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Date:         Wed, 24 Aug 2011 22:02:41 -0700
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: V-Belt tightness -- how to determine?
Comments: To: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
              reply-type=response

re My question is: if a belt is dropped, do the temp gauge/coolant lamp give sufficient time to warn of engine bakage so one can pull over?)

short answer is yes....or 'sure should.' say alt and w. pump belt breaks for falls off.

battery wise ..you can go quite a while...up to half an hour easily with headlights off. The fuel injection does use a fair amount of current ( wildly guessing...similar to low beans on ) .. so it's not going to keep the fuel injection running for say 5 hours on the battery, not likely anyway.

with the engine still full of coolant .. if you start managing the heat laod on the engine right away .. you could 'fake it' quite a way. Probably...... with no coolant leaks, no water pump drive, and a cold engine .. you could drive say 5 minutes gently on the level, shut off, cool down 15 minutes and repeat .. and do that over and over for as long as you want.

on the other hand if you're speeding along and going up big hills, foot in it, you have about 5 minutes max until there isn't enough cooling and she'll overheat, boil over etc. Which is exactly what you don't want to do..

and...there is abolutely NOTHING as useful and good as stopping in a safe place right away .. and taking a LOOK ....... eyeball the engine compartment. I would guestimate that up to 70 % of servere overheating breakdowns occur becuase people somehow justified in their minds that maybe it was just this, or just that, and they could drive for a while yet to a more conveninet spot. If you find out right away ..then you can start planning and managing the situation immediately. and heck..all you have to do is look in the license plate door ..duh ! not too hard to do really.

and I have seen a diesel vanagon owner drive with a disentegrated crankshaft pulley .. and he couldn't even see that that part was in pieces. But he still, by luck, drove 20 miles with no water pump drive, not alt drive , and didn't damage the engine.

that was a good post about belt width. bigger wider belts are not right. I have seen a too large belt jump off in about 10 miles. they need to sit well down in the groove of the pulley.

scott www.turobvans.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rocket J Squirrel" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 4:54 PM Subject: Re: V-Belt tightness -- how to determine?

> Jeez, Dennis -- you're the very embodiment of the bearer of good > tidings, aren't you? > > See everyone? No wonder I've developed a worrywart complex w/r/t my > Vanagon! Dennis is one of the Wise Men of the List, knows whereof he > speaks, and what he speaketh here be doom and gloom. > > -- Dolorous Edd > > (On the other hand, I learn something! Last week the alternator lamp > comes on on the dash and battery voltage drops. My first thought [hope, > actually, since I have a spare belt] is that I've dropped a belt. But > was I sensible enough to pull over alongside the road immediately, > unload the camping gear and open the engine compartment to inspect? No. > Not at all. It was hot, the road dusty. I drove a mile or more to a > prospective campsite, thinking I might be stuck there for a couple days > before taking a look. I figured I had tens of minutes before the battery > didn't have enough power to run the engine. BUT, a dropped belt would > have meant that coolant flow would have stopped so, I had no business > driving another hundred meters. > > My question is: if a belt is dropped, do the temp gauge/coolant lamp > give sufficient time to warn of engine bakage so one can pull over?) > > -- RJS > > On 08/24/2011 04:19 PM, Dennis Haynes wrote: >> Those multiple steam traumas may also done some engine damage. The likely >> future repairs are melted outer head gaskets, loose studs or cracked >> heads. >> Since there was enough pressure to blow out that manifold consider the >> heater cores and maybe the radiator to need future attention as well. >> >> Sorry, >> Dennis >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf >> Of >> Mike >> Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 6:56 PM >> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM >> Subject: Re: V-Belt tightness -- how to determine? >> >> It caused mine to fail within minutes! (It must have been on the edge, >> apparently and that was the last straw) I was hearing a new squeal after >> snugging both belts a bit, so I broke out my mechanic's stethoscope and >> that >> confirmed that it was coming from inside the W/P. >> I decided to take it on along trip the next weekend, figuring that it >> wouldn't cause any immediate problem, as it wasn't leaking a drop. Well, >> I >> was wrong! >> About 50 miles from home cruising down the highway @ 65 mph, with my 3 >> kids >> on board, I though maybe I had smelled burning rubber, and wondered why. >> A >> minute later the charging light came on and confirmed my suspicion that >> it >> must have thrown the alternator belt. I slowed down and considered >> pulling >> over on the Mass Pike, but traffic was heavy, so I figured that I could >> make >> it a few more miles to the next rest area with no alternator. It'd >> probably >> run on a good battery for a lot longer that that, so I figured no >> problem, >> right? Well, I forgot that the alternator belt was also the W/P belt, >> and >> within another minute I heard a pop and saw steam fill my rear view. I >> immediately shut it down and pulled over into the breakdown lane and >> coasted >> to a stop. I got out to survey and saw a lot of antifreeze pouring out >> from >> the right rear side of the van. I opened the decklid and found the belt >> laying there and all else looked good. I poured a whole gallon of >> antifreeze into it, in hopes of limping to the Ludlow rest-stop. I ran >> the >> engine for very short bursts and coasted the majority of the way into the >> rest-stop. I couldn't see the source of the leak, and had no extra belt, >> so >> I called triple-A. The MA state trooper said that they had to handle >> any >> tows off the Pike, so I got them to arrange towing it off the pike. They >> towed it all the way to my house (AAA PLUS!), and when I finally got a >> closer look, I found that the right plastic octopus (hiding behind the >> firewall) had blown out one of the large plastic plugs that's glued-in. >> I >> took it out and found that the dealer still carries them. I may need a >> new >> large hose, as I may have damaged it removing it. It has a molded tee >> going >> over the top of the auto trans and it looks hard-to-find and expensive, >> not >> to mention difficult to replace. >> So now, I need a W/P, a belt, an octopus, a molded hose, some jugs of >> coolant and then I'll see how it goes from there. No money available >> right >> now, so it'll have to wait a bit. Oh well..... >> >> Mike B. >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Roland >> Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 12:11 PM >> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM >> Subject: Re: V-Belt tightness -- how to determine? >> >> I've wondered about this also: >> >> - too loose, and the belt may squeal (maybe other problems if it is too >> loose). >> - too tight, and the water pump bearing might wear out more quickly >> (pretty >> sure an overly tight belt caused my last water pump failure). >> >> Roland >> >> On Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 7:13 AM, Rocket J Squirrel< >> camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Something I've never understood about tightening the belt. >>> Instructions usually say something like: >>> >>> "Be careful not to get the belts too tight. You should have slight >>> (1/8" - 1/4") deflection in the belts after they are adjusted. >>> This of course depends on the length of the belt." >>> >>> <http://www.vanagonauts.com/**printable.phtml?&catid=215<http://www.va >>> nagonauts.com/printable.phtml?&catid=215> >>>> >>> >>> How much pressure do you put behind your thumb when testing? I can >>> deflect the belt anywhere from not much to a lot more by pressing >>> harder! >>> >>> -- >>> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott >>> Bend, Ore. >>> 1984 Westfalia. A poor but proud people. >>> 1971 "Ladybug"-brand utility trailer ca. 1972 from a defunct company >>> in San Clemente, Calif., now repurposed as The Westrailia. >>> >>> Sent from my kitchen. >>>


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