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Date:         Sat, 27 Aug 2016 07:06:13 -0700
Reply-To:     Toomey Douglas <drt@UOREGON.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Toomey Douglas <drt@UOREGON.EDU>
Subject:      Fantastic trip, shout out to Ken Wilford, question on mechanical
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

Our family of 5 and 1 big dog completed our cross-country and back adventure this summer in our 87 westy that we call elvis, as in elvis is everywhere for you Mojo Nixon fans. With a 16 year-old daughter and twins that are 14, we guessed that this might be the last summer (hope not!) that all 5 of us and Argo could fit comfortably in a VW van. It was an epic trip. The kids love camping, they are enthusiastic wrenchers (“we can fix it Dad!”) and take in stride the quirks and wonder that comes along with a two month road trip.

Short version of itinerary: Oregon, Sawtooths, Yellowstone, Beartooths, Cody (great museum), Bighorns, Custer/Rushmore, Jewel Cave, sandhills of Nebraska, Iowa (no public land!), then through to western PA. Visit family, up to Ontario, Canada (more family), then over Huron, under Superior (wow, the Great Lakes region is worth many returns), UP (pasties!), MN, ND (boom and bust), then back home to the west via Glacier, Lolo Pass and many places in between.

Some photos and movies: https://www.instagram.com/elvis_goes_everywhere/

Elvis has been my only car now for 27 years, so some significant refurb was done before the trip. One thing we did not do (should have) was replace the gas tank. As we limped into western PA, after some serious power loss, it was a must do. After some calls to various parts shops (being from the west coast I usually call ones on the west coast), I was pleasantly rewarded by great service, quick shipping, and good prices from Ken Wilford at Van-Again. Since Ken is on the east coast, the shipping was quick and easy to western PA, his advice and patience on the phone was great, and obviously he comes with high recommendations! Ken, I desperately wanted to do it myself, but my mother just had an operation, my father gave me fatherly advice about how to spend my time at home (never too old to get advice), and it turns out a friend in my small home town (Youngwood) has a shop and works on VWs (McCune Auto), so he did it for me. By and large, after the new gas tank and fuel pump/filter, elvis regained power and did well on the remainder of the trip.

Mechanical question: If you have read this far, thanks! There was one day on the trip when elvis did not do well after the tank replacement. It was just east of Glacier National Park, the winds were horrific (we were watching the radar and storm warnings), and the car was suffering horrible loss of power, bucking, nearly stalling. Happened whether or not we were into wind, with it, or across. These were not normal winds, but gales. After we (luckily) got up and over the pass in Glacier the symptom went away entirely. We were on same tank of gas during and after the problem. And, remarkably, we saw the twin to elvis (another grey, 87 westie), and they said they were having a similar experience that day.

Specifics: 87 westy, 2.1 wbx, digifant.

Any suggestions on the cause of the problem? We have had highway hiccups (mostly gone after new gas tank), but I am still suspicious that there is some intermittent issue I need to find.

Thanks to all on the list, I’ve been learning a lot, and still have a ways to go!

Oh, on last day of trip elvis got blindsided by a pickup truck in Baker City, OR that decided to back up without looking. At least I did not have to look at the damage for 2 months! Some body work coming up.

Keep on bussin,

Doug

PS This is a sprinter free post!


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