Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2011 17:11:55 -0700
Reply-To: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Rented an '87, heard same 2nd gear thump
In-Reply-To: <4dbb50e4.c910440a.760c.28c0@mx.google.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I shoulda mentioned that Bud drove us back to the
airport in Hilo, driving the same van. I asked him to put it in second
and accelerate a bit and take his foot off the gas. Mrs Squirrel and I
both heard -- or more accurately, felt -- the thump, but he didn't
because he was on bumpy pavement, on the busy highway 11 and there is
simply too much noise under those conditions for the untrained ear to
hear the sound. But we two both detected it.
Otherwise, I'd agree with your diagnosis!
On Fri, 2011-04-29 at 16:59 -0700, Jeff Schwaia wrote:
> The answer is obvious... it's the driver! :-)
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jeff
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Rocket J Squirrel
> Sent: Friday, April 29, 2011 4:18 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Rented an '87, heard same 2nd gear thump
>
> So a while back, I posted about a mysterious "thump" sound that can be
> heard, and felt, when the drive train gets unloaded in 2nd gear in my
> auto transmission '84, Mellow Yellow. This thump is best heard when on a
> quiet, smooth street, when the transmission is in 2nd gear, the
> accelerator pushed down enough to cause the van to get moving at a fair
> clip, then the foot taken off the gas pedal. Thump.
>
> In some cases, when cruising along a moderate speed in 2nd, with just
> enough pressure on the pedal to keep the van drifting along, sometimes
> coasting, sometimes being pushed a bit by the engine -- thump, thump,
> thumpty, thump.
>
> Two mechanics have looked everything over and I posted about it here.
> Several folk responded with further suggestions of things to look at,
> and they either have been, or will be when the tranny is dropped a bit
> to put on the GoWesty ATF external cooler kit.
>
> So I have backburnered more inspection until then.
>
> Well, Mrs Squirrel and I just got back from a week in Hawaii. We rented
> a Westy from HappyCampersHawaii.com. These folks have a fleet of
> Westies, mainly 2.1L, but a couple aircooled, and some very fancy buses
> and bay windows. Bud likes working on them.
>
> We rented an '87 with an AT (238,000 miles, second engine, very clean,
> very tidy but we did miss the amenities that we've gotten used to in
> Mellow Yellow).
>
> Several days into the trip we both noticed that it also thumped under
> the same conditions, though not as dramatically as Mellow Yellow.
>
> Except for one night at the Hilton in Hilo, we camped on the beaches.
> When we brought the van back, I asked Bud -- co-owner with his wife --
> if he had noticed the sound. He had not.
>
> --
> Rocky J Squirrel
> '84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> '74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
> Bend, OR
> KG6RCR
>
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