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snowsyncro Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2009 Posts: 1557 Location: East Preston, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 7:57 pm Post subject: Move Over rubbachicken...There's a New Lucy in Town |
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Sorry, not my name -- she already had it.
Before Christmas we picked up this 1988 Westy that was for sale locally. I don't really get it; but my wife thinks it is important that we have a van that actually runs.
I had a quick look one day; she had all the usual seam rust, some rust holes around the windows, a few scrapes and minor dents. But it was pretty low mileage (<148,000 km), was originally owned by an elderly couple who didn't camp much if at all, was now on only the third owner, and the interior was like new. Had a quick peek underneath and it looked pretty solid, had a firm and solid feel on a short test drive, and the current owner had all the maintenance done by Jeff Hogue (Jeff's Old Volks Home). Around here it does not get any better than that. There was a brand new exhaust, new heads, new coolant distributor, and a fairly clean looking block. Owner told me it was a 1.9 short block -- I will get the history from Jeff. Automatic; which I am not a big fan of, but they are reliable, and they do have their advantages; so I was willing to give it a go.
So, Lucy joined the fleet, and we had a nice 130 km ride around town and country the first night we picked her up...
Not long after that, the weather turned colder. Lucy, who (I was told) has never been winter driven, wasted no time in complaining. If it was cold, say below freezing, she simply says "No." Nothing happens -- no solenoid action. Minor problem, a common enough occurrence in my experience, and an easy fix, but somewhat more inconvenient than I am used to because this is my first automatic. So when Lucy says "no" -- she wins.
This is my first "female" vehicle, and all the other ones are used to toughing it out through the winter months...
So, we (the boy vans and I) don't really understand Miss Lucy's attitude about the whole winter thing, and have been determined to show her just how much fun winter can be. Not slogging around in the salt slush -- I don't mean that -- I have enough other cars for that. But, you know, getting out and enjoying winter; the way it is meant to be enjoyed. I mean, what is better than getting out on a cold and sunny winter's day for a little fun and adventure? Right?
See the clever approach? You can't say, that after 36 years of marriage, and almost 20 years of coaching women's soccer; I don't know my way around women. You can't force things; brute force and ignorance doesn't work. You need to use your wits, and persuasive power, you know, to bring them around to your way of thinking.
Lucy didn't agree...
Anyway, the point of this little story is that, because I have been busy, and there was another van in the shop, it wasn't until last night that I had a good chance to crawl around and get under Lucy's skirt. I was pretty excited when I found this...
Now, if you don't live where I live, you may be thinking "What am I supposed to seeing here -- just looks like an ordinary van to me."
I will show you in my next post.
RonC |
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rubbachicken Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2004 Posts: 3058 Location: socal
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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but, but, what am i going to tell our lucy
congrats
you might want a new e brake cable on there _________________ lucy our westy
lucy's BIG adventure
meet 'burni'
markswagen {mobile mechanic} san diego area all early VW's cared for.
619 201 0310 or 617 935 4182 |
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snowsyncro Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2009 Posts: 1557 Location: East Preston, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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rubbachicken wrote: |
but, but, what am i going to tell our lucy
congrats
you might want a new e brake cable on there |
I think maybe it is best not to tell.
Thanks. Good catch on the cable -- I am replacing it -- the other end is worse. It broke not long after I got it.
RonC |
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syncrodoka Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2005 Posts: 11998 Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:19 pm Post subject: |
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Where is all of the canadian rust? |
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snowsyncro Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2009 Posts: 1557 Location: East Preston, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:20 pm Post subject: |
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syncrodoka wrote: |
Where is all of the canadian rust? |
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IdahoDoug Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2010 Posts: 10239 Location: N. Idaho
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 9:37 pm Post subject: |
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I lived in Michigan long enough to see what's happily missing in those undergarment shots. Niiice shape. Welcome to the world where bolts come loose....
DougM _________________ 1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader |
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k.t. Samba Member
Joined: August 16, 2012 Posts: 102 Location: kitsap peninsula, washington state
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 11:00 pm Post subject: |
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I'm confused, on the ground I see a midnight blue van. On the haul a way I see a maroon van? |
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vanagonjr Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2010 Posts: 3425 Location: Dartmouth, Mass.
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snowsyncro Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2009 Posts: 1557 Location: East Preston, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:20 am Post subject: |
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k.t. wrote: |
I'm confused, on the ground I see a midnight blue van. On the haul a way I see a maroon van? |
Same van -- it was just the lighting. Here is the same shot with a flash.
RonC |
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SL1 Samba Member
Joined: December 17, 2010 Posts: 251 Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:57 am Post subject: |
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nice van, looks like mine underneath, but mine came from BC
I got to hook up with some of you guys this summer, been running solo since I bought mine, need to start comparing notes. nice herd of vw's in your yard too _________________ Steve
1985 GL Westy - 'Bullwinkle'
1978 Super Beetle - 'Rocky' |
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bjrogers86auto Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2009 Posts: 1375 Location: Halifax, N.S.
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 7:00 am Post subject: lucy |
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Nice to see my spare parts stock increasing! I'm guessing that spare engine is up for sale for sure now huh? Can I get in touch with your wife and negotiate with her?
Were you picking up some Garrison Martello Stout at the NSLC? hehe
Nice looking van Ron! The family keeps growing!
Brian _________________ 86 Vanagon GL Westfalia 2.1
18 Nissan Frontier Pro 4X
19 Honda Civic Hatchback
A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day. Calvin and Hobbes. |
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edgood1 Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 2048 Location: Plymouth, MA
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snowsyncro Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2009 Posts: 1557 Location: East Preston, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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SL1 wrote: |
I got to hook up with some of you guys this summer, |
Yup, definitely. We will have to do that for sure this summer.
bjrogers86auto wrote: |
Nice to see my spare parts stock increasing! I'm guessing that spare engine is up for sale for sure now huh? Can I get in touch with your wife and negotiate with her?
Were you picking up some Garrison Martello Stout at the NSLC? hehe
Nice looking van Ron! The family keeps growing!
Brian |
Hop Yard, actually.
You are too late! That engine is now in the Multivan, and working very nicely indeed. I checked everything, almost new exhaust, new cat, new motor mounts, injectors cleaned and tested. Works really well!
Don't mind the rust, heh-heh. The plan for that van has been to use it for a weekender style donor for the Syncro. It has kind of grown on me, though. I don't know if I will be able to kill it. 90% of you would not think of saving it -- it has a lot of 'issues'. A little Fluid-Film stops that in its tracks.
edgood1 wrote: |
Is that factory undercoating?
wow. |
It just might be. The reason I say that is that it is identical to the undercoating on a 1990 Westy that I have. I know that one is factory, because I am the second owner and I know the full history. The same wax-based soft and flexible which is self-healing, perhaps with graphite as well. Just in much better shape. I was told it was always wintered indoors, and I doubt it has ever been off pavement, and it is low mileage. For comparison, here is the 1990...
RonC |
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snowsyncro Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2009 Posts: 1557 Location: East Preston, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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syncrodoka wrote: |
Where is all of the canadian rust? |
You guessed it! There is NO structural rust. Most of it is like brand new. Some body rust, and behind the kitchen will be a mess when I take the cupboards out, because that horizontal seam is badly rusted. But it's only metal, and metal is easily repaired.
I am used to seeing this when I crawl under my vans. You don't venture under there without eye protection...
You can see why it is, with all due respect, sometimes difficult to suppress a snigger when I see some of the 'condemned by rust' examples that I see on here. I can understand why, rust repair is time consuming and expensive, so why would you do it when you don't have to? But when I see, for example, a Syncro that would be considered in good condition to me, cut apart as a donor, it just about kills me. You would be lucky to even find a Syncro, in any condition, within a thousand miles of here.
Back to the story...the van I have begun calling 'The B%$#h Lucy'...wins. Lucy wins, like all women win in the end. I will not be driving Lucy in the winter salt; this one deserves the best TLC I can muster.
RonC |
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snowsyncro Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2009 Posts: 1557 Location: East Preston, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:22 pm Post subject: |
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IdahoDoug wrote: |
I lived in Michigan long enough to see what's happily missing in those undergarment shots. Niiice shape. Welcome to the world where bolts come loose....
DougM |
I know! It's great. Lucy has a gas auxiliary heater, that has a rusted outer chamber, and the mounts are rusted off. So, it is coming out, at least for repairs; maybe forever. There is a cover shield that covers all of that, about the size of the gas tank, and right behind it. It is held on with little screws, with 8mm heads. They came right out! I barely needed a socket to get them started! 30 seconds and it was off in my hands. Normally, if they even had a head left on them, they would break off as soon as you touched them.
While on the subject; I have always wondered what is the reasoning behind having a gas heater in a water-cooled vehicle. On my old bugs, it was the difference between having to stop and get out to get warm, and being somewhat comfortable. But is there really any need in a water-cooled van, with front and rear heaters?
Can anyone enlighten me on this subject?
RonC |
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stickycandies Samba Member
Joined: February 28, 2011 Posts: 33 Location: Halifax, NS, Canada
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:57 pm Post subject: |
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Nice looking van! I'd say there are quite a few of us around Halifax that should get together. I hear you on the sunny winter days btw.... uberslow is a fan too. _________________ Life in the slow lane isn't so bad |
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kamzcab86 Samba Moderator
Joined: July 26, 2008 Posts: 7892 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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snowsyncro wrote: |
Lucy wins, like all women win in the end. I will not be driving Lucy in the winter salt; this one deserves the best TLC I can muster. |
You're darn tootin'!
Enjoy that beautiful new van! _________________ ~Kamz
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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bjrogers86auto Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2009 Posts: 1375 Location: Halifax, N.S.
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:37 pm Post subject: lucy |
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Yeah....I'm not so sure I want to hang out with Ron...his van looks nicer than mine! Not fair!
The engine looks nice Ron! The undercoating looks like mine. It was never winter driven either so I was told.
We will have to do a drop in to Two If By Sea for a coffee and go hang out by the ferry terminal like the kids with tuned up Honda's! hehe. I wonder if Willamina will even spin her tires? Maybe if I get them started on the gravel....
Brian _________________ 86 Vanagon GL Westfalia 2.1
18 Nissan Frontier Pro 4X
19 Honda Civic Hatchback
A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day. Calvin and Hobbes. |
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snowsyncro Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2009 Posts: 1557 Location: East Preston, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 8:16 am Post subject: I don't give up easily |
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I am a pretty determined person when I have an end goal, so I have a little update...
Following the flat bed ride home, I tinkered with Lucy from time-to-time, enough to pretty clearly identify it was a fuel problem. Combined with a balky starter.
The starter was an easy fix. My standard method for fixing a questionable starter is this. Put a 13 mm box end wrench on the main electrical contact stud. Pull on the wrench until the stud breaks out of the plastic solenoid end cap, thus ensuring the started is no longer questionable -- it is broken and needs to be replaced. But I was ready; I had a fairly newly Bosch rebuild ready to go. Ready to go, that is until I discovered the starters for the manual and automatic are different. I think I mentioned already that Lucy is my first automatic Vanagon. Fortunately, I was able to swap just the solenoids, and after cleaning the electrical contacts, and combined with the new battery that Lucy had already, Lucy is a very strong starter.
Starts instantly in fact, and runs for about two seconds. I began troubleshooting the fuel problem by testing the flow rate. Lots of volume, and lots of water. And what looked like a very fine powder, like baby powder. And this is after the filter. The water was not surprising. I think Lucy has been mostly sitting, outdoors, I got her in late fall, and less than half full tank, so all the right conditions for condensation. But the dirt was a mystery -- very fine and uniform. Lucy has a new gas tank, so I assumed it was paint overspray or other residue that had eventually overcome the filter's ability to stop it, and that the filter was clogged. Didn't quite match up with the good flow, but the only thing I could think of.
So, I drained down everything to replace the filter, and clean the pump. Lots of water in the filter and pump, so I figured I might as well just drop the tank and flush it and start over. After I got the tank out, I had a look inside...
That dirt looks like rust, but it isn't. Too uniform and fine, and dries to a light beige/grey colour. You can see the excellent condition of the tank inside.
While I was in there I took out the gas heater. It is in pretty rough shape. It is up behind a protective cover, but this means no undercoating and no air flow to dry the moisture.
Put everything back together, got some new gas, and did a little test driving around town. After some initial stumbling while she burned out some remaining dirt and water in the lines, she was working great.
So...since it was sunny and cold, and the roads were dry and clean after some recent rains, I suggested we go on a little road trip to visit a friend a couple of hours away, in New Annan, in the Cobequid mountains (yes we call them mountains -- don't laugh). It will be fun, I said. Lots of snow, he has two brand new 2012 snowmobiles, four EVs (not T4 vans -- electric vehicles), and a one MW wind farm to supply them with power. She didn't say no, so off we went. The plan was to drive up in the afternoon, play around with an EV while on a mission to find some decent Scotch, then go sledding in the mountains the next day, before returning home. Who wouldn't enjoy that?
To stay close to rescue, and to have a good test run, we did the first leg on a 100-series highway. Lucy worked great, 110 kph all the way to Truro, then back roads from there. When we are getting close to New Annan, I detect a slowly increasing loss of power, and a bit of stumbling after braking or turning. Too much fun to be had, so I didn't worry about it that night.
Next day, I thought I better make a little test drive before we head out for the day, so I would know what to expect. Result was not good, no power, constant cutting out, max speed on the flat about 50 kph. I said screw it, let's just go and I can worry about this later. My friend suggested we take a look first, so I wouldn't be thinking about that all day. So I said, OK I have a new fuel pump, at least we can throw that in there and see if it makes any difference.
Fortunately my friend has a well-equipped shop...
So at least it was comfortable working conditions. To make a long story short, when I pulled the line from the pump...more water! How does that happen in two hours? So, after spending the day cleaning and testing, we finally got to the point where I thought I could make a run for home.
No snowmobile trip
Started out pretty good, made it from New Annan to Wentworth no problem, all back roads just putting along. Started to run into trouble approaching Truro. It was dark by now, and max speed was about 60 kph, so I opted to stick to the back roads all the way home. It was a struggle; here is a trip report I sent back to my friend...
Quote: |
Our Trip Home
Your place to Wentworth was great. Flat road, easy cruise at 60 - 70.
Slow up hill to Folly Lake, but I just maintained a steady throttle position, slowed to 50 - 55 maybe. Stayed on backroads, things deteriorated approaching Masstown. It was a struggle from then on, slowly getting worse, so I stayed on back roads all the way home.
It was interesting. I was trying lots of things of course. If I held a steady throttle position at the bottom 30% of range say, engine would run smoothly, but without much power. If I then pressed the throttle harder, engine would run for a second, with power, then cut out. If I held the throttle to the floor (which actuates a full throttle switch) the there would be full power bursts, with much longer cutouts, maybe 5 - 6 seconds, If I maintained that for a bit, the cutout time would reduce somewhat.
Then I noticed if I backed off on the throttle just before the engine cutout, I could almost immediately re-apply power and then the engine would not cut out. This allowed me develop a rythym…power on…power off, etc. By doing this I was able to maintain 60 - 70 on the flat, and 40 - 50 up hills. It was a bit stressful when there was traffic behind me, but not too bad overall.
Things were getting pretty bad close to home, Montague Mines road was 15 kph up the hills. We finally made it to Crane Hill Rd, but Lucy could not make it up the hill, and we lost forward motion on the steep part of our final hill. This is the funny part. I turned around and we crawled back up the other side of the little valley and got up on the first flat. I shut off the engine and said. "Come on Lucy, one more hill and we are home. You can do this!"
And she responded! Started right up, we got turned around and made a final run at the hill. Momentum carried us up the steep part, and she struggled up the remainder to home.
I think I can…I think I can…I thought I could! (The Little Engine That Could).
So fuel was part of the problem for sure, initially. But the drive home was very reliable and predictable behaviour. So, this is a fuel metering problem, likely mass air flow sensor. It has a potentiometer type wiper that can cause problems with age. The throttle body is another area that can be a problem. I think the engine is fine, just the FI system needs a going over. I suspect multiple problems.
At one point I was certain is was a bad O2 sensor, because I know the lambda feedback circuit has a cycle time of about a second, so I suspected that I was able to apply throttle during the off time, say, then it was trying to correct during the on time, likely cutting the injection to lean the mixture. So, I disconnected the O2 sensor, but it made no real difference. I still suspect something in the lambda circuit, could even be ECU. Any way, I have a very good running engine here, so I can use those parts for troubleshooting.
Thanks again for the fun visit, and for the troubleshooting help yesterday. Hope to see you again soon.
RonC |
Lucy - 2 Ron - 0
RonC |
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desertrefugee Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2013 Posts: 476 Location: Phoenix, AZ. USA
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Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 12:41 pm Post subject: |
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Yikes! Seeing that rust sure makes me appreciate my western Westy.
Glad Lucy dodged the bullets. _________________ - 83.5 Westfalia - 2.2 GoWesty "power"
- a bunch of vintage motorcycles
- Numerous telescopes of various size and function
"For I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." - Sarah Williams |
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