Space Capsule 1995: Repairs, Roadtrips, Retrofits, & Wrenching

[TheOneTrueQuux]

[onefred]

Hello,
I followed the 8 pages of your post.

Good job!

I have a question for you, I have a 1994 AAF syncro, and I am looking for a document on the procedure to adjust the engine (CO, ignition advance, etc.)

Do you have a document that you can send me by email?

Thank you.

Fred.

[Saturn]

[soissisc]

Congrats!
_________________
Mark

68 Westy
92 Jetta (oh it is retired)
99 Eurovan
05 NBC
06 Audi A3
72 Westy (I am going to fix it up)

[KillerGriller]

Well done!

[Saturn]

Some of the Indigenous Wildlife Encountered During Car Week

Tuesday
After resuscitating the 1995 EVC, finally can begin the organization and packing for Laguna Seca. Since Alex is driving his 1961 Maserati to Car Week, most of his camping gear and other items would be going there with Tristan and myself. After loading up the Weekender, we arrive at Alex’s house to pick up the EVC along with his items. Heading to the workshop space at around 11 am, it takes about an hour to finish loading up the vans as well as conduct a round of fluid and other maintenance checks on the vans plus an impromptu tire rotation. Since the EVC has been parked outside, hook up the pressure washer for a long overdue bath. Sparkling in the sun, the van is finally ready to start on its next adventure.

Our first destination is the Taco Bell in Pacifica with the million dollar view. It sits overlooking Linda Mar, one of the main beaches and surf spots in the town. Grabbing a seat along the beach front railing, we soon realize several Humpback whales are swimming just off shore. They have been around the Bay Area beaches for about a week drawn by an abundant supply of fish. Spouts and dorsal fins are easily spotted as well as the occasional exuberant breach. This is a surprising experience for Tristan having never experienced seeing Whales in the wild. With lunch consumed we continue south down Route 1 along the Pacific ocean. Stopping at Pigeon Point Lighthouse, the next wildlife surprise is watching a Sea lion bob up and down between a couple rocks about 30-40 yards out. Another first for Tristan.

After slogging through stop and go traffic outside of Santa Cruz, we finally arrive in Seaside at 5:45pm. In the Costco parking lot we meet up with Jeff who has driven down from Seattle over the last two days. Stocking up with supplies there as well as another grocery store, we finally arrive at the track at 7:15. As the sky transitions to twilight, Jeff’s deploys his tent for occupation/sleep and Tristan puts Alex’s up to store his items until he arrives Wednesday afternoon.

As the orange sky starts to fade away and a brisk sea breeze whips through our site, stoke a fire to enjoy our dinner around. A ham radio enthusiast, Jeff sets a small array of equipment on the picnic table along with a 17-foot high antenna. In the next hour he is able to make several contacts to other hambones in Australia, Europe and Africa. After seeing a couple shooting stars, the remnants of the Perseid meteor shower, Tristan, Jeff and I disperse ourselves to our respective domiciles.

Wednesday
The one interesting & annoying new aspects of our spot is being closely monitored by a trio of tenacious Scrub Jays and a bold ground squirrel with eyes on our supplies. While cooking breakfast, one of the Jays grabs two slices of bacon cooking on the skillet but drops them after 3-4 feet onto the picnic table. It takes a bit to realize we are the only ones cooking out in the open as most everyone else in the section are in large RVs or 5th Wheels so we have their undivided attention. After breakfast and watching some of the practice laps, it is time to head down the coast to check out Big Sur. While the sky is clear above the track unfortunately the marine layer remains a thick blanket along the Pacific Ocean. Just past the Bixby Bridge we decide to abandon the excursion and head back to Monterey due to the thick soup of gray.

Just after lunch, the first person of the day arrives and joins us watching the cars on the track. Jumping back into Jeff’s car, we head out to check out “The Lil’ Car Show” happening in Carmel-by-the-Sea. This event is for vehicles with less than a 1601cc engine displacement, though it looks like it is more like 2000cc. It is mostly populated with foreign-produced cars and classic muscle cars are nowhere to be found. Run into a couple friends in the crowd and after an hour it is time to head back to Laguna Seca.

Shortly after getting back to our camp, Armando arrives quickly followed by Alex and his daughter in the Maserati then another friend on his BMW motorcycle. Dinner is burgers and brats next to a warm and flickering fire. During clean up, pour the burger grease into the flames producing a bright and very warm flame up. Mop up the Brats pan with some paper towels and before tossing those into the fire, sneak one of these packets (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BXTFCCZZ/) amid the layers to watch the surprise reactions and comments to the sudden appearance of bright, multi-colored flames.

Next: Car Week Continued

.

[sanchius]

Nice, no massive RV + tent sitting in that site across the road from you, blocking the sight line between you and turn 5.
Did Sergei and his trophy wife stay home this year???
I guess we'll see in the next installment.
_________________
The Syncro years (2005-16) - The 2WD years (2017-23) - In Hoosierland (2023-now)
Westy & WBX rebuild spreadsheet - Sanchius & Tuna: The Video
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[Saturn]

[Saturn]

The Last Days at the Track and a Musuem


Saturday
The built-in alarm goes off at 7:45am with the announcer's voice echoing over the PA system in preparation for the first race at 8am. Alex and his daughter have already departed for Concorso Italiano as the rest of the camp slowly emerge. It is another bagel breakfast finishing off what was not consumed on Friday. Trackside, Bring A Trailer is hosting an alumni event near the paddock which is worth visiting. Our friend with McBride Special shows up to store his truck and trailer. Because he is experiencing some overheating because of a bad pressure cap, the decision is made to trailer the car over the Laureles Grade. Several of us assist in unloading the car so it can join the other jalopies at the BaT event. Walk down there to look through all the vehicles on display (multiple Porches and one Vanagon).

Tristan and I meet up with my co-brother-in-law (my sister-in-law’s brother) who is visiting the Paddock during the morning. Return to the campsite to cook up the last of the brats for lunch. We get several visitors (aka BaT refugees) during the afternoon who are enjoying the view, chairs, shade and lively conversation.

After the last race of the day, a fire is built up, partially for reheating the last two racks of ribs as well as to combat the chill as for the first time the marine layer is actually blanketing the racetrack. As the evening wears on, a few hearty souls remain around the campfire as a heavy mist continues to swirl around us. Because of all this moisture, we have to move our camp chairs away from under the perimeter of the shade structure as it occasionally produces a surprise cascade of accumulated water. A swarm of car carriers descend on the track during the evening. There is a steady rumble of these for the next couple of hours to and from the Paddock. Sometime around 11pm the fire no longer has an audience as we retreat to our various shelters and beds.

Sunday
For the first time the morning is quiet as there are no events scheduled for the racetrack. After breakfast, begin the process to break camp. It is 11:30am when we finally depart on our way back to San Francisco. Jeff decides to head up along the coast and targets Coos Bay, OR as a place to stay overnight on his way back to Seattle. Armando elects to take the most direct path back to San Francisco. The Eurovans convoy with the Maserati back up along the ocean on Route 1 just in case there is any sort of mechanical issue along the way.

Alex stops at a roadside fruit stand which I miss and Tristan and I end up about 10 minutes ahead of them. North of Santa Cruz we pull over to let them catch up. As we wait in a pull-off, see a Vanagon approaching in the mirror. As it goes by, we hear a double-beep salute which is always great to receive from a member of the extended family. With our convoy reassembled, we continue to drive northward with the Pacific Ocean to the left. First unloading stop is at the shop space, then it is to Alex’s house to unload his items and put the EVC back in his driveway. Finding a parking in front of my place, it takes multiple trips to fully empty the Weekender. Finally get to relax and decompress on the couch after the busy and fun-filled days at Car Week. Another aspect of the overall satisfaction of this trip is both Eurovans were pretty much flawless during the entire excursion. This is especially true after all the work getting the EVC back in operational status. After experiencing driving and living in the Weekender, Tristan related it would definitely be a vehicle he would consider acquiring at some point.

Monday
With Tristan staying a couple days post Laguna Seca, we decide to visit the USS Hornet Museum Ship anchored across the bay at the former Alameda Naval Air Station. We spend about three hours on the ship wandering around and taking the Bridge tour led by a Docent. Afterwards we meet up with a friend in Alameda for lunch and a debrief of our experiences at Car Week and the Racetrack. We head out to get back across the bridge before the maelstrom of rush hour makes it a slog and not a drive.

Contest
A couple weeks ago while across the bay I was killing some time driving through the Port of Oakland. One interesting thing I discover is a public scale to weigh your vehicle. Had to try this out with my 1975 Volvo 242. On the trip to the Hornet, decide to take the Weekender onto the scale to see what the read out is. The van is pretty much unloaded from the trip with two strapping lads in the front seats and around a ½ tank of gas. Does anyone care to put out a guess of what our weight came in at? Post your guess by Tuesday at 5pm (Pacific Time). Price is Right rules in effect, nearest without going over will be deemed the winner. Remember GVWR is the maximum, fully loaded weight a vehicle can safely operate at as determined by VW.

.

[bikes!]

As always, great writing and interesting tales you share.

I’ll guess 4250 pounds.

What is the address of the scale?

[TheOneTrueQuux]

I'm going to guess it comes in pretty near 4900 pounds.

Also, from your earlier post about the levels panel, those LEDs are not that precise. On mine, the top one almost never lights, even with the charger active. I installed a "coulomb counter" style battery monitor that actually monitors the load current and then integrates how much has been used. They are cheap, and give you much more piece of mind, as you can know within a few percent how much of the capacity you've used.

[Saturn]

[bikes!]

Buying myself a chicken dinner!

Next time I’m up there with the van, I’ll weigh it so we know what a later VR6 weekender tips the scales at. Way more than I thought, is the likely answer.

[Saturn]

More Incremental Improvements

At the same time I was trying to solve the no-start issue in the 1995 EVC, there were a few other items which were also being addressed before heading to Monterey/Laguna Seca. Figured these should be covered in a separate post rather than intermingling it with the ones about diagnosing and replacing the Hall Sensor.


Rear Seat Locking Pins
One of the irritating aspects of the EVC is converting the rear seat into and out of the bed position. This has been a lingering issue since purchasing the van in 2018. A couple years ago I adjusted the cables around the front handle but that really only fixed the drivers side. The passenger side locking pin still would not raise enough without requiring some manual assistance as there was too much slack in the cable. This became an intricate ballet of reaching under the seat to grab the pin while pulling on the front handle and sliding the assembly at the same time. After doing a quick inventory of the galley for the camping trip, it was time to fix this issue once and for all. After gazing at the set up for a bit, realize the release cable also has an adjustment at the locking pin. Because of the cramped/limited space, the best way to address this is to fully pull the seat out. Now that there is access to the locking pin assembly, the excess slack can be adjusted out of the cable. Grabbing a deep socket, this is inserted under the pin to keep it a raised position. Loosen up the cable lock, pull on the wire to take up the resulting slackness and resecure things in place. This is repeated several times to get the locking pin in the correct position when at rest and while activating the front handle. Slide the seat assembly back into place and it now works like a charm.

Visibility
While awaking the EVC for the big trip, hit the windshield wipers to clean off an accumulation of dust on the front windscreen. Pull back on the stalk to realize the spray pattern needs to be adjusted as it is hitting all over the windshield and not in the optimal places. With dual nozzles what I do with setting up is to create an overlapping “W” pattern. This equates to the outside nozzle being aimed towards the closest person (driver) and the inner one at the opposite person (passenger). This provides redundancy so each sprayer can project fluid to reach both wiper arms/blades. If one of them becomes clogged for any reason, there still is coverage for the width of the windshield. Adjust the sprayers on the EVC accordingly and now cleaning fluid is not being wasted by being too high or low on the windshield. Check and adjust this on the 1993 Weekender as well.

Lighting
One of the things I notice on the EVC is the bulb for the cigarette lighter is burnt out. Earlier in the year I addressed this on my 1993 Weekender. (https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10183529#10183529) Since this bulb is not a serviceable item I figured out how to replace it with an LED bulb. After fixing the one in the Weekender, I converted another one of these light fixtures to an LED set up as a spare. This was a simple fix on the EVC, as all I had to do was to remove the old illumination assembly and install the new one. While access is limited because of the internal partitioning of the center dash piece, use a small screwdriver to lever the old one out. Slide the new one into place and the lighter and ashtray are lit up once again.

Fine Arts Outing
While talking with a friend of mine, the suggestion comes up about catching a movie, I check online to see where it is being shown and see its playing over in the East Bay at the Concord Drive-in. Propose this particular venue with the response, “Hell yeah! It's been years since I have been to the Drive-in.” On the way there, pick up some Indian take-out and have dinner in the Weekender as the orange western sky fades away and the previews start to roll. Back the van up and had a thoroughly enjoyable time watching Beetlejuice II through the rear hatch. Next time need to remember to bring something with decent back support.

.

[Saturn]

On the 1993 Weekender, a lingering issue since the middle of the summer is a damaged driver’s side mirror. Went out one day to discover a v-shaped crack in the mirror. Yet another case of a mystery injury inflicted on the van, one of the occasional taxes of parking on city streets. While a bit annoying, compared to the no-start issue happening on the 1995 EVC before heading to Monterey Car Week, it fell quickly to the bottom of the to-do list. After touring the USS Hornet across the bay while my nephew was still in town, 1/3 of the mirror finally detached and shattered itself along the main drag of Alameda. My cache of Eurovan parts includes two passenger side mirror assemblies but no drivers side units so it is Amazon to the rescue. Order this replacement mirror (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0131R19QW) and install it into place. The mirror adheres to the backing with several discs of double-sided tape so something I should probably check on in several years.

After the maelstrom of August, focus turned back to my 1967 Volvo 122 project and rebuilding the braking system. A friend of mine reaches out to me about helping value a couple cars from an estate. Their friend’s boyfriend passed away over the summer leaving several cars and motorcycles to deal with. Among the collection was a Volvo 240 wagon, “some kind of Mercedes” and a couple pickup trucks. These are sitting about an hour north of SF on the way to Sacramento. As we make plans to go check them out, receive the alert a 1993 Eurovan has arrived at the Fairfield Pick-n-Pull. Definitely time to mount an expedition. First stop is to check out and assess the vehicle collection. Find an early 90s 240 wagon which part of the dash ripped out and a no-start condition. The Mercedes turns out to be a mid-80s 380SL, while sitting in a barn it is fortunately under a car cover. There is also a mid-1970s F250 pickup which we need to spend fifteen minutes sifting through a coffee can of keys to locate its proper set. I express interest in the Volvo and the Mercedes after getting the titles sorted out at DMV. From there it is onto the boneyard to check out the Eurovan there.

It is a pretty derelict cargo can sitting in the rows. The drive train is MIA and the interior is filled with multiple boxes of VW pieces and parts though predominantly non-Eurovan related. Begin to wonder if this van originated from a closed-down VW shop/garage. End up extracting the instrument cluster out from the dashboard. While perusing through the boxes of parts in the very back, come across two other Eurovan instrument clusters. One of them is a stamped 1992 with the temp and fuel gauges featuring numbers on the face (deg F and gallons respectively.) End up swapping those two gauges into the cluster I originally pulled out of the dash. Do not unearth anything else worth picking up except a 70s-era ignition switch and wiring complete with the oval key with the VW logo cast into it. Figure this could be utilized as a remote starting setup while working in engine bays.

Back at home, inspect the instrument cluster, give it a cleaning and reflow the solder on the joints for the voltage stabilizer. A couple days later install the cluster into the Weekender in order to see if everything works properly. After getting it into place start the engine to let it idle and get to operating temperatures. Oil pressure and coolant lights work as expected as do the gas and temperature gauges.

Reinstall the steering wheel to take it for a test drive. Drive towards the airport and turn around back to home, a 20 mile trip. Everything works as expected, including the odometers as well as the speed sensor for the cruise control. The one thing I do note is the coolant temperature reading. The needle settles out at the same position as in the other cluster, at about 10 o’clock. This is marked at 230°F on the gauge face though this a registering around 190°F on the 52mm gauge mounted in the center dash area. Start to wonder if this might be the reason these faces with degree numbers included were only found in the early production vans. Remove the cluster and reinstall the older one back in its place.

At about the same time the Weekender goes up on alert status. My friend Armando is taking part in the Virginia City Hill Climb put on by the Ferrari Club of America. While driving his 1975 308 GT4 during the practice session, his alternator warning light suddenly becomes a bright beacon on his dashboard. A multimeter confirms his alternator is no longer charging and he texts me about the situation. Give him some recommendations on how to get the Ferrari 245 miles back to SF and make the offer to drive the Weekender to Sacramento with a fully charged battery. The van could also provide an escort back to the Bay Area while charging up batteries along the way. Fortunately, Armando is able to borrow an old battery charger from the event organizers. On the way back he stops in Reno to purchase a second battery and starts the climb up the eastern Sierras to cross the Donner Summit. After swapping out the batteries on I-80, he stops at a gas station in Auburn, CA (halfway point) and the attendant there allows him to plug in the battery charger into their garage outlet while getting lunch. The Ferrari is able to make it back home and a new alternator is on order. After getting the text of Armando’s successful arrival unplug the battery on the charger and the Weekender stands down.

In a less fortunate event, two weeks later I receive news that the barn where the Mercedes sat and next to the F250 burned to the ground taking the 350SL with it and scorching the side of the pickup truck. Easy come, easy go… The Volvo wagon was nowhere near the fire so it may still join the fleet in a month or so. Where the person’s shadow is hitting, that is the remnants of the front of the 350SL. One of the "x"-shaped supports in front of the radiator is just off their elbow.

Update 11/20/24 My friend texted these images of the Mercedes as they were helping their friend with the inventory of the barn for the insurance company. Apparently the pictures I took of the 350SL when initially inspecting and assessing it are the only recent ones of the car.

.

[rckolson]

Saturn, do I understand you torqued the crank bolt to 330ft/pd with the DeWalt driver wrench? Does that tool allow torque setting?I didn't see a model that does that. How did you secure the crank while you did this? (Or is that why the timing marks moved?)
I'm getting ready to do this job on the same model, so your response will be helpful.
Thanks

[Saturn]

[Abscate]

You can get pretty close as in good enough, on a bolt like that with punch marks. VW wants you to buy a counterhold tool of course.

Source; 55 years experience, punch marks 500+ , loose harmonic balancer nuts 0
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[eurovanrescue]

Wow, what a thread. I have a 1993 Weekender (auto trans) that I've owned for about 12 years. A lot of similar issues over the years.

I still have the blinking coolant light.

I'm in the midst of a no radiator fan issue that seems to be related to relay 114. I tried a "tested" oem replacement from ebay. No change.

With the key in ON position...
The test that I've been told to try is the jumping pins on the connector at the radiator fan switch. No power there. If I pull relay 114 and jump #2 & 3, I can get power to the radiator fan switch connector... and jumping middle to outside will engage the fans.

I'm not an electrical engineer, but I'm wondering if there is something that the relay 114 is not receiving to bridge the power. I checked all of my fuses and even #19 since I saw that you had some issues with that. No difference.

I'm just imagining that relay 114 may not be receiving the signal that the key is ON or something else...

Any thoughts?

[Saturn]