand basic physics, electricity, and simple mechanics so that you can > more accurately describe the failure to someone on the list like Benny, > Frank, Mark, Dan, Karl over the phone, in the dark, in a paybooth, in the > Mojave Desert. (Mojave phonebooth, May She Rest in Peace) > > Read the gospel according to Mark, Frank, BennyHuot, Dennis, Jim, and > others, there is wisdom and knowledge there. Zen and the art of Motorcycle > maintenence is a good read while you wait for the parts to arrive. Keep the > phone numbers of your local favorite mechanics in the back of the bentley > along with Ken and 1/13th and Peter and Ron and your local parts supplier. > > Or you can just stay there safe and warm on the porch. The view rarely > changes. > > Entropy is inevitable, the rate of entropy is up to you.


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