Date:         Mon, 1 Jul 2019 00:36:18 +0000
Reply-To:     Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Clean up Fuse Block under dash?...maybe add dielectric grease?
In-Reply-To:  <BYAPR12MB3640EA429CA3FFDF50390A45BAFE0@BYAPR12MB3640.namprd12.prod.outlook.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

 Good trip report, Dave.  So it got me thinking....I live near the ocean (salty air) in San Diego; my 85 Tintop is pushing 30 years; have NEVER done anything (other than add house battery wires about 10 years ago) to Fuse Block under dash (sounds like you had some trouble down there).  So I'm thinking I should:  disconnect starter and house batteries, get out the Scotchbrite pad, one by one remove fuses and brighten contacts and add a dab of grease at each end of fuse to stave off corrosion.  If I can't get to the actual metal contacts, just removing and replacing fuse a few times should help, as will the grease.  Preventative maintenance.  Thoughts?  

Rich
San Diego

    On Sunday, June 30, 2019, 4:00:19 PM PDT, David Boan <dboan@OUTLOOK.COM> wrote:  
 
 Hi Vanagon Types ...
I read in other posts that people like seeing trip reports, so thought I would share one.  Also, had two issues occur during the trip and welcome your comments.

Over ten days we traveled from Boise to Seattle, spent a few days there, then took the ferry to Bremerton, and camped at Lake Crescent.  From there to Hoh Rainforest, then to Long Beach, Portland, Corvallis and back home.  My fully loaded '85 Westy, with car top carrier, got 18 mpg at 60-65 mph.  The car top carrier seems to cost 2 mpg, I usually do around 20-21 mpg at that speed.

Several recent posts mention the frig.  Mine is usually hard to start unless I run it on electric first, then it starts right up on gas.  On this trip, with outside temps in the 70s during the day and 50s at night, mine kept things reasonable cold on gas, but not frozen. I did not take an exact temp.  The pilot blew out on the way home driving in high winds.  It almost never does that.

The issues: When we got to Seattle the water pump went out.  This is a GoWesty rebuild 2.1 with only 20,000 miles on it.  I found a mechanic at Import Service in Seattle who installs GoWesty engines and got us right in.  He has not seen a water pump go out on a GoWesty rebuild with low mileage, and generally has a high opinion of them as a very reliable engine.  I have a theory.  Last fall the fan on the alternator broke in half. Fortunately, the broken half embedded itself in the engine cover,  especially since my wife was camping with our daughter and I was not there.  She drove it for a few hours to home then I got it in the shop and had it replaced.  There was a slight vibration from the alternator due to the now imbalanced fan, and I am guessing that may have weakened the water pump.  Either that, or it is just one of those things that happens.

The other issue is electrical.  About half way to Seattle the #10 fuse melted.  Not the metal strip, the fuse itself.  It was a warm day, I was climbing and the engine fan was running a lot.  I also have an oil cooler, and was running with lights and the radio going.  My hunch is that the almost 35 yo fuse block got hot.  I turned off everything I could, replaced the fuse and had no further issues, but checked it frequently and noticed fuse #10 was often warm.  I am doing two things, let me know if this makes sense.  First, I am moving remaining accessories, like the radio and amplifier to the accessory battery fuse block.  Second, I am cleaning the connectors at the fuse block (I previously cleaned all the grounds) and replacing the fuse block with a new one, on the assumption corrosion is at least part of the problem.  Does that make sense?

My SO (significant other) is losing faith in the reliability of our Westy, so I need to clean this up and show we can safely drive down the road to places other than to our mechanic.

Which brings me to a last point.  A few months ago someone mentioned reliability as their main goal with their Westy.  I am very interested in ideas about reliability that anyone might share.

Dave B.
Boise, ID