Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:33:11 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Long trip-Moving
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my personal list of all the things to have some idea of their
status.......at least that ..........is dozens of items.
How dry/fresh/lubed are your CV joints ?
how full , old, or new is your tans oil if manual ? ( syntheic Redline
MT-90 recommended )
if auto trans - how fresh or dirty is the ATF ?
- and......man..........you ought to try this on an automatic use Royal
Purple ATF - even swapping out a few qts. without remvoing the pan
..........makes the van go noticebly better.
if auto trans - what is the status of the gear oil in the differenetial.
does the spare tire have good air pressure in it ?
how old is the cluthc hydrualic fluid,
or brake fluid ?
what's the status of the brakes shoes and bads, rear cylinders and front
calipers ?
when was the last time the shift linakge and throttle cable systems were
lubed nicely ?
what I perceive ...and hopefully not that much with members of this list
.......is that a lot of people drive their van and excpet for the obvious
like oil changes, just drive it, and repair one system at a time as they get
really tired or just fail.
that leaves you with the 'they havn't broken yet' systems waiting to become
an issue.
inspecting, adjusting, lubing, changing fluids etc. prevents that, and keeps
the whole van SAFER and more relible.
there are people driving around with pretty worn front ends..........no idea
at all.
there's a filter screeen in the Resevoir for the Power Steering that a lot
of people don't know about.
PS systems on Vanagons do not last for ever. At the very least , changing
the ATF fluid in the PS helps extend it's life.
shocks ? are those pretty good ? ..........
those are a matter of safety and keeping the suspension from getting worn
out sooner.
you could change the coolant on a vanagon every year......and still not
prevent the corrosion or weakness of the joke head gaskets on a waterboxer
engine. Changing fluids..........helps so much.
and inspecting things.
anyway........have a GREAT trip !
I have seen things on cars and vans that don't show up until after numerous
hours of driving. I have particularily seen that with CV joints that are
tired or kind of dry ( the grease seems to slowly evaporate out of them to
me ....somewhat anyway. ) .....i've seen those not act up until after
numberous hours of continuous driving.
giving all the things I've seen fail on vanagons
..........heck.........there are plastic cooling system parts in an 87
vanagon that will just crumble evenetually - perhaps those are the ones
you've replaced.........like the t-stat housing, the water distrubution box,
and the ends of the main plastic cooling system pipes - those are 3 know
weak areas right there.
if any of those are orignal from 1987 .............sooner or later they can
become an issue.
I don't think your van is junk - I just go on all the vanagons I see. For a
typical used vanaong that I get - i find dozens of things that need to to be
serviced. restored, replaced etc.
they are after all, 'just volkswagens' .........built to a
price.............*damn* good in some areas like
suspension/body/chassis.........very nicely build and robust, and easy to
work on...........and underbuilt in some areas like engine, semi-not that
solid electrical system, and cooling system......
all things consdiered...........on a waterboxer vanagon - that's the system
that's most likely to have a problem.
guy just called me from colorado today, asking me if the guy at this shop he
got his van to was being straight with him. 85 Vanagon, said it overheated
and puked out coolant front and rear.
Said the tech said a head bolt stud was busted off, and the repairs were so
extensive he might as well bail on the whole van.
and he's offereing the guy a $ 250 for the whole van.
the normal offered repair in that case is used or rebuilt engine, and new
raditor and hoses are required - might be a 2,000 and up repair job ( that's
with used working good engine ) ........thought it was kinda funny that the
guy recommended bailing on the whole van.
I would expect a shop to say 'new radiator, lots of new hoses, and new
rebuilt engien - $ 6,000 or so.........
but ........cooling system..........
if you want it really right - aftermarket metal coolant main pipes are the
right way to go.
and if the plastic parts on the engien the cooling system are 15+ years
old..........well..........they really should start beeping at 10 years age,
until you can't stand the beeping, and you replace them.
there is also an upgraded metal t-stat housing on syncro vanagons - though
new plastic ones are inexpensive enough, and last well enough, that a
not-that-old plastic t-stat housing is OK.
anyway.....
if you asked 'what are the areas that could present problems' ..........that
list is actually quite long in my expereince.
perhaps ask about the 15 most common issues that arise.
but have a great trip !
I have a hunch it'll go just fine !
scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cullen Stewart" <cullberly@VERMONTEL.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 7:03 PM
Subject: Re: Long trip-Moving
>A pre-trip inspection of all fluids and electrical and then trust your gut.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chris Snyder" <Ccsvanagon@WMCONNECT.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 5:01 PM
> Subject: Long trip-Moving
>
>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> We are fixing to move from Gulfport, MS, to Springfield, MO the end of
>> August.
>>
>> Here is my question: What all should I check, replace on my '87 Vanagon?
>> I
>> have replaced so many things since I bought it and as far as I know,
>> everything
>> is in great shape. However, the Van has never (since I bought it) been on
>> a
>> road trip and it's about 720 miles to Springfield from where I am now.
>>
>> I can't think of anything I need to do but, that's why I am asking the
>> list
>> as their are members lots more versed in the workings of the Vanagon then
>> I am.
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> Chris
>>
>> Snyder </HTML>
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