Handling the Handling (Shock Adjustment)

In my post about the drive to and from 4Peaks in August (See 4Peaks 2021 - Road Report), I mentioned the impact of the wind on the handling of the bus. Today's post covers my initial attempt to address it. I say "initial" because I have not 100% confirmed this is the end-all solution to the issue.

Identify Causes

It makes sense to start with what the possible causes could be for the wind to have such a dramatic, and newly so dramatic, impact. I have thought about this quite a bit, mostly while driving Hapy, and I have come to the conclusion that the root cause is one of 2 things.

My first thought is around a change I made to the bus. Back in Spring, I added a tow hitch. No big deal there, with regards to wind, but I think it looks really good (See Bus Tow Hitch). Starting with the trip to Leisureland I added one of those carrier platform things from Harbor Freight that go into the square trailer hitch thing. I also got the zippered bag that fits it and refer to the pair as "the Boot". I don't put much in the Boot, but it creates lots of room inside the bus... and it creates this little .6m (2 foot) high by .5m deep waggy-tail sticking out the back. I thought, with the loaf-of-bread broadside, that this addition would not have an impact. I could be wrong. If that is the cause, I would still like to keep using it so I need to improve the handling to compensate.

My next thought is around the adjustable Koni oil-filled shocks I installed years ago. I was part of the first group purchase that triggered Koni to start manufacturing them again. I didn't write that for kudos, rather to illustrate how long I have had them. That purchase was, like, 15 years ago. I didn't do anything with them other than pull them out of the box and install them. Now, so many years later, I realize that out-of-the-box they are set at their softest setting (face-palm). That setting might be great for an unloaded bus tooling around town, and when the shocks were new, maybe they even had a little stiffness in them as they broke in. Well, it's been many years and while I haven't driven Hapy around much (less than 20k miles total since I bought Hapy almost 20 years ago), the last few years would have definitely gotten them past the break-in period if he wasn't past it already. With all the camping gear, plus the Boot, I am asking much more of those shocks than when I used an empty Hapy to get to/from work back when I first installed them.

So, I figured I can start with stiffening the shocks.

Adjust Shocks

Koni 80-series shock

The 80-series Koni shocks were designed to be easily adjusted. Of course, I neglected to do anything with them after install. After doing some reading, I have found others with a similar vintage bus and similar need: better handling when loaded for camping. The consensus is to stiffen the ride. The lack of consensus is by how much. Because of the extra tail created by the Boot, I did a full turn in the rear and a 1/2 turn in the front. I expect, that with the heavy duty 7/8" anti-roll (sway) bar in the front, even the 1/2 turn is more than I need, but I would rather feel the bumps a little more and have the bus hold steady than the alternative. Shout out to RAtwell for his page on these shocks. It's an older page, and hasn't been updated in a while, but there is some great, still relevant, information in there.

Adjustment is relatively simple. The videos from Koni show the shocks uninstalled, and some of the verbiage seems to say opposing things. I don't want to remove the shock entirely from the bus to adjust them anyway, and I don't think anyone else does either. So, I did it like this:

Rear's first. With the bus on the ground, just crack both the top and bottom bolts enough to remove any torque (19mm). It may be too difficult to get to the top one, and it may not be 100% necessary. I didn't loosen the top bolt on the driver side, and it wasn't an issue. Regardless, completely remove the bolt from the bottom. Notice that there is a nut on the other side (wheel side) that requires a 17mm wrench while you work the ratchet from the inside. With both hands, push the lower end of the shock (you have them installed with the thicker section on top like the picture above/right, right?) up into the upper section. When you are just about bottomed out, start rotating the end of the shock you're holding a little bit. You are looking for a click to tell you that the adjuster has engaged. When you feel that click, you are ready to adjust ad you can completely bottom out the shock (but do it gently). I did not feel the click on all 4 shocks, but once fully compressed, I could only rotate the shock 2 full turns, so some (older) models may not have that satisfying click.

original image
from RAtwell.com

From below, rotating it clockwise will stiffen the rebound of the shock. Rotating it anti-clockwise will soften the rebound. That is the only adjustment you can make on these red 80-series oil-filled adjustable Koni shocks. You should be able to get 2 full turns from most soft to most stiff. Consider that you do not have to adjust in 1/2 turn increments. So, you can really dial in your rebound, if you have the time. Once you have the setting where you want it, let the shock out a little bit to release the adjuster. Now, you can orient the bolt hole with the lower mounting hole. Slide the bolt through, finger-on the nut and torque it down.  Re-torque the top bolt, if you loosened it. Repeat on the other side to the same degree of rebound (same degree of turn from most-soft or most-firm). The rears should match each other and the fronts should match each other, but the fronts and rears do not need to be the same. Still, I would encourage you to keep them within the same ballpark. I mean, 100% soft fronts and 100% stiff rears could make for some unpredictable handling performance.

 

The front shocks mount a little differently. The lower mount is a stud that is part of the wheel assembly. So, I loosened the nut to release any pressure, and then removed the upper bolt instead. Unlike my rear's, the nut behind the upper mount point is 19mm. Otherwise, the process is the same (free one end, compress, adjust, de-compress, align, re-bolt).

Once I made the adjustment, I had a new challenge of finding a way to test whether it helped. I live a few miles from the nearest freeway, and if I'm not loaded for camping the test isn't really valid anyway. So, I delayed the loaded-for-camping, freeway test. I did execute the mostly-empty around-town test, though. Around town, the ride is definitely stiffer. I can feel more bumps, but the steering feels about the same. The true test, however, is loading the bus for a weekend of camping and hitting a freeway.

Hapy Birthday

pic from Bend: note
the Boot in the back

My first opportunity to perform a freeway loaded-for-camping test was for the celebration of Hapy's 50th birthday, the weekend of 3-September. I will post on that later, but suffice to say, we had fun. The drive to and from our destination was a perfect test. We hosted multiple camp sites at LL Stub Stewart State Park, which is about 40 minutes west of the greater Portland metro area, between Manning and Vernonia. Access is from Oregon state route 47, by way of US-26. US-26 pre-dates the interstate system, but it is a multi-lane highway that passes through the open farm country between the western suburbs and the coast mountain range. A perfect test. There was definitely a wind, and I could see the greenery bending to it and feel it pushing on Hapy, but he held the road. I needed both hands on the wheel, but it was not the white-knuckle experience I had on I-5 nor US-26 east of Mount Hood on the 4Peaks return. I could not tell what angle the wind was coming from, but it was partially head-on, pushing Hapy's temperature up. Still, the handling was much better. Boo drove a chase car and reported that Hapy did not appear from behind to be all over the road. The return drive was even easier (tailwind on-angle), so I think, at least for now, the suspension can handle the road. I hope for another run down to Eugene or Liesureland before the very end of the decent weather, for one more test, on the road that started it all (I-5) to prove the suspension before winter.

That's it for today. Thanks, as always, for following along-

Malone Tuning Stage 2

Today, I wrap up the saga of the bigger injector nozzles and the Malone Tune in the VW bus. And, finally take Hapy for a drive. But first, for my mj-friendly readers, Hapy 420; celebrate safely :) Before I get flamed, yes, I know 420 did not stem from a date. It came from a time-of-day, but that does not change the fact that people celebrate pot on the 20th of April. It does, however, explain why some folks celebrate 4:20 in the afternoon with their personal favorite intoxicant.

Also, please note that the fine people at blogger have notified their users that "After July 2021, your feed will still continue to work, but the automated emails to your subscribers will no longer be supported." So, if you are relying upon an email to let you know that there is a new post on one of your favorite blogs, this will no longer function starting in August.

On to chipping Hapy's TDI computer...

Malone Tuning

In the TDI world, and increasingly outside of it, Malone Tuning is kind of the hallmark for getting your ECU "chipped". For those who wish to get more out of their engine, there is a tune for practically any set up and performance target. Malone has a few tunes below the "stage 2" that I selected, which either maximize power with a completely stock set up or adjust settings for best economy. I decided that I wanted larger injectors so I could get a little more oomph, so the stage 2 is the better choice. I do not have any plans to upsize my turbo, but if I did, this tune would support it.

On the turbo, I am running a stock VNT-15. The easiest upgrade would be to find and install a VNT-17. These appear on some cars stock. The advantage of the 17 is that it can create more boost (in pounds per square inch or PSI), because everything is bigger. The downside is the turbo lag (delay in the arrival of the power) is increased, moving the powerband up the RPM's. Since the sound and vibration of the bus increases with the RPM as well, I generally try to stay below 3500RPM. The VNT-15 turbo starts to kick in around 1800, but isn't really all-there until closer to 2200. So, right now, my total band for power is around 1300RPM (2200-3500). Adding a bigger turbo will reduce that or push my top-end higher to compensate which would make for a more noisy / shaking experience. It is for this reason that I am not really considering a turbo swap. The $1000US for a turbo is, of course, a factor too. Besides, we haven't seen how bigger nozzles and a tune will affect things yet!

Ship Ship Ship Ship

projected HP and torque
increases from stage 2

The actual purchasing of a Malone tune is through "Tunezilla". For someone with a super-early TDI like mine, it is not a simple download of software, though. A pair of chips need to be swapped out. This can be done by their shop, who does this every day, or they will send you the chips to do it yourself. I decided to have them do it, and sent my ECU off to them. Less than a week later, it was back in my hands, having traveled through customs twice (Malone is in BC, Canada) and their shop. Unfortunately, FedEx international shipping was a little rough with the package and after some highly responsive tech support from Malone to diagnose, I had to send it back. Malone determined that a handful of the solder joints broke free during shipping, causing the ECU to not power up.

The symptoms were consistent: apply switched 12V power and nothing happened. No messages on the "K" line thru the OBD-II plug to my little reader, no check engine light, no glow-plug light, but there was power at and past relay 109. So, there was some power moving through the ECU (relay 109 is triggered by the ECU), just not all of it.

I sent it back and they turned it around in 2 days, finding and fixing the loose soldier joints. They super-packed it with extra puff, so we would not have a solder fail repeat. Again, about a week after I sent it to them, it was back in my hands. An aside: when I sent it the first time, FedEx said they were not delivering to that address, so I went through UPS. UPS cost twice as much. The second time I sent it, FedEx was delivering there again. So weird.

Holy Head Snap

Hapy says "lets play"

Anyway, this time when I plugged it in, I had an entirely different experience. I turned the key to "RUN" and heard the familiar "snap snap" of the relays and the dash-pod waking up. I turned the key to start and Hapy fired up immediately (bum-bum broom). He rough idled for a few seconds and then settled down at 900RPM. I cleared the codes (per Malone instructions) and then played with the go pedal. Oh, this is gonna be fun. The new injectors don't leak at all, and the pump retains prime after being left idle for days. Bigger nozzles, stage 2 tune, wrapped exhaust, oil temp and pressure gauging, fresh wiring from front to back, including a new, custom fuse/relay box, the fat-plug harness surgery... All I needed was a test drive and Hapy could be ready to rumble.

Not so fast. It would be irresponsible to put that much new power on the road without verifying the brakes. So, before I got my "go" on, I adjusted the rear drum brakes, checked the lining on the front and confirmed I had full fluid. I switched out the system to DOT4 a couple of years ago, so the fact that he has been sitting most of the time since did not concern me as much as DOT3 would have. DOT3 absorbs moisture (bad for your fluid life) over time while DOT4 does not.

dyno curve compare
stock -v- stage 2

So.. with brakes adjusted, and all the stuff I said a paragraph ago now complete, I'm ready to test drive. We have been blessed with pleasant (20*C / upper 60*'s F) high temperatures so far this April, with many sunny skies. This makes for some perfect conditions for a test drive. While I only did the usual lap for my test, it was amazing. Somewhere along the way when I worked on the original bus dash I failed to re-connect the speedometer cable, but otherwise, everything worked very well and the brakes responded strong. As I turned onto the main road, I quickly moved through 1st and 2nd gear. When I put it in third, I really put my foot into it. I didn't floor it, but I put it pressed it pretty far down. The turbo spun up and I lost traction in my drive tires: I was burning rubber in 3rd gear, rolling at around 25mph. That'll do. Hahaha. I don't think I'll need to do anything more performance-wise, though I may replace the exhaust pipe if that will reduce exhaust gas temperature (EGT) or if the wrap destroys it. When I got back home, I felt the rear tires; they were warm, but not hot. Same goes for the rear drums. Then, I checked the wrapped exhaust which was also warm, but easily touchable.

With a consistent accelerator pedal (no more 1200 limp mode) and better visibility into the engine health, Hapy is pretty much ready for some road-tripping this Summer. Now that CoViD-19 vaccines are becoming more widespread and plentiful, Hapy's system-ready status could not arrive soon enough.

That's it for now. As I go, another reminder that Hapy turns 50 on 3-September-2021 and we will be celebrating it at LL Stub State Park. If you have nothing else to do Labor Day weekend, there are some great hiking, horse and bike trails there as well as our little birthday.

Thanks, as always, for following along--

MGB - Test Start, Test Drive

Today's post covers the initial tests of all the changes that I did this past year on the little MGB. It's been quite a year. In August of 2016, I picked up a little British car to bust my knuckles on over the winter. I needed a break from the bus, and it looked like it was going to be a cosmetic fixer. As you've read along this past year, you learned as I did that there was much more to it than that. The brakes were squishy on the drive home, so I went to redo them only to lose the master cylinder in the process. I went to replace the brake master cylinder and had that scope explode into redoing the clutch master cylinder as well. We found rust-through in the floor under the nasty carpet. We found the front suspension bushings has been replaced with window insulation... or at least it looked like it. The coolant pump was failing. The fuel tank was leaking. So much to do and fix. Before I turned the key, though, I changed the oil and oil filter.

Hydraulics

We replaced both front disks, pads and hoses. In the rear, we replaced all of the brake parts: shoes, hardware, drums, wheel cylinders and the one hose. We replaced the brake master cylinder and polished the vacuum assist. Last, we replaced the fluid from end-to-end (kinda obvious with everything else getting redone). On the clutch, we replaced the master cylinder. Between the two master cylinders, we tore down, cleaned and painted the pedal box and pedals. The pedals got new rubber pads as well. Detailed postings 1, 2 and 3.

Body

We ripped out the passenger and driver floors. The rails were repaired, flattened and ground to bare metal. We measured, drilled and ground-to-metal for plug and seam welding the new floors and then had a party to weld them in. The seams were sealed with black seam-sealer and then we experimented with flex-seal to 100% fill the little gaps. Undercoating was applied. I didn't post on it, but in the rear of the little cabin, a prior owner (PO) had cut a big section out of the wall between the cabin and trunk. I repaired that big hole while leveraging the opening to install 2 6x9" Polk Audio speakers. The trunk lid was removed, cleaned, splits were welded and the underside painted. The trunk floor was cleaned, painted and sound deadener was added. The lid had new hinges installed, and the gap on the driver-side accounted for with washers so the trunk now seals all the way around. Detailed postings 1, 2 and 3.

Fuel

The tank was removed and sent to a radiator shop for cleaning and lining. All new fasteners were used during install, and we replaced the hoses, hose clamps, and float / level-sender. Up front, new hoses were installed and a discovered-to-be-faulty upside-down safety switch was replaced with another filter. I will be restoring a safety switch later. We discovered this system leak during final system testing. Detailed posting here.

Cooling

One of the first things we learned about from British Auto Works was the failing coolant pump. This system was the last to get our attention, though. We pulled the pump and the radiator. The radiator was treated with a vinegar and distilled water solution to de-rust / de-scale as was the heater (though it was done in-place). The coolant overflow bottle was paint-stripped and polished and a new pump installed. All new hoses and mostly-new hose clamps were installed as was the thermostat and thermostat housing. Detailed postings 1 and 2.

Front Beam
Second in scope only to the floor replacement, I spent last winter rebuilding the front suspension and steering. The steering mechanism got a clean-up, new gaiters, oil and new tie-rod ends. The suspension was completely refreshed, including new poly-impregnated rubber bushings all around, lots of paint prep and painting, new lower control arms, new front shocks, new front wheel bearings and upgraded sway-bar bushings. It's practically an entirely new front end. Detailed postings about the steering here and here, the front beam 1, 2, 3 and 4. Let's not forget replacing the engine mounts. That was fun.

Testing

Along the way, everything was tested to some degree. The cooling system doesn't leak at rest. The suspension doesn't make noise no matter who is jumping up and down on the bumpers. We stomped on the floors from above and beneath. The clutch engages when the pedal is depressed... and the engine isn't running. The brakes stop the car from rolling when nudged in the garage. These little tests gave us confidence to keep going, and believe that the system was ready. Eventually, you have to put gas in the tank and turn the key.

The last thing you do before you test is hookup the battery. I verified that the battery still had 12V (I was shocked it didn't need a charge), and then connected the leads. The key had been turned to RUN to unlock the steering, so the fuel pump started up. Fuel fountained under the hood, so we tightened a few things, and ultimately removed a broken flip-over safety switch. Once solved, I hopped into the driver seat, put the car in neutral, pulled the hand brake and turned the key again. Fuel pump started up, so I waited a second. After confirming that the gas-fountain wasn't happening I turned the key to start. The engine fired up almost instantly. I revved the engine a few times, and looked for exhaust color. There really wasn't any exhaust, so early concerns about running rich may not have merit. No black smoke to indicate oil nor sweet white smoke to indicate coolant either.
Test Successful.

A Drive
Running the engine in my garage felt awesome, but to really test many of the systems, we need some straight road, and more gas.. and a seat for a passenger and some seat belts. With the new floor came new embedded nuts for the bolts for the seat. this made the seat install a 10 minute effort even as I helped C on his new ride. Add in the retractable seat belts I bought last fall and I'm ready for a street test. Once the rain stops. Oddly enough, during the overnight after the test start, the battery ran down to nearly 0. I must have left the key in the ACC or RUN position, causing systems to stay active all night. Jeez. Road test has to wait while I charge the battery. While waiting, I noticed the front driver running light wasn't working and fixed it with some DeOxit and some patience. I rooted around and found a couple of bolts which could hold the steering column plastic covers on and put that together. I found myself wiping down seats and fiddling with things waiting for the nice weather to arrive.

Finally, I had an opportunity. We had an unseasonably nice stretch during the week and the weekend following was absolutely stunning: upper 60's and clear skies. So, I moved the herd of cars around the driveway, and pushed the MG out of the garage. With a clear rear-view to match the clear sky, I jumped in, fired it up and backed down the driveway. It's loud, and after a little it's-cold sputtering, it settled down. I was able to move through the gears easily; the clutch responded very well. The brakes still had some spongy in them, but I sped off down the street anyway. I drove maybe a mile around the neighborhood, and then started noticing all of the systems that were not working: everything on the green circuit. I chose not to drive to the gas station and instead drove home.

Upon arrival, I discovered that the thermostat housing was leaking. I torqued it down with a plan to look for a leak there on my next test flight. No gas leaked from any fuel line, the brakes remained consistently spongy so I'll need to do another round of bleeding there. The exhaust is loud everywhere with pop-pop-pop noises on deceleration, telling me there's an exhaust leak. Maybe multiple. Let's not forget the green circuit isn't working. Ultimately, though I declare Test Successful.

It was awesome to get that little car going. The throttle response is great, the steering is tight, the suspension over bumps is mellow. I have a few things still to do before it's really road-ready, but none of it is scary. Except maybe getting a top. That may have to wait until I can pay someone else to do it.

Thanks, as always, for following along.

Oh Gee, How bout a Z?

Today's brief post is about finding and acquiring a project car for my 16 year old son. To our former service men and women, happy Veteran's Day and thank you for your service.

Back-story

Not our Z: rust in usual spots

Long before my divorce, and re-marriage, I had made a commitment to my sons. I promised that when they were ready to commit to a car, the project that it represented, the time it would require, etc, that I would invest $1000US on something. When T was 17, we drove up near Seattle and got him a late 90's A4 (See Gotta Keep Moving). Well, his brother C has just turned 16, and while he doesn't yet have a license, he is now ready to commit. To be fair, $1000US bought more car 10 years ago when I made the commitment, but we've had pretty good luck, and good finds are out there. You just need to work that much harder.

Looking
C has been keenly aware of this money-for-car arrangement. Last Summer, I drove to Vancouver WA to look at a project 280Z, but the rust had affected too much of it. The body had large nasty rust holes in the rear quarters, rust pinholes in the rear lid and a couple of flat tires. The interior was kind of sad too, but it was complete. After a few minutes of looking, I knew it wasn't passing muster, so I walked on it. C was disappointed, but that didn't dissuade him from looking harder. He likes sports cars. So, he was looking at BMW's, Camaro/Firebirds and, always, Datsun 240/260/280's. We talked to lots of people, emailed more and drove by a few, and after a year we thought we may have finally found one worth looking at.

not our Z: more rust

Found
C found a 1979 280ZX project that had hit a hard patch. He had rebuilt the engine, fixed up the transmission and replaced the clutch. He had stripped the interior of everything but the seats and door-cards and slapped on fancy rims and tires with a plan to turn the car into a drifter. Unfortunately, while driving to the brake shop to get the brakes done, he was hit, damaging the driver door and front driver fender. The owner was working multiple projects and needed cash for the Mustang he was almost done with. Meanwhile, the 280ZX wasn't getting much focus and the accident had pushed away some of the love for the project. Listed at $1200, we figured the engine / transmission was probably worth the money. Add in the rims and tires and we could probably get our money back and more just by parting it out. BUT, if the frame wasn't bent or damaged in the accident, we could pop new body panels on there and make a car out of it. So, C made an appointment to go look at it on one of the final nice days of the fall.

That'll Work

C's Z

Since C didn't have a license yet, we brought his brother T with us. I decided to make this a learning opportunity for both of them by having them lead the conversation, inspection and test driving. We walked the car, searching for rust and weird frame issues first. The rust we found was surface stuff. The floors were perfect: no rust, and well protected. I thought they might have been replaced, perhaps by the person this owner bought the car from. We did our other look-sees as well, using all of our senses as best we could and then T took it out for a test drive with the owner while C and I stayed with the owner's friend and asked a ton of questions. T came back grinning from ear to ear. Clearly, he enjoyed driving it. Rather than get too deep into that, though, he jumped into giving us feedback: the brakes were good, same with the steering. Neither one impacted the other. Hard stops were good. Held firm over bumps. All the switches and dials work, lights, turn & brake signals too. I made the decision to let them make the decision. They had asked all the right questions, and got good answers. They wanted to do the build, so I shelled out $1100US cash, C signed the title, and the deal was struck.

Homing

not our Z: interior trashed, but complete

The appointment was in Newburg, which is around 30 minutes from my place. Since the boys made the decisions, they got to drive the new project home, while I followed in the chase car. That little car has some get-up-and-go. They turned the corner from the side-street onto the 99W and simply took off. They didn't speed; they just arrived at the speed limit much faster than I did. We stayed together, though, and they pulled all the way into the driveway and under the awaiting canopy. The smiles on their faces remained for quite some time after the engine was turned off. I think this is going to be a fun build.

Since we got it home, C has been over a few times and has made some headway. I'll post on that soon. Thanks, as always, for following along-

Setting and Re-setting Expectations

I've been maintaining this blog for years, and setting expectations for longer.  When it comes to the bus, it seems I am especially good at setting my goals too high.  For example, in November (Steering a Shed) I posted that I would take the bus out of operation until I "put in (door) cards and rebuild the 2 (jealousie) windows".  After 2 months, I have one window done and no cards.  Of course, I did get the deep cycle battery installed, painted a little bit and patched 2 holes.  Still, I could do better with setting targets.  So, that's my NewYear resolution: set reasonable goals with the bus.  Today, I'll give it a whirl.

Winter Goals (by Spring Equinox)
(X) - rebuild broken jealousie window in the slider door
(X) - patch the hole in the belly pan from the 1972 sink, tank drain and ice box
(X) - patch the hole in the belly pan from the 1979 sink and water tank drain
(X) - solve for accessory power
(X) - drive bus to work a few times to prove its road worthiness EDIT: drove 1/14-1/17
(O) - drive bus to SkiBowl one time to visit the snow EDIT: missed goal

Spring Goals (by Summer Solstice)
(X) - replace plastic film in front doors EDIT: done. see Film at Eleven
(X) - get door cards and put them in EDIT: done. see Hanging Cards
(-) - install the car stereo that's been sitting on the shelf for 3+ years EDIT: stereo needs lockout code. dropped goal
(X) - drive bus to one kid sports event EDIT: done. went to final tournament on 5/31

Summer Goals (by Fall Equinox)
(X) - remove most of the dings from the front bumper EDIT: done. see Front Bumper (part 1)
( ) - remove most of the dings from the rear bumper and modesty skirt
(X) - paint front bumper EDIT: done. see Front Bumper (part 4)
( ) - paint rear bumper
(X) - take bus camping near a mountain EDIT: done. see Black Sheep Family Reunion
(X) - take bus camping near water EDIT: done. see So Starts Camping Season 2014

That's enough for now.  There's no punishment for doing more, right?  Now that the weather has shifted from dry-veryCold to wet-cold, I should be able to drive the bus to work one of these days.  Ahh....
Thanks for following along-

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...

Meeting Beaverton's Finest

I'll get to the bus test drives and such, but today I have to share a story from last night.

The Set Up
Boo has been working an unsustainable number of hours lately.  I like to complain about my schedule, but like I said in my last post, this is the most productive period of the year, so of course I'm working a lot.  Still, my hours pale in comparison to hers.  Beyond just working 7:AM past 7:PM during the week, she worked yesterday from 7:AM and didn't get home until almost 10:PM.  With a schedule like that, and a small condo full of people, we agreed to take a walk to de-pressurize.  I've mentioned before how I dropped an offer on a short sale house back in May.  This house is within a short walk of our condo, so we drive or walk by with some regularity just to make sure everything is okay with it.  Last night's walk was another one of those.

Decrepit
Since I placed the offer, the owners have moved away, leaving the house vacant.  Unfortunately, when they left, they weren't overly concerned with the state the house was in.  There's trash along the side and the yard and gardens have become wild.  It looks vacant.  Since the walk was too short to truly get the pressure off, we decided that we'd work off some stress by pulling weeds out of the driveway concrete.  This is where things turned a little weird.

Hello, the neighbors

We spent about 20 minutes pulling weeds and then pushed the results into a pile in the center of the drive.  there wasn't a yard debris barrel around, so we just left it there and set off back home.  As we stepped into the street, we could see first one flashlight and then a second approaching from 2 different directions on the street.  "Curious," I thought.  These flashlights accelerated towards us and behind them were 3 members of the Beaverton Police.  Apparently, they also are aware of the house being vacant.  So are the neighbors.  Our efforts to make the driveway a little less trashy attracted someone's attention, and they called the cops.  Nice.  While Boo explained to a female officer, I was talking to another, detailing our short-sale offer woes and our desire to not have the house become overly neglected before the paper-chase completes.  They accepted our story once I offered MS's contact info and they inspected the pile of weeds in the middle of the driveway. (queue a line from Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant about the tools and shovels and the garbage in the back of a red microbus).

So Much for Stress Relief
The flashlights snapped off, we turned to leave and the Beaverton police disappeared into the dark.  We started walking home while I shared tales of being shaken-down on a nearly bi-weekly basis while I lived in Las Vegas many years ago.  Boo would have none of it, completely overcome with the craziness of her work schedule and lamenting that we can't simply pull weeds out of a driveway without it going sideways.  I do have to admit, we're a long way from being neighborly.

Good Dude Deed Doers
In my youth, my friends and I would spot a car in the parking lot with their lights on and try to turn them off, calling ourselves the "Good Dude Deed Doers".  Nowadays, car alarms and theft paranoia prevent such a neighborly demonstration.  Instead, announcements across a PA system in a crowded mall are how car lights are resolved.  Nice and anonymous.  No community needed.  When I think about our weed-pulling, and how it was initially misinterpreted as potential property damage, I'm saddened.  Adding to that disappointment, the neighbor who saw us in the driveway chose to just call the cops rather than actually watch what we were doing.  Had s/he taken an extra 10 seconds, s/he would have seen we were simply pulling weeds.  A strange thing to do at 10 o'clock at night?  Yes, but certainly not harmful.  Ultimately, I'm grateful that my new neighbors keep watch on my soon-to-be new home, though.  The alternative of vagrants breaking in and camping there is far less appealing.

That's it for today.  I'll post some test drive thoughts next time.

Fear, Loathing and Driving in Circles

2 items today.  Broken alarm on my Jetta, and test driving the bus.  Its a beautiful day and I want to get out into it, so this post may not be as tidy as some of my others.  Apologies in advance.

Fear and Loathing

I have the boys this week, and that brings a different rhythm and a very different schedule around the house.  They enjoyed a camp at the local Park&Rec except for Thursday.  Which is where our tale begins.  I've had on-and-off problems with the door lock on my Jetta over the years.  3 years ago, I took it to my good friend Justin to fix the door switch.  The computer couldn't register when the door was open or shut, and thought it was open all the time.  This caused the puddle light to stay on all the time and run down the battery.  It eventually caused that annoying door-ding to go off while I was driving, etc.  Well, he tore the door don, pulled out the switch cleaned the snot out of it, and re-installed.  Problem solved.  Until recently.  Thursday, to be exact.  I couldn't disarm the alarm with the key.  Triple-A came out with a locksmith and he couldn't do it.  He said "take it to a dealer.  My guys tried to fix one of these once and it took 4 of us 4 hours".

Fear.

Loathing.

I called work, took the day off, and set to fixing it myself, with the help of VWVortex and my Bentley.  In just over 2 hours, I had the door in pieces, the switch cleaned and tested and re-assembled.  I do want to cover the testing process a little bit since this isn't documented anywhere that I could see.  The door lock mechanism has an 8-pin plug receiver on it (male pins sticking out of mechanism surrounded with a plastic ring for the plug to snap into).  After checking the electrical diagram in the Bentley, the #7 pin is ground.  Frankly, it wasn't clear which was the signal from the Bentley.  So, I figured when the switch was engaged, it either was set to ground when the door was open or set to 12V when the door was open.  I just needed to determine which was the signal pin.  How?  I tested connectivity between pin #7 and all 7 of the remaining pins each time I passed through a cleaning.  In the end, the #8 pin is the signal pin, and it goes to ground when the switch is open (IIRC).

Knowing this, I can think through a means of testing that circuit, and cleaning the switch without tearing the door apart every time.  I say that because I know this will happen again.  The switch is located under the locking mechanism, so dirt and grease get into the switch eventually.  This causes the switch to no longer make contact, fouling the signal.  Perhaps this could be solved simply by boring a hole near the switch so cleaner can be shot into the switch from the outside.  Sealing the hole with a rubber bit would keep dirt and water from getting in, but this would make the whole thing much more maintainable.

the Rounder We Go, the Faster We Get

I test drove the bus yesterday.  After struggling to get him going, and spending an hour trolling web sites for clutch engagement hints, I think it was again just a case of lack of movement.  Figure he hasn't moved since April, and even then it was just from a trailer into the garage.  Yesterday, though, he got a little workout, test-track style.  I drove him around and around the same loop of streets (right turns, so anti-NASCAR style) until his temperature got up into where the thermostat should open.  Worked.  I got him up to 185* and he sat there for a full loop.  The temp fluctuated up and down after that, but steadily climbed.  I don't think the fans kicked on, but I wasn't sure.  Rather than risk troubles, I parked him and noticed the coolant was leaking from the same hose-connection.  Drat!  I tightened the connection until I couldn't tighten no more and the leak stopped.  I topped off the coolant (and some distilled water), and I'm ready to test again.  He drove very well.  Peppy, and not nearly as loud as I expected.  Remember, he has no roof, so there's air-noise there, and the windows were all down.  Still, I could hear the "tink-tink" of the turn signal.  I think we have a winner.

Ed and Toby are headed over today to help me any my boys (T&C) put on the new pop-top.  Its gonna be a hot day, so I need to prep as much as I can to reduce the time we need to be hefting that top in the heat.  That means getting off this PC and digging into the bag of parts Toby gave me when I bought the top.  If they're all laid out, and I have some idea where they're supposed to go ahead of time, this could go a little faster.  Still, its gonna be quite an undertaking.  I'll take pictures and post on it soon.

Thanks for following along-

pictures:
top - driver door in pieces just before I removed the lock mechanism.
middle - test driving, "view from the bus" :)
bottom - the UltaGauge showing 186.8*, near the end of the drive