Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:41:20 -0500
Reply-To: Michael Sullivan <sandwichhead@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Michael Sullivan <sandwichhead@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: TRIP HOME. Traveling across the country,
without all your gears...
In-Reply-To: <d1ea9acf0908141923v1d4141eal58d5ef47e7b4a7da@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Happy Bday Craig! Hard to believe what you can do before legal drinking
age. It's all downhill from there! hehehehe
Michael in San Antonio(living vicariously through Craig)
91GL AT 'Gringo'
73 Beetle
On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 9:23 PM, craig cowan <phishman068@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey guys!Well first i'd like to say how great its been driving my Bostig
> powered, Westfalia converted, 85 piece of crap bus these last 10,000 miles!
> Since May I have drive from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to Reno Nevada, spent a
> great deal of time there and in the surrounding areas, and have now made it
> safely back home to Pittsburgh PA. All this, driving alone in a bus i've
> "literally" built over the course of the last 5 years with list members
> help
> (I started when I was 15 years old!).
>
> My journey home was planned to be the same as my trip out. Follow I-80 and
> shoot for 500 miles a day, taking breaks every 100 miles or so to get out,
> walk around, fill up with gas, or whatever else I needed to do to stay
> awake
> (Driving alone is tiring). My first night was spent in Salt Lake City Utah
> at list member Tom Buese's house. Their hospitality was exceptional once
> again, and Bob Stevens showed up again to grace us with his presence and
> Subaru Powered Syncro Westy. It was great seeing these guys again and all
> was well other than seemingly getting bitten by a spider (Which
> subsequently
> got pretty bad somewhere in Iowa, but has since turned towards recovery).
> The following day I drove from Tom's to Sidney Nebraska to stay at Cabelas
> (it's cheap). This was my 21st birthday and I was able to celebrate with a
> great meal of Baked Beans, Gouda Cheese, Summer Sausage, Fresh grapes, and
> a
> New Belgium "Fat Tire" ale (Which the gentelman at the store insisted he
> could not sell me untill AFTER my birthday. After reminding him that that
> made absolutely no sense, he obliged.). So, on the morning of August the
> 12th I awoke to head east without a destination in mind, my goal was just
> to
> get as far as I could that day and park where I could. The following
> evening
> was planned for Peter O's in South Bend Indiana. Well my bus was developing
> a problem....
> See, some of you may remember that earlier in the summer after my trip
> west,
> i complained of trouble engaging 1st and reverse gear, as it would grind
> slightly. I later found out that this was only when the transmission was
> hot, from long sustained driving....as it NEVER did this while in and
> around
> Reno for 3000 miles. Well back on the road, it was doing it again....
> The problem really scared me when I pulled off for gas somewhere in Nevada
> (A state I hate with a great passion) and when I started again after the
> regular slight grind into 1st.....it was making a terrible whining sound
> (Which it never repeated). I immediately pulled over, let the tranny cool
> down for an hour, ate some lunch, and called our expert Daryl of AAA
> Transaxle. He gave me a list of possible problems, possible solutions, and
> some great advice, most noteably to baby the transmission starting in 2nd
> when possible (Always possible with the zetec) and slow down a bit (I was
> doing 85mph most of that day....). Well that got me home, but 65mph is just
> boring!
> As a result, I tried to limit my shifts and thus my stops. So my length
> between brakes went from 100 miles (or close to it) to 250 miles! As a
> result, I was making good time and ended up within 200 or 300 miles of
> Chicago by evening. My plans had changed.
> There was no way I could go through Chicago without first gear and the
> potential to loose second (assuming the needle bearing supporting the main
> shaft had gone. Hopefully not the case). I had found out on the way out
> that
> Chicago area of I80 is packed even in the middle of the day, so that left
> me
> one sane time to try to tackle it..... the middle of the night.
> So, I pressed on past where I had planned to stop for the night and made it
> to an area 100 miles outside of Chicago where I chose to pull off and grab
> a
> few hours of sleep. I found a busy Hotel and just slipped in amongst the
> cars for 3-4 hours of sleep. I awoke somewhat refreshed at about 3am and
> tackled chicago by 5am. With that out of the way, I was much too close to
> home to warrant a stop at Peter's, so I just pressed on! I ended up making
> it all the way home by 3pm on the 13th of August.
> I had driven from Sidney Nebraska to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, alone, in a
> 1985 Vanagon pretty much non stop in just over 35 hours!
>
> Home, Transmission Problems:
> Well I found that 1st and Reverse were still there. I did grind into second
> once after a really hot stretch, making the transmission Guru's advice
> about
> possibly loosing the main shaft seem like a reality, but I've sense began
> to
> reconsider. It makes no noise, and works just fine when it's cold, which
> points to either a clutch problem (as if it's not dissengaging the
> transmission fully), a Pilot bearing problem, a fluid problem, or a linkage
> problem. The linkage I know to be less than perfectly adjusted, but this
> does not account for the randomness of the problem and the relationship to
> heat. The clutch, possibly? I'll have to bleed it and see if there's air.
> The Pilot bearing, possibly? I will save this for last, as I have very
> little interest in removing the transmission if it can be avoided. The
> fluid...
> I drained the fluid yesterday (after getting home from a REDICULOUS day of
> driving) and found it wasn't "terrible". It was dark, as I expected it to
> be, but it was like looking at used motor oil, if you don't see metal in
> suspension, the color is fine. There was no metal in suspension but there
> was some stuck to the drain plug. Not a TON, it wasn't looking like a
> magnetic toy with hair growing from it, but it had some. It didn't contain
> needles or large chunks of bearings, so I don't think it's much indication
> of anything other than wear from grinding. I put new fluid in using the
> valvoline Synthetic that I had available to me and figured "well if $25 in
> fluid fixes it.... that would be nice". So far around town it shifts MUCH
> nicer. I have had no trouble with engaging any gear and while I haven't
> gotten the transmission very hot yet, it seems to be improved. It's
> possible
> my fluid was just low. I'm going to measure out what I drained out
> tommorrow.
> In the next few days, I'll be throwing some highway miles on it and testing
> again and again (After bleading the clutch). I am hoping I don't need a new
> transmission at this point, it's not exactly in the cards right now....
>
> Well the final report:
> I drove 10,000 miles this summer, living out of a VW bus of my own build
> for
> 3 months. It's been a blast.
> I have stories and pictures from far away. I've met some incredible people,
> pursued some great dreams, and just lived and loved life. I thank you all
> once again for the parts you've played!
>
> Sincerely,
> Craig Cowan
> '85GL turned WESTY
> BOSTIG in the back
> Slept in a bed for the first time in 3 months yesterday!
>
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