Date:         Tue, 22 Nov 1994 13:29:09 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Patrick Tower <poser@leland.stanford.edu>
Subject:      I lied, and Problems with Ms. Pickle

First of all, I lied about leaving the list.  I have begun deleting
more (entertaining, but less useful) messages, but I wanted to be
kept informed about the West coast gathering.

The problems with Ms. Pickle ('73 Safare Custom Camper), are several.
A few weeks ago, the clutch cable broke on the way to work, and since,
despite warnings in several different places, I had not purchased a
spare, I simply drove it to the shop (sans clutch--Muir's instructions
for driving w/o a clutch came in handy) and got it replaced.  Once this
was done, they discovered that the throw-out bearing was being pushed
_into_ (I think) the pressure plate.  This necessitated a tow from
Palo Alto to San Francisco ($100, half of which will supposedly be 
reimbursed by the garage) to be fixed for the _third_ time by the garage
that put in a new clutch shortly before I bought the bus.  Hopefully they
used decent parts this time--the second time was because of a defective
throw-out bearing.  If it weren't under warranty, there's no way I would
still have them working on her.

Then last week, as I was about to go to S.F. to pick up a rental camera
lens (a big mutha that wouldn't fit on my Vespa), the throttle cable
broke.  I pumped the gas to set the choke, and the pedal stayed on the
floor.  This is where friends came in handy.  One drove me to EssEff to
pick up the lens while another went to Kohlweiss to pick up the new
cable.  When I got back from The City, I replaced the cable and was set to
go, except....

In the next day of driving, it got increasingly more difficult to find
first gear, and eventually, even second.  On the way back from Little Big
Game (Cal-Stanford fumble-fest), I had to start out in third a couple of
times (great for the engine, huh?).  So last night, I managed to nurse
her back to the shop in S.F. on the off-chance that the problem is 
serious enough that it is covered under the drive-train warranty
included when I bought the bus (from the above-mentioned garage).
Now I am waiting to hear what it will cost me to get her back.  My
suspicion (hope?) is that it's the shifting train, since it doesn't
pop out of gear once it's in; it just won't go in easily.  But the
main operating part of the shifting train is inside the tranny case.

It's costing me $60 to find out what the problem is, and
if it is the rear shift train connection, they estimate about $175 parts
and labor.  The mechanic said when I dropped it off that if it was
drivable, it was unlikely that the problem would be covered under 
warranty.  My question: Does this sound to youse guys like the most
likely problem, and does $175 sound like a reasonable estimate if it
is?  I guess given this estimate that it isn't nessesary to pull the
engine, etc. to get at it to fix the problem.  Given my history with
this garage, I'm wondering if I might be able to get better/less
expensive service closer to home, if I can nurse her back down south.

Time to get back to actually _earning_ my paycheck, but any input/advice
would be welcomed.

-Patrick
poser@leland.stanford.edu