Vanagon EuroVan
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Date:         Wed, 20 Jul 2016 19:25:15 -0700
Reply-To:     Scott - IMAP <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Scott - IMAP <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject:      Re: West River small report
Comments: To: Eric Caron <ecaron1@COMCAST.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <17310C22-988E-43E3-80DD-57655CC7BEB4@comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed

I have a 'rule' ...that I generally stick to.

Don't do unnesscary work on the van on a trip !'

In fact, doing this in flight on an aircraft is illegal .. like messing around in flight with something to 'try to improve it ....or experiment , etc.

FOR SURE ! ...IMMEDIATELY confirm it still runs if anything is touched.. I'm sure you learned that lesson.

re oil warning light .. one is supposed to .. A. turn the key to 'on' and confirm that OP and Batt Charge lights are working. B. start engine and observe that both go off. ( this is in the owner's manual )

You'd be surprised how many people don't notice that oil warning lights are not working . One is not supposed to just hope in and turn the key to 'start'. It's also good to listen for the fuel pump to run and then shut off.

For sure ..NO wires or hoses should ever be allowed anywhere near any hot exhaust parts. That's just carelessness on the part of any sighted engine technician.

here's my favorite oil warning light failure. On the 86 and later 2.1 engine, the oil pressure switch wires are at the left front of the engine, originally wire-tied to a large coolant hose at the t-stat housing. I let those wires dangle about for a while once. A leaking # 3 spark plug wire zapped to the low pressure/low rpm OP switch wire. This ...amazing ..shorted out that oil pressure switch, ruining it.

Anyway ...when away from home .. don't mess with it, unless there is a pretty good reason.

Can't begin to say how many million times I touched something that was working .. and then it wasn't for some reason.

Heck ...I just did an intense 8 day trip ..huge hills and high temps ...high altitude .. I put a new Hall Sender into a spare 2.1 distributor .. which I only got done at the very last minute ..like at 4 AM or so .. I wasn't about to put that ' not confirmed good for sure' distributor in, starting out on a trip.

I tried it in another van, then carried it as one of my spares.

other issue ..got a freshly running 86 with 2.1 Digifant .. once it warms up .. it'll go to 'no throttle response' like at a stop sign ( new auto trans ) .. just shutting it off briefly resets it .. and it's fine for a minute or two.

it's strong cold..once a little warm it starts to act up. Idle switch is working .

I'm going for ...try another ecu and distributor .. then after that, I'm gonna check 02 wire for being shorted to coax outer shield.

I don't think it's associated with the AFM .. got various ones of those to try too. got a Vanagon Syndrome adapter harness, but it doesn't make any difference if installed. Suggestions and thoughts invited.

Scott

On 7/20/2016 5:45 PM, Eric Caron wrote: > West River Westies happens each July and is a wonderful gathering of busses and VW folks. > > this year I arrived Wednesday with about 6 other participants and enjoyed listening to about 100 others arrive through Friday. > > The Jimmy D 67 bus made many tube runs and I enjoyed two trips down the river. > On our first trip we arrived at the drop off where the covered bridge was being rebuilt by a young work crew. I’m told their faces were priceless as they saw this bus arrive and 11 of us with 11 tubes tumbled out. They should have seen us a few years ago when we arrived with 19 in that bus! > > Many great things happened this weekend but I’ll never forget my departure. > > I work hard to keep my bus healthy so even though I stayed to the end I didn’t worry about my bus starting and leaving last. > > Thanks to a talented friend I have a house battery. So on Monday I said good bye to the last of the 100 or so folks. all the other busses started up and left no problem. > > So I was surprised when we started the van but it would not keep running. It would stall as soon as it tried to idle. > > finally we gave up and opened the back compartment. > > My friend and driver looked around. First he found a wire almost completely burned through. it had become free from a tie and was sitting on the muffler. We checked a few other things we had looked at earlier in the week. Then, my helpful friend said, I found it! > > He had removed my air filter cover earlier in our stay and not replaced the connector to the AFM! once installed bus was perfect! > > Lesson learned? When friends show me things in my engine compartment start van when they are done to be sure all is back in order. > > bonus from the event the burned green wire was for my oil pressure light. Now it is repaired and placed safely away. If we had not found that wire the light would have not worked and if that happened I would have not run the van perhaps being stranded or miss another event. So despite wondering how I could be the only bus not starting, and the bit of concern that created, all turned out great. > > Now, wish me luck at next weekends Jerry Jam concert and bus gathering, no exploring the engine during this event! > > Eric Caron > 85 GL Auto Westfalia


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