"how much heavier is a starter ? ...
like how much heavier than what.. ...say a spark plug ?
Quite a bit heavier than a spark plug.

just teasing you.
I am very litteral.  A bit asburgery.

Starter isn't that hard to change on an auto trans vanagon.
I also get the impression..
and pretty sure this is accurate..
you almost never get under your van ..
or almost never have it off the ground...
given you don't have a safe spot to do that.

Can a person even begin to understand and take care of their own vanagon if
they never get it off the ground a foot extra or so ?   Wheels off the
ground too.
Gotta be checking things ...like front suspension..
rear axles etc.
With the van on the ground..
vanagonauts can only access perhaps 40  % of what needs to be checked,
looked at, lubed, inspected, adjusted, tweaked, replaced etc.

For those that have owned a keel type full-time-in-the-water sailboat ...
you can't really own and maintain the boat long term leaving in the water
365 days a year, year in and year. out.
 It simply has to come out of the water at least once every couple of years
to clean and check things..
sure, a diver can clean and and inspect some now and then ( thinking
sailboats in salt water mainly ) ..
but it's not the same quite ..

 you gotta have access to the undersides of a vanagon now and then..
to really take care of it, check on things, etc.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rocket J Squirrel" <camping.elliott@gmail.com>
To: "Scott Daniel - Turbovans" <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Cc: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 7:16 AM
Subject: Re: Minimum spares kit. Was: Alternator Brushes Wore Out Pretty
Darn Quick

> "Starter is heavy ........and with manual trans you can always push or tow
> start if you have to, so I never carry a spare starter, usually anyway."
>
> Sigh. Here I am with an auto trans. No push starting this thing. Just got
> a spare alternator to pack. How much heavier is a starter? Is it a major
> job to swap one on the road?
>
> (Note to my reader: I am not worrying, I am investigating.)
>
> --
> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
> Bend, Ore.
> 1984 Westfalia. A poor but proud people.
> 1971 "Ladybug"-brand utility trailer ca. 1972 from a defunct company in
> San Clemente, Calif., now repurposed as The Westrailia.
>
> Sent from my kitchen.
>
> On 08/29/2011 07:34 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
>> I agree not necessary to carry a spare throttle body.
>> the worst that is likely to happen is an idle problem ..
>>
>> 'anything that can prevent you from moving' is what I go by.
>>
>> Starter is heavy ........and with manual trans you can always push or tow
>> start if you have to, so I never carry a spare starter, usually anyway.
>>
>> yes on the water pump unless it's pretty new.
>>
>> absolutely on the ecu ..
>> they are generally quite good ...
>> I can think of 3 that were genuinely bad in the last 2 or 3 years...among
>> maybe 70 EFI vanagons.
>> One was just a couple of months ago.
>> I seriously carry a known-good spare ECU ..
>> if that thing takes a dump on ya.....you ain't goin' nowhere.
>>
>> mandatory I'd say.
>> Temp Sensor II for sure.
>> distributor for sure.
>> Igniter if it's not inside the ecu.
>> a spare good plug wire or two ..
>> left over tune up parts that are still good.
>> oxygen sensor ..
>> real like scenario....
>> I just had a hose blow out ...spewing coolant all over the engine.
>> That lead to a so-so used distributor cap crapping out ..
>> and a didn't-look-bad-at-all oxygen sensor crapping out as well. ..
>> though you can always keep moving with the 02 connected if you need to.
>> Not
>> as smooth, burns more gas....but still runs all right.
>> Air intake boot ..if I have one of those ...I carry that.
>> and a box of misc hoses, hose junctions, and hose clamps.
>>
>> Scott
>> www.turbovans.com
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "neil n" <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
>> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>> Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 5:18 PM
>> Subject: Re: Minimum spares kit. Was: Alternator Brushes Wore Out Pretty
>> Darn Quick
>>
>>
>> I had a real tendency to carry way too many spares.
>>
>> Here's a before and after of paring down:
>>
>> https://picasaweb.google.com/musomuso/MiscVanagonWestyPics#5387387355555099026
>>
>>
>> Like I really didn't need the extra throttle body. ;) I still
>> tend to carry too much stuff, but there are times when I add something
>> to my rig or fiddle with things. Nice to have the extra stuff for
>> that. If I had an SO and/or kids, I wouldn't have time for that kind
>> of thing while on the road!
>>
>> What one carries depends on the engine too. In terms of a minimum, I
>> carry spares for parts that when failed, would cause a no start
>> situation:
>>
>> Ones shared with WBX:
>>
>> starter (this one could be debatable but it would depend on the
>> situation)
>> ign. switch
>> Distributor, cap/rotor, tension lead to/from coil.
>> fuel pump
>> alt/water pump belt
>> coil
>> wires/tape/various connectors etc.
>> gasket material
>>
>> I suspect I really should carry a water pump and ECU too. There's
>> probably things I've forgotten
>>
>>
>>
>> Neil.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Aug 23, 2011 at 1:31 PM, Poppie Jagersand
>> <poppie.jagersand@yahoo.ca> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I also ask: How many spares should one really carry? Wife drives Toyota
>>> with no clue what to do if it stops... So do 99% of others whether they
>>> drive a car or RV.
>>>
>>> I used to have spares and tools filling the whole storage under the
>>> bench,
>>> but with a growing family there's need for the wife and kid's stuff too!
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Neil n
>>
>> 65 kb image Myford Ready For Assembly http://tinyurl.com/64sx4rp
>>
>> '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco" http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
>>
>> Vanagon VAG Gas I4/VR Swap Google Group:
>>
>> http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines
>>