

| Subject: | Re: Minimum spares kit. Was: Alternator Brushes Wore Out Pretty Darn Quick |
| From: | Scott Daniel - Turbovans |
| Date: | Thu, 1 Sep 2011 20:54:18 -0700 |
Greetings.. speaketh thou to whom ? Moi ? if 'here' is the spot on the planet that my body often is .. then sorry I missed ya ! it's better to email first if you plan to call. the phone gets out of control sometimes.. Don't especially like spending a lot of interacting on it lately. 'cool comfort of my sunny spot' ..sure .. though the normal 'sunny' in the Rogue Valley is Blazing Hot .. every day .. though I will say ..this is the first summer here in 7 years where I have said it was a nice summer. Usually it's either too hot or too cold here....like 80 % of the time it's one or the other. But this has been a quite nice summer. Yup ,Rocket is in Bend ..and friendly I beleive.. they need a AAAA Plus for SVX vanaogn drivers ! glad your rig is rippin' it up like it should ! scott www.turbovans.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Al Knoll" <anasasi@GMAIL.COM> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2011 8:18 PM Subject: Re: Minimum spares kit. Was: Alternator Brushes Wore Out Pretty Darn Quick >a bit? I am a bit. (42 is the number) I was just there yesterday. yer > phone dint answer. > > Best to try all these repairs in the cool comfort of your sunny spot. > Then > you'll know the drill so to speak. Change a belt, change a tire, replace > the ecu WITH THE BATTERY DISCONNECTED. Change the fuel pump, the filter, > and the relay, keep that green book handy so a pro mechanic asbergury or > not can do the work. > > Practice. Fortune favors the well prepared. > > So you dint call Rocket? Drove right through Bent. Hoody river was most > fine I could learn to like OR after suffering with Kaliforniacatedness far > too long. SyncroSVX runs like a turbine now. New 3.3, rebuilt Transaxle > with .70 top and 5.83 R&P. Work done by Tom Lengyel the gitane magician > and > dog handler there in Aurora OR. Highly recommended. > > Spares of course like them other folk recommend. I have starter, > alternator, fuel rails, and other bits marked and ready to send in the > flat > rate boxies. > > AAA Premium gets you out of the desert. > > Pensionerd. > > On Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 3:07 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans < > scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote: > >> "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<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/<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-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines> >>>> >>>>
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