Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:27:54 -0700
Reply-To: Roger Whittaker <rogerwhitt1@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Roger Whittaker <rogerwhitt1@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Trip Contingencies
In-Reply-To: <AACC3599-B1C0-40E6-BE0A-7B9F777DFBB9@xochi.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
dear alll with tires
carry a small compressor and a radial tire plug kit
as well as a pair of strong needle nose pliers to remove object -
most tire repairs can be done on a tubeless radial right on the spot
small compressor to pump up and back on the road again
yours
On Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 4:28 PM, Michael Diehr <md03@xochi.com> wrote:
> 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.
>>
>>
--
roger w
There are two kinds of jobs in the world:
Picking up garbage and telling people things.
Successful people do both, with the same good attitude. (riw)
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