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Mon Nov 05, 2018 2:31 am

Unloaded a bunch of items from my April 61 deluxe yesterday. Nice to have the arm chair in the living room. It has been since mid September since I started or drove it, when I drove it south from Washington. The bus has just been parked by the barn. I wanted to get a tall ladder, and the 9 foot hwe rack on the 15 is the ticket. Didn’t unload the garage stereo (with eight track player) and speaker wires.

On the way to Home Depot there was a bit of stuttering or hesitation on the freeway. I thought it odd since that was not usual. And only about 130 miles since filling the tank. Pulled reserve Anyway. Seemed to stop the hesitation.
On the way back, with ladder on rack, I pushed reserve back in anyway. Didn’t seem to affect anything. A few miles later, right before my exit, the hesitation came back. In fact, the engine shut off. I coasted onto the shoulder into the shade of a eucalyptus tree. I smelled something. Smoke? Electrical? Oil temp was 200 F shortly before it stalled. Was cruising about 60-65. 1600sp with big nut tranny. Upper seventies out.
Greg opened the engine lid. No engine smoke. Engine is not hot, looks normal. I looked at the fuses, nothing odd. Looked under the dash. Didn’t see anything odd, except clutter on the tray. And actually the wiring is not pristine.
Honestly, I hadn’t looked at the wiring since the nineties. Some PO did put some hackage under there. But honestly, it worked, and I’d put many miles on the bus without issues. Just not much recently. Felt around. Are there any loose wires? Possibly the headlight switch red wire wAs warm. The white with black stripes wire was cool. one of the ignition switch terminals was warm. I could see which one, it’s a little tight under there.

Starter turned with key, but the engine did not catch. found a test light in my toolbox, the right most fuse was hot, but with key on no other fuse was hot. Hm. Iirc the second fuse should be hot with key on. Asked Greg to check for hot at coil with ignition on. Noticed that the dash lights sometimes did not come on with key on. And smelled some electrical smell with key on, so shut key off.

What did we do to get home?

Mon Nov 05, 2018 2:52 am

Clara,

seems like your ignition switch died... :(

But that's just a remote guess from across the pond.

Olli

Mon Nov 05, 2018 5:43 am

is this a riddle? :)

In my case I found that the contact switch tends to develop an eroded pit at the contact point as can be seen here (this is a ghia switch)

It can be easily repaired with epoxy glue.

however I don't see a clear relation between this and a hesitating engine.

Mon Nov 05, 2018 7:15 am

Clara, Are you moving from Washington?

Mon Nov 05, 2018 8:01 am

Fuel, air and spark are the three things an engine needs to run. Spark is the most frequent culprit.

Did you hotwire the bus and drive it home?

Mon Nov 05, 2018 8:57 am

just a hunch but I'm going to guess you ran a wire from the battery to the coil since power to the coil was no good?

Mon Nov 05, 2018 10:05 am

iamdonquixote wrote: just a hunch but I'm going to guess you ran a wire from the battery to the coil since power to the coil was no good? .

Run the wire from a tail or the tag light and you can turn it off with the light switch....

Mon Nov 05, 2018 10:37 am

ToolBox wrote: iamdonquixote wrote: just a hunch but I'm going to guess you ran a wire from the battery to the coil since power to the coil was no good? .

Run the wire from a tail or the tag light and you can turn it off with the light switch....

this

unfortunately, also how to steal a vw...

Mon Nov 05, 2018 11:37 am

By pass the ignition switch.

Mon Nov 05, 2018 2:09 pm

Propably the speaker wires did help...

Mon Nov 05, 2018 2:10 pm

WTF is a freeway?

Mon Nov 05, 2018 4:01 pm

Yes, moving to California.

And yes it’s a riddle. :)

It did seem like the ignition switch died, so I ran a speaker wire from the battery to the coil. Using the taillight would have been a good idea, it if I have to do it again I’ll keep that in mind.

Mon Nov 05, 2018 7:42 pm

StockNazi wrote: WTF is a freeway?

It’s a road paid for by others.

Tue Nov 06, 2018 7:12 am

Abscate wrote: StockNazi wrote: WTF is a freeway?

It’s a road paid for by others. :)

Expressway here in the south.

Tue Nov 06, 2018 7:37 am

"What went wrong? 61 dead on freeway."

Clara's title to this thread kinda cracks me up! I keep imagining a "Dateline" TV expose on a highway disaster and how a Split Bus could have been involved.

LOL

Bill

Tue Nov 06, 2018 11:11 am

Abscate wrote: StockNazi wrote: WTF is a freeway?

It’s a road paid for by others.

"Others"? Check out what taxes are on gas and registration in California for road repairs and construction. If you live here, YOU pay for the roads.

Tue Nov 06, 2018 11:42 am

crofty wrote: Abscate wrote: StockNazi wrote: WTF is a freeway? It’s a road paid for by others. "Others"? Check out what taxes are on gas and registration in California for road repairs and construction. If you live here, YOU pay for the roads. I don't live there, but I still pay on the tollways if I want to cross bridges in the bay area. Not that I really have a problem paying for the roads and bridges, etc.

Tue Nov 06, 2018 1:51 pm

Lind wrote: crofty wrote: Abscate wrote: StockNazi wrote: WTF is a freeway? It’s a road paid for by others. "Others"? Check out what taxes are on gas and registration in California for road repairs and construction. If you live here, YOU pay for the roads. I don't live there, but I still pay on the tollways if I want to cross bridges in the bay area. Not that I really have a problem paying for the roads and bridges, etc.

That goes to it from what ive been told but we have some of the worse roads in the US so go figure.
Today we can vote to repeal the tax that went into effect a few years back and raised my reg fees an additional +$100.

Tue Nov 06, 2018 7:56 pm

BulliBill wrote: "What went wrong? 61 dead on freeway."

Clara's title to this thread kinda cracks me up! I keep imagining a "Dateline" TV expose on a highway disaster and how a Split Bus could have been involved.

LOL

Bill

I would be surprised it that wasn’t intentional.

You should always include your children when baking cookies.

Tue Nov 06, 2018 11:49 pm

Clara wrote: Yes, moving to California.

:!: :?: