Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 16:38:20 -0700
Reply-To: Donna Skarloken <dskarloken@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Donna Skarloken <dskarloken@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: vanagon difficulty
In-Reply-To: <fc4bdcf351e0.4a9fb999@gci.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
I agree with Mark. I try to keep up on maintenance. This summer, it has
become apparent that I will need a new starter. Not right away, but I've
been warned.
I also try to save money out of every check just for maintenance. (And we
have a lot of cars, more than we need, because when I married I kept my VWs,
and my husband had two pickups and a Jaguar). I know that saving money
right now is pretty hard to do for many people, but it helps knowing that if
I have to pay for repairs it doesn't all go on a credit card. (I guess it
helps too that because I have all this old junk to drive then I don't have
an actual car payment, though some would argue all the maintenance is like a
car payment.)
I am one of those 10-12 hour office dwellers somebody referred to. And I'm
a girl, so I didn't get quite as much exposure to mechanical stuff as guys
do (although I realize that's a stereotype - many men do not get much
exposure to mechanics anymore either). So I typically have to pay - I don't
have the time to fix stuff on weekends, although I have here and there, and
have found that sometimes the best way to learn is just dive in and do it.
I am about to take a look at my 1600 aircooled motor in my 60 doublecab and
see if I can clean and adjust the carb myself. I am confident I can do it -
might take me a while, and some mistakes, but you learn from those. I also
need to do the brakes in the doublecab - never done it before, but now's the
time to figure it out.
This list is invaluable. The Bus, as my husband calls it, is not a turnkey
type of car, like the standard Honda, toyota, Ford, whatever. I pay
attention to sounds; check my fluid levels, keep oil and coolant in the
vehicle ,etc. It's old school car maintenance, and I am just old enough to
remember that (when I was a kid we had: a Plymouth Superbird, a 1954 Jag
XK120M, a Triumph, a Corvair, a Plymouth Barracuda, a dune buggy w/vw motor,
a Plymouth GTX, Honda motorcycles when we all thought a 750 was a HUGE
motor, etc.). In fact, my 2000 Harley Davidson Dyna still has a carb. I am
noticing that I may need a new tranny or at least some type of repair on
that - the tranny is getting sticky and stubborn when it heats up - can't
even get it in neutral without a lot of futzing around.
I guess I'll find out next year about driving a long ways and hope not to
have problems - my mother in law wants to go to South Dakota, where she is
from, and she wants to go in the Bus. I'll need to replace that starter and
start looking everything over. I will also bring spare parts, as is
reasonable, since repair shops in the area (Cal. to SD) are few and far
between for any vehicle but especially VWs (and I have tools that I bring
along on long trips). Knock on wood, I've wandered all over the West in my
87 Wolfsburg, and the upcoming trip will be in my third owner 87 Syncro. I
guess the sense of adventure is part of it - she's been driven to South
Dakota in her 2005 Cadillac but somehow I think it's not the same for her,
or she wouldn't be asking to be a Bus passenger.
Donna, NorCal
On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 1:42 PM, Mark Tuovinen <mst@ak.net> wrote:
> I know a woman whom had a `83 - `85 (not sure exact year) Civic that after
> she was done with it passed it along to her daughter. The daughter finally
> killed it around 600,000 miles and it had the original clutch. I also came
> across a posting once for a `79 Civic that went 979,000 miles. Not sure
> which was more impressive, that the car went that far or that someone drove
> it the distance.
>
> Our `87 Westy Syncro was towed once when the alternator died on I-5 near
> Tacoma, the trip was delayed 5 days later in Whitehorse when the clutch
> started slipping. Did not have it towed then but would have need to had we
> not stayed for three days(Friday night - Monday evening) to have a clutch
> shipped in and installed. The drive home from Whitehorse is 730 miles and
> includes a couple of mountain passes, we would not have made it on our
> clutch A front outer CV joint exploded pulling to a campsite on evening, I
> pulled the remaining pieces and the driveline and we were mobile in about an
> hour. No other failures on the road but I make sure the van is inspected
> every Spring and before any long road trips.
>
> The key to longevity is maintenance.
>
> Mark in AK
>
>
>
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