Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 06:59:29 -0800
Reply-To: David Marshall <mailinglist@FASTFORWARD.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David Marshall <mailinglist@FASTFORWARD.CA>
Subject: Re: [TDI-conversion] Catastrophic failure, a week-long saga,
not-so-happy ending
In-Reply-To: <45E26763.9010409@westyventures.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Not so good at all Karl,
It looks like you do already own a good van
to turn into the perfect van. I absolutely love my high top camper -
why not turn your Syncro 16 into a nice clean TDI? I think the only
thing better than my Westfalia hightop would be to move up to a Westfalia
Atlantic in the LT range so I can get a toilet and shower in there.
They never made these in a 4x4 variant, but that doesn't stop the
determined,
David Marshall
http://www.hasenwerk.ca
http://www.fastforward.ca
Box
4153, Quesnel BC, Canada V2J 3J2
On Sun, February 25, 2007
20:51, Karl Mullendore wrote:
> As a few folks have asked for an
explanation of what happened to me/my
> van, here goes:
>
First, I'm ok, it's only the van that is hurting. Well, truthfully,
I've
> gone through a lot this week because of this...
>
> I've been trying all winter to get away on a roadtrip, and
finally got
> far enough ahead with work and such that I decided
to attend a camping
> event in Florida. (Full Moon Bus Club) The
van seemed ready, even
> though, as always, there were numerous
'small jobs' still undone. But
> everything seemed in good order
mechanically. I hadn't driven the old
> van in a long time on any
significant journey, and Sunday, without my GF
> along in the
passenger seat I for once floored the throttle on every
> occasion
I felt like. :-) It was then that I noticed the scraping noise
>
in the transmission, under hard throttle in first and second. No
>
worries, not too bad, and the camp organizer said he had a parts Syncro
> at his place if needed a tranny by the time I drove the 1000
miles
> south. A call to Daryl at AA confirmed what I suspected,
that a
> mainshaft bearing was likely on it's way out. The sound
never really got
> worse, but Monday morning as I left a friend's
home near Harrisonburg
> VA, I noticed an increasing vibration in
the drivetrain. Nah, couldn't
> be, I thought...so after a cup of
coffee and some breakfast, onward down
> I-81 I drove. About 20
miles later, the vibration became even more
> robust. Now, I
thought, what would a normal person do in this situation
>
(besides have a mechanic check it, but I was already there!)? I turned
> tail and drove two plus hours back to my shop. Good decision.
That
> evening I pulled the tranny and disassembled it, finding
the exact
> bearing we had discussed to be MIA, as in the shaft
was basically
> floating in the gear carrier case. But the
low-reverse gear housing had
> to be pried and beaten to remove
it, when normally it just slides
> off...well, the dual-row
bearing in low (or reverse, I forget which) was
> totally ground
up and had dug a nasty trench in the pinion shaft. OK, I
>
thought, this isn't going to be a quick-n-easy fix. The next morning, a
> good friend of mine allowed me to borrow a good used Syncro tranny
that
> he had been holding onto for one of his many projects. Keep
in mind here
> that my 'old' tranny had undergone a gear change
years ago and
> third/fourth gears were much higher than stock, in
ratio. No worries,
> with the borrowed 'stock' tranny I would just
drive more slowly. I
> managed to get back on the road Tuesday
evening, tranny smooth and
> quiet. Somehow I caught up with my
planned itinerary and made the vet
> appt. I had for my dog in
Asheville NC at noon on Wednesday. A friend,
> who wanted to visit
his mom in Tampa, rode along as we departed
> Asheville Thursday
am for an evening arrival in Tampa....or so we
> thought. At a
fuel stop in Greenville SC, I checked the oil, fine. I
> could
swear the engine sounded a little different, maybe just paranoia
>
after the tranny issues, I thought. About 30 miles later, driving down
> I-85 toward Atlanta, we looked at one another and both had the
same
> words: the engine sounds a little different, doesn't it? A
scan of the
> six gauges showed oil pressure to be lower than I
had ever noticed at
> 3000 rpm. I noticed a gentle throb in the
clutch pedal, which when
> depressed became a sickening BIG throb,
and immediately the oil pressure
> dropped, followed by several
loud bangs, and silence. The starter just
> clicked....
>
> I couldn't believe a perfectly-running engine would degrade so
quickly,
> but when I looked under the van and saw the crankshaft
pulley askew, I
> knew it wasn't going to be a happy ending. I
released all the belt
> tensioners and then pried the
pulley...nope, still attached to the
> crankshaft, but why the
angle? Then I pried the flywheel, it only moved
> a quarter-inch
at best. Oh, and the pulley? It didn't move with the
> flywheel.
My educated guess is that a rod broke (after losing it's
>
bearing), crashed into a fast-moving crankshaft, and snapped the sucker
> in half.
>
> The van is now resting at the
friend's house near Asheville, empty,
> waiting to be retrieved.
It's very sad to say, but after these major
> failures and once
again seeing how deeply the east-coast rust has
> invaded the
20-year old body, I'm inclined to throw in the towel for
> saving
this van and start anew with a different body. When I pulled the
>
tranny, I looked up to realize the only thing holding the fuel tank up
> was the rust and debris, plus a short section on the ends of the
> now-mostly-gone tank straps. Not so bad, except the place on the
body
> where they bolt on would collapse from rust if I tried to
move the bolts.
>
> This is a very sad thing, after
spending ten years and almost 400,000 km
> in the driver's seat of
this wonderful old beast. I'd like to keep it on
> the road, but I
think it really is best to move on with a different body
> now,
and besides, won't it make a lovely guest cottage for visiting
>
friends?
>
> Karl Mullendore
> 1987 Westy Syncro
m-TDI (RIP?)
> 1990 Syncro 16" TD highroof
> 1995
*ahem* Euro-bago, coming...(I needed a get-in-and-go camper for the
> winter trip and until I get the 16" project done!)
>
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