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djkeev
Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007
Posts: 32989
Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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 Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 5:03 am Post subject: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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The first tow of my entire life!!
AAA premium 200 mile limit, I was only 36 miles from home returning home from running an errand to Lakewood NJ.
To think my 10,192 mile trip went well.
I believe it is water in the ignition, NJ had torrential rainfall on Thursday which I was driving in.
The engine idled rough at a red light or two, at the next light I pressed the gas and it stumbled.
There was a gas station right there so I pulled to a pump to fill up, turned off the engine and it hasn't started since.
I carry all the parts I need to fix this problem alongside the highway but the Van was so loaded with boxes that accessing the parts or the engine in a rain storm was nearly impossible, packing this Van was a half hour game of Tetris! Rotating boxes and arranging them just so. There wasn't an inch to spare.
Flat bedded it home and parked it.
This morning I'll start diagnosis.........
On the bright side we had a great attitude, no stress, no fights or anxiety.
The ride home in the truck was great!
Our driver was young, personable and a great conversationalist.
On the adventure of life, we made another friend!
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dhaavers
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 8451
Location: NE MN (tinyurl.com/dhaaverslocation)
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 5:49 am Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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Welcome to the club! 
Took me 15 years with the van, but I finally got my first flat bed ride a couple years back.
Generally, I’ve found that tow drivers are good people, they’re just there to help.
Hope things get dried out & you’re back on the road soon!
- Dave
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86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS> |
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E1
Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2013
Posts: 8372
Location: Westfalia, Earth
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 5:52 am Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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Bet a Tenner it’s water in the gas..  .
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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 |
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Abscate 
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 24125
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 7:03 am Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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Wet ignition. It will start fine later today
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DanHoug
Samba Member
Joined: December 05, 2016
Posts: 5809
Location: Bemidji, MN
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 7:05 am Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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| E1 wrote: |
| Bet a Tenner it’s water in the gas.. . |
or water inside the distributor cap. fun to spray WD40 inside the cap to 'displace water', put cap back on, crank and hear a POP! open hood and find the dist cap launched off the distributor. guess points spark and flammables don't mix. should be fine with a Hall sensor 
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-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.
'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd
Past projects can be found at--
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jlrftype7
Samba Member
Joined: July 24, 2018
Posts: 4664
Location: Chicago
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 7:58 am Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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You’ll get it figured out…
We’ve only had one tow for our Vanagon as well. Hope to keep it that way…. 
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'68 Westy- my first VW and vehicle/Bus- long gone.- sold it to a traveling Swiss couple....
'67 Type 3 Fastback, my 2nd car- gone
'69 Semi-Auto Stick Shift Beetle-gone
2017 MINI Coopers, our current DDs
‘84 Tin Top - Hilga....Auto |
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mtnhome
Samba Member
Joined: July 17, 2010
Posts: 619
Location: Summit County, CO
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 8:08 am Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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| djkeev wrote: |
The first tow of my entire life!!
On the bright side we had a great attitude, no stress, no fights or anxiety.
The ride home in the truck was great!
Our driver was young, personable and a great conversationalist.
On the adventure of life, we made another friend! |
And this is how it should be. Not a crisis, just another problem to solve.
My flatbed driver last year was a great guy as well. The good ones have great roadside manners.
Thanks for sharing, will be interesting to see what you find.
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'84 Westy, '93 Subaru ej22 and Subarugears 5speed
Build thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=763098&highlight= |
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Red Ryder
Samba Member
Joined: June 26, 2021
Posts: 1199
Location: PNW — Washington
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 8:33 am Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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Damn rain! 
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“Most everyone’s mad here. You may have noticed I am not quite all there myself.” — Cheshire Cat, Adventures of Alice in Wonderland
“Scarlett” — 1990 Vanagon Carat Wolfsburg Edition (Tornado Red)
“Nigel” — 1999 Jaguar XK8 convertible (Alpine Green Metallic) |
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MarkWard
Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2005
Posts: 18886
Location: Retired South Florida
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 9:04 am Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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This is where the Type 2 had it over the Vanagon. You have an actual external engine hatch. Eventually VW added an additional hatch under the mattress, but we were so used to working through the rear hatch and because owners had all their crap in the back of the bus, we continued using the rear hatch.
Accessing our rear hatch when traveling is a fire drill. Fortunately it’s rare. We have triple A too. |
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dobryan
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 17201
Location: Brookeville, MD
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sanchius
Samba Member
Joined: May 03, 2007
Posts: 1578
Location: IN
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E1
Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2013
Posts: 8372
Location: Westfalia, Earth
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 9:47 am Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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^^^ Similar to what happened to us, and it ruined at least one injector.
(tiny, rock-hit hole in tank)
_________________
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 |
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termuehlen
Samba Member
Joined: May 02, 2012
Posts: 1033
Location: Redwood City
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 12:13 pm Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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No shame in getting towed. I feel like it just adds to the memories...
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1988 Westfalia automatic Subaru OBD1
1986 syncro tintop wbx |
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kamzcab86
Samba Moderator
Joined: July 26, 2008
Posts: 8510
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 2:05 pm Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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| djkeev wrote: |
| The first tow of my entire life!! |
| djkeev wrote: |
| To think my 10,192 mile trip went well. |
Just the van's way of saying, "I went 10,000 miles -- let me have a rest!" 
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1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
 1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子 |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 24125
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 3:52 pm Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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New thread title, long trip, 10191 miles, did you make it?
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Glenn
Mr. 010
Joined: December 25, 2001
Posts: 79840
Location: Sneaking up behind you
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 4:02 pm Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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| djkeev wrote: |
| To think my 10,192 mile trip went well. |
Well done.
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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
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עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי |
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Sodo
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007
Posts: 10690
Location: Western WA
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 5:12 pm Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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Re: those pesky expansion tanks.
How long does it take to get enough water in the tank to stop the engine?
Does the engine quit like throwing a switch?
Or is there sputtering, for some period?
Doesn’t the fuel tank accumulate 2-3 gallons before stopping the engine?
Pesky expansion tanks!!!
| Abscate wrote: |
| New thread title, long trip, 10191 miles, did you make it? |
11,000?
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'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered original gearbox
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dobryan
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 17201
Location: Brookeville, MD
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| Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 7:48 pm Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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| Sodo wrote: |
Re: those pesky expansion tanks.
How long does it take to get enough water in the tank to stop the engine?
Does the engine quit like throwing a switch?
Or is there sputtering, for some period?
Doesn’t the fuel tank accumulate 2-3 gallons before stopping the engine?
Pesky expansion tanks!!!
| Abscate wrote: |
| New thread title, long trip, 10191 miles, did you make it? |
11,000? |
From much personal experience once the tanks allow water in one good rain event will create rough running and after that no running. YMMV.
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2010 Subaru EJ25 (Vanaru) and Peloquin TBD
"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson
MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
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sanchius
Samba Member
Joined: May 03, 2007
Posts: 1578
Location: IN
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| Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2025 4:24 am Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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| Sodo wrote: |
Re: those pesky expansion tanks.
How long does it take to get enough water in the tank to stop the engine?
Does the engine quit like throwing a switch?
Or is there sputtering, for some period?
Doesn’t the fuel tank accumulate 2-3 gallons before stopping the engine? |
Great questions. My experience was that it doesn't take much water at all, about a cup (~240mL): https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9788506#9788506
The symptoms probably depend on how quickly the water ingresses. For me, it started with a slight hesitation one day while driving in a very light misty rain. It snowed heavily overnight and while driving in the wet, sloppy, slushy snow the next day, the van drove OK for a while, then started the slight hesitation again, which quickly progressed to major hesitation, then bucking, and then: "We're not going to make it up that hill. Let's just divert into this flat mini-mall here, park it gracefully, uber home, and grab a reliable vehicle to tow it back home before we get stuck out on the road somewhere exposed and dangerous."
Fuel floats, so that's the water on the bottom. Five points for naming the original product in that glass bottle...
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Xevin
Samba Member
Joined: January 08, 2014
Posts: 8781
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| Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2025 7:29 am Post subject: Re: Oh! Oh! Towed! |
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^^^ Flame Roasted Green Chilies
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