Date:         Wed, 19 Jul 1995 09:15:57 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Tobin T. Copley" <tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca>
Subject:      Re: Bus queries

On Tue, 18 Jul 1995, David Carment wrote:

> Yeah, but how do you get started with a busted clucth cable? 
[snip]
> But, to get your
> vehicle moving from a dead stop you need to jam it in first and start it
> engaged or alternatively push start it yourself (not recommended for vans)
[snip]
> A third choice would be to always park on a hill so you can roll start the
> van and never worry about first gear (not recommended for Vans with FI).

Why is push-starting not recommended for vans with FI?  We push-started 
our beloved '76 westy all the way home from New Brunswick (to Vancouver, 
B.C.) after the solenoid died--there was no way I was going to spend 
an hour under the bus pulling the starter and swapping out solenoid in 
the freezing cold, 'specially when I could get a new solenoid way cheaper 
on the west coast!  So we push started all the way home (what, 5500 
km?).  We encountered no mechanical problems resulting from this.  Why is 
it not recommended?  The only reason we found that it might not be 
recommended is the camper is pretty heavy, and is pretty hard to stop 
once it gets going up to a slow jogging speed--a bit hairy when someone 
pulls into the parking lot in front of you: no brake boost!!!  =:O

Tobin
(and it seems like a miracle now how it turns over every time I turn the 
key...)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tobin T. Copley                  Currently              =============  
(604) 689-2660                    Occupationally       /_| |__||__| :| putta
tobin@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca      Challenged!        O|             | putta
                                                       '-()-------()-' 
Circum-continental USA, Mexico, Canada 15,000 miles... '76 VW Camper! (Mango)