Noise is much worse

[67rustavenger]

[jlrftype7]

[danfromsyr]

yeah not sure yet, was just this last trip a weekish ago.
was coming back from camping in the ADKs and started a huge whine and shuddering after stopping at a light.
might have injested something that worked loose? sounds like expensize bits being field machined inside the case.
it's coming out this week and a spare going in as we're camping again next weekend.. the flow must go on.

[dhaavers]

[Wildthings]

[jkaput]

I love the life advice you get from some folks, and the actual help you get from other folks on here. Its a real indicator of character.

You have no idea how many hours i've laid under this van, what my experience level is, what my life situation is, you literally know nothing about me. But you speak as if you do and offer that 'asshole uncle' sort of advice. Thanks pal.

Do you know if I checked the bolts on the converter when I got home? Do you know why I was driving it - perhaps road testing it once it was unloaded of the mountain of camping gear to see what was up when I could actually hear the engine and not have a family breathing down my neck, then got stuck?

The beauty of this noise is its coming from a totally new place, not the bell housing like the prior post. It may be related, but it may not be. But its definitely not the same noise as before.

There's a lot of stuff I could say right now about your post but i'm gonna leave it with this. In the long run, what good does a comment like that do? Wanna make me feel bad about myself for reaching out for help? Wanna tell me what a dumbass I am? What I don't know? Good life approach. My advice to you (since you felt so free to give me your bullshit two cents) is to think about what your intention is before you respond to someone - and then think about what you actually know about whats going on with them, perhaps ask some questions, dig in a little before you jump on the accusation wagon.

That is, if your intention was to help them out in the first place. If not, maybe just read it and move on with your life. Being a dick wastes both of our time.

[?Waldo?]

What was your intention in posting this thread? Your other posts in it don't actually ask for any help, they just sound like a complaint about the vehicle. What impression were you trying to make with your posts other than to complain? Why didn't you mention the good reason you had for the additional drive? Why didn't you mention that you fixed the issue from your last thread prior to taking it on another drive?

[jkaput]

Jesus. I didn't read all the vitriol before I posted that first one. Good lord.

Thanks to all of you who offered constructive advice. My hats off to you, and I really appreciate it.

To the dude who gave me grief for cutting the O2 sensor wire in the first post, you can call Mechanical Advantage in Winsted CT and ask the mechanic why he did it. His reasoning was in line with the poster who said it will default to the baseline setting and run better, but believe it or not, while I was out on the road with my family worrying about this shit trying to post from the Price Chopper in Hamilton NH, the only place I had service, I couldn't recall what his rationale was. Stress will do that to you. But i'd bet everything in my bank account he's worked on a whole lot more vans than you have in his career, so when he did it, I went with it.

And to everyone else, i've spent hours and hours and hours under this thing. I've done the absolute best I can to figure out whats going on with it, learn, consider it a teacher (which it has been). Ive always bought high quality parts, and when i've been out of my depth i've enlisted help to make sure i've done it right. I've posted, and received a whole lot of help from people, and i've considered this a great resource of incredibly helpful and mostly kind people who always seemed willing to help. Honestly, it was one of the reasons I kept it and in a weird way it sort of renewed my faith in humanity every time folks jumped in to help out.

To the folks who jumped down my throat, wtf? After tightening the bolts to 22lbs in the bell housing I wanted to see if it was still making any noises or if that solved it. I'd had a similar issue before and that was step one. And then within about five minutes of my house, this sprung up as a nice addition. Brand new noise way louder, way more intense. I didn't want to drive it home because like many of you out there, i'm no master mechanic, just a guy who works hard and tries to figure stuff out to the best of his ability. This sounded pretty crazy and I thought it was time to throw in the towel and let a pro have at it. I made it home, the bolt tightening didn't solve it or something new and worse happened, nothing seemed loose, the oil was fine, nothing was leaking, hanging bent or broken as far as I could see, and AAA is free at this distance. It seemed like a smart move.

My mistake was posting it before thinking. You guys aren't a repository for peoples thoughts. You're also not a sounding board for me deciding to keep it or not, or my marital issues after having the van act up on yet another trip. And based on the lack of info a blank screen gives, folks aways read into stuff, then someone else reads into someone elses wrong view, and it keeps on going and we get to see the other side of helpful. Lesson learned. And its a good one. You'd think after being online since the early 90's i'd know better. I usually (because i'm not the receiving end) appreciate the saltiness and really have appreciated the advice i've gotten here.

But the ass kicking, it doesn't do anyone any good. Take from a teacher whose spent 25 years working with kids in public schools of all shapes and sizes. It doesn't help the learner, and it definitely doesn't help the person who doled it out either. It just keeps that cycle spinning. Thats getting us nowhere.

[jkaput]

You make a totally valid point here. On the heels of the trip, this happened, and in all honestly, I was hoping someone might say 'ah, thats a x - check this and see' and I'd get a little clarity on it. I was trying to figure it out because honestly, I really don't want to sell it and I had a few hours to work on it before left out of cell range for a couple more days, and then this happened.

In hindsight, I shouldn't have posted it without more info, or honestly at all. It was my mistake and i've definitely learned my lesson. I appreciate all the help you in particular have given me over the years, Waldo, or whatever the hell you real name is.

I didnt mean to wind anyone up. I was just exhausted and hoping for an easy answer which was dumb in the first place.

[?Waldo?]

There has been some good advice in this thread regarding steps toward diagnosing the noise. Whether you choose to pursue that or sell the vehicle, I wish you the best.

[Xevin]

[Xevin]

I’m old. This 20 year old song might be more relevant


Link


Dang, my Vanagon was 20 years old when this song came out and I was in high school when the Van was built. Crazy.
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Keep on Busin'

[space]

FWIW I think most members here have thought about getting out of the vanagon game

I know I have
Gets very frustrating when each trip has/ends with mech failures

The first test run of mine it stalled (overheated) 100 miles from home
The decision was made=Subie swap and AAA

Each trip brought new issues (Vss failure, overheating, road debris taking out my brakes, 4th gear failure, air in clutch hydro line, failed fuel pump etc)
The point is you really have to rely on yourself and get intimately familiar with these 40+ yo vehicles
It will make your trips less stressful and you will learn something new about your van
Good Luck
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82 westy
w:
2.5 JDM Subie
Rear discs

[E1]

Sorry to see you treated this way, Jkaput.

This is the “Cool Crowd?”

Like you, we’ve had many issues on the road I could have used help on. Hot as hell out, the wife dangerously overheating, 100 miles from anywhere, 500 from a bus shop, no home garage to scurry off to and pretend to be a Pro. Too few here seem to think about that, abuse is more self-gratifying, I guess.

Asking for help here is the last option I pursue for exactly what you said. It wasn’t this way not too long ago, so I’ve made a point of trying to help others just like you. But it’s all I can do to log in these days.

There indeed are good and helpful people here, some who’ve posted positively above. You might PM them and ignore the others better than I can. They’re worse than almost any van breakdown, like hoping someone who’s melted from Prozac or booze still has a little shred of humanity.

Try to focus on the above members who actually did try. But I almost envy you if you sell and leave it behind, no other forums I frequent allow this crap.

So far as your rattle, you might grab a two-foot piece of 1/2” hose and *very carefully* point it around the engine bay to find the source. Alternator and water pump are high on my suspect list.

Best of Luck, I really hope better trips and interactions come your way.
_________________
1984 Westfailure/2.1 Digijet/5.43 Ring & Pinion/Peloquin/D-rated BFG KO2s
AI has spoken to further illiteracy, to steal, to cheat, and to replace humans

"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere." — Colin Chapman

Jonathan Weisheit, Race in Peace:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3dS7xiFn7I&t=500s

[Abscate]

We are in the regime of knowledgeable T3 mechanics dying off like T. Rex.

You cannot own one of these things and expect to find pros to bail you out, unless it’s next door to you, you know the mechanic by name, and you give them regular business.

I’ve morphed to doing about 2/3 of my own car work , setting a deadline on me for jobs, and if I can’t get to them, out comes the checkbook. I buy all my gas at his station and after my series of 5 NYSi at $10 each I buy the garage lunch for the day.
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🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🍊 🍊 🍊

[MarkWard]

T-Rex That’s me.

[jkaput]

[jkaput]

Just so I don't get a bad rep going for Mechanical Advantage, I didn't bring it in for him to diagnose that problem. I needed other work done that I didn't feel qualified to do (timing adjustment, drum adjustment, etc). He has a long list of customers to deal with and it isn't fair to expect him to fix everything he sees when someone brings one of these in. With vanagons, he'd probably never stop and folks would end up with massive bills they didn't sign on for. He cut the wire for me bc it ran shitty with the O2 connected, and that would be a whole other ball of wax for him to fix that wasn't on the original docket. I don't fault him at all for it at all - it was a helpful thing to do outside of what I asked for.

Its my fault for not diving into that next, but as you might have experienced, something else kept coming up (tank rebuild, brake issues, leaking coolant, wiring gremlins, speedo and light malfunctions, leaks, seam rust, and all the other stuff (fatherhood, work, house crap, so on and so forth)). I have meant to get back to it. But as they say, thats life.

Its a good shop - the best I know of in CT, and they don't deserve a bad rap bc I put their name in a post.



You had a solid go at it over the years. Even supporting some “Qualified mechanics” like a dude that snipped an O2 wire. That mechanic seemed lazy. Some mechanics give other mechanics a bad name. That’s a shame.




Link
[/quote]

[jkaput]

[jkaput]

Thanks so much for the kind words E1. Much appreciated. I grew up at Kaput's Autobody in Chicopee MA, my grandpas shop where my dad fixed totaled cars up on the weekend for extra money. That morphed into Lakeside Motors in Southwick (now Alan's Affordable Car Care) MA where my dad did the same and I learned how to do basic stuff like brake jobs with some crusty bastards guiding me (a place where i'm still called 'junior' whenever I show up). BTW that, manual labor jobs and working on tobacco farms as a kid I have a thick skin for old salty dogs, but this was ridiculous and folks needed to be called in (especially some of them - some angry bastards lurk these waters). Let's be nice to each other. Why the hell not? We are all doing our best to keep these ridiculous things on the road. And anyway, whats the alternative? Yuck - there is enough of that anger and bile out there for three planet earths at this point. The world (and America in particular) needs to smoke a fatty and chill the fuck out on each other.


Regarding the waterpump/alternator - its funny bc I was just reading about water pumps on here before we left and how its smart to carry an old one that still works with you on a road trip.


Thanks again E1. Happy trails.