Date: Thu, 1 May 2008 15:15:19 -0600
Reply-To: John Drew <john.p.drew@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Drew <john.p.drew@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: lurching engine
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Hi All:Border Stories has made it out of Texas, through New Mexico and into
Arizona, but there are now some concerns about our vanagon's ability to
reach California without a total and potentially dangerous breakdown (we
might be passing through some "rough" areas on the Mexican side).
The reasons for concern are the following:
After driving 150 miles or so (yesterday), we reached a slightly higher
altitude along the southern state line between N. Mexico and Arizona (at one
point I think we nearly hit 6000 feet), the car started to occasionally
lurch, as if it were running out of gas (the tank was full and there were no
gas leaks however). At first I noticed that this only happened going down
hills in the highest gear (4th), but after a bit it actually happened going
up hill too and eventually, in all gears. Fortunately, our gradual ascent
leveled off and for the most part, the lurching went away but my feeling is
that after another long drive and any more significant descents or ascents,
it will come back. Any idea what might be causing this and how we might be
able to fix it?
In addition to this lurching phenomenon, we also experienced a scare this
morning when I noticed that the temp gauge had risen above the light in the
dashboard. I stopped before the light went on and checked the coolant tank
to see what was happening. Sure enough, coolant was coming out the side of
it (but not the top where the cap sits). It did not look as if the tank had
pulled any coolant over from the reserve tank though because the coolant
level in there was where it should be. I made sure the screws that appear to
keep the top half of the tank fastened to the bottom half were secure and
then started driving again, watching the gauge carefully. I also turned on
the heater, as stop-gap measure. As it turns out, the gauge never rose above
the light bulb again and we were able to reach the southeast corner of the
Arizona/Mexico border safely and without losing anymore coolant from the
tank or reserve tank. The only thing I can think of is that I might have
driven out of last night's camping spot in a low gear, pushing the rpms a
bit, but other than that, the car seemed normal until I noticed the temp.
gauge going up a few miles down the highway. We had not driven for more than
5 miles when this happened but the problem did not come back after we
settled into highway driving at 50 mph with the heater on.
My rather naive opinion is that these two incidents are not related, and may
not transpire again, assuming we stick to level terrain and I regularly
watch the gauge. Given the fact that some of our next border stories are
going to be shot in some remote, hot and potentially dangerous areas, I
thought I would send these concerns out to the group for feedback however.
Thanks in advance for your input-
the borderstories team
www.borderstories.org
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