Winston and Rob: Ordeal, and Triumph

[msinabottle]

Well, not much of an ordeal, not much of a triumph, but, anyway...

Back to the Job site last Friday, so, having waited 'til the best opportunity, I took Winston down to AAA Propane for a fill, not sure how much was in him, which is always the problem. Hadn't driven him any significant amount since VW's on the Green, where he was sometimes admired but at least present and there for friends and admirers to see.

I'm always diffident while driving him--and I thought I had a rather hard shift... Man, that was a hard shift... Why is that Chrysler gold van following me... He just turned off... Here's the propane dealership...

I've been rear-ended. !@#!@#!$%^$!!!

Sigh. Not severely, which is why I thought it was a bad shift, he got me just as I was letting out the clutch, which helped, but it was a pretty good WHACK. I lost one of my reflector stickers, but I am vindicated in that huge aircooled.net rear tube bumper. The diamond plate deck got lifted in just the spot of impact, but Winston seems to have come through otherwise unscathed. I think the driver behind me meant to come clean, then thought better of it when I didn't stop at once and start screaming.

Maybe I can get the bumper bent back into shape. What comfort I have is that I undoubtedly inflicted far more damage on his Styrofoam and acrylic front end than he inflicted on me. A look at Winston's hindquarters confirms the sad fact that for some people, Vanagons are collision magnets. I have FOUR rear brake lights--the standard, my raised one, and the one in the hitch cover. And still, in mild traffic... SPLAT. I think I've gotten into the mindset that whatever happens to Winston is my fault. And that's the second time I've been rear-ended in him!

Got him back, he took 2.2 gallons of propane in that little tank, so he WAS pretty close to dry, and slid under to inspect for hidden damage and, while I was at it, change his oil. I decided to go to the 15W-40 Delvac 1300, supposedly good oil with more ZDDP than the 20W50 and, I thought, cheaper!

'Tweren't. I only realized as I drained the old Castrol that they sell the Delvac in gallon jugs, not the 5 qt. jugs for the more conventional oils, so the apparently cheaper price was misleading. I also couldn't find it in a 1 qt. size, so I had to buy another gallon to top off Winston. I added only 2 ounces of Red Line Break-In Additive to boost up the ZDDP, found some black gunk on the magnetic drain plug, and replaced the nylon drain washer since I'd seen a few spots of oil under Winston during his winter garaging. I also dropped and lightly dented the new Wiz oil filter. !@#!@#!$%^$!!!

Got better... Topped him off... Started him... he ran TERRIBLY... Killed... Choked... gasped... No power as I backed him back into the garage...

Man, this must be TERRIBLE oil! Just GREAT. At least the new battery was more than up to starting him every time he killed.

Went around back to check the oil level... I'd left the oil cap off. !@#!@#!$%^$!!!

It was that kind of day. Added some BG MOA and put on the cap, and when I headed out to the job site Friday... He ran like a watch.

One nice thing about my Vanaganxiety (TM), it does keep me trying to anticipate things. I've made a number of lists for my packing and loading of Winston and the refrigerator, and this was the first first week camping in him at the job site in which I had every last thing I needed for a comfortable weekend.

Finally got to use the new Go Westy water-hook up. I... wasn't staggered, but it worked well enough for filling the water tank. I had a shut-off valve so I could keep checking the level--with my old simple hose it used to take 2.5 minutes to fill Winston's tank to 'Green,' with the Go Westy inlet and fitting it took 3.5, which was... aggravating... and it leaked water constantly all over the side of the van. I've a suspicion that that's a standard quick-connect hose fitting, I may try one from a hardware store to see if it leaks less and fills more quickly. But, he finally DID fill to 'green.'

Some empirical results of my work and preparations: My record high temperature last year in Winston with the old tent was 115 degrees. With the new 3-window Atelier PK tent, in 104 heat, it got to 105. Not bad for a steel box in the sun! I lit the propane on the Dometic fairly easily, but it's interesting... Since I pulled, inverted the fridge, and used Copper Form-a-Gasket to seal the burner box, he's lit more easily if I've applied VACUUM to the drain tube, rather than if I blew air into it! Not sure why that was, but he lit and cooled very well on propane.

With several large blocks of Blue Ice in the Dometic as a fail-safe, and my new little muffin fan running continuously, what was frozen in the Dometic stayed frozen, the temperature on the 104 degree day stayed at 40 degrees. I had a piece of silver insulation held onto the side of the Van behind the refrigerator with earth magnets. My ashtray replacement with the outlet box worked fine, I quickly found and used my radio remote in time to hear the Sunday morning weather report...

Front window screens worked, rear 'dolphin' hatch extender worked... Hot at first, so I slept in my sleeping-bag liner, night cooled down, so I pulled my huge quilt over me, and slept well despite the best efforts of a trapped wasp that I let out in the morning through the sky light. Breakfast, good, next night good, got an electrical power connection and switched the Dometic over to 120, no problems... Drive back, good, one amusing event as I coasted downhill, following a co-worker with ear-buds in for about a block before someone walking the other way pointed out that there was a Vanagon right behind him...



Our little engines are pretty quiet!

No particular trouble getting him home, had him up to 73 before I backed down to 4K on the tach (I drive him by the tach) and no difficulty parking, unloading, and getting him settled in for the week. It's actually much easier to park him at night--our house faces north, so in the afternoon, particularly, I get a lot of glare as I try to line him up to back into the garage. Batteries charged to 13.2 for the Odyssey AGM and 12.8 on the Johnson Controls flooded, just on the alternator.

He's almost packed (I fill the fridge at the last possible moment), batteries topped off, oil and coolant checked, and ready to go today for this weekend at the job site. I thought I'd let you hear the details.

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[debbiej]

I wish I had a job where I could stay in my westy! Sounds like stuff is getting dialed in. It's a good feeling!

Ouch on the rearending!

[70coupyel]

[msinabottle]

Week 2: Winston with his new Delvac 1300 15W40 oil and on the road again... Just setting out... Purring along... Braking...

RED OIL LIGHT!



Y'know, when you've never HAD a problem, even when you are something of a faithful reader of the Samba, you still get blindsided when you have it.

I pulled him over into a parking lot and checked the oil... Lots. Checked the bottom of the engine for leaks, made sure the dipstick was all the way in, checked that the fuel filter was intact... All good. Took off again...

RED OIL LIGHT!

Well, by now, having browsed over the Samba when I got home last night, and the Vanagon Mailing List archives, I know that the problem is hardly a rare one. Larry Blazer told me to run 20W50 in him, I ran the 15W40 Delvac because it had more ZDDP in it, and this happens.

Sigh. It made for a stressful drive out, and a stressful drive back, but it's hard to panic TOO much when the light goes off when you gun the motor. I had hopes it wouldn't go on on the way back, but once the oil warmed up... Also, the fairly immediate (I don't recall seeing the light at all last week) cause and effect of lighter oil = oil light doesn't leave me in a great amount of doubt about what the issue was. Another factor might have been how HOT it was Sunday night, a mere 100+ degrees. I think the Delvac's thinned out, it's enough to trip Winston's single pressure switch, and my experiment with the Delvac must be branded a failure. I don't need the stress.

Right now I'm accepting arguments and input as to whether I should drain the BRAND NEW lighter oil (And ZDDP additive, and BG MOA) and put in more 20W50. There is the added variable of the dropped and dented WIX oil filter.

An interesting discovery--both NAPA and Wal-Mart are listing the Castrol GTX 20W50 in 5 quart jugs again. Should I go back to what has worked so well for all these years, or experiment further? I wonder how SAE 30 would work, given that I don't drive Winston AT ALL during the cold months. I saw the manual note here and in my manual about the light flickering being normal after a long hot drive and deceleration. 15W40 is spec, but there's the little matter of that specification being for a BRAND NEW engine some 28 years ago, not an old engine with I don't know how many miles on it now.

Other than THAT, which was bad enough, things went well. My work on the Dometic was superbly successful, what was frozen stayed frozen despite the 100 degree heat, the Blue Ice also not melting. I ran my external fridge fans for a while both days, and the inner muffin fan continuously.

Much cooling air coming in through the Atelier PK tent, the Jalousies, and the front windows through the screens. He was 100 degrees inside when I got into him at 1 Sunday, but that was the ambient temperature--and, as noted, Winston's a steel box in the sun.

My new strategy of the sleeping bag liner in the heat and the quilt in the cold is working well, which is very good. Working conditions ranged from the great to the dire. I need to do more to level my parking area, It's pretty good on the pitch (bow to stern, frustrated sailor, here) and needs work on the roll (side to side). But aside from the flickering light, steady during an idle, I've little to complain about. Everything else is working, and well, and my fondness for my faithful old van continues unabated.

Suggestions quite welcome about the light and thanks for the commiseration, reads, and comments. I'll get a picture of the rear bumper up when I have the time to take one.

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[Tram]

[msinabottle]

Thanks, Tram. Oh, I'm pretty sure I'm going RIGHT back to the Castrol GTX 20W50, particularly if you can get it in the 5 qt. jugs... The question unanswered is should I do that RIGHT now, or get some more wear out of the Delvac and the additives before they go off to the great recycling sump in the... Somewhere.

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[Tram]

[msinabottle]

You have me convinced, Tram, and thank you for the follow-ups. It also didn't hurt that I just talked to Jim Blazer (the brother who drives and cherishes his nice blue Syncro) and he agreed that the oil goes. It goes Thursday. Napa's offering the 5 qt. jug for $22.99, and I've heard there's a discount for ordering it ahead of time and picking it up. While I'm under Winston I'll also check the condition of the wire to the sender, but I DO agree with you, Tram--I just wasn't sure how urgent it was to change back.

Profit thou, the rest of ye, from my sad tale. I'll write it down to an engine flush, at least, of sorts.

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[Gruppe B]

Dropped oil filters can have the filter element dislodge.

When I used to work at a parts place years and years ago the manager would discard dented filters because of this reason.

Nonetheless the only change would be unfiltered oil and not oil pressure loss.

In my area of Canada 20/50 weight oil is crazy hard to find, my vanagon runs very happily with 10W30 Mobil 1 Synth and has never has a light go on.

How many miles are on Winston?

[msinabottle]

Yeah, I suppose I'll pull the dented filter too and just write off that whole oil change. Makes a man feel moronic.

I have NO IDEA how many miles are on Winston. When his first speedometer failed, the odometer stopped reading and all that, I had a spare that came with an instrument cluster I'd bought for the tach and just dropped that into him with a note in the owner's manual. I realized during the swap that the speedometer then in him wasn't original--it was meant for the blue foil the later cluster had, there was a retaining pin. When I got both speedometers rebuilt, I put the 'original' one back into him.

I asked Larry Blazer if he had any ideas as to how many miles were on the van, he said he had no way of telling. I DO know that the previous owner, Nick, did a top-end rebuild not too long before I bought him--but there's plenty of room left for oil-related trouble in the lower end he didn't do. Winston's engine is original. I've reserved the Castrol 20W50 at NAPA and will change out the oil and filter Thursday.

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[dobryan]

Rob,

Oil changes are cheap. Do it! Don't sweat the pennies.

Best back to you....
_________________
Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 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
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[msinabottle]

Well, I took all your advice. And... The light is still on. I want my money back!



Yesterday, the longest day of the year, I called NAPA and asked if the 5 qt. jug of Castrol GTX 20W50 had come in from the warehouse. They said the warehouse was in Texas and rather than charge me the Hazardous Materials fee, they'd just sell me 5 quarts loose at the same price, which was nice of them. I got the oil, drained the Delvac, and took off the dented oil filter to drain it too, then putting it back in since the interior fittings all seemed solid and there was no movement when I shook it.

I drove Winston to Advance Auto to get rid of the used oil--and the oil pressure light stayed on. It DID flicker once or twice, even went out at idle once, but the light stayed on when the engine came out of gear. I cursed myself for leaving the old filter on, since that was another variable, and I wasn't exactly happy with Advance when they kept me waiting for 15 minutes and then said that 1)They couldn't take my containers, but would empty them into their sump for me, and then 2)They couldn't find the key to their sump, so I'd wasted my time.

Growl. I got home, there was still daylight, so I cleaned out the oil pan thoroughly and drained out the brand new GTX and pulled the dented filter. I installed a new filter--didn't drop this one, the old filter WAS pretty mauled. I got the GTX oil back in with no more than minimal spillage... and the light stayed on. Admittedly, I only drove him less than a mile, and there is some lifter clatter. It will take some time to get all that oil into every crevice in the engine, and I've got to go to the Job Site this weekend, an 80 mile drive. We'll see what happens and I'll report.

That the light came on after a week in VERY hot weather with a new, lighter oil is significant, but it isn't conclusive. I am enough of a gearhead to know that coincidences happen, and enough of a scholar to remember that post hoc, propter hoc, is a logical fallacy. I continue to scrabble for data.

This morning, I went through Winston's old receipts, which go back to 1998, to the previous owner, and looked to see if he'd ever had a new oil pump. Not that I could find. Ten years ago, he got a new Checker oil pressure switch. There were other signs that Winston had had bouts of low oil pressure--Nick tried that plastic 'Engine Renew' stuff more than once. The pressure problem went away then, maybe it will now--or...



I spent a lot of quality time with 'The Search' and tracked down Chris/tencentlife's remarks on the subject of oil pressure. Depending on what I hear here or have the time to do, I think it wouldn't hurt to drop a new oil pressure switch into him, brand recommendations joyfully accepted, I could check the sender wire while I'm at it (I did last night, the wire looked good and unscuffed) and a new oil pressure relief valve or just the spring--and Chris/tencentlife also made this remark:

[j_dirge]

FWIW, I stressed over the engine oil pressure light for a while.. That was about 3 yrs ago.. and my engine still continues to chug away. My light comes on if the engine has been running hot for a long time and I come to a stop.. But in my case it is the different-from-OEM sender switch.

If your light remains on.. ALL the time. MY guess is its is a failed switch or a wire that is loose/broken and thus not letting the circuit do its job.



Low oil pressure is a symptom. Treat it as such.

I think you're on the right track.. Elminate the oil sender switch as a problem.
Perhaps invest in the Van Cafe oil gauge kit or similar(I wouldn't do without it, myself)... so you can read an actual number.


And forget about a new engine.. until you are ready for a new engine.
_________________
-89 GL Westy, SVX.. finally.

-57 pan f/g buggy with a 67 pancake Type 3 "S"
"Jimi Hendrix owned one. Richard Nixon did not"
-Grand Tour, Season 1, episodes 4 and 5

[danfromsyr]

i have had more than 1 van where the oil light wire was worn/chaffed thru from resting on the case as the wire went around and down tothe senders..
it only takes a vey little loss of insulation to make the light flicker or come on solid.. heck verify it wasn't knocked off the sender from the impact or handling of things..

best

dan
_________________

[msinabottle]

Well, fudge. Drove Winston back and forth to the job site, and no change--at idle, or deceleration, the 'Oil' light flickers on and is steady at low RPM's and off at anything above an idle. Those are pretty low! The idle goes down to below 1000 RPM's, although usually it's around 1000.

Winston also growled at me--I ran his tank down to almost BELOW pegged, trying to get the very last of last year's gas (and Seafoam) out of him. Got a bit of cavitation when he sloshed. He gets new gas and Marvel Mystery Oil, which I know won't help the oil pressure light, Friday.

For the traditional ritual of self-help and throwing parts at a problem, I ordered from Van Cafe a new .3 bar pressure switch, an oil pressure valve spring and a piston--all relatively cheap. One source of hope is, since the previous owner bought his current oil pressure switch 10 years ago at a Checker, it might a .25 and I'm still good. I can dream, but... Might be so. The NAPA online store was listing a .25 switch for the 1.9. I know that Van Cafe will sell me the right one. I am also comforted by notes here on the Samba of the robustness of the 1.9 low end, but I certainly don't plan on putting that to the test on an engine with unknown mileage.

I plan on stopping at Harbor Freight tomorrow and getting that oil pressure gauge kit, I can certainly hook that up while I'm replacing the oil pressure switch, if I can figure out how to remove the tin over the fitting, suggestions greatly appreciated. The Haynes says both the pressure valve and the switch replacement are 'Two Wrench' jobs, but it doesn't say anything about removing the tin cover below the rods at all. May stick in in Chris/tencentlife's washer while I'm in the oil pressure relief valve if for no other reason than insurance purposes and since I'll be in there, with a drip pan, anyway..

If nothing changes and the news is still not good, he's off to Blazer, where I will anticipate (but not demand) a new oil pump or good or bad news from mechanics orders of magnitude more skilled and experienced than I. I can pause here and mention that Van Cafe called at once after I placed the order and said they were shipping the parts by Priority Mail--NOW--to save me money, that's why I ordered from them, love those guys. I hope the parts get here this week, it's my own fault for hoping things would improve and not ordering them all last week.

Winston is certainly RUNNING very well, even when the light's on, a situation I've minimized with a bit less 'Georgia Overdrive' coasting and avoiding long idles. It has been... HOT HOT HOT here at altitude, both the weather and the fires that have been consuming my beautiful state.



Certainly the record temperatures aren't doing anything to HELP this situation, although the engine temperature gauge has not been frightening.

The new tent has kept the temperature within the steel box down to 105, which, horrid as it is, is less than it was with the old tent. I do wake up at times with an urge to eat fried eggs and Struther Martin's voice in my ear saying something about a communications failure.



It is a comfort knowing that if I had to evacuate the campground suddenly, Winston can hit the road and take all my stuff with him, if there's any safe spot left to take it to. I am... stressed... But I do still cherish my faithful, comfortable, van. I just want to figure out this problem as soon as possible.

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[msinabottle]

I do so love Van Cafe. Order the parts late Monday, get them early Wednesday and get them in by Wednesday evening. In accordance with my standard policy, I ate the cookies with dinner, which I cannot do until I have installed the parts that came with the order.

Installed 'em. I cleaned the Cosmoline off the new piston with naptha and toilet tissue, which worked well and let me flush the permeated paper to banish the smell more quickly. I can see the point for the cosmoline, too long out of the oil and that unfinished steel would indeed start to rust. A lovely thunderstorm wafted through and dropped our temperatures some 20 degrees, I so hope the rain also helped the brave people frantically fighting the fires all around us. I've been bugging God on a lot of fronts lately.

Looked over my extracts from the Samba on the subject of fuel pressure switches and oil pressure valves before going in. Just for starters. I noticed and cleaned up a few drops on the garage floor directly below the drain plug, so I began today's operations by torquing that to spec on the cold engine, which certainly can't hurt things any. That certainly could have a role in a low oil pressure reading. Possibly significant.

I have never in my life seen a driver bit for a coin-slotted plug such as the one for the oil pressure valve, and no one mentioned what to use in any of the posts I scanned. First, I cleaned off the plug, there was oil all over the place, some old and caked, and a few little drops that looked fresh around the edges. Something going on there...

I had the happy inspiration of a strong and expendable steel washer and a pair of vise grips, which started the plug and I was ready with the oil pan, having jacked up Winston's rear to the limits of my bottle jack's, plus a 4x4's ability. Out popped the plug! I cleaned it with a paper towel! Out popped the spring! It was MUCH shorter, a quarter inch plus than the brand new copper one from Van Cafe. Significant! Out did NOT pop the piston, despite several taps with a screwdriver, digging with a metal hook, and other efforts to dislodge it around the steady, thin stream of new oil flowing out of Winston and into the oil pan. Also... perhaps... significant!

While the oil drained... and drained... and drained... I removed the engine tin, which was easier than I had dreaded, the exhaust bolt supposed to be holding on at the top of the tin wasn't tight. I'll hit it with PB Blaster and see if I can get a 13mm wrench onto it next time I'm down there. Had a look at the wire to the oil pressure switch while the tin was off--there WERE bare metal areas, although the consistency of my oil light at moments of idle and deceleration make me loath to believe that the chafed wire alone could be the problem. I re-insulated it with silicon fusing tape, and cleaned the contact on the end with contact cleaner.

FINALLY the oil pretty much stopped flowing, despite raising Winston's stern I think I lost more than a pint of oil. I won't replace that, pending a check of the level. One poster said that too much oil in the engine could also result in a low oil pressure reading.

A steel shim didn't dislodge the pressure relief valve piston, what finally did was my pinky finger up and into the hole, and wiggling the piston until if fell down. Not a LOT of scoring on it, but several shiny areas. Perhaps significant. I was glad that I'd ordered a replacement.

I was relieved to see that the old Checker oil pressure switch and the new one from Van Cafe, which was German-made, had the same color insulator, the part numbers for the Van Cafe unit weren't the same as in the ETKA readout, but I trust those guys, that's why I ordered from them. I was fortunate in that my very largest SAE deep socket was a comfortable fit for the switch, when came off and went on without any appreciable difficulty. I had to fight the spring screwing the new oil pressure piston and spring up into the engine, but that went on without too much trouble.

I THOUGHT before I replaced the pressure switch about attaching the new Harbor Freight oil pressure test gauge I bought Tuesday--don't forget those 20% Discount coupons, folks! But I decided to drive him up and back to the job site and see what happens in the course of the full run. I did torque the oil pressure switch to spec. and went so far as to start and test Winston while his stern was still up on the jack stands. He started, the 'oil' light went on... and off...



Which proves nothing until it's hot oil under load. But we'll see what happens this week during the drive up and back.

And I am very tired. Keep those cards and letters coming, folks! I do very much appreciate the past posts that helped me all through this phase of my 'search and destroy' mission. If this doesn't work, it's the oil gauge, then Blazer and perhaps a new oil pump.

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[joseph928]

Lot's of good info. Have the same problem . Ordered van cafe oil gauge kit today don't trust the idiot light. Did find the problem was the plastic connector in the engine compartment. The one that goes to the sender. It was corroded, cleaned it off with contact cleaner put it back together no more idiot light. Still going to put the gauge in. Now a question , I just got the tin cover off without breaking the stud off. So why can't you leave the tin off, this is a water cooled engine and the tin is a pain in the ass. I can't see any cooling benefit to it ?
_________________
1987 syncro westy tin top sun roof , GW2.3, rear locker, decoupler, Gary Lee tire rack & winch mount, lift, south african grill, big brakes , rhein alloy ,15 BFG AT, Fiamma 10 foot awning ,140 watt rear 85 watt front solar , mppt, truckfridge, automatic fire extinguishing system, tencent oil cooler, And a RMW SS exhaust! - 1971 bug convertible 1776 engine- 2010 Subaru turbo - 1993 Toyota 4x4 truck - 1999 Harley 95 CI, big bore, Andrews cams . Also 80-84- vans. Stock 65 sunroof bug.

[msinabottle]

The oil pressure light did not go on out of turn. Not once. Just at the start-ups, and then right off. Of course there are too many variables to say exactly WHAT got the oil pressure light off, but it turned off and it STAYED off. I suppose it could start up again at any time, but I drove Winston the way I always have and this time the light never came on out of turn.

I did add my usual can of BG MOA before setting out this week--it's an oil additive that promises improved cleaning and lubricity, I've run it always in the '93 Saturn and in Winston since I got him on the advice of a mechanic who uses it himself. I had thought about NOT doing that, to remove a variable, but if the engine WAS in trouble, I reasoned, and the heat being so horrid, a bit of extra lubricity couldn't hurt. I did, though, leave Winston's overall oil fill far below the upper mark on the dipstick, so those are two more variables right there.

I researched the engine tin myself, joseph928, and put it back on for two major reasons--one, I figured that the new oil pressure sender could do with a bit of protection, wildthings, whom I greatly respect, felt that the underside of the engine could use all the protection it could get in his post on the subject. My other reason was respect for Winston's original designers. There ARE things with which I have a quarrel with the Vanagon design, but the fact that ours are still on the roads so long after their construction makes me figure that it's best to assume that the original builders knew what they were doing. A friend of mine who's been following this post, and he's well-informed, says that the tin acts as an radiant heat reflector, and should be there for that reason. Mine stays and will be replaced if it needs to be.

Winston had a good excuse for growling at me (fuel pump cavitation, just a bit)--when I got around to filling him, he took 14.58 gallons, although I lost about a pint due to stupidity. I was holding the nozzle handle up, the way you do with an older Vanagon to prevent splashback--and my finger got caught in the trigger as it shut off, resulting in... splashback. Aggravating. Since I got around 295 miles on that tank, my mileage was probably around 21 mpg, which isn't too awful given wintertime evaporation and the ethanol they're making us run through our vehicles. I'll get a truer reading on this tank.

I busied myself after installing the new sender switch and oil pressure relief valve piston and spring making a better-designed exterior cover out of Reflectix for the back of Winston's Dometic. It just covers the city water input, and I used 12 earth magnets and aluminum tape to hold it on. The window insulating cover I'd used as an experiment kept blowing off in the afternoon gusts, this one stayed on all weekend, so I think I managed well there. The short cord so that I can plug the microwave into shore power has also been a success, so that's another good achievement. Drained the water out of him this week--I've been going 4 weeks between fills and can't notice a major decline in water quality.

It has remained so very hot... This weekend the temperatures got to 104 and 62 in Winston, but I managed well, between the jalousies and the 3-window tent. It was nice being COLD at night for a change. I took the entrenching tool I keep in the bench and dug out Winston's parking spot in an effort to make it more level. Quite an improvement, but I'll still have more work to do.

And I am very tired.

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[msinabottle]

Winston continues to run like a watch, and, despite my anxieties, the oil light has continued to remain off. Also good news, the monsoon finally came in and the fires that had our entire state bouncing off the walls are either contained or extinguished. I changed from pestering to thanking God.

It was lovely getting below 60 in Winston, even as I raced through a pretty nasty thunderstorm to get to the job site. You can say anything you want--and it will likely be obscene--about Agilis tires in the snow and ice, but they don't mind even severe rain. Despite nasty crosswinds, I always feel pretty safe in Winston during a cloudburst. The big Hella H4's do their job of lighting up the road, the Agilis hang onto it, and Winston just grimly puts his head down and keeps going, usually with a chain of cars following in his wake. A weekend of sporadic rain left Winston's outside covered with mud and spattered. The nasty thunderstorm on the way BACK left him power-washed and gleaming. That was a break!

My new refrigerator heat shield--for use on Winston's outer skin--hasn't blown off, although I didn't use it last week, it was so much cooler. More magnets, even though they're smaller, appears to have worked there. Things kept freezing, less due to the Dometic's own cooling, I think, than the usual amount of Blue Ice I put into the fridge as insurance. Still, my little internal muffin fan does appear to work better than the bigger battery-powered circulating fan ever did.

Rattling of the skylight annoys me, I THINK the arms and rollers are still in good shape, but I'll have a look at them. I do love the little propane stove--it's easy to clean, it boils my tea and heats what I can, with the microwave batting clean-up. I made a short cord so that I could just plug the microwave into the internal outlets. I've got shore power now, and I figure if I can spare the Odyssey the drain and the inverter the wear, I may as well. In between that and the new cable from the alternator to the starter, Winston's batteries stay pretty topped off.

The fossil Delta 6 faucet continues to work acceptably while I await the arrival of the ShurFlow from GoWesty, as reported, I weakened during the 4th of July sale. I'm also waiting for those slider window guides and word on felt insulation for the slider. The thread protectors/drainer towel have done a great job of ending the rattle of the range grill. Now I'm noticing all the other rattles.



One issue I might finally get around to is getting an actual rear table for Winston--it turned out that I have two front ones, which is adequate for just one, but I do have a beautiful girlfriend and a little more table room might be nice. I'll start watching the want ads, I suppose, although if anybody local has a spare table, I'd love to hear about it. I like the 'piano hinge' mod just discussed that lets the closet door open with the table in place, it'd be similar to what we did to Winston's refrigerator door a la Mootpoint's idea. When I put that computer desk collet around the base of the rear table's arm, it altered the geometry on the two hold-down latches I have on the bottom of the table and Winston's interior panel. It's harder to get that all latched now, but not impossible.

Winston has to climb up a muddy dirt hill--fairly steep one--to get into his parking space. He always does it so very well, but that doesn't stop me from worrying. I dropped the top with storms threatening, even though the Sunbrella shouldn't mildew, and did the 'Bat out of Hell' routine as the storm rolled in Sunday evening. The rain was enough for me to test the front and rear defoggers, both of which worked quite well. My anxiety got a bit of a boost when I found out that a tent next to Winston's parking spot had gotten burgled by a bear.



I am very careful not to let anything edible have access to the open air while not being consumed within Winston. I've been sleeping well, which is nice, using just a sleeping bag liner for the hot start of the night and pulling a quilt over myself when the night cools off. I'm very much enjoying my time in Winston, so grateful to the engineers and mechanics--and you lot--who've helped make him as comfortable and reliable as he is.

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

[morymob]

If your frig worked that well in thse temps where have mounted the extra fans, need to give mine a boost if possible.