Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (February 2009, week 1)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Sat, 7 Feb 2009 02:56:50 -0800
Reply-To:     Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Mechanical Lesson Learned On the Road (Long)
Comments: To: Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <86476e250902062307m6109a78ew44c808b79efc2f00@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Inpiring tale of incident meets preparation.  Excellent diagnosis and telling of the tale.  One more thing to carry, of course, but just the part to have in this situation.  The right angle screwdriver is already part of my kit (for trim/curtain screws on the kitchen side).  Thanks.

Stephen

--- On Sat, 2/7/09, Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM> wrote: From: Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM> Subject: Mechanical Lesson Learned On the Road (Long) To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Date: Saturday, February 7, 2009, 2:07 AM

This is one of two Vanagon mechanical related posts I'll be putting up based on Things Learned on the Road during my last trip down to BBTB and beyond.

A week after leaving Lake Havasu I had ended up in a small RV park right in town in Borrego Springs. I left in the morning to run to my brother in laws place in Chula Vista, just outside of San Diego. I took the Hwy 78/79 route up through Julian that connects to I-8, about 50 miles. I stopped at Cuyamaca Lake for breakfast then back on the road. Finally hit I-8 and headed down the hill to hit I-805 and then south to Chula Vista. About 10 miles down I-8 Starwagen died, dead, in the middle of the freeway. Because I was headed down hill I was able to coast along and get to the right shoulder. I have a volt meter that shows the voltage on both starting and aux batteries, mounted on the front of the sink right behind the drivers seat. I turned around and checked, starting battery at eight volts. After having to move a bunch of stuff I got the jumper cables out and jumped the aux battery to the starting battery. Started right up and drove to my brother in laws. After saying out hellos and having a cup of coffee I dug into the rig. Sure enough, the alternator was not charging.

A lesson reinforced here. I learned many years ago that 80% or more of alternator failures are actually just worn brushes, the windings are still fine. So I installed the spare regulator/brush pack that I carry and all was well, charging just fine. I was ready to continue on the next day.

Now for the lessons learned. First, I don't know when the alternator quit charging. I'd been on 110v AC at the RV park in Borrego Springs so both batteries had been topped off by the three stage charger I have permanently wired into the van. If I assume somewhere before Borrego Springs then I got about 70 miles on the battery alone and that was running with the headlights on (and they are 80 watts each). I did NOT get a red warning light. If one of the brushes goes (and one of mine seemed to have disappeared, more on that later) you wont' get the red warning light. If you loose a belt and the alternator isn't turning, yes, you will get the light. I've encountered this in vehicles other than VWs over the years. BUT, and this is the first lesson, WHEN I TURNED ON THE IGNITION SWITCH THE ALTERNATOR DASH LIGHT DID NOT COME ON AS IT SHOULD WHEN EVERYTHING IS OKAY. I checked this before replacing the regulator. But who actually pays any attention to the test mode on those lights when starting anyway? Well, I think I will in the future. Another lesson also learned. Part way over the windy, twisty, up and down road my gas gauge was telling me I'd used nearly half a tank of gas in 55 miles. I knew I was bucking a hell of a headwind that day but it never dawned on me that the gauge was reading wrong because of low voltage.

Second Lesson: DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT THESE: http://tinyurl.com/bqrrj6

You should all recognize the regulator/brush pack. But the important item is the little Phillips right angle screwdriver. Without it I doubt that I'd have been able to change the regulator without breaking the alternator loose. I have several good screwdrivers in my kit but the angles were just such that I couldn't get them properly on to the two screws that hold the regulator in place. With the little angled screwdriver it was simple, total of maybe 20 minutes including unpacking the back and digging out the tools.

And now, the rest of the story. Last fall I'd realized that the alternator bearings were making a lot of noise. When Jason Newton put a new water pump in for me he suggested that the alternator was going to need replacing soon. But I put it off. I have to assume that the bad bearings may have contributed to the failure of the brushes. When I removed the old regulator one of the brushes had either disintegrated or jumped out and disappeared on the ground somewhere. I figured the alternator with the new brushes would probably get me home but instead of waiting when I got to Santa Cruz I pulled into Van Cafe and Peter had me out of there with a new alternator installed (with new belt and oil filter change to boot) in a little over an hour. I had them swap the nearly new good regulator out and put the old, bad one back in, I'll still have a good spare in the spares kit.

And now the last lesson from this and this is one that can't be learned from a few sentences here. Get to know and understand how your vehicle works. I hate to say this but it was gut instinct based on many years of driving and (in the past) working on all kinds of vehicles that screamed at me "DEAD BATTERY' when the Starwagen died. I know that there are many on this list that would have ended up being towed in the same situation. And having an aux battery and jumper cables is what got me back on the road and to my brother in laws place. And also knowing that brushes are the most likely failure in the alternator is what got the Starwagen back on the trip, I probably would have made it home without the new alternator.

One last footnote on this. My batteries are connected through a Shurepower 1315 isolator. The 1315 has a feature that allows you to install a small switch that when thrown connects the aux battery directly to the starting battery, a feature aimed at just the situation I found myself in. BUT, because it requires beefing up the cable between the starting battery and the 1315, which I haven't done, I have never installed the switch and that feature wasn't available to me when I needed it. This would have eliminated the need to open up a bunch of stuff to get the jumper cables run between the two batteries. Guess what project has been moved to the top of my 'To Be Done' list?


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.