Commencement

It's been an odd couple of weeks and I apologize for not posting something.  I reference two major starts as "commencement".  The first, the beginning of a driving history after an accident and the second a post-high school life.

Alex Reiger, He's NOT
On the Tuesday after Memorial Day, T was asked to play taxicab for his brother.  C had a lacrosse game in Canby at 6, but his lacrosse equipment was in Beaverton and they both had been over-nighting at their mom's house in Lake Oswego.  This meant T had a couple of hours of driving to do in rush hour traffic, ending in the confusing street-design around Canby High School.  Not a good set-up.  They almost made it without incident, but while trying to navigate the weird streets off and around the high school and 99E, he got into a fender-bender with a local.

27 8x10 Color Glossy Pictures with Circles and Arrows and a Paragraph on the Back of Each One
The "local" was a brash and unpleasant 20-something woman driving a relatively new, but woefully uninsured Kia.  While T was found mostly at fault because he was turning left as she was trying to go straight at an intersection, the way the scene went down has me wondering if we got the full story.  Flash had his front corner on the driver's side folded in, damaging the front fender, bumper and hood.  The left-turn signal doesn't work correctly.  Her car got a dented driver's door.  T had already crossed the first of the 2 oncoming lanes and was driving quite slowly.  She accelerated into the intersection.  Did she think she was going to be able to dodge around him?  When T and C drew the scene, and played it out with matchbox cars, things didn't add up quite right.  Lesson learned here: immediately after impact, start snapping pictures with a cell phone of the damage, the intersection and parts of the cars which were not involved.

Show Me Yours, I'll Show You Mine
After the impact, both cars drove to the side to exchange information, but she had no insurance to share.  Just a phone number.  Multiple witnesses saw that and heard everyone say they were unhurt.  Yet, a couple of days later, the other driver was claiming her car was undrivable and she intended to make medical claims against our insurance.  I guess she saw an opportunity to get 6 months of free massages and a full body paint job on her car.  Multiple phone calls, phone tree navigations and conference calls later, T was assigned more than half of the blame, but not sole responsibility.  The other driver tried to get insurance after the accident and then filed a claim with them too.  Hilarious.  That was shot down, and now the insurance folks have put the sheriff onto her case for driving without insurance.  So much for those free massages; instead she gets SR22 insurance (read: more expensive) and possible license suspension.  Neat.  Then, there's the attempted fraud.  If she had realized she was driving illegally, maybe both sides could have just walked away without reporting to insurance.  Now, everyone loses.

We have had good happenings too.

K-ommencement
Yes, that's plain awful.  Sue me.  K attended a challenging high school and prioritized an after-school driving job over studying during his sophomore year, digging for himself a deep grade hole he almost couldn't climb out of.  But he did.  His junior year, he prioritized the Science Fair over all of his other work, and again, he found himself in a hole, but not one as bad as the year before, and again dug his way out.  This senior year, he again got an after-school job and through determination and focus he graduated.  Like Hollywood movies, the big ending is all the more satisfying knowing the main character had obstacles along the way, met those challenges and ended victorious.  That was the story line of K's high school career.  Greeted with loud cheers from his brother K2, mother & father, his paternal grandparents, his step-father and step-brothers, K produced a huge smile as his name was read.  He crossed the stage as if on air, and in his usual floppy way found his way back to his seat.  As the graduates left the auditorium, K skipped.

And now what's next?  He's 18 and high school graduated.  Boo and I returned home from the post-commencement brunch puzzled by that thought.  He's the first of the 4 we will see leave the nest, and he's setting a great example of how to transition into independence.

Car stuff:  I did the rotors and pads on Flash a few weeks ago, didn't apply grease nor anti-squeal goop and regretted it.  I did them again, and now they're dead quiet and stop well.  Goes to show that anti-squeal goop isn't snake-oil; it actually works.  I haven't been able to play around with the bus other than fiddling with his shifter again.  I was able to drive him to work every day last week, and that was a true pleasure.

I guess that's it for today.  Thanks for following along, and Hapy Last Day of School-

Holding water... holding my breath

Hey folks.  I may have solved the coolant leak problem, so I'll focus on that.  We've had some family events over the Summer (as have you, I hope), and I'll touch on some of that too.  Rockin' on...

Planning the Cut

cooling diagram for reference

In my last post, I concluded that the hard line that runs across the top of the bell housing was the cause of all of my leaking problems.  I was convinced that it much be the cause.  So, I removed some parts of the intake and the vacuum ball to gain access to the pipe.  As I did, I found that there appeared to be a leak at the coolant flange.  "Ay carumba," I cried, believing that yet again it was the coolant temperature sensor leaking.  With careful inspection using my dry fingers, I was able to prove that it wasn't the sensor, but it was the flange itself.  Curious.  I removed the flange, covered the o-ring with high-temp sealant (red Lock-tite product) and re-connected everything.  It failed to hold, but the water leak pattern was the same, leading me to believe that I'd found the actual problem.  Next stop: new o-ring.

By the time I'd realized it was the flange-to-head connection, it was the middle of last week.  On Friday morning, I hopped on the phone wit the fine folks at the FLAPS (Friendly Local Auto Parts Store): Discount Import Parts (DIP).  Gotta love those acronyms.  The guy on the phone mis-heard me, and pulled an entire outlet flange.  So, wen I arrived to get my o-ring, there was a little confusion.  He pointed out that the flange will warp sometimes, and they had a 100% return policy for un-installed parts.  Figuring it was a worthwhile $10 risk abatement to just take the flange, I took it.  And a couple o-rings.  And another temperature sensor o-ring.  And some high-temp gasket sealant.  And a couple bottle of coolant.  Simply put, it was a project in a bag.

Add a Flange, drop the Reverb

Old flange. rocked left to right. 

With the old flange in hand, I was able to compare what a new one was like.  Posted on the right are hard-to-discern pictures of the old and new flanges.  When the new flange is pressed against something flat (in this case a piece of finished furniture), it is perfectly flat.  The old flange rocks from corner to corner: the corners which don't have bolt-holes.  This told me that once tightened down all the way, coolant could escape through a neighboring corner.... just like it did.

Now, for the easy part.  I made the same modification to the new flange as I did to the old one: cut off the outlet which lead to the oil-cooler and sent a short bolt through the hole, sealing it off.  This is necessary because of the proximity of the flange to the frame in the bus.  I took the high-temp gasket stuff and put a thin bead on top of the o-ring, and let it sit (per instructions) for 15 minutes.  A few minutes of re-assembly later (new coolant temp o-ring, fully seat the temp sensor, new C-clip) and the flange was ready.  It bolts on easily, once the holes line up :)  The hoses slid back on, the clamps seated well, and all things appeared right.  Finally, you have to be patient for 24 hours while the gasket stuff completely dries.  It doesn't specify it on the tube, so in an emergency situation, it may not be necessary.  Still, I didn't want to go this far and have that be a problem.

New flange. no movement.

Anyway, this morning, I poured a bottle of water into the overflow bottle and listened.  Glug glug glug went the air bubbles through the top of the overflow bottle.  They got quieter to a tick-tick-tick sound, to silence.  Straining to hear the "sss" sound of a leak, or the "bloop" of a water droplet landing in the catch-pan, I still heard nothing.  The water appeared to ave leveled off just under the fill line.  I squeezed the rubber hose leading from the flange down to the oil cooler and radiator... no leak, just a little more air released.  Hmm... I seem to have fixed it!

Graduation Congratulation
After attaching the flange yesterday, I spent the afternoon with my family (including Boo, T & C) celebrating my sister-in-law's graduation from a Master's program.  For 5-1/2 years she worked through first completing her bachelor's degree and then a master's so she could have her dream job: teaching nursing.  She started working that dream job a few months ago, so now, with paper in hand, she's reached her goal.  Emotional speeches and a slab of chocolate cake later, we all recognize just how much effort it took.  Congratulations, J.  Your impact on the health and well-being of thousands of patients will be monumental through your demonstration of providing care from a place of respect and love.

That's it for now.  I have about an hour of buttoning-up left on the bus and then we'll be ready to test drive.  If he holds, then we can start looking at what's next.  Maybe, we'll just enjoy him as-is for a while and try to wedge some camping in before school starts up again.  Regardless, thanks for following along...

Graduation Graduation Party Party

Sorry I haven't posted in the last week. Lots of activity going on, but no bus updates. My wife did graduate, and the boys and I were joined by her mom (Marianne) for the ceremony. We had a big ol' BBQ to celebrate with friends and then this was the last week of school for the kids. I hope to get out of work a little early tomorrow and hammer on the bus this weekend. The weather has not meaningfully improved, so we're still stuck in the mid-Spring like weather (highs in the low 60's, clouds with rain, etc).

D Graduates
The event lasted about 2 hours, and most of that was calling the 770 or so names of the graduates. It was great seeing her cross the stage and get her certificate. Unfortunately, we were so far away all of our pictures turned out blurry. An unexpected highlight was the school stage band cranking out tunes before the ceremony started. They rocked out some Led Zeppelin songs and a few modern bands' stuff.

Party
We've had lots of celebrations this past week. First, I was taken out for a welcome to your new job lunch. I love those. It seems like most places have a big party when you leave and basically say "welcome to hell" when you start. No party, just a bunch of hassle getting a computer or whatever. With the new job, though, came a welcome lunch at an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. Yummy. That was Friday, before my wife's graduation. That evening, we celebrated the graduation with a family ice cream.

Party Party
Sunday, we hosted over 65 people (including kids) to again celebrate D's graduation. I worked the grille flipping burgers and beer-soaked brats' for our friends. The weather was accommodating, staying above 60* with limited cloud-cover, and the beers were flowing. My wife and a few of the guests broke out guitars (and a flute) and sang us songs from the living room out through the bay windows. It being a school night, the party broke up to put kids to bed.

Party Party Party
Wednesday afternoon, T graduated from elementary school. The parent volunteers put together a great celebration day for the kids. They decorated the gym, created a DVD of their 7 years together at the school (tracing videos and still photos back to kindergarten), and planned a party at JJExtreme. I volunteered to chaperon, and rode the bus. Like so many adventures in my VW, the school bus broke down on the way there and we sat roadside for 30 minutes waiting for a replacement. The school bus has these auto-engage tire chains that went on and the driver couldn't get them to remove themselves. Great technology, eh? Once we got there, the kids had a ball. After about 2 hours of playing, everyone enjoyed pizza. We got everyone home safe afterwards, though the bus ride home wasn't as well behaved (albeit less, uh... interrupted) as the ride out. I guess some kids had a harder time calming down from the fun than others.

Meanwhile, I've been in near-constant meetings from day-start to day-end. I received a comment on that last post about all the meetings not being an anomaly. Becky, you're probably right. It is corporate America after all, but I really do think things will settle down. Like I said at the beginning, I hope to be cutting out of work early-ish tomorrow if all goes well, and I'll attack the remaining wiring bits. I did get the butt-splice parts in the mail, so I should be ready to roll on the primary electrical. I'm fairly sure the radiator fan circuit will fall into place as well. Just keep on keeping on, eh?