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Re: And Now For The Rest Of The Story . . .

Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 5:16 am
by wcfvw69
wcfvw69 wrote:
Tue Dec 05, 2017 7:20 pm

What caused your bus' engine to quit? Did I miss it?
Hello?!?!

Re: And Now For The Rest Of The Story . . .

Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 4:56 pm
by tommu
a stripper version.
That got my attention.

Re: And Now For The Rest Of The Story . . .

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:02 pm
by Jivermo
Following Colin’s Under the Weather Itinerant Visit, Marc and I made arrangements to meet up today, to deal with his fan and alternator bracket problem. As Colin noted, Marc’s fan blade appeared to be wildly out of balance, with the alternator bearing much abuse as a result, shaking around like a bad rhumba dancer after too many mojitos. He pointed out that the fan blade was missing one of the aluminum fins. We had seen that the adjusting bracket was cracked and missing a 1/4” section of the adjustment slide area , while Colin was here. The alternator face tin had completely eroded away in the area of the bolt, due to vibrations. Marc had located a good fan blade, tin and adjustment bracket at Avery’s in Kelso, Wa., and had got them last week. Colin had advised me to check out the lower alternator bracket where the two bolts hold it to the fan housing. When we pulled the face tin off the alternator, a sharp piece of that bracket came off with the bolt. Then, when we loosened the two bolts that secure the bracket to the shroud, another piece of the bracket fell to the ground below. The simple “C” shaped bracket had broken into three pieces! The excessive vibration had caused damage all along the way. The old “for want of a nail” deal, this time in a nice bus. The alternator appeared to be OK, but I doubt it would have taken much more. Like an uncle in Kim Jong Un’s family, this was not a favorable situation to be in. We took the three bracket pieces to the local welder, and we should have a solid bracket back tomorrow. The replacement fan blade is in place, torqued in at 14 ft. #’s, and no, that is not a Tweet. Colin had correctly figured that we would encounter misery when we arrived at the lower bracket. It was amazing to me that the vibration of the out of blance fan had created such havoc. Marc had not had too many miles in this locally rebuilt engine, and all this had apparently occured since then. My lesson (and I will decline, here, to use the odious term “takeaway”, which sounds like Chinese food) is that we all are the final caretakers of our singular vehicles. The mechanic who rebuilt Marc’s engine should have caught that fan blade, missing its fin. He should have replaced those two sections of non pressure hose, which could have burned up Marc and Ileana’s beautiful Westfalia. He should have fixed the broken thermostat cable, instead of wrapping it around its little pulley, completely negating that marvelous mechanism of engine ventilation. We don’t know what else was overlooked. You know, the frequency of this sort of thing just pisses me off. The link will show you the results of vibration. Thank you, Colin, for pointing me in the right direction to look.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1MpFOGj2I81Qt1Cz1

Re: And Now For The Rest Of The Story . . .

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:56 pm
by Amskeptic
wcfvw69 wrote:
Fri Dec 08, 2017 5:16 am
wcfvw69 wrote:
Tue Dec 05, 2017 7:20 pm

What caused your bus' engine to quit? Did I miss it?
Hello?!?!
Hey! Never did find a cause. I am only guessing mildly that the 1/4 tank of fuel after 12 hours of operation maybe overheated the pump windings. I have kept the fuel level above 1/2 tank since. I recommend all fuel injection owners keep the fuel level up to:
a) reduce condensation
b) provide a more substantial "cold sink" for less fuel vaporization during heat soak and cooler pump windings
c) provide greater head pressure for the pump
Colin

Re: And Now For The Rest Of The Story . . .

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 7:43 pm
by wcfvw69
Amskeptic wrote:
Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:56 pm
wcfvw69 wrote:
Fri Dec 08, 2017 5:16 am
wcfvw69 wrote:
Tue Dec 05, 2017 7:20 pm

What caused your bus' engine to quit? Did I miss it?
Hello?!?!
Hey! Never did find a cause. I am only guessing mildly that the 1/4 tank of fuel after 12 hours of operation maybe overheated the pump windings. I have kept the fuel level above 1/2 tank since. I recommend all fuel injection owners keep the fuel level up to:
a) reduce condensation
b) provide a more substantial "cold sink" for less fuel vaporization during heat soak and cooler pump windings
c) provide greater head pressure for the pump
Colin
Odd.. very odd. Thanks for the reply.

Re: And Now For The Rest Of The Story . . .

Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 8:21 pm
by Amskeptic
wcfvw69 wrote:
Mon Dec 11, 2017 7:43 pm

Odd.. very odd. Thanks for the reply.

What? Where have you been? It's all odd. These cars are odd. Their symptoms are odd. I had to get to know an engine with completely blocked intake gaskets. That was odd. This was what we affectionately refer to as "anomalous". I have a full mental library of anomalies. The Road Warrior used to deliver a full gas station smoke screen if anyone complimented it. The Squareback not only failed for the first time in a car wash bay with a dinner date on the line, it was a totally weird burn-through of a spark plug connector. Next day in Syracuse, the adjacent connector pulled the very same stunt. What caused it? Who knows?
Coliverioddity

Re: And Now For The Rest Of The Story . . .

Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2017 8:17 pm
by wcfvw69
Amskeptic wrote:
Mon Dec 11, 2017 8:21 pm
wcfvw69 wrote:
Mon Dec 11, 2017 7:43 pm

Odd.. very odd. Thanks for the reply.

What? Where have you been? It's all odd. These cars are odd. Their symptoms are odd. I had to get to know an engine with completely blocked intake gaskets. That was odd. This was what we affectionately refer to as "anomalous". I have a full mental library of anomalies. The Road Warrior used to deliver a full gas station smoke screen if anyone complimented it. The Squareback not only failed for the first time in a car wash bay with a dinner date on the line, it was a totally weird burn-through of a spark plug connector. Next day in Syracuse, the adjacent connector pulled the very same stunt. What caused it? Who knows?
Coliverioddity
Colin, you seem to attract anomalies more than other VW owners. :blackeye: And leaving on a cross country trip with a known dirty fuel tank doesn't count... Too soon? :) Then again, not many spin their VW odometers more than you do on an annual basis.

Re: And Now For The Rest Of The Story . . .

Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2017 7:23 am
by Bleyseng
Jivermo wrote:
Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:02 pm
Following Colin’s Under the Weather Itinerant Visit, Marc and I made arrangements to meet up today, to deal with his fan and alternator bracket problem. As Colin noted, Marc’s fan blade appeared to be wildly out of balance, with the alternator bearing much abuse as a result, shaking around like a bad rhumba dancer after too many mojitos. He pointed out that the fan blade was missing one of the aluminum fins. We had seen that the adjusting bracket was cracked and missing a 1/4” section of the adjustment slide area , while Colin was here. The alternator face tin had completely eroded away in the area of the bolt, due to vibrations. Marc had located a good fan blade, tin and adjustment bracket at Avery’s in Kelso, Wa., and had got them last week. Colin had advised me to check out the lower alternator bracket where the two bolts hold it to the fan housing. When we pulled the face tin off the alternator, a sharp piece of that bracket came off with the bolt. Then, when we loosened the two bolts that secure the bracket to the shroud, another piece of the bracket fell to the ground below. The simple “C” shaped bracket had broken into three pieces! The excessive vibration had caused damage all along the way. The old “for want of a nail” deal, this time in a nice bus. The alternator appeared to be OK, but I doubt it would have taken much more. Like an uncle in Kim Jong Un’s family, this was not a favorable situation to be in. We took the three bracket pieces to the local welder, and we should have a solid bracket back tomorrow. The replacement fan blade is in place, torqued in at 14 ft. #’s, and no, that is not a Tweet. Colin had correctly figured that we would encounter misery when we arrived at the lower bracket. It was amazing to me that the vibration of the out of blance fan had created such havoc. Marc had not had too many miles in this locally rebuilt engine, and all this had apparently occured since then. My lesson (and I will decline, here, to use the odious term “takeaway”, which sounds like Chinese food) is that we all are the final caretakers of our singular vehicles. The mechanic who rebuilt Marc’s engine should have caught that fan blade, missing its fin. He should have replaced those two sections of non pressure hose, which could have burned up Marc and Ileana’s beautiful Westfalia. He should have fixed the broken thermostat cable, instead of wrapping it around its little pulley, completely negating that marvelous mechanism of engine ventilation. We don’t know what else was overlooked. You know, the frequency of this sort of thing just pisses me off. The link will show you the results of vibration. Thank you, Colin, for pointing me in the right direction to look.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1MpFOGj2I81Qt1Cz1
Yes, it doesn't take much sloppy mechanic skills to ruin a engine even little things like a missing fan blade.

Re: And Now For The Rest Of The Story . . .

Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 6:23 pm
by Amskeptic
wcfvw69 wrote:
Wed Dec 13, 2017 8:17 pm

Colin, you seem to attract anomalies more than other VW owners. :blackeye:

Well Bill . . . doctors do attract the sick.

I meet a lot of sick VW puppies worked on by uncertified vets.
Colin