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Syncronoid
Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2012
Posts: 1120
Location: Stanford, CA and Bend, OR
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 Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 6:59 pm Post subject: How a bad day gets worse, then becomes empowering! |
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Fwd: #vanlife. How a bad day gets worse, then turns empowering.....
Already late to my flight at RDM due to road construction near my house, my battery light goes on. I figure there's a problem with my alternator, but not to worry, my aux battery has enough juice to drive a good ways, at least to the airport and back, w/o recharging. Then, the temp gauge light starts flashing, the engine temp is rising quickly and my power steering bails. So, I pull over and steam is blasting from the engine. I take the hatch off the engine bay and as I suspected, the alternator belt has not only come off and shredded into pieces, but it's taken out the belt that runs the water pump and power steering. So, I get on the horn to my guy, Dale the Mobile Mechanic; he fixed this problem before (and let me watch), I knew he was the guy I needed. So, after about 30 minites, I thought I might as well cut all the old belts off since he's going to do that anyway. Then I thought "well, I've got all the spare belts in the van (he recommended this last time this happened), why don't I thread the belts on so he doesn't have to; save him a little time and me some money". So, I loosen the bolts necessary to get the belts on, I thread all the belts and figured I would wait for Dale to get here and finish the job. 90 minutes have passed, I said f/$@ it, I'm gonna' tighten them up myself. I watched him last time, I think I can do it. 20 minutes later, all the belts are tight, bolts torqued down and all I need is Dale to give me his blessing. 10 minutes later, Dale arrives. Looks at the belts, checks the tension then says fire it up! All belts running tight and smooth! $50 to Dale for the service call and I'm on my way...yes!!!
I'm catching another flight in the morning, but damn do I feel good about bailing myself out of a predicament that would have taken days, a tow and hundreds of dollars to fix had I not prepared and became knowledgeable about these incredible vehicles! #vanlife #buslife #syncrowesty #vanagon
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'90 Syncro Westy w/GW2.5L |
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dobryan 
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 17403
Location: Brookeville, MD
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vegpedlr
Samba Member
Joined: June 07, 2014
Posts: 774
Location: TBD
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| Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:18 pm Post subject: |
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Great job!
I'm a mechanical neanderthal, but I've managed to fix my cooling system a couple times now. It feels good to solve a problem! |
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Gnarlodious
Samba Member
Joined: September 28, 2013
Posts: 2414
Location: Adobe Jungle USA
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| Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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You said this breakdown happened before, and that’s why you had a spare belt on board. How long ago did that happen? Because if it was less than 40,000 miles ago, you may have an alignment problem with your belting. My last alternator belt lasted about 60k miles, which I think is normal.
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Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit |
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Tobias Duncan
Samba Member
Joined: January 15, 2013
Posts: 1415
Location: Taos NM
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| Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 8:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Gnarlodious wrote: |
| You said this breakdown happened before, and that’s why you had a spare belt on board. How long ago did that happen? Because if it was less than 40,000 miles ago, you may have an alignment problem with your belting. My last alternator belt lasted about 60k miles, which I think is normal. |
I had this happen and it turned out the parts store guy who insisted on swapping my pulley for me from the core to the new one, forgot a spacer.
This causes a ticking time bomb of premature belt wear. |
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crazyvwvanman
Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008
Posts: 10504
Location: Orbiting San Diego
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| Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 8:02 pm Post subject: Re: How a bad day gets worse, then becomes empowering! |
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In stock Vanagons the belt that turns the waterpump also turns the alternator. This lets the alternator warning light perform double duty. Every Vanagon owner should learn this critical lesson if they have a stock motor or a conversion that works the same way.
When the alternator light comes on you must take immediate action to check that the waterpump is still turning or the engine may soon cook.
Mark
| Syncronoid wrote: |
| .....as I suspected, the alternator belt has not only come off and shredded into pieces, but it's taken out the belt that runs the water pump and power steering. .... |
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Syncronoid
Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2012
Posts: 1120
Location: Stanford, CA and Bend, OR
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| Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Gnarlodious wrote: |
| You said this breakdown happened before, and that’s why you had a spare belt on board. How long ago did that happen? Because if it was less than 40,000 miles ago, you may have an alignment problem with your belting. My last alternator belt lasted about 60k miles, which I think is normal. |
A looooong time ago. They've been rebuilding the 7 miles of forest road into our neighborhood all summer, which meant long stretches of dusty dirt and gravel driving. I suspect that dried out and prematurely aged/wore the belts. They all seemed dried and cracked upon inspection.
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'90 Syncro Westy w/GW2.5L |
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Wildthings
Samba Member
Joined: March 13, 2005
Posts: 52784
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| Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 9:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Syncronoid wrote: |
| Gnarlodious wrote: |
| You said this breakdown happened before, and that’s why you had a spare belt on board. How long ago did that happen? Because if it was less than 40,000 miles ago, you may have an alignment problem with your belting. My last alternator belt lasted about 60k miles, which I think is normal. |
A looooong time ago. They've been rebuilding the 7 miles of forest road into our neighborhood all summer, which meant long stretches of dusty dirt and gravel driving. I suspect that dried out and prematurely aged/wore the belts. They all seemed dried and cracked upon inspection. |
Unless you actually got a piece of gravel up in there the belts should have gone much longer than they did. Belt failure has gotten to be a pretty rare event even as fewer and fewer people ever think to check a belt for wear or bother to adjust their tightness. |
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87vanagontintop
Samba Member
Joined: July 27, 2015
Posts: 11
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 9:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Way to go! Stay proud and stay safe! |
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WestyBob
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Joined: June 11, 2004
Posts: 2346
Location: Portland, Oregon
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| Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 2:47 am Post subject: |
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Had same issue about 10 years ago (shredded alt. belt) but mine happened in boonies. Left to own devices. Fortunately was carrying extra belt and installed. Extra belts should be part of everyone's emerg. road kit.
When under some pressure non-gearheads often find they can do many of these repairs. Way back in the air-cooled days when systems were much simpler we did some amazing jury-rig things to keep rolling. |
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Ahwahnee
Samba Member
Joined: June 05, 2010
Posts: 10323
Location: Mt Lemmon, AZ
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| Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 6:00 am Post subject: |
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| Don't forget to buy a set of new spare belts for next time. |
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Syncronoid
Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2012
Posts: 1120
Location: Stanford, CA and Bend, OR
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| Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 8:59 am Post subject: |
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| Ahwahnee wrote: |
| Don't forget to buy a set of new spare belts for next time. |
Bought a set of 6.  )
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'90 Syncro Westy w/GW2.5L |
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Terry Kay
Banned
Joined: June 22, 2003
Posts: 13331
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| Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 9:05 am Post subject: |
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This was opportunity knocking, and a perfect time to do a little learning--
You were in a jam, and worked your way out of it.
There is no better way to learn basic skills than in a situation like this.
Perfect--
It was a Very Good Day For You--
You did good-- 
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iltis74
Samba Member
Joined: November 20, 2003
Posts: 826
Location: Anchorage, AK
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| Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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Nice. When you have time it might be worth laying a straightedge across the pulleys and seeing how they line up with each other. When the belt comes around the pulley, it should be a straight shot to the next one, with all the pulleys running in the same "plane," if that makes sense. That's why there are spacers and such. If they're off each other a bit the belt is not happy. Also, check the tension after a bit, if they're going to stretch it's likely to be early on.
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65 Beetle
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