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Mon Aug 11, 2025 6:24 pm

vanis13 wrote: jkaput wrote: So we made it home. Went to drive it again and this happened. Currently in the side of the road

https://youtube.com/shorts/ecFotFjVjf8?si=AJG1l7867SpXUx4w

jkaput wrote: This one sealed the deal. Once fixed it’s gone. One too many times for both me and the wife. Too much money and time and stress.

YOU getting rid of it seems like the prudent approach since your approach may not be fit for this vehicle.

Let's see... Whew! just barely made it home after this - https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=805015

Oh! made it home :) ..... let's take it for a drive (loco)..it's like you WANTED to kill it.

Maybe if you fixed it before taking it for this last ride you'd have a vehicle you could still enjoy.

yeah, best to hand off the care (more specifically the decisions of care) to someone else

....and you mentioned you paid a bunch for it to try and avoid scenarios like this - consider the lost $ as tuition for decisions school (which it seems you are still in)

You may consider a quick exit no matter the cost - it will get it out of your hair and let you have a story blaming that POS vanagon...otherwise it will sit in your yard awaiting a decision reminding you of the different decisions you could have made before this point.

well said!

I couldn't imagine thinking "oh shit, I need to make it home" due to a noise/issue....not address that issue, then jump in the fucking thing, have it REALLY break then blame the machine for it. I agree, time to sell it.

Mon Aug 11, 2025 8:05 pm

skills@eurocarsplus wrote:
well said!

I couldn't imagine thinking "oh shit, I need to make it home" due to a noise/issue....not address that issue, then jump in the fucking thing, have it REALLY break then blame the machine for it. I agree, time to sell it.

Agreed!!

Not to mention almost every thread from the OP is about maintenance issues on trips. But when I said he doesn’t fix things, I was accused as jumping to conclusions. It’s obvious that he doesn’t fix things.

Let’s remember his first thread stating “I’m over the moon” after purchase.
I think he was “over his head” instead, and didn’t realize that just like a 40 year old house, it needs some love and an updated maintenance schedule to be reliable.

Mon Aug 11, 2025 9:54 pm

Don't vehicles that have mechanical issues just need a little rest in order to heal?

Tue Aug 12, 2025 5:38 am

?Waldo? wrote: Don't vehicles that have mechanical issues just need a little rest in order to heal?

Park them in the back forty and they get better with time.

Tue Aug 12, 2025 6:04 am

?Waldo? wrote: Don't vehicles that have mechanical issues just need a little rest in order to heal?

Even if that was true, tgis one went right back out

Tue Aug 12, 2025 7:59 am

We just got back from a 700 mile trip, van ran fine the entire time, but yesterday I noticed a new noise it hadn't made before, not as loud as the one in the video, but the same kind of pattern.

Long-story-short, my alternator had worked loose in its bracket and had some play along the pitch-axis of the van. Corrected the issue and the new noise is gone.

Tue Aug 12, 2025 8:20 am

sounds more like a waterpump than a rod knock.

from a cold motor...
take the water pump/alt belt off and fire it up

don't run for more than a minute..
it'll be obvious if the WP or ALT bearings are part of that noise.
or if it's a true internal part

Tue Aug 12, 2025 8:55 am

danfromsyr wrote: sounds more like a waterpump than a rod knock.

from a cold motor...
take the water pump/alt belt off and fire it up

don't run for more than a minute..
it'll be obvious if the WP or ALT bearings are part of that noise.
or if it's a true internal part

that is really good advice but ,see, that would take actual work and effort investment and and responsibility for one's stuff that is WAY different than taking a video, posting it, and asking questions about it and not actually doing anything (and complaining about the stupid van)

Tue Aug 12, 2025 9:18 am

not really helpful to berate and condemn another enthusiast on how or when they manage the stress of owning and relying on a ~40 yr old vehicle.
we all learn or don't in different fashions and deal with the stresses of travel/life/hobby ownership in different ways..

it's just as easy for the long time regulars here to be jaded and angry old people
when help is asked, given and not acted upon..
we mean well and don't like to see someone hurt, but sometimes for some the match has to burn to learn that fire is hot..

having had my van for the greater part of 20yrs. I DIY and have been towed home from 2 trips this season.. (1 fuel pump died on highway) (2 transaxle decided to eat gears) it's never entirely relaxing. and less soo when you know what can go wrong... it's a big friggin list..
renting an airBNB 3times a year is cheaper than vanagon ownership.

Tue Aug 12, 2025 9:43 am

No question it is NOT engine internals. I've rebuilt a lot of engines in my day in including two WBX's (maybe 3?) and know their various sounds. Whatever the distressed component is, it is turning MANY times faster than the engine's RPM as stated above. Release the Alternator belt tensioning, remove the belt, restart for less than 30 seconds and that will confirm it's an accessory. Again as stated above.

A good mechanic should conclude this in mere seconds and will/should have a mechanic's stethescope ($12 at Harbor Freight) they'll immediately touch the alternator with and confirm it's the alternator bearings or something that fell into it. Or something dragging down below on the pulley - engine tin?

Not a massive pending failure of the engine. Not a rod knock, not a lifter noise. Smart of the owner to hear it and to act properly out of an abundance of caution, versus driving it into the ground!

Tue Aug 12, 2025 10:44 am

danfromsyr wrote: not really helpful to berate and condemn another enthusiast on how or when they manage the stress of owning and relying on a ~40 yr old vehicle.
we all learn or don't in different fashions and deal with the stresses of travel/life/hobby ownership in different ways..

Well said…

Tue Aug 12, 2025 11:00 am

IMO it is a remarkably poor decision to drive a van with an engine that is making a god awful racket from an unknown cause, unless it is an emergency.

Getting home from a trip without towing could potentially be seen as an emergency. I'm curious what the emergency was that inspired the additional drive after getting home?

Stating these sorts of opinions about the OP's actions could very well be helpful both to the OP and to any onlookers who haven't gone through enough painful learning experiences to have them hard-coded into their psyche. It all depends on whether you appreciate saving yourself from pain (including the pain of paying a lot of money unnecessarily) more or less than you appreciate maintaining the delusion that the vehicle is at fault rather than the poor decision making.

Tue Aug 12, 2025 11:36 am

?Waldo? wrote: Don't vehicles that have mechanical issues just need a little rest in order to heal?

Thats where the term "ran when parked" comes from at the time of sale

?Waldo? wrote: IMO it is a remarkably poor decision to drive a van with an engine that is making a god awful racket from an unknown cause unless it is an emergency.

Getting home from a trip without towing could potentially be seen as an emergency. I'm curious what the emergency was that inspired the additional drive after getting home?

I've told people for years when they call and ask "is it safe to drive?" how the fuck do I know, I'm not there. I tell them that their decision to press on usually results in 1,000.00 per mile in addition damage and over the years, those who forgo a tow, are usually in the 1k/mile camp when it comes to what they have destroyed.

Some people don't deserve the car they own.

Tue Aug 12, 2025 11:38 am

danfromsyr wrote: not really helpful to berate and condemn another enthusiast on how or when they manage the stress of owning and relying on a ~40 yr old vehicle.

when you make a post about limping home, then take the fucking thing out after you've already asked the poor thing to "just get me home" and now it's worse.... you deserve every comment and every dollar drained from your account trying to fix it.

Tue Aug 12, 2025 11:50 am

skills@eurocarsplus wrote: danfromsyr wrote: not really helpful to berate and condemn another enthusiast on how or when they manage the stress of owning and relying on a ~40 yr old vehicle.

when you make a post about limping home, then take the fucking thing out after you've already asked the poor thing to "just get me home" and now it's worse.... you deserve every comment and every dollar drained from your account trying to fix it.

+1

Tue Aug 12, 2025 3:23 pm

danfromsyr wrote: having had my van for the greater part of 20yrs. I DIY and have been towed home from 2 trips this season.. (1 fuel pump died on highway) (2 transaxle decided to eat gears) it's never entirely relaxing. and less soo when you know what can go wrong... it's a big friggin list..
renting an airBNB 3times a year is cheaper than vanagon ownership.

When it rains it pours I guess.

What’s the story behind the transmission failure?

Tue Aug 12, 2025 3:26 pm

Renting a pickup truck and tow dolly (or car trailer) is typically a very cheap solution to get you home, likely cheaper than a 100 mile tow from the middle of nowhere to a moderate sized town with some services, a town you will still need a ride home from, which by itself will cost you more than the truck and dolly rental.

Tue Aug 12, 2025 3:33 pm

Sometimes stuff just happens (thanks AAA)..and most of the time "problems/emergencies" can be avoided with PPP

Tue Aug 12, 2025 5:07 pm

Mrs Howesight has grown (groan?) weary of the demands of her Westy. In response, I actually delight in the times we are driving in that Westy and see some poor sap broken down on the side of the road in what appears to be a 5-year-old-or-less vehicle - - especially a BMW or Mercedes.

I then point out that it is not only 39-year old Vanagons that break down.

:roll:

Tue Aug 12, 2025 5:32 pm

Run8Stud wrote: We just got back from a 700 mile trip, van ran fine the entire time, but yesterday I noticed a new noise it hadn't made before, not as loud as the one in the video, but the same kind of pattern.

Long-story-short, my alternator had worked loose in its bracket and had some play along the pitch-axis of the van. Corrected the issue and the new noise is gone.

Excellent. So it was the alternator as I posted what I thought was the noise maker based on your video.

Glad that is resolved. maybe we can all work on a fix for the other issues. get this van reliable again. The video was helpful in locating the noisy alternator.

What is next to fix? what you want to do next? What has been done?