Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2012 09:38:11 -0500
Reply-To: Tom Buese <tantonbz@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Tom Buese <tantonbz@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Trip Report: Detlef has Left Utah & is Safely in Maine
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Greetings fellow Vanagon Pilots- after a several week hiatus, I am back on
the list w/ a new email address, whether you care or not. Please note new
personal address to avoid or covet as you may so desire.
When we last visited, I was debating pre-emptive maintenance on my 84
Westy, Detlef, before moving to Blue Hill, Maine from Salt Lake City. Much
advice was given, most of it taken, which allowed moi to have a great drive
across the country for over 2800 miles.(not 2607 miles according to
MapQuizz).
Had my water pump replaced, new spark plugs, RF wheel bearing, all my fuel
lines w/ BMW fuel lines courtesy of Van Cafe, & I forget what else. Did not
replace my 4 YO worn Hakka CS's, cuz I couldn't find suitable replacement
tires locally & thot I would be more able to get the Nokians in real Winter
country like Maine, but NO!
Finally got all my crap, I mean valuable gear, loaded into a 4' x 8' HF
trailer filled w/ 2 bikes, many hand tools, & assorted office files, empty
propane tanks, & miscellaneous Kaka. My Aloha shirt collection, along w/ my
computer, & Carl, the giant dog, comfortably situated in said Westy, & we
finally left SLC @ 5 pm Saturday, Feb. 25, headed for I-80 in Wyoming,
which we knew was closed between Rock Springs & Laramie because of RWW
(Roger Whittacker Weather)(high winds, blowing snow & black ice). Drove 150
miles to Infamous Little America for the nite, where Carl enjoyed his 1st
sneaking into a motel room on the 2nd floor. Left the next morning for
points east, having heard that the freeway was now open, but said road
conditions were just as bad as in in Roger's nightmare, sunny skies, dry
roads, & clear visibility, except when the road became covered w/ black ice
w/o any warning. Made it alive & w/ all wheels still on the ground to
Rawlins where the road had been closed again because of a big accident
ahead. Hung for 30 minutes in a Golden Arches eating breakfast & observing
all the stranded travelers checking out road options on their IPads,
laptops, phones,etc. & called the spousal unit in Maine to look on her
laptop & see what was really up. She checked & mentioned a big accident
that had occurred a day or 2 before & was finally cleared up after several
dead, 9 miles of crashed cars & semis who had all run into each other in a
chain reaction to the 1st accident. But, she said the road was now open, so
I moseyed out to the Vanagon & headed down the freeway which still had
flashing lights saying the road was still closed. WTH, I figured, I'll
just keep driving until I can't, but that ended up being in the middle of
Nebraska, 500 miles down the road, when we quit for the nite in Kearney.
Detlef was running flawlessly, except for poor gas mileage(14-16 mpg),
probably caused by 65-70 mph driving w/ a trailer, but we did have a tail
wind! Made it to Joliet, Ill. the next night( 3rd floor motel stay
executed by Carl), w/ a little anxiety caused by semi glowing idiot lights
for the battery & the blank spot below it. Talked to my mechanic Jeff @
Utah Imports in SLC, as I was crossing the Mississippi, & he said could be
loose wire on the alternator, bad brushes in the voltage regulator, or
battery going bad, but since lights, etc all still worked, shouldn't be a
problem to keep driving & he would walk moi thru trouble shooting the
problem over the phone when I got to a stopping place. Next am, unloaded
the Aloha shirt collection & computer in a windy Chicago area Super 8 Motel
parking lot, & checked the blue wire on the alternator which felt fine,
could see nothing else to blame so headed off to find a FLAPS that could
test the alternator. Finally found 1 after a WGC (Wild Goose Chase)
outside of Toledo, Ohio. Alternator tested @ 13.85+-V under load, which
wasn't perfect, but OK. Needless to say the FLAPS couldn't find a voltage
regulator or alternator anywhere in the Midwest, & so he plugged the blue
wire back in, & I drove off towards Cleveland. But lo & behold, the lights
were not on anymore. Must have been a loose connection @ the blue wire,
which when testing the alternator, got better fastened by the FLAPS than
moi, who had just pushed on the connector & called it good. So problem
solved by accident, & that light never came on again the rest of the
trip.(but not another light)
Drove past Erie PA & bedded down in Northeast, PA for the night after
rejecting 2 motels that didn't allow pets or actually charged extra for
them- Harumph, why would you not want a petite 100 lb Great Pyrenees
sleeping in your guest rooms?
Woke the next am to rain, & that was it for the dry weather the rest of the
way. Finally hit snow east of Syracuse, NY, & it continued to degrade as I
went thru the Berkshires in Western Mass, when in the dark in rush hour
heavy snow conditions, my dreaded oil pressure sensor light came on w/ no
exits, pull over areas, etc on the Mass Pike. Now I have instructed the
spousal unit that if that light or the coolant level light ever come on, to
immediately turn off engine & pull over. Didn't do either(& thinking I now
need a new engine) until I could get to an exit several miles down the
Pike, & coasted into a service station where under the canopy I could check
my manual, the oil level, etc. & not see any issues. The manual said don't
worry about a flickering oil light after a long/hard drive, & even tho my
light was not flickering. it was solid on, so I figured this was the 1st of
a Mr. Squirrel flickering light episode? Kept driving carefully & the
light didn't come back on the rest of the trip, but I kept watching
nervously for it.
Finally stopped in Portsmouth, NH for the nite, & tried to leave the next
morning from a fairly flat parking lot w/ about 4-6 inches of snow on the
100 yard long access road to the freeway exit. Said road was not plowed, &
I could not move along the road at all, w/ snow plows & cars/people walking
by & not even asking if they could help. What is it w/ these NHers? Live
Free or Die, sucker?
Finally a motel clerk, not at the motel I stayed in, but 1 across the
street, got moi some salt & a snow shovel which allowed moi to move about
50' up the road, but no more. Went into my hotel to ask the staff for
help, & finally after the Police arrived, I got a single scrawny kid to
push moi enough to make it across the road to the freeway! The cop
explained to moi that people are a@# holes, but then had to leave for a car
flipped over. I will skip the part before when the motel clerk called the
cops to report an irate former guest stuck in the middle of a flat unplowed
street in front of the hotel, as it is below the dignity of this forum.
Drove into friendly, snowy Maine all the way to Augusta, where I got a flat
tire in front of a tire shop, & had to drive on an alloy rim w/ the Hakka
almost coming off the rim about several 100 feet to get to where they could
fix the flat. Tried to buy new tires there, as my spare has not been out
of the clamshell in over 10 years, but no, you can't get 14" vanagon
suitable tires anywhere on the road. They plugged the hole in the tread & I
was able to drive off thru white knuckle road conditions the rest of the
way to Blue Hill, where the spousal unit flagged moi down at our new
temporary home w/ my Burning Man flag!
Welcome to Maine! Carl, is now in Heaven protecting us from Bobcats &
squirrels!
I would have to say, that other than the idiot light malfunctions &
horrible traction in wet icy snow, the Westy performed wonderfully. Now
about those worn Hakkas & new Torque Biasing differential, the jury is
still out looking for Elvis.
So to get the conversation going, anyone got comparative experience
driving in icy snow w/ both Hakkas & Hankook tires?
As usual,
YMMV,
Mr. BZ-every 37 years you gotta do this.
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