IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

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Jivermo
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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by Jivermo » Fri Jul 15, 2016 8:23 am

I am reminded of the cognitive trap of mirror-imaging, wherein a person will have the tunnel vision view that another will pretty much view the world just as they do. On the world stage at this moment, mirror imaging looms large, as the majority of people in the U.S. and the West believe that Islamic terrorists, or the Taliban, could somehow be negotiated with. The possibility of that successfully occurring is nil. The thought process is completely different. I only offer that example as a reminder that for most of us, cleaning a fuel filter every 40 miles, on a cross country work trip, is viewed as a totally unacceptable pain in the ass, not to be tolerated. We have mirror imaged this notion upon the likes of Colin Kellogg who, by now, we all know marches to the beat of a different, and distant, drummer.

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Amskeptic
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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Jul 15, 2016 8:40 am

wcfvw69 wrote:[even if ... a psychological intervention wouldn't be a bad thing. :compress:
Ha ha HAAA, that is just it.
We ARE having a psychological intervention as we read/write. The Forum Rorschach Test aka the Fuel Filter Saga.

I can see/feel the empathetic pangs as people overlay their experiences/feelings/impressions/experiences upon my own. It is the price of being human. You can feel the wetness wick up my back in the gusty rain as I pull that gasoline spewing hose off the filter and get spattered by the endless coffee grounds. And in your experience, this is vexatious/annoying/avoidable.

I appreciate your:
*concern
*potential solutions
*offers of assistance

. . . yet for me this is but another day on Earth. Some of you, too, have your conundrums (we have spoken of them over the years) your "clogged filters" and you have your "hesitations" and sometimes you have to bail quickly off the hurtling road of your life's circumstances, sometimes you have to attend to someone who is whining incessantly, too.

I am the lucky one here . . . this is all well-within my province.
Colin :flower:
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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wcfvw69
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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by wcfvw69 » Fri Jul 15, 2016 10:46 am

Amskeptic wrote:
wcfvw69 wrote:[even if ... a psychological intervention wouldn't be a bad thing. :compress:
Ha ha HAAA, that is just it.
We ARE having a psychological intervention as we read/write. The Forum Rorschach Test aka the Fuel Filter Saga.

I can see/feel the empathetic pangs as people overlay their experiences/feelings/impressions/experiences upon my own. It is the price of being human. You can feel the wetness wick up my back in the gusty rain as I pull that gasoline spewing hose off the filter and get spattered by the endless coffee grounds. And in your experience, this is vexatious/annoying/avoidable.

I appreciate your:
*concern
*potential solutions
*offers of assistance

. . . yet for me this is but another day on Earth. Some of you, too, have your conundrums (we have spoken of them over the years) your "clogged filters" and you have your "hesitations" and sometimes you have to bail quickly off the hurtling road of your life's circumstances, sometimes you have to attend to someone who is whining incessantly, too.

I am the lucky one here . . . this is all well-within my province.
Colin :flower:
Well, alrighty then! :compress:

Just understand that with your acceptance of said issues w/your fuel tank, you're officially no longer a role model or example setter for us and have lost all your rights to critique, reprimand or admonish other VW bus owners! Your flagrant taunting of your loyal readership, customers and friends about our concern over your (and more importantly) the buses well being is abhorrent and will have consequences Mister!

I never thought I'd see the day when I say this about a Colin owned VW. Sadly, this day has come and it must be said.. "I feel sorry for that bus"! There, I got it off my chest. Hopefully this buses next caretaker will respect it, love it and immediately address any issues that arise. Did I say immediately?

Deep sigh.. In the meantime, all of the loyal Itinerant readership will have to re-focus our attention to the other classic bus driver who has taken the mantle from Colin when it comes to impeccable, timely, over the top, anal VW bus maintenance. I speak of Colin Jr.. Mr. Robbie and his beloved 69 bus. :thumbleft:

P.S., LOL! I was laughing so hard as I typed this reply out! I just hope the gang in Seattle will kidnap you and rip that tank out for quick flush out and reinstallation!
1970 Westfalia bus. Stock 1776 dual port type 1 engine. Restored German Solex 34-3. Restored 205Q distributor, restored to factory appearance engine.

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airkooledchris
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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by airkooledchris » Fri Jul 15, 2016 4:55 pm

I just thought it would be a fun thing to experience, in addition to being helpful. Another process worth documenting for the book?

Anyway, glad to hear there's nothing that will stop the tour in it's tracks. I live for these summer updates.
1979 California Transporter

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dingo
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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by dingo » Fri Jul 15, 2016 6:33 pm

well now that the fuel-filter annoyance has been re-classified as joyous and harmonious interludes...you can no longer use it to spice up your travel pieces with dramatic tension...you will have to come up with something else that is genuinely gripping to the reader. ...i cant think of one decent adventure story classic that didnt have something go swfully wrong...Shackleton, Moby Dick,Donner Party etc...
'71 Kombi, 1600 dp

';78 Tranzporter 2L

" Fill what's empty, empty what's full, and scratch where it itches."

TrollFromDownBelow
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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by TrollFromDownBelow » Fri Jul 15, 2016 8:38 pm

Hey Colin - I get it.

I am probably one of the worst hacks on this forum.

Is my drive train leaking? yeah, well maybe...things are moist; but do i have drops on the pavement? nope (unless I'm running it hard on the expressway for more than a 100 miles, but that is a different story). I've got a spark plug seized in a helicoil.... I've put 20k miles on that plug,......only God knows how many miles were put on it before me. But it still keeps firing. Oh yeah. I keep checking dwell and timing, but, things are spot on even after 5k miles. Am i going to mess with it because the manual sez I need to? Nope.

I've got 6 usable exhaust studs....with the requisite exhaust leak.

Do I have any shwanky aftermarket gauges? Nope. Just feel the engine and the dipstick when I've been running it hard (and I don't even spit on the case! :flower: ). Can I touch it and everything feels no warmer than a hot milk biscuit on a Sunday morning? Then all is good. The bus is on the top of my priority list as far as projects. But gosh darn it, it runs like a well oiled sewing machine with a mild exhaust leak.

So the real question is....how far can you push it?
1976 VW Bus aka tripod
FI ...not leaky, and not so noisy...and she runs awesome!
hambone wrote: There are those out there with no other aim but to bunch panties. It's like arguing with a pretzel.
::troll2::

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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by EskimoTom » Sat Jul 16, 2016 5:46 am

Ah, it is so helpful and refreshing to read about all the trials and tribulations of keeping the bus running on the road. Sometimes when I face a seemingly monumental task on my bus, I simply have to reframe the challenge ahead of me and think, "it could be worse," and move forward, one step at a time.

Now I look forward to the work to be done with the question always in my head, "What would Colin do?" If Colin can persevere while on the road, I should be able to cobble a solution together in the comfort and safety of my garage. These road stories are an inspiration as I head out to the garage today to finish reinstalling my motor I extracted last night because when Colin was here, I failed to notice that I did not tighten the DP intake manifolds to the heads making the bus un-tuneable.

Being new, it took me a few sittings to diagnose the situation and track down the root cause. Perseverance. Confidence. Relax, figure it out and fix. Big life lessons not only for my relationship with my bus but also useful for my lifes more monumental challenges.
1971 Camper. Sportmobile. "Rusty"

tewa3240
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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by tewa3240 » Sat Jul 16, 2016 11:05 pm

This varnish debacle interests me......have you considered Berryman B12 or that fine German fuel injector cleaner, the one recommended
every 1234.71 or however many miles?
The varnish would break up faster, and you would be that much quicker, Point-to-Point.
Then again, it may release so much varnish your filter is caked solid. But at least it (tank scrub) would be done inside 500 miles.
Are you already lacing your unleaded with a special brew?

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Amskeptic
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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Jul 17, 2016 9:42 am

tewa3240 wrote:This varnish debacle interests me......have you considered Berryman B12 or that fine German fuel injector cleaner, the one recommended
every 1234.71 or however many miles?
The varnish would break up faster, and you would be that much quicker, Point-to-Point.
Then again, it may release so much varnish your filter is caked solid. But at least it (tank scrub) would be done inside 500 (15,000 - ed) miles.
Are you already lacing your unleaded with a special brew?
Good thinking here! Yes, there is a "rate of cleaning attack" that I must stay within. I am using Sea Foam because it seems to emulsify better than the others that create coffee grounds.

I will do another update this evening, but suffice here to say I had a developing problem overlaying the fuel delivery situation that was only adding to this feeling that I was driving this bus too hard for its fuel delivery issues:
"hey grandpa, come on, keep up . . . "
"hfffffff heee whffffff, hhhhhhh, whhhffff"
"It's only a marathon, come on!"

I showed up at a very understanding Ronin10's house running on three cylinders. Had already cleaned filter, cleared tank, swapped spark plug wire and connector from my stash, in a Lowes parking lot at 7:00AM but the #3 cylinder was still dead. Could not tolerate this situation, removed #3 plug on Genesee Street not four blocks from his house, and the damn thing was white at insulator, warm to the touch, all indications that it was firing, re-installed it gingerly through the unhappy-looking Dakota Digital thermocouple ring, still deaddeaddeaddamn, and stuttered into Ronin10's driveway.

While helping Ronin10 get his new acquisition running for the first time, I was skipping back to NaranjaWesty and pulling the left fuel rail off the engine and disassembling the injectors from the fuel ring. Ronin10 most fortunately had a Ronin10SuperFuelInjector Test Stand (the 682A model with the mayonnaise jar viewing glass). My injectors were spraying flawlessly (can you believe it, after this quarry's worth of debris this system has circulated?). Got Ronin10's bus running after an eleven year sit (Naranja providing moral support I am sure) whilst reassembling NaranjaWesty's engine.

Started NaranjaWesty, and it was still running on three cylinders. Darkly removed the valve cover expecting to find a tight exhaust valve or something equally horrific for wcfvw69's great triumph, but all was fine. Then Ronin10 showed me his stash of OG spark plug wire connectors and I stole one right out of his hand, "thanks, just borrowing", and installed it in the place of the new wire/connector I had put on just hours earlier. There you go. All four cylinders. Another hapless idiot in this hobby takes the long long road because he won't believe that the new part is no good in exactly the same way that the old part was. My defective wire/connector in my stash was a Bus Depot supplied wire set for a 1600 engine.

Upshot is, the engine is running better and the fuel cleaner/varnish soup is NOT responsible for the misfires and hesitations that had begun to crop up.
Current level of cleaning is 1 ounce of Sea Foam per gallon of gas.
Colin Snoqualmie Pass Pass Two, coming up!
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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wcfvw69
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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by wcfvw69 » Sun Jul 17, 2016 10:21 am

Amskeptic wrote:

Darkly removed the valve cover expecting to find a tight exhaust valve or something equally horrific for wcfvw69's great triumph, but all was fine.
Oh boy.. I hope I haven't angered you, giving you a good natured, hard time Colin. I'll shut my trap. :) I know you possess a great sense of humor and I "think" you know I do as well.

I'm glad to hear you've gotten her sorted out and she's purring again. No one enjoys your posts from the road more than me. I so enjoy reading your tales as you cross the country each summer in your beautiful buses.

Bill :)
1970 Westfalia bus. Stock 1776 dual port type 1 engine. Restored German Solex 34-3. Restored 205Q distributor, restored to factory appearance engine.

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Bleyseng
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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by Bleyseng » Sun Jul 17, 2016 5:20 pm

I stopped by to visit and pull the tank while Colin was busy trying to get the 78 bus that hadnt run in 11 years going. Not a chance Colin was dashing back and forth as his westy had a dead cylinder and we had to get it sorted out quickly too. A simple fix in the long run and the 77 actually ran ok. The new Westy of Andrews was really nice and just needs lots of love to be fantastic.

Glad I finally got show Colin my Ghia
Geoff
77 Sage Green Westy- CS 2.0L-160,000 miles
70 Ghia vert, black, stock 1600SP,- 139,000 miles,
76 914 2.1L-Nepal Orange- 160,000+ miles
http://bleysengaway.blogspot.com/

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Ronin10
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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by Ronin10 » Sun Jul 17, 2016 9:20 pm

Amskeptic wrote:Ronin10 most fortunately had a Ronin10SuperFuelInjector Test Stand (the 682A model with the mayonnaise jar viewing glass).
The 682B model will incorporate a snap on connector for the 9V battery, pilfered from a smoke detector, as suggested.
Colin Snoqualmie Pass Pass Two, coming up!
Did the exit 38 stop work out for you? By the Fire Training Center?

And I just realized you filched my extra special spark plug boot/isolator (VW part number 311905444A) with my spark plug wire! :angryfire:
I could care less about the wire, you dirty rat.

Andrew
Oscar: 1976 Sage Green Bus, Stock Motor, Solid Lifters, Manual Transaxle

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Amskeptic
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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Jul 17, 2016 10:05 pm

Ronin10 wrote:
Amskeptic wrote:Ronin10 most fortunately had a Ronin10SuperFuelInjector Test Stand (the 682A model with the mayonnaise jar viewing glass).
The 682B model will incorporate a snap on connector for the 9V battery, pilfered from a smoke detector, as suggested.
Colin Snoqualmie Pass Pass Two, coming up!
Did the exit 38 stop work out for you? By the Fire Training Center?

And I just realized you filched my extra special spark plug boot/isolator (VW part number 311905444A) with my spark plug wire! :angryfire:
I could care less about the wire, you dirty rat.

Andrew
Your extra special boot/insulator is having a great time! As a matter of fact, it told me that NaranjaWesty is a lot more fun than sitting in some box (as discussed while I was casing both of your cars for any other parts I might fancy, it shall be returned seeing as I have two full sets installed in both of my Type 4 engines).
Chlorox Clean Rat
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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mechanicjay
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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by mechanicjay » Mon Jul 18, 2016 7:31 am

Amskeptic wrote: ...Another hapless idiot in this hobby takes the long long road because he won't believe that the new part is no good in exactly the same way that the old part was.
It's worse, when you replace a working part with a defective one as part of a preventive maintenance routine.

It was great to meet you the other night. I appreciated having some of my assumptions challenged and corrected.

While I didn't hear you limp into town, as you pulled away I remarked to Andrew how AMAZING your engine sounded....something for me to work towards, though with a 412/914 1700 of unknown provenance, it may be a fools errand....I'm okay with this.

--Jason

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Amskeptic
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Re: IAC's Itinerant Freezing His Donkey Off

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Jul 18, 2016 7:59 am

mechanicjay wrote:
Amskeptic wrote: ...Another hapless idiot in this hobby takes the long long road because he won't believe that the new part is no good in exactly the same way that the old part was.
It's worse, when you replace a working part with a defective one as part of a preventive maintenance routine.

It was great to meet you the other night. I appreciated having some of my assumptions challenged and corrected.

While I didn't hear you limp into town, as you pulled away I remarked to Andrew how AMAZING your engine sounded....something for me to work towards, though with a 412/914 1700 of unknown provenance, it may be a fools errand....I'm okay with this.

--Jason
Wish I could have some bragging rights, but it is a factory engine, adjusted according to specifications. I did score a stock muffler for it.

It sounded good on the Snoqualmie Pass at 3,800 rpm against the barrier. I guess that connector had been going bad since about March 16th.

I like the sound of a well-balanced 1700, it is well within reach . . . :cyclopsani:
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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