Date:         Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:28:18 -0700
Reply-To:     Michael Diehr <md03@XOCHI.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Michael Diehr <md03@XOCHI.COM>
Subject:      Re: Trip Contingencies
In-Reply-To:  <0423089D-05CF-4874-9EBF-71D844922FB6@xochi.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

Update for the archives --

Overall it was a nice trip -- san diego up 395 to oregon to visit
relatives, then back again, staying at lots of nice sierra campsites.
About 2000 miles.

The good:

* none of the things I fixed before the trip broke!
* having the AAA with premium tow package was reassuring
* the relaxed driving schedule was nice (but needed, sadly)

The bad (but lucky)

* on day 2, the fuel pump started making a constant buzzing noise when
the air temperature was over 90 degrees.  in hindsight I realize it's
always made this noise ever since I bought the van, but would only do
so very rarely, so I never diagnosed it.   Decided to play it safe and
stop until we'd dealt with it -- major hassle with this one was trying
to find a new part on the road, in small towns, in ultra hot weather
-- finally found a FLAPS replacement part which I bought but didn't
install.    The old fuel pump made it home just fine, so now I'll get
a proper Bosch replacement.

* on day 6, one front tire separated internally, and took us a few
hundred miles to diagnose.  If you've never had a separated tire
before, it's pretty strange -- the tire looks fine externally, and
drives fine at speed, but around 5-10mph it introduces a horrible
wobble.   It can wax & wane as the tire heat & cools -- making
diagnosis tricky.   It finally got bad enough that we could see the
tire was out of round.   Les Schwab had some LT tires in stock, so we
decided to just replace all 4 (on the theory that the tires on the van
were 10+ years old, even if they had tread left).

The bizarre:

* about 100 miles after buying the new tires, we ran over a nail and
got a flat.  Luckily found a tire shop that patched it and we were on
the road again in 15 minutes.

Lessons:

In hindsight, perhaps I should have payed more attention to missed
cues, and done more preventive maintenance -- driving with 10+ year
old tires in ultra hot weather was asking for trouble...

-mike



On Jul 22, 2008, at 8:51 AM, Michael Diehr wrote:

> My travel partner is, to put it mildly, skeptical of our vanagon's
> ability to make a planned 1500 mile road trip this summer.   This is
> not without cause :  in the 6 prior trips, three were problematic:
> once the engine blew up, once it overheated in rather extreme heat
> and we had to pull over for an hour, and once the alternator died
> (**) and we couldn't run A/C and lights at the same time.   That
> time I had a friend bring a new alternator and replaced it at the
> campground.   I thought this was kinda fun but I guess definitions
> of "fun" differ? :-)    Other 3 trips it was fine.
>
> Negotiations with said partner have focused on strategies for
> increasing chances of next trip to be a winner, and reducing anxiety.
>
> Ideas included:
> * getting known issues fixed ahead of time by an actual mechanic
> * not driving up southern california mountain passes I-5 or I-15 in
> traffic + 110 degree heat
> * a relaxed driving schedule so we feel no need to press on in
> adverse conditions
> * getting AAA plus (100 mile) or premium (200 mile) tow package
> * having a list of vanagon friendly mechanics along the route
>
> The van has a new engine (about 10k miles), ecu, afm, battery,
> starter, alternator**, alternator wiring, fuel hose, injectors
> (professionally cleaned), and radiator. (**) the alternator was
> probably fine, it was the bad wiring.
>
> Known issues :   minor exhaust leak, automatic transmission leaks a
> bit but works fine.   The transmission is my only major worry, as
> it's more or less the only major trip-ending failure I can imagine.
>
> Any recommendations?  This is as much an emotional as technical
> issue, methinks.
>