IAC Indiana review and follow-up
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2016 9:34 am
Colin was here last Tuesday for his second visit, a year after the first. My bus is a 77 Westy with FI.
Primary order of business was a tune-up, then clutch adjust. There was also a matter of oil pressure light that flickers when idling after long drives (i.e. oil is hot and thin). Oil pressure gauge revealed that it was within spec, although on the low side. This is a legacy of a rebuild by local, highly-recommended builders that did a terrible job. I wrote about it here last year, but long story short - the lesson, as always, is do it yourself. It will take longer and be difficult at times, but not as difficult as dealing with problems that you have to first diagnose and then fix.
After clutch adjust (I had way too much free play), took it for a drive. Colin immediately noticed some clutch chatter. After talking about the causes (oil contamination, damaged clutch) we figured out that since the bell housing was bone dry on the outside, the clutch must not be properly straight/plumb. After Colin quizzed me about the last time I installed the engine, during which he asked me if the engine/trans mating surfaces ever looked like /\, instead of ll (answer was yes), he determined I likely caused the damage to the then-new clutch assembly. So a new one will go in at some point in the next little while. until then, driving very gently minimizes the problem.
That brings us to this weekend, a camping trip to southern Indiana. Bus ran fine. Oil light was flickering at times, which I found irritating and slightly stressful but I took comfort in knowing that the pressure was above minimums. At a stop light close to home, I let the clutch out a little too quickly, got some chatter and a stall. Tried to restart a few times, no luck. I got out, did a quick check in the engine compartment, everything seemed to be connected correctly. Since I had three others with me, including two hungry kids that had to pee, I arranged for a tow truck.
My ignorant and slightly not-thinking-straight brain was assuming the worst, that something to do with the low oil pressure and hot conditions had caused the engine to overheat and stall, never to be started again until disassembly and reassembly with proper oil pressure! PM to Colin assured me I was being stupid, and that the problem was likely to be much simpler and a result of something subtle disconnecting with a chatter/lurching start.
Fast forward to home - I had more time to look things over. Got the bus started but it was very reluctant and ran unevenly. It seemed like a fuel issue. But no chance of taking it on the road like this. I checked every connection, every wire, every hose, every plug. Disconnected everything connectable and re-connected. No improvement. Turned key to on position. Heard fuel pump running until after engine start. This should not be happening. Went to AFM, opened it up. Lo and behold, the wiper arm was all the to the right, past the small copper contact it should rest upon before engine start. The silver screw retaining it, the one that is usually topped with a gob of something or other, was not sufficiently tight. And it had sprung completely loose during my final lurching start. Re-adjust and it fired right up. Running fine again.
Hopefully this long read has some use and some lessons here. It did for me: 1) think before you panic, 2) the solutions to most problems are simple ones, and 3) Colin is very often (can't say always!) right.
Primary order of business was a tune-up, then clutch adjust. There was also a matter of oil pressure light that flickers when idling after long drives (i.e. oil is hot and thin). Oil pressure gauge revealed that it was within spec, although on the low side. This is a legacy of a rebuild by local, highly-recommended builders that did a terrible job. I wrote about it here last year, but long story short - the lesson, as always, is do it yourself. It will take longer and be difficult at times, but not as difficult as dealing with problems that you have to first diagnose and then fix.
After clutch adjust (I had way too much free play), took it for a drive. Colin immediately noticed some clutch chatter. After talking about the causes (oil contamination, damaged clutch) we figured out that since the bell housing was bone dry on the outside, the clutch must not be properly straight/plumb. After Colin quizzed me about the last time I installed the engine, during which he asked me if the engine/trans mating surfaces ever looked like /\, instead of ll (answer was yes), he determined I likely caused the damage to the then-new clutch assembly. So a new one will go in at some point in the next little while. until then, driving very gently minimizes the problem.
That brings us to this weekend, a camping trip to southern Indiana. Bus ran fine. Oil light was flickering at times, which I found irritating and slightly stressful but I took comfort in knowing that the pressure was above minimums. At a stop light close to home, I let the clutch out a little too quickly, got some chatter and a stall. Tried to restart a few times, no luck. I got out, did a quick check in the engine compartment, everything seemed to be connected correctly. Since I had three others with me, including two hungry kids that had to pee, I arranged for a tow truck.
My ignorant and slightly not-thinking-straight brain was assuming the worst, that something to do with the low oil pressure and hot conditions had caused the engine to overheat and stall, never to be started again until disassembly and reassembly with proper oil pressure! PM to Colin assured me I was being stupid, and that the problem was likely to be much simpler and a result of something subtle disconnecting with a chatter/lurching start.
Fast forward to home - I had more time to look things over. Got the bus started but it was very reluctant and ran unevenly. It seemed like a fuel issue. But no chance of taking it on the road like this. I checked every connection, every wire, every hose, every plug. Disconnected everything connectable and re-connected. No improvement. Turned key to on position. Heard fuel pump running until after engine start. This should not be happening. Went to AFM, opened it up. Lo and behold, the wiper arm was all the to the right, past the small copper contact it should rest upon before engine start. The silver screw retaining it, the one that is usually topped with a gob of something or other, was not sufficiently tight. And it had sprung completely loose during my final lurching start. Re-adjust and it fired right up. Running fine again.
Hopefully this long read has some use and some lessons here. It did for me: 1) think before you panic, 2) the solutions to most problems are simple ones, and 3) Colin is very often (can't say always!) right.