Date:         Wed, 20 Aug 1997 10:20:57 -0600 (MDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Jack Reed <jack@nts.gssc.com>
Subject:      Re: VANAGON digest 1448


> Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 12:04:17 -0500
> From: John Hung <john.hung@msfc.nasa.gov>
> To: mysykt@cadvision.com
> Cc: vanagon@lenti
> Subject: Re: Shifted to Death
> Message-ID: <v03007805b01f729b5096@[128.158.172.233]>
> 
> Well, to put a happy ending on this story ... I live in Auburn, AL which is
> a university town with not many import car repair places, but there is a
> one decent shop.  Unfortunately, the van is already in pieces in the
> driveway.  I decide to replace the bearing myself.  I fashioned a bearing
> puller from a big bolt, using a only a hacksaw, and some crude turning on
> an old lathe - (remember, I'm a college professor, not a machinist), but it
> works. I go to the FLAPS, and behold, the new pilot bearing is only $12.
> Yes, TWELVE dollars.  I put it in, and have never had a problem since (the
> odometer is around 130,000 miles now).
> 
> All those hours of worry on vacation, all that money spent at a dealer and
> on rental car, those anxious hours my wife had with her Scouts ... it came
> down to properly diagnosing the problem, and a $12 part.
> 
> Once again, a good mechanic is worth his/her weight in gold, and I'm still
> not impressed with most dealership shops.

I'd disagree with only one of your statements here, John, and that's that
an owner that really knows his vehicle is worth more than a van full of
good mechanics.  Knowing how everything fits together and where the REAL
failure point is will save you $$$$ over the long term, even if you let
someone else do the work.

I had a similar event happen to me.  My wife was 400 miles from home when
the gearshift locked up.  Had it towed to a nearby mechanic who told me
that he thought she'd sheared a pin in the tranny, he'd have to drop the
engine and tranny and tear into it to figure out what was wrong.
Estimated costs in the $300-$400 range.  I tell him to hold off while I do
some research.

I got the big Bentley book and started poring over the tranny diagrams.
I agree with him that something's jammed the linkage, but disagree as to
it's cause.  After a couple of hours, I call him back.

"Do me a favor.  Take a flashlight, unscrew the backup light switch, peer
in the hole and tell me if there's a clip on the end of the selector
finger shaft."

He confusedly agrees to my request while I wait on hold.  After a few
minutes he comes back to the phone and told me I was right, the clip was
gone and the selector fingers had fallen off the splined shaft and jammed.
Total cost of the repair was less than $2, plus my time to get down there,
retrieve the broken pieces with a magnet, replace the selector fingers on
the shaft and put the new clip on.

Yeah, you have to pay your dues and scratch your head until you figure
some of these things out.  But I'd rather do that than pay someone that
MAY do the job right, may not.  Lessons learned are useful in other arenas
than the one you got them in.  You learn nothing by paying someone else to
learn those same lessons (on YOUR vehicle).

Happy Trails,
Jack