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Date:         Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:23:44 -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: What did you do for your Vanagon this week?
Comments: To: Roland <syncronicity1@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <CAEuQn0bkBoFAAfrP6qVyeg-+24dcQ_=vwhmu2RoW+2tjso=UVg@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Well, over the last two weeks, I

Pulled the Vitrifrigo refrigerator and re-programmed it to allow the aux battery to go a little lower before shutting down. Discovered why its interior light doesn't go on (bad 12V power supply at provided terminals) and bypassed them. Wrote Vitrifrigo customer service about this and, as usual, got no answer.

Yanked the useless (to me) city water inlet and installed a 120-V inlet that I bought last year and modified to accept a pair of Anderson Powerpole connectors which are now wired to the solar controller so the van now has water, 120-V, and solar inlets on the side; up until now the solar panel connectors were on wires and I dropped them outta the driver's door. Did not look very finished, now it's extra-cool.

Changed the two front tires because the driver's side tire was getting worn down and installed a pair of my older Cooper tires; will be taking the van in next week to have alignment inspect to see what the dickens is causing all this wear. One should get, I reckon, more than 10,000 miles from a set of front tires.

Installed new spark plugs (NGK BP6ET) and triggered a whole swarm of controversy here over whether they are smart to use or not; then sparked a whole discussion on The Samba about the same thing. Some of our smartest guys give good reason to avoid them, others have used them on many, many engines and love them. Liking the extra pep, I decided to split the difference and retard the timing a wee bit to soften their blows. Retarded it too much at first and the van was very sluggish off idle, subtracted one degree and it felt fine so my idle timing is at about 7 degrees ATDC.

Washed the entire engine compartment. Previously: everything was brown; now: all the colors of the rainbow.

Received from Mark Drillock a second ECU to bring as a spare (I'm trying to eliminate an annoying high temperature/steep grade engine shutdown thing) and tested the ECU and it works just fine. Also, removed the little square pre-pump fuel filter and refreshed the post-pump one in case the problem is due to some kind of restriction.

Tested fuel pressure and fuel delivery. Now I have nearly a quart of gasoline in a glass bottle to admire.

Ground down the hooks on my Hi-Lift "Lift Mate" so they'll fit in the holes in the Vanagon wheels. Worked on the Hi-Lift jack (bought from Al Knoll and older than he) to make it work smoother. Rattle-canned the Hi-Lift with tractor red so it looks purty.

This is not really "working on the Vanagon" per se but since the Hi-Lift is also my rear bumper ("Road Warrior"!) it counts, I figure.

Practiced using the Hi-lift. That thing will kill ya if you don't know how it works. Even if you do, it's dangerous.

Found out why the dash vent on the passenger side wasn't delivering air: stupid duct fell off the stupid vent.

Have been trying to recondition my Trojan 130 amp-hour aux battery which I'm pretty certain I broke last winter by letting it discharge down to 7 volts. Under a test load, it gave 50 amp/hours; after equalization, it gave 65 amp/hours. I am not impressed. Now I'm in research mode: gave it a full charge overnight and am letting is sit for 24 hours then will check open-circuit voltage and compare with specific gravity to see if they agree (temperature corrected). If things look wrong will try more equalization to see if I can break up more sulfur crystals and make it good again.

Never thought about washing the seat belts, but they don't retract so good so I figure I'll give it a try!

<Expecting a slew of comments, he ducks>

-- Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott 1984 Westfalia, auto trans, Bend, Ore.

On 08/28/2012 05:30 PM, Roland wrote: > Washed the driver's side seat belt. Easy job. Simply pulled it out of the > reel all the way, clamped it so it wouldn't retract. Then placed a bucket > of warm soapy water on the little shelf next to the seat, dumped it all in, > squeeze repeatedly like you are washing a rag, then rinse with clean > water. No need to unbolt anything, the middle part of the seat belt is the > problem, not the ends. > > Nice and soft and flexible once again. It actually retracts now when I let > it go. > > Roland


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