Date: Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:34:22 -0700
Reply-To: neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Distributor woes
In-Reply-To: <8CA6B76D84B7DD7-1238-1628@webmail-dd18.sysops.aol.com>
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Good on ya doing the patch. Sounds like a useful one to remember. I
think patch kits for bike tires, and floatational devices, can be had
pretty easily. Failing that, I wonder if good contact cement and a
chunk of rad/heater hose or old tire would do?
My first question would be, did anyone remove the distributor to
service anything?
I can just imagine a loose clamp, then the dizzy working its' way out.
Cheers,
Neil.
On Sun, Apr 13, 2008 at 5:12 AM, Tom Stone <tstone8359@aol.com> wrote:
snip.
... I noticed the smell of antifreeze when I checked the oil.? Upon
inspection, I found a pin hole rusted into the coolant pipe on the
left side of the engine.? Coolant was dropping down onto the Y pipe
and evaporating.? ..... I came up with two temporary repair options.?
One was to epoxy the hole with some radiator sealer.? The other was to
apply direct pressure to the wound with a rubber patch and hose
clamp.? We let the van sit for a few hours to cool off but the leaking
area remained wet.?I didn't want to drain the coolant in the NAPA
parking lot so the only option was to try the rubber patch.? The patch
was a piece of an inner tube patch, which I suspect is a rare find
these days.? I carefuly applied the hose clamp over the patch which
covered the hole and the wound was healed!? The remainder of the trip
was uneventful util we were 1 mile from the house we had rented.?The
van suddenly stopped accelerating.? It would go maybe 2-3 miles and
hour but that was it.? Did I mention that the van was loaded to the
gills?? ...... We unloaded the van and I opened the engine
cover.?Nothing looked amiss.??I checked the distributor and it was
tight.? I popped off the cap and checked the rotor. It and the shaft
spun freely.? Not good.? I tried reseating the shaft and replacing the
cap but the van would no longer start.? Pulling a wire and trying to
start the van showed?that there was now no spark.?The tines at the end
of the distributor were chewed up so I suspect that the distributor
has been internally loose for a while.? Not sure what is going on
inside it but it appears that the shaft is too short.
>
> Before I have a replacement overnighted?to us, does anone have any ideas about what may be going on with the distrubutor?? Is there anyone on the list in the Bradenton/Sarasota area who may have a spare>? I have a few at home I can replace mine with once, and if, we get there.?
>
> Tom
> '91 Carat???????
>
--
Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia - "Jaco"
http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
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