A Red Bus In Portland, Too.

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Amskeptic
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A Red Bus In Portland, Too.

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Jul 20, 2019 9:27 pm

Ich Bin Kurt has developed a reputation for kicking my azz with his project list. The problem is that his bus and his neighbors friends are charming, and so is his bus:

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Kurt generally frightens me with his expansiveness, but it is enthusiasm:

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Last year, we tore into his turn signal switch, the year before we tore into the spring plate bushings, and I think the year before that we tore into a vexing engine misfire that was cured late with new spark plugs.

This year, we had front wheel bearings that were very glad to see us. We had front wheel cylinders that were done with their stint. We had a sliding door that had to be lifted off so we could install a new seal, properly, perfectly, and we did a casual-but-effective sliding door refresh program on all rollers and latches:

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SEE? No sliding door!

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Equally impressive was this interior coming together. Yoiu have to know what you want to select this scheme:

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Adjusting brakes so we could bleed brakes. It all went fine. Good to visit Ich Bin Kurt:

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So, I decided to escape yet another volcano ...

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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Amskeptic
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Re: A Red Bus In Portland, Too.

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Jul 21, 2019 8:38 pm

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Portland traffic! Just like Atlanta!

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It is a beautifully situated city and looks lovely at night, but I was here to get drunk:

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I had a such a fine little bender at the Lucky Lab with people I consider to be old friends, Neal and Cheryle, Gipsie, Kubelwagon, tristessa, and I needed to get a bit sauced. I really missed Hambone, who shoulda been there, come on Hambone, once a year and we are getting older. I got to drive Kubelwagon's tristessa-inspired 1.8 water-cooled straight four ex-air-cooled Vanagon, and it drove nicely.

Did the 71whitewesty, the Pickled Bus, and the Ich Bin Kurt calls, as noted elsewhere in this forum, but there were side happenings, too. Like getting pulled over on Interstate 84 to Salt Lake City:

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I knew it was bogus, the cop knew it was bogus (hi cop!), but we did our respective dutiful impressions of highway officer and errant motorist for the body camera, "be sure to signal when you merge ..." What he wanted was to look at the bus close up, and he was appreciative.
"You know, officer, I do consider myself a professional driver, so I am going to tell you that I am accelerating on the shoulder to 40 mph with my hazards on, then switching over to my left turn signal and merging onto the right lane when it is safe to do so."
"Oh, we just tell people to turn on their turn signal and move on to the roadway when it is safe to do so."
"Well, I am 0-60 in a minute and a half, so I do it this way."
"Oh boy, OK. That is a good way ... This a great car! I have never seen one that nice. Be safe!"

Back to 93 mph passing trucks on the right ... :

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Outside of Boise, I stopped at a railroad track and did a compression test:

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We're doing all right, here in Salt Lake City tonight:

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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: A Red Bus In Portland, Too.

Post by Ich Bin Kurt » Mon Jul 29, 2019 9:36 am

Yes, Thanks Colin for another great visit. This weekend I finally finished the first part of my "homework" and got the sliding door cover panel painted and reinstalled with new trim/beading to boot! The door slides so butter smooth now and with a proper new sliding door seal I can't see daylight between the cracks anymore....yay! Second part of "homework" is pulling out my windshield and attacking the rust that has been creeping up for years. August is our driest month so wish me luck :)

So glad we also focused on the front end this year. Fresh wheel bearing repack and all new front brake shoes and wheel cylinders. I took it for a nice test drive yesterday to my Mom's house in rural Clark County Washington and the brakes felt fantastic. I don't think I have ever driven the bus with German wheel cylinders all around both front and rear.


As with most things when you fix a few things some new problems always arise. As I drove to my Mom's yesterday I quickly realized my speedometer wasn't working properly? Not so fun or easy to drive with no speed indicator yikes! Instead of showing the actual speed the needle was slowly advancing itself towards 90 mph and then stayed pegged past 90 on the needle rest pin...all whilst not initially going over 30mph. Even when I came to a complete stop it stuck pegged out full advanced clockwise. Only when I removed the cable from behind the speedometer itself did the speed needle return to zero. A few other miscellaneous facts:

-With the cable disconnected and if I drive or roll the bus forward the inside wire/cable of speedometer cable is indeed spinning. Also if I move/spin the back of the speedometer the needle seems to move freely and return to zero on its own. It only seems to stick or catch when the cable is installed. It also does appear to be fully connected and seated when screwed in.

-The odometer is still working properly. Tested at freeway speeds read exactly 1 mile between milepost markers.



Do these symptoms point to a faulty or worn out speedometer cable? I think there is a magnet that makes the magic happen and perhaps the business end of the cable is worn down or rounded out?


Happy Safe Travels Colin!


-Kurt

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Re: A Red Bus In Portland, Too.

Post by SlowLane » Mon Jul 29, 2019 7:25 pm

Ich Bin Kurt wrote:
Mon Jul 29, 2019 9:36 am

As with most things when you fix a few things some new problems always arise. As I drove to my Mom's yesterday I quickly realized my speedometer wasn't working properly? Not so fun or easy to drive with no speed indicator yikes! Instead of showing the actual speed the needle was slowly advancing itself towards 90 mph and then stayed pegged past 90 on the needle rest pin...all whilst not initially going over 30mph. Even when I came to a complete stop it stuck pegged out full advanced clockwise. Only when I removed the cable from behind the speedometer itself did the speed needle return to zero.
My Vanagon's speedo occasionally does the same thing, usually accompanied by a hellacious screeching noise coming from the speedometer itself.

Colin clued me into the source of the problem: the square tip of the speedo cable which drives the speedometer can protrude a little bit further than it normally does beyond the mounting nut (due to cable stretch or unwinding or perhaps a worn bushing in the cable assembly). This causes the tip of the cable to push against the inside of the bushing in the speedo, applying an axial load against the internal speedo mechanism that it isn't built to deal with, basically causing it to bind up.

I haven't found a definitive fix, but making sure the square drive at the other end of the cable is seated properly inside the bearing grease cap seems to help (no burrs or rust in the cap square hole). Also maybe not tightening up the nut on the speedo super tight. I haven't had to resort to filing a bit off the square tip of the speedo cable, but it's one of the things I may try if the problem resurfaces. I'm reluctant to do that, as the square tip is actually just the cable itself formed into a square cross section, and I'm fearful that it would just fray apart if I did.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated

"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett

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Re: A Red Bus In Portland, Too.

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Jul 30, 2019 9:42 am

Ich Bin Kurt wrote:
Mon Jul 29, 2019 9:36 am
Yes, Thanks Colin for another great visit. This weekend I finally finished the first part of my "homework" and got the sliding door cover panel painted and reinstalled with new trim/beading to boot! The door slides so butter smooth now and with a proper new sliding door seal I can't see daylight between the cracks anymore....yay! Second part of "homework" is pulling out my windshield and attacking the rust that has been creeping up for years. August is our driest month so wish me luck :)
I wish you the very best of luck. Let me know when windhield install date approaches.

Ich Bin Kurt wrote:
Mon Jul 29, 2019 9:36 am
speedometer only seems to stick or catch when the cable is installed.

See Deputy Technical Editor SlowLane's excellent reply.
See if the cable can move up and down inside the cable sheath. It is normally held with a retainer. I bet you could fix the issue by very carefully pulling the cable sheath right where it enters the steering knuckle just 1/4" (test), maybe another 1/4" (test again). We stuck it in to help us get the cable through the dustcap. That may have displaced the inner cable up into the speedometer. Fix ASAP.
ColinInImperialValley
I would hack the end of the cable short 1/16" with a Dremel cutting wheel at high rpm cut sloooooooowly.
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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