Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:42:29 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Belt Squeal - Issue Revealed, Problem Solved
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re
I never smelled the gas
> fumes and I checked it several times over the past few weeks. I have a
> good
> sense of smell, but had no idea of the cause until today.
Here is a very useful thing to do each time you get out of your vanagon,
after driving he/she/it.
You walk back and sniff in the left air intake.
any fumes in the engine area will be very apparent.
the main two fumes or smells you don't want to sniff are gasoline and
coolant.
There's also oil leaks...on a hot surface those smell.
And various other smells, like say an electrical smell.
you want to catch all those,
and right after shut-down, in that left upper air intake grill..
is a perfect time and place to sniff.
Don't even have to touch the van ..just use your ole smeller.
Could easily save your van.
Aloha happy holidaze,.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hanson" <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2010 11:09 PM
Subject: Re: Belt Squeal - Issue Revealed, Problem Solved
> Good that you finally found the cause.
>
> A suggestion? Whenever you have new hoses or have removed and
> re-installed a hose it is always a good idea to go back over it all after
> a
> few days and re-tighten screw type hose clamps, re-check the belts, etc.
> I
> like to visually check to see that no wires were un-tied and that the
> gaskets are not leaking anywhere. I sometimes go so far as putting a
> torque
> wrench back on some of the fasteners..
> It can't hurt, and often I find I can take up about half a turn on most
> of
> the hose clamps, at least...Sometimes I find a forgotten wire that comes
> out
> of hiding after a day...laying somewhere where it should not be.
>
> I especially do this now after a professional shop has worked on one of
> my
> vehicles...
>
> I once trailered my race car to Las Vegas for a weekend of POC road
> racing,
> with a stop in San Fran to have my mechanic do a fancy alignment on the
> car. He was behind schedule so I got to the track just a few hours
> before
> qualifying. I made two laps and the car felt wrong, came in and found one
> front wheel with about 2 inches of Toe Out...they forgot to do up the
> locknut on the tie rod...
> So there I was, 3 days of hauling to a race and in only 2 laps I had a
> corded tire and an alignment that I had to do "by eye"...Of course there
> were no matching tires at the track for my vehicle and I ended up running
> on
> old old practice/warm up tires that were hard as hockey pucks...
> That taught me. No matter how good your shop is supposed to be, you'd
> best check things yourself...preferably twice over...
> Don Hanson
>
> On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 10:39 PM, Kim Springer
> <kimspringer@astound.net>wrote:
>
>> Hello All,
>>
>>
>>
>> For the last few days my belt squealing issue has been not that big of a
>> problem, until this morning:
>>
>>
>>
>> I started T7 up, no squeal. Let it warm a bit, and drove off. Two blocks
>> later, it started squealing again. Pulled over and shut it down. Went to
>> start it again, would not start. Opened the driver door to listen for the
>> fuel pump, I hear it. Still no start. I open up the engine lid, gas
>> fumes!
>>
>>
>>
>> One of the hose clamps at the tee (left side) was loose and it was
>> weeping
>> fuel. It seems I've been dressing the belt with gas fumes without even
>> knowing it, causing it to stretch and get loose. I never smelled the gas
>> fumes and I checked it several times over the past few weeks. I have a
>> good
>> sense of smell, but had no idea of the cause until today.
>>
>>
>>
>> Tightened the clamp (checked all other clamps as well), adjusted the belt
>> (which I will replace in a few days), and back on the road.
>>
>>
>>
>> What amazed me, since the leak was just weeping, was that it was enough
>> to
>> drop the pressure in the FI system to keep it from running. Good thing
>> too.
>>
>>
>>
>> I had the top end done recently. My guess is that they split the
>> Induction/FI system at the tee and forgot to tighten the clamp properly
>> when
>> they reinstalled the 2-4 side.
>>
>>
>>
>> So add that to your memory banks. Loose belt - gas fumes near the belt-
>> belt
>> stretch - belt squeal.
>>
>>
>>
>> Kim
>>
>> Tristar #7
>>
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