I carry a lot of spare parts ...
all the 'units' ... AFM, distributor, sensors etc.

and 'general stuff' ...tape, wire, wire connectors, hose clamps, some radom
coolant hoses and heater hose etc.

besides rescuing yourself, once in a great while there'll be a fellow camper
or road traveler, and it's real nice to whip out just the right 'what-not'
to keep them moving.

I think it's important to not 'try too hard' either.
Like if you really try have exacty everything you could need, murphy's law
and luck will have it that you didn't bring the 'one thing' you need when
you need it.
So I am kinda random about it, a little causual ....and carry more of the
gneric varity tools...
more hammer/vice grip/hack saw then every precise tool that could be
needed - or lean in that direction some.  I carry vanagon speecific tools of
course, but not too obsesseively.

one of my best 'get home from mexico' events was getting back from La Paz to
San Francisco Bay Area in a 1959 Fiat 600D - voltage regulator for the
generator quit.  I just ran the generator full-fielded at night with high
beams on, ran off the battery during the day.
Fried the battery, but it got 1,500 miles home just fine.
 Extra wire is good for stuff like that.
There are a million stories like that of course. Flashlight batteries to run
points ingntion, water for brake fluid, etc.
The old string for throttle control - try that with a mondern drive-by-wire
toyota. ( or tdi )   Not !

When the requirement is 'just keep moving' it's real fun..........cause you
don't have to fix it right, just fix it enough to keep moving until you get
home.  Can get away with a lot for just that.
The self-suficinecy and cleveriness, often with the help of other people you
find, is super rewarding !

----- Original Message -----
From: "RiffOil" <riffoil@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 10:19 AM
Subject: Re: Do U carry spare ECU?

>I carry my AAA card
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>  May Peace be upon You
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> <P> Please consider the environment before printing this email.
>
> On Apr 13, 2010, at 9:24 AM, neil n <musomuso@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 8:59 AM, mark drillock <mdrillock@cox.net>
>> wrote:
>>> On the weekend I got a call from a friend in trouble. He had taken a
>>> group of people up to a lake a few hours from home, using his 86 GL
>>> as a
>>> tour bus. Everything went fine and they made it up the 5000' mountain
>>> without incident. After unloading he decided to park in a different
>>> spot
>>> and the van would crank fine but not start.
>> .....
>>> Installed his spare ECU from his Westy under bench storage, fired
>>> right up!
>>>
>>> Mark
>>
>>
>> I recently reduced the amount of spares from this
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/y3cp26u
>>
>> to this
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/y2h4dwa
>>
>> Now I'm thinking find a matching Jetta ECU and ditch more of the
>> electrical spares to make room for it (really. Who needs to carry that
>> much spare wire?  ;^)
>>
>> Good thought Mark
>>
>> Neil.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Neil Nicholson '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"
>>
>> http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
>>
>> http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines