Great idea.  Gotta find me some reliable relatives now!

Karl Wolz

|-----Original Message-----
|From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]
|On Behalf Of Jim Felder
|Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 7:51 AM
|To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
|Subject: Re: Minimum spares kit. Was: Alternator Brushes Wore
|Out Pretty Darn Quick
|
|Dear Squirrel PI;
|
|Quit packing and start packing! I mean, packing in boxes. I
|have some things I might need as spares already packed for
|shipment on a shelf in my garage.
|If I need it, I can call call on a family member (it's great
|to have those if you need something shipped) to send it to me.
|The choices of what is available are now greatly expanded as I
|do not need to decide what to take with me. I do have the
|tools to change stuff out, I have the Bentley on board and I
|keep some information on my phone if it's not in the Bentley.
|
|Jim
|
|On Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 9:16 AM, Rocket J Squirrel <
|camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
|
|> "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<https://picasaweb.google.com/musomuso/MiscVanagon
|>> WestyPics#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/<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<http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-v
|>> w-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines>
|>>
|>>
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|08/30/11