TheSamba.com :: View topic - No, I'm not dead.......and THANK YOU ALL!!!!!

Fri Jul 18, 2025 10:11 am

First things first........

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE MOST GENEROUS AND THOUGHTFUL GIFT!

I was deeply touched by your love, warmth and compassion towards me,
I was quite simply stunned when Eric, Dave and Carl handed it to me at the campsite North of Durango.

Let me say that the purpose of the trip was accomplished.

I spread my departed Wife's Ashes at sunset on a beautiful evening into the surf of the Pacific at Sunset.
I stayed at Irelands rustic lodge in Gold Beach Oregon and lived some memories of over five decades spent together.

My trip took over two months and I covered 10,192 miles upon return to my driveway.

I'll write much more detail of our travels as time goes by.

I left Reading Pa with my dog Beau about 3pm on May 6 2025.

Now, to address some basics..... many wonder...... how was the trip?
Did the Van break down?
Was I ever stranded along the journey?

Overall, if you discount the overwhelming sadness that prompted my journey, I had an absolutely marvelous trip!
I saw friends, I made new friends, I saw family and I saw lands I've never seen before.

Did my Van break down?
Short answer is no.
I did have some malfunctions......

#1 Window crank - carry spares folks! My crank broke early in the journey, in Pennsylvania if I recall.
I ordered one shipped to my Brothers home in Crescent City Ca. but shortly after leaving there, the other crank Broke somewhere in British Columbia.
I traveled the rest of the way home with just one crank.

#2 Ignition Coil. Shortly after leaving and while in Western Pennsylvania I had a high speed miss develop. The engine would buck anything above 3000 rpm.
I stopped at a church along the way (churches are great places to stop BTW, often empty, nice lawns, trees, shade, etc.) and rested for over an hour letting Beau stretch his legs and play. The engine had been missing badly when I stopped but once I hit the road again, the the first 20 miles after hitting the road again I had no misfiring!
Heat sunk coil popped into my mind!
I made it through West Virginia and into Ohio where I had an amazing rain storm.
I stopped and spent the night and the next morning I hung the new Bosch coil I carried as a spare temporarily to see if it really was a bad coil.
All that day, no miss at all.
I permanently installed it and all was good! ...... but not forever.......

#3 Brakes. As I left Mt Lassen in Northern California my brakes began making a most horrible grinding noise.
I dismissed it as red sand for I almost got mired in soft red sand not far from the Glen Canyon Recreation Area, the Dam for Lake Powell in Arizona.
I had picked up my travel companion there.
Anyway the entire Van was covered inside and out with Red Sand!
I installed new front pads in Ashland Oregon at my Brothers home only to discover on my way to Crescent City that it was my rear shoes making that horrific noise!
Once in Crescent City I ordered shoes from O'Rielly and installed them, but not without issue! Do NOT buy brake shoes from them!

#4 ignition Coil. Up around Banff National Park In Alberta, a miss developed, a high speed miss but near 4000 rpm.
I thought ignition coil again, but mine was new, a new Bosch never the less!
When I got to Great Falls Mt I ordered a new coil from NAPA to carry just in case the coil was bad.
Outside of Valentine Nebraska the miss became so bad that I pulled over and installed the new NAPA coil only to discover that the engine will not run except at an idle with the new coil!
I installed the old one and limped into Valentine Nebraska.
It was hellishly hot (106°F) so we rented a hotel room with A/C..... turned out the last hotel room in town!
I ordered a coil from O'Rielly and also from an independent part store for morning delivery.
O'Riellys came in first so I installed and my miss is gone!
I also picked up the second coil to carry as a new spare. I should probably install it and verify its operation.

#5 A/C blew a fuse on the dash fuse panel for the A/C blower fan..... twice.

And that is it!

10,000 + miles of motoring bliss.

Dave

Fri Jul 18, 2025 10:33 am

Congratulations on your epic trip. You might have to start a new thread with Did You MAKE it 10,000 miles, kicking the old 1,000 mile thread a bit... :lol: :lol:

Contact Mark Ward about that coil failure issue, makes me wonder if it's really similar to what he went through with a Customer's vehicle... :-k :-k
Or dig up his thread and see his thoughts at the time. With the later Digifant ECUs running the coil, coil failures seem to be getting more common.

Fri Jul 18, 2025 10:47 am

Awesome trip Dave! :D

Fri Jul 18, 2025 10:49 am

Sounds incredible!! :D =D>

Fri Jul 18, 2025 11:04 am

Sounds like an Awesome trip! =D>

Fri Jul 18, 2025 11:08 am

Wow, that is quite the journey.

Road tripping our van through the countryside and camping about is so carthatic for me. Mixture of enjoying the splendor of the country and driving a vehicle that I know (somewhat embarrassingly) intimately makes for such a satisfying experience. One that I miss often just hours upon returning home.

Glad to hear the trip went well and looking forward to hearing more about it in the future.

Fri Jul 18, 2025 11:12 am

Vanagons, hell yeah.

Fri Jul 18, 2025 11:14 am

That is quite the journey, for memory and miles! I am glad to hear you successfully made it back home.

Fri Jul 18, 2025 12:26 pm

Glad you made it! Reasons aside it sounds like you had a grand adventure.

Fri Jul 18, 2025 12:37 pm

It sounds like a very successful trip!
Glad you, Beau, and friend are home safely.

Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:00 pm

Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:00 pm

=D> \:D/ 8)

Now you need to update your trip report: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=800505 . :wink:

Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:13 pm

Dave,
Travel can provide a means for us to process challenging experiences. The expansive view through a large windshield allows for varied perspectives during the journey, which may contribute to personal healing. Glad you took the time to follow the road west to Gold Beach.
…
Oh, how this resonated with my own experiences! After replacing three coils, I finally discovered the real issue: the coil wire. More specifically, it was the copper ferrule at the end of the wire, which connects to the coil. It was losing contact randomly because the new coils currently available lack a bushing that grips the ferrule properly inside.

The new coils have a small protrusion that works well with a Digifant distributor cap but is not suitable for the Digijet cap, which is used on 1983.5-1985 Vanagons.

So, what's the solution? Simply pinch the end of the wire ferrule just a bit to ensure a better connection with the nipple inside the coil.
...
Jeffery : )

Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:41 pm

kamzcab86 wrote: =D> \:D/ 8)

Now you need to update your trip report: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=800505 . :wink:

Yes, thank you Kam, I will do so, but I thought it best to make a new thread to thank everyone for their generosity!

Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:50 pm

Dave, your journey and life lessons are an inspiration! I always go to your posts when they pop up. As your loss catches up to your soul, be kind to yourself.

Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:58 pm

Great narrative, Dave! We are all looking forward to the full trip report.

On the ignition coil issue, I am new to the parable about over-working the coil, but I am a full convert. We have 4 vehicles that use coil-on-plug (COP) systems (3 Audis and the SVX Westy) with multiple, expensive ignition coils. With long-lived platinum-iridium plugs, I got lazy about spark plug replacement and only recently figured out the connection between $30 CAD spark plugs and $150 CAD ignition coils. If you replace the spark plugs regularly on these COP engines, (2 years seems about right for a daily driver), then the coils will not fail.

On the Vanagon, the lesson is the same, PLUS the need to ensure that the rotor, cap and centre wire are all up to snuff to avoid overdriving the coil.

Fri Jul 18, 2025 4:14 pm

Dave,

Super glad you had no issues along the way. The only thing you did wrong was not stop to see me if you passed through Idaho on the I-90 - forgiven if you did not pass this way. Thanks for sharing, and looking forward to any updates/photos on your trip!

Fri Jul 18, 2025 8:01 pm

djkeev wrote: ...I thought it best to make a new thread to thank everyone for their generosity!

I simply meant that your trip report is loooong overdue for a most awesome update. :wink: :D

Fri Jul 18, 2025 8:11 pm

IdahoDoug wrote: Dave,

Super glad you had no issues along the way. The only thing you did wrong was not stop to see me if you passed through Idaho on the I-90 - forgiven if you did not pass this way. Thanks for sharing, and looking forward to any updates/photos on your trip!

I had planned to and almost did pass by you.
But while in Tacoma my Niece strongly suggested we cross over to Victoria BC and go to my Brothers home on Protection Island in Nanaimo.
From Nanaimo we sailed to Vancouver and then Drove on to Banff.
We then dropped south on BC along the western edge of the Rockies

Sat Jul 19, 2025 1:27 am

Good to hear from you and hearts on your journey this year thtough life’s tribulations.