Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:34:14 -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: Minimum spares kit. Was: Alternator Brushes Wore Out Pretty
Darn Quick
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I agree not necessary to carry a spare throttle body.
the worst that is likely to happen is an idle problem ..
'anything that can prevent you from moving' is what I go by.
Starter is heavy ........and with manual trans you can always push or tow
start if you have to, so I never carry a spare starter, usually anyway.
yes on the water pump unless it's pretty new.
absolutely on the ecu ..
they are generally quite good ...
I can think of 3 that were genuinely bad in the last 2 or 3 years...among
maybe 70 EFI vanagons.
One was just a couple of months ago.
I seriously carry a known-good spare ECU ..
if that thing takes a dump on ya.....you ain't goin' nowhere.
mandatory I'd say.
Temp Sensor II for sure.
distributor for sure.
Igniter if it's not inside the ecu.
a spare good plug wire or two ..
left over tune up parts that are still good.
oxygen sensor ..
real like scenario....
I just had a hose blow out ...spewing coolant all over the engine.
That lead to a so-so used distributor cap crapping out ..
and a didn't-look-bad-at-all oxygen sensor crapping out as well. ..
though you can always keep moving with the 02 connected if you need to. Not
as smooth, burns more gas....but still runs all right.
Air intake boot ..if I have one of those ...I carry that.
and a box of misc hoses, hose junctions, and hose clamps.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "neil n" <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 5:18 PM
Subject: Re: Minimum spares kit. Was: Alternator Brushes Wore Out Pretty
Darn Quick
I had a real tendency to carry way too many spares.
Here's a before and after of paring down:
https://picasaweb.google.com/musomuso/MiscVanagonWestyPics#5387387355555099026
Like I really didn't need the extra throttle body. ;) I still
tend to carry too much stuff, but there are times when I add something
to my rig or fiddle with things. Nice to have the extra stuff for
that. If I had an SO and/or kids, I wouldn't have time for that kind
of thing while on the road!
What one carries depends on the engine too. In terms of a minimum, I
carry spares for parts that when failed, would cause a no start
situation:
Ones shared with WBX:
starter (this one could be debatable but it would depend on the situation)
ign. switch
Distributor, cap/rotor, tension lead to/from coil.
fuel pump
alt/water pump belt
coil
wires/tape/various connectors etc.
gasket material
I suspect I really should carry a water pump and ECU too. There's
probably things I've forgotten
Neil.
On Tue, Aug 23, 2011 at 1:31 PM, Poppie Jagersand
<poppie.jagersand@yahoo.ca> wrote:
> I also ask: How many spares should one really carry? Wife drives Toyota
> with no clue what to do if it stops... So do 99% of others whether they
> drive a car or RV.
>
> I used to have spares and tools filling the whole storage under the bench,
> but with a growing family there's need for the wife and kid's stuff too!
>
--
Neil n
65 kb image Myford Ready For Assembly http://tinyurl.com/64sx4rp
'81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco" http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
Vanagon VAG Gas I4/VR Swap Google Group:
http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines