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What did YOU do to your van today?
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bobbyblack Premium Member
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2021 5:45 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

BCE56 wrote:
16CVs wrote:
Looks to be a starter type of day.

^^And, yet another^^


^^^Me too.^^^ Yesterday the starter on my Bug crapped out. Not wiring, ign. switch, ground or battery, and hot-wiring didn't work either.
Push starting until I can get under there.

Just like the olden days...


Glad to report a good day. I did a shakedown run of about 30 minutes yesterday, and no issues came up. So, today, it was Metro errands and junk yard plundering. A solid 400 miles, not a blip of any issues. Whew, HOME sweet Home Again!!

(Then I put in 3 hours on my [to be honest, it is Mrs. Black's] Ferris mower, whoooo hooo, its is a delight to Rally-Cross on)

-bobby
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Vanlife Geek
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2021 12:49 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

I made a little video of my new Topsolar 100 watt solar panel. I just got it but so far, I really like it. It seems to be much more durable than previous portable panels I've had. Hopefully, it will last a while. The construction style seems to look a lot like the Jackery panels, but is considerably less expensive. There is a $50 off coupon you can check on the product page if anyone is interested. https://amzn.to/3zcqqnc

Link

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TomInAlaska
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 9:09 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

Installed a new horn contact ring in the steering wheel and then figured out why the button/pad would work great off the steering wheel but didn't work when pushed in place in the wheel. Turns out the contacts inside the pad just needed cleaning. A little sandpapering later and the horn meeps like it should with everything in place.

I also drained the 10w-40 and refilled the crankcase with 15w-50 Mobil1 synthetic and the oil light in the dash went out like its supposed to. I did notice a new slight drip of oil coming from the bellhousing. Hopefully the synthetic oil didn't cause the rear main to start leaking. Shocked
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bobbyblack Premium Member
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2021 2:21 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

TomInAlaska wrote:

I also drained the 10w-40 and refilled the crankcase with 15w-50 Mobil1 synthetic and the oil light in the dash went out like its supposed to.


Dancing Dancing Dancing

Applause Applause Applause
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Vanuber
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:30 am    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

Vanlife Geek wrote:
I made a little video of my new Topsolar 100 watt solar panel. I just got it but so far, I really like it. It seems to be much more durable than previous portable panels I've had. Hopefully, it will last a while. The construction style seems to look a lot like the Jackery panels, but is considerably less expensive. There is a $50 off coupon you can check on the product page if anyone is interested. https://amzn.to/3zcqqnc


How many amps are you pulling with your panel? I just bought a Bluetti SP120 120W folding panel - https://www.bluettipower.com/products/120w-solar-panel . Seems pretty nice so far and fits under the bench seat. I am pulling 70W and 5A consistently which seems decent. Getting ready to really test it on an upcoming trip.
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Vanlife Geek
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 10:07 am    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

Vanuber wrote:
Vanlife Geek wrote:
I made a little video of my new Topsolar 100 watt solar panel. I just got it but so far, I really like it. It seems to be much more durable than previous portable panels I've had. Hopefully, it will last a while. The construction style seems to look a lot like the Jackery panels, but is considerably less expensive. There is a $50 off coupon you can check on the product page if anyone is interested. https://amzn.to/3zcqqnc


How many amps are you pulling with your panel? I just bought a Bluetti SP120 120W folding panel - https://www.bluettipower.com/products/120w-solar-panel . Seems pretty nice so far and fits under the bench seat. I am pulling 70W and 5A consistently which seems decent. Getting ready to really test it on an upcoming trip.

I'm usually between 4 and 5 amps, depending on the conditions. I'm getting my readings from a fairly cheap charge controller display, so I'm not sure about accuracy. The voltage seems high at around 24 or 25 but that's what the readout says. So if I have the math right, 24 volts x 4 amps = 96 watts. I'm I doing this right? If it's really sunny and clear, I get 25 volts x 5 amps = 125 watts. It's cloudy and sprinkling right now where I'm camped, so not getting much solar today. At least it's cool at around 8,800' and currently only 71 F. And I have internet most of the time.
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fxr
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 12:02 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

The current of 5A is being fed to your 12V battery - so to get the wattage feed (rather unnecessary) you need to multiply the battery's voltage (13.6V ?) by the current (5A) - so 62W. But I don't know why you'd want to know that.

The important number is the current (amps) going into the battery. Integrate that over the time it's flowing to get the number of Ah added to your set-up.
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TomInAlaska
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 8:28 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

Installed and bled my new-to-me rear heater, ran some new hose for the rear window washer, and tried to (temporarily at least) seal a few spots in the corners of the windshield and sliding side window rubber that were leaking after all the rain we got yesterday.
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 24, 2021 11:58 am    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

Serviced the sliding door rollers and hinges. I was only able to use one bearing/roller from the go westy kit (nylon roller/bearing in the lower bracket) since it turns out I have the early style door parts, but even just cleaning and greasing what I couldn’t replace and adjusting the striker pin made a world of difference. It’s muuuuch quieter and takes a lot less force to latch closed now.
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BCE56
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 24, 2021 12:25 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

Syncro is (more or less) stabilized for now. I am working on the Bug these days.
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 1:43 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

enhanced the sound system

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Vanlife Geek
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 2:26 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

happy2CU wrote:
enhanced the sound system

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That should get a little more attention than the standard "Meep, Meep" horn!
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djkeev
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:09 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

Ah…. But the VW Meep Meep is what makes a VW a VW!

You’ve ruined it!

Dave
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happy2CU
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 10:10 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

It's ok it stil has a air cooled flat four so nobody will know it 's a fake VW until I honk.
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 10:36 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

Installed heat shield.

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:52 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

Finally smoke tested the engine after getting more stalling at stops instead of once in a blue moon, fully expecting several leaks, but had just one. Crankcase vent hose was leaking at the breather tower since I never clamped that end when I installed the new hose months ago. At a pressure of about 7 psi, it was smoke city at that connection… Embarassed Razz Razz
Cleaned things up, reinstalled the tower and clamped the hose. Retested with our shop tester, no more smoke.
Idle quality improved and general engine running as well. Nice to have it back to normal with no money spent for a change… Razz

Vacuumed the interior carpet,( it was long overdue on that.. Embarassed ) refilled the washer tank and drove home with a happy engine
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 8:27 am    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

jlrftype7 wrote:
Finally smoke tested the engine after getting more stalling at stops instead of once in a blue moon, fully expecting several leaks, but had just one. Crankcase vent hose was leaking at the breather tower since I never clamped that end when I installed the new hose months ago. At a pressure of about 7 psi, it was smoke city at that connection… Embarassed Razz Razz
Cleaned things up, reinstalled the tower and clamped the hose. Retested with our shop tester, no more smoke.

Idle quality improved and general engine running as well. Nice to have it back to normal with no money spent for a change… Razz

Vacuumed the interior carpet,( it was long overdue on that.. Embarassed ) refilled the washer tank and drove home with a happy engine



So, question: just lately my oil dipstick was pushing out of the tube about an inch. Idle is a little low at stoplights recently as well. I thought I may have overfilled the oil after an oil change so dropped about 1/4 quart out of the pan (brings oil level down to top fill mark); this is somewhat of a challenge to balance correctly since I also have an exterior oil cooler/fan combo.

I guess I should check to see if a similar symptom is occurring at that breather tower to see if I'm getting crankcase vent over-pressure? I've searched a bit and folks suggest blow-by piston rings and valves and such but I'm not encountering any power loss (have not yet done a compression test).
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jlrftype7
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:35 am    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

fishgo wrote:
jlrftype7 wrote:
Finally smoke tested the engine after getting more stalling at stops instead of once in a blue moon, fully expecting several leaks, but had just one. Crankcase vent hose was leaking at the breather tower since I never clamped that end when I installed the new hose months ago. At a pressure of about 7 psi, it was smoke city at that connection… Embarassed Razz Razz
Cleaned things up, reinstalled the tower and clamped the hose. Retested with our shop tester, no more smoke.

Idle quality improved and general engine running as well. Nice to have it back to normal with no money spent for a change… Razz

Vacuumed the interior carpet,( it was long overdue on that.. Embarassed ) refilled the washer tank and drove home with a happy engine



So, question: just lately my oil dipstick was pushing out of the tube about an inch. Idle is a little low at stoplights recently as well. I thought I may have overfilled the oil after an oil change so dropped about 1/4 quart out of the pan (brings oil level down to top fill mark); this is somewhat of a challenge to balance correctly since I also have an exterior oil cooler/fan combo.

I guess I should check to see if a similar symptom is occurring at that breather tower to see if I'm getting crankcase vent over-pressure? I've searched a bit and folks suggest blow-by piston rings and valves and such but I'm not encountering any power loss (have not yet done a compression test).
One large note on the breather tower, if yours is original, it may well be clogged and causing headaches with crankcase pressure.
When we first got our '84 in the Fall of 2018, the breather tower was so bad it was causing a squeal from pressure being pushed out of pushrod rod tube seals while running just a few minutes after being started, then, followed by a squirting of oil out of the same seals once I turned the engine off[ Way beyond the VW Marking Its Spot Routine..]
Wild, a bit funny too since at that time I was still in the 'parking lot' phase of ownership while I was working on the Vanagon at my job, I should have taken a video of it before I repaired the issue with a new Breather Tower from GoWesty.
New tower installed, no more squealing of pressure trying to escape the engine after only running a short time, no more squirting of oil.
New Spring Loaded AfterMarket Push Rod Tubes with fresh seals took care of the seepage from the engine once the pressure issue was resolved.
So, start with a new tower and mounting/sealing o-ring and crankcase breather hose if you are not sure how old that tower is.
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dhaavers
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 4:14 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

Doubled my house battery capacity, having killed my previous single flooded deep cycle in 5 summers... Embarassed
Increased capacity plus 100w portable solar panel should extend the life of the new batts significantly... Cool

Installed easily under weekender jump seat & still room for all my usual tools, belts & spare fluids... Wink

FWIW: Walmart group 24 flooded deep cycle @ 110ah & $80 each...cheap & effective. Not interested in
babying lithium batteries through my -30°F, 5-month off season, or the cost, although the space & weight
savings are obvious benefits... <shrug>

See you on the road! Wink

- Dave
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fxr
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 4:32 pm    Post subject: Re: What did YOU do to your van today? Reply with quote

dhaavers wrote:
Not interested in
babying lithium batteries through my -30°F, 5-month off season, or the cost, although the space & weight
savings are obvious benefits... <shrug>

For the benefit of those contemplating lithium chemistry - LIFePO4 batteries are happy hibernating for a year or more at -30°F. Just don't bother to try to charge them, as their BMS will prevent it.
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