Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2013 00:24:04 -0600
Reply-To: OlRivrRat <OlRivrRat@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: OlRivrRat <OlRivrRat@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: it just stops! What do I do? - was Spare Fuel Pump Saves the
Day
In-Reply-To: <515E369C.1050406@turbovans.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
John Muir Publications was actually in Santa Fe, NM but some of the
production work for some of his works was done in Albuquerque. I knew
the illustrator, Peter Aschwanden, quite well ~ one heck of a GreatGuy
& a FantasticArtist ~ I did the ColorSeperations for the Version of
the book that has the ColorCover & have a copy of both the Original &
the ColorCoverVersion ~ Good info & GreatIlustrations.
ORR ~ DeanB
On 4 Apr , 2013, at 8:27 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
> Disconnect the battery to replace a fuel pump?
> Totally not needed at all.
> Don't turn the key on during the process of course !
> That's kinda bad info I'd say....leave the batt connected, don't
> turn on
> the key and you'll be fine.
>
> everyone has a 'hose pusher off'tool, right ?
> if not....a super handy tool to have. I couldn't work on cars or
> vanagons withtout one.
>
> really ..if you are working on a hot 'something' like starter main
> cable..
> sure remove battery ground cable.
> if you are careful and smart ....say you want to take the hot lead off
> the alternator briefly ..
> careful people can just protect the hot wire temporarily with a big
> piece of duct tape ..
> clumsy people shouldn't try that though.
>
> In vanagons mostly it does not hurt to disconnect the battery.
> As cars and stereo's get more complex..
> it's better not to undo the battery sometimes.
> You can even buy a little gizmo to plug a 9V battery into, that you
> plug
> into your cigratte light socket, to keep radia station memories.
>
> If 'touching anything' on a car is a new and possibly scary thing ..
> then sure ...undo the battery cable ..the NEGative one.
> But you sure don't have to, to say, work on the headlights, even
> though
> many repair manuals say to for anything electrical.
> That's just forpeople that have no idea what they are doingworking
> on a
> car.
>
> yeah..the fuel gets on ya. Nasty stuff. Have an 8mm old CV jointscrew
> or two handy for a hose plug.
> Other than being messy and things getting stuck, it's a super easy
> job.
>
> one warning ...the plastic on the hose nipple of the fuel pump can get
> old and brittle ..once in a great while that will break there... If
> it's
> an old dead pump fine, but if it's a useable one, you don't want that
> happening for sure !
>
> Just use common sense.
>
>
> There is a John Muir type book for the VW Rabbit also. I have a copy.
> There is one for the Honda Civic too.
> I called that publishing company in AlbuquerqueNM once ..said they
> were
> getting out of the car manual business.
>
> The other Muir too ........yeah !
> The other Muir too ........yeah ! The other Muir too ........yeah !
> Did
> he roll his own while waiting for the engine to warm up like the VW
> Muir
> did ?
> He said to disarm the auto choke on old Bugs too ...terrible advice.
> Those chokes are great . They can get out of whack a little and need a
> little 'resetting' ..but they're fine. In *all cars* sitting around
> engine running, to 'warm it up' is very rough on it.
> Start it gently , idle briefly, like 20 seconds, then drive gently at
> first, so it's under some load ....that warms engines up properly.
>
> have fun, do good work !
> I also strongly recommend not holding the clutch pedal in when you
> crank
> it on the starter to fire it up.
> It puts extra unneeded end-load on the crankshaft, increasing wear.
> If it's 40 below and you want to keep the starter from having to turn
> the input shaft in the trans in thick oil...fine, then hold the clutch
> pedal down, othewise no.
>
>
>
>
> On 4/4/2013 6:26 PM, Stuart MacMillan wrote:
>> Both John Muir's were my idols.
>>
>> Well, first of all, it depends on where you are when you break
>> down. If you
>> are on I-5 you call a tow truck (and hopefully have AAA or
>> insurance towing
>> coverage). BTDT.
>>
>> You also have to have some experience with auto repairs. I would
>> not have a
>> novice replace a fuel pump. You must have enough sense to know
>> that you
>> need to remove the negative cable on the battery and that you need
>> to clamp
>> off or plug the hose on the tank side before you remove the pump.
>> And, the
>> screw in the pump clamp will be corroded and tight, the hoses will be
>> difficult to remove and may not even match up to the pump input and
>> output.
>> Then there's the corroded electrical connections. And, you will be
>> on your
>> back in the mud.
>>
>> Last but not least, fuel will run down your arms into your armpits
>> creating
>> a sensation you've never experienced before if you don't know what
>> you are
>> doing.
>>
>> Sounds like an iPhone app to me though.
>>
>> Stuart
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
>> Behalf Of
>> Rob
>> Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2013 5:38 PM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Re: it just stops! What do I do? - was Spare Fuel Pump
>> Saves the
>> Day
>>
>> The engine just dies... John Muir had instructions in his book (is
>> it out of
>> gas? Go check) but I suspect many here have not even heard of
>> (this) Mr Muir.
>> What about the person out there who doesn't know their way around the
>> waterboxer? Is there any hope for them besides cell phone
>> reception? Let's
>> say they invest in these spare parts & a Bentley what can they do
>> besides
>> hand them to a mechanic after they have been towed in?
>>
>>
>> Is there any chance of coming up with a list of things to do,
>> specific
>> things so someone might be able to pull them self out of this jam?
>> Sort of an Engine stops or will not start list...
>>
>>
>> In this case the fuel pump it didn't make any noise & David knew to
>> listen
>> for that, then it did & then it didn't. There he had something to
>> fix and
>> the part to fix it with! If it hadn't made noise I'd have pulled
>> out the
>> meter to check for voltage & a ground on the wires at the pump...
>>
>> Maybe this is just not something that can be done in a list, maybe
>> it's
>> already been done on The Samba?
>>
>> Anyone have any thoughts on this?
>>
>> Rob
>> vwrobb@gmail.com
>>
| 
