Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2011 18:25:02 -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: <095b01cc06cf$8a5d0290$6401a8c0@PROSPERITY>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Aloha, indeed!
Weather was warm and humid. After living here in Central Oregon, at
4,000 ft. elevation and in the high desert, the coastal air in the
tropics at sea level felt . . . used. Like being in a small room with
too many people. Add the requisite sun block and my skin always felt
sticky. Not a feeling I care for. Three days of camping without showers,
sleeping through warm nights sweating even though covered with only
sheets, and pretty soon those sheets began to smell like . . . well, a
part of a male human's anatomy that rhymes with "bloat 'em."
The van ran quite nicely. It was an enjoyment to drive a later model, as
I've only ever driven my 1984. The 2.1L engine is not greatly more
powerful than my 1.9, though the exhaust is blattier, which at times
made a sound more reminiscent of my old '71 aircooled bay window's
1600dp engine. The steering in the '87 is considerably lighter than my
'84. Interior appointments were more refined, tidier. The much-vaunted
"improved" e-brake handle isn't such an improvement that I'd bother
making a change.
Happy Campers removes the fussy Dometic refrigerators -- as many here
know, those things require a bit of training, and the owners are
understandably unwilling to drive to the other side of the island to
light pilot lights, etc.* so that space is converted to a storage
cabinet, and a large ice chest (cooler) is provided. Ice is available
everywhere, as one might imagine.
==============
* The company has a journal in the glove box of each van and it's fun to
read about others' adventures in them. In ours, we read that previous
customers have been quite pleased with how willing the company is to
send someone out to help. In the one case where help was needed for this
van, they cheerfully drove out to change a tire that had an overtight
lug nut. There were no other written reports of mechanical failures. We
were requested and shown how to check the oil and the coolant tank every
500 miles.
On Fri, 2011-04-29 at 17:42 -0700, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
> and besides, on the Big Island they don't really expect cars and vans to
> work smoothly very much ..
> many of the roads are quite funky.
>
> What noise Bra, I don't hear nuthin' !
>
> at least the van didn't break down on you while you were using it. What's a
> little clunk here or there ?
> - on the Big Island anyway.
>
> how much was gas there ?
> about $ 4.25 per gal for regular would be my guess.
> It was probably nice to be somewhere warm for a change.
>
> Aloha !
> scott
> www.turbovans.com
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rocket J Squirrel" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Friday, April 29, 2011 5:11 PM
> Subject: Re: Rented an '87, heard same 2nd gear thump
>
>
> > 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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