Date:         Mon, 10 Jun 1996 07:36:06 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         mike@arnold.ca (Mike)
Subject:      '83:My first big problem

        Well, it finally happened to me. (And no this is not the start of a
bad penthouse letter).
I'll start from the beginning, which is usually a great place to start. But
first I'll say that I think there was some VERY bad VW Karma around
Edmonton yesterday, as I passed 2 other dead and abandoned vans on the way
home from my own vechicular bungle.
        So sunday morning I pack up the van with some goodies and head off
to Elk Island Park for the day with a friend. EVerything goes
swimmingly...the van is running just great, so sputters, no jerks, no
nothing. Finally at the end of the day we drive back into town and I want
to stop at the mall so I can grab a book.
        When I go to start up the van...it tries its hardest. It sounds as
if its on the brink of turning over but just will not. My heart sinks. "Its
been fine all day." I say to myself and my freind. I try it a couple more
times but to no avail.
        What I dont understand is that it was running fine. No signs at all
that a problem was going to arise.
        Luckily my friend knows a bit more than I do about mechanical
problems etc., so we start poking around and try the following:
1) We made sure that the spark plugs were fine..no problem there that we
could see....

2) Check the fuel pump to make sure its working. Now to do this all I did
was go under the van were the pump is, and my freind turned the key..not
starting it but turning it to the on postion. The pump made some sounds
which I thought sounded fine so I assumed that it was ok.

3) I thought maybe it was the fuel pump but if thats what it was I would
have expected some inconsistent driving or speeds or something before this
little episode happened.

        And thats all we could do with our combined, allbeit limited,
knowledge. I'm kicking myself repeatedly for not buying that damn Bentley
manual sooner. So now instead, I have to get it towed to the shop so they
can look at it and give me a bill that I'll barely be able to cover since
Im in the process of moving to a new residence.
        The one good thing about this all was that I was prepared. Through
weeks of reading all the post on this list I was very aware of that many
prblems arise and that at sometime I too was going to have to face the
music.

        So if anyone can offer suggestions as to the source of my problem
please tell me, or can suggest other things I could try before getting it
towed I would be, and my van would to, very grateful.

sad and lonely,


             ________
            /________\
           /         =         \        Mike Wynn (mike@arnold.ca)
        [ I_________ I ]     Arnold Publishing and Multimedia in Edmonton
          I          V          I       Alberta, Canada
          I  (0)  W   (0)  I
         ===========      "Tied at the wrist, clenched at the fist,
           I_I              I_I         Negative Man, Negative Man."
          '83 Westfalia
 "The Mystery Machine"