Date:         Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:32:57 -0500
Reply-To:     Joy Hecht <hecht.joy@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joy Hecht <hecht.joy@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: mechanics in Maine?
In-Reply-To:  <4999CFDD.8050002@pottsfamily.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Figures, not only do I have car trouble - but I pull into a Panera in
Augusta to use their wifi and contact you folks, whereupon their wifi
crashes too.

However not too soon for me to get some suggestions about putting it in gear
with the engine off.  Well that's very easy, and no trouble starting up and
taking off in reverse or first gear if I do it that way.  I also found that
after the engine is off for a while it shifts more easily when I turn it
back on - but that might be incidental.

So now I'm back on the road, at a rest stop near Bangor (Maine
Transportation Authority is good, free wifi at all rest areas on Rte 95).
Hoping the van will go back into gear nicely when I leave here...  Given
Greg's comment (below) sounds like the problem might indeed be the clutch.

I did locate someone who sounds like a really good VW mechanic, through the
Car Talk mechanics files - anyone heard of Crawford's Import Auto, in
Hampden Maine?  They only work on VWs.  They even answered their phone on a
holiday.  But unfortunately they said it would be going on two weeks before
they could even look at Matilda.  Which does make it sound like they might
be a good place for folks to know about, in case you have trouble up in this
neck of the woods (literally, of course, that's the Maine woods...).

Hopefully for now I'm on my way, continuing north.  I'll see how things go.
Thanks for all the responses!



Joy
and Matilda


On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 3:43 PM, Greg Potts <greg@pottsfamily.ca> wrote:

> Hi Joy,
>
> I haven't seen this asked yet, so I will throw in my $.02.
>
> Does the transmission go into first gear the way it should when the engine
> is not running? If yes, you probably have a worn-out clutch disk.
>
> If not, then I guess it's something in the linkage.
>
> Happy Trails,
>
> Greg Potts
> 1973/74/79 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
> 1987 Wolfsburg Weekender Hardtop
> www.busesofthecorn.com
> www.pottsfamily.ca
>
>
>
> Joy Hecht wrote:
>
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> I'm in Augusta, Maine, heading north (if I can).  I'm having major
>> problems
>> getting my van (manual transmission) into 1st gear whenever I stop.  I'm
>> headed to Newfoundland, hoped to get there by the weekend but obviously
>> plans can change.  I had the van at Greg's place in Natick MA last week
>> for
>> other things, he said he lubricated it so I wouldn't have this problem,
>> but
>> obviously that didn't solve it.
>>
>