Resilience

[BellePlaine]

Last week, Spider-Man, our 1975 F.I. Riviera slowly broke down half way through an impromptu camping trip up to Madeline Island, the main island in a chain of islands on the south shore of Lake Superior.

The following is a summary of the couple days leading up our conclusion that we could go further than Washburn, WI; 300 miles from our home and the realization that our bus engine is toast.

We left on Monday bound for the Interstate State Park in Taylor's Falls, MN; a 95 mile/2 hour drive. The family and the dog, and all of our gear including bikes on a bike rack mounted to the rear hatch were all loaded up and ready to go. The bus started and then quickly died just out of our driveway. It wouldn't start again. I know that the AFM wiper arm is wonky; it sometimes gets stuck behind fuel pump cut-off arm. So I removed the bikes from the bike rack, dissembled the neat and orderly packing job of camping gear so I could get to the top hatch of the engine bay to check the AFM; it was fine.

I thought that I should swap out the T2 sensor. Still no start. I was sensing a fuel problem; it's been 10,000 miles since the fuel filter was new so I changed it. Voila, Spider-Man fired right up but I had to take a shower, change my shirt, and flush out my eyeballs with water because I leaked gasoline everywhere. At least we were on our way.

Gotta get the kids to bed... to be continued.

[ruckman101]

So sorry to hear. I feel your pain.


neal

[sped372]

Aw, man... trouble on the road is the worst! Maybe Madeline Island has something against buses.

[Amskeptic]

our bus engine is toast.

I thought that I should swap out the T2 sensor. Still no start.
I was sensing a fuel problem ... to be continued.

What? Waiting for update . . .

[BellePlaine]

You could be right, sped. I did take your advice and bring along my spare clutch cable. I wish my fix was a new cable!

Well, here's more of the story. We left Belle Plaine for the Interstate State Park. Interstate is Minnesota's first state park and is located on the St. Croix River, a tributary of the Mississippi, making up a portion of the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota North of the Twin Cities. There is also an Interstate State Park on the Wisconsin side too. It's a scenic drive from our home.

On the way up, the bus ran very well which had been the norm over the past couple of summers. Looking back I do remember wondering if we were experiencing some strong(er than they appeared) head and side winds because the power wasn't quite up to snuff. Honestly though, I really thought that the seemly lack of power was just my imagination.

Here's an artsy shot of our campsite.



We left late-morning on Tuesday for the Big Bay State Park, on Madeline Island. Madeline Island is one of Lake Superior's coolest places, partly because getting there requires a ferry ride from Bayfield, WI to La Pointe. La Pointe is the little tiny town on the island. It was about a 4 hour ride from Interstate to Bayfield and another scenic drive. Once we got going I could begin to tell that Spider-Man wasn't running super well. It couldn't tackle modest hills like usual. If I kept the RPMs at 3,700 or higher things were fine, but at 3,000 and it just didn't have the torque. At about half way, we stopped for lunch at the Angry Minnow Brewpub in Hayward. After lunch, in the brewery parking lot, I took a look at the engine. With the engine running, I pulled the spark plug wires from each plug independently and confirmed at every cylinder was participating. I then checked the timing; this is where my memory gets a little fuzzy because I played with the timing a few times since. I think that the timing was advanced at 40 BTDC. I set it to 28 at full advance, hoses off. And we are on the road again.

Stopped for a quick pic on the way out.



The ride from Hayward to Bayfield was a stresser. My mood changed from having fun to becoming worried not sure what to do about my low-powered bus. The timing adjustment didn't help; maybe it made it worse. 3rd gear was needed for any little mole hill and anything much less then 4,000 RPM was of almost no use unless I was in first gear. By the way, I usually shift at 4,000 or a little higher.

We eventually arrive in Bayfield and get in line for the ferry. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait as the traffic was light; we drove right on but getting up the steep ramp was harder then it should have been and required high revs. The ferry guy says something to me about "almost not making it up the ramp". I was in no mood for his opinion.

Obligatory bus on the ferry pic.



Once in LaPointe, we stopped for ice cream for the kids and a PBR at Tom's Burned Down Cafe; it's a bar with no roof or walls. I was beginning to relax because at least we were almost down driving for the day.







to be continued...

[BellePlaine]

We arrived at our campsite in the Big Bay State Park and the bus was still anemic with power. Before the engine cooled down I decided to have another look at it. I also remember from my Beetle days a time when I was experiencing low power due to decreased point gap. Dwell checked out at 45 degrees but I pulled the points anyway because its been 10,000 miles since new. Used my new Leatherman tool to file the small deposits from the tips and reinstalled, set the gap at 0.016".

This is where I heard a very disturbing sound. While hand-turning the engine in the reverse direction to find a lob to set the points, I detected a metallic clank from the case coupled with compression free movement. I told Keriann that I was worried the engine was fucked and she told me about how much faith she has in my ability to fix the car and continue on with our vacation. Nervously, I decided to start the engine again. If it is going to blow-up, let it blow up now and save me from worrying all night! So I got in the cab, turned the key and it fired right up. A little bit confused and a little bit relieved, I thought that I should set the timing to 32 BTDC since 28 seemed to make the power worse.

Anyway, the engine sounded fine, especially at high revs. Started and stopped it a couple of times and left it alone for the night. I felt a little sorry for disturbing the peace at the campground.

The next morning; we packed up and all piled into the bus bound for Maple, WI where my sister and brother-in-law had recently purchased 40 acres. Well, the bus didn't start. So I begin to tear down the bikes from the bike rack, unpack the tailgate while our neighbor camper comes over to help. His name began with a "B", I don't recall anymore than that. Mr. B had a few beetles in the past and was just jumping at the chance to MacGyver my bus back to life.

Knowing I have a compression issue as well as timing problems, I thought that I would try to start the engine while moving the distributor to see what that would do. While Mr. B sat in the cab, I twisted the distributor until by luck the engine started up. Not even getting out my timing gun, I set the timing where it seemed strongest and we left for LaPointe which was just a few miles away. We needed to hit the laundry mat and I needed some time to try to figure out how to set up this engine to take us home.

More later...

[yondermtn]

Oh man, I feel your pain. Crossing your fingers and hoping you make it to the next place safely is no fun. We did this in Michigan a few years ago and I was tinkering at every stop.
We left our bus on the mainland when we went to Madeline Island. Beautiful place.

[Amskeptic]

I am wincing in pain. I am reading of the rules we live by here get broken. I don't yet know what happened, but I can guess.
I need to cast the Ten VW Commandments in stone, of What We Do when our engines are not feeling well out on the road.

YES! There is the stress of taking care of our passengers, of meeting our timelines, etc, BUT.

You cannot you may not use timing to mask a poorly running engine, it is no less damaging than cocaine or meth. Sure, it runs better at idle. . . .

Anyways, I await with knots in my stomach.
Colin

[BellePlaine]

While the kids and Keriann did laundry in town, Jack (the dog) and I drove Spider-Man up and down a long and straight stretch of two-lane road testing different timing settings looking for the timing that gave the best power. No setting gave me satisfactory results. I set it for 32 BTDC and began to wonder if the bus would probably not make it back home. In my mind, I was hoping to make it to Duluth.

Picked up the family from the laundry mat and drove to the ferry with no new problems. The ferry ride was pretty quick; maybe 20 minutes. Of course, someone approached us to take a closer look at the bus. I usually don't mind chatting VW's but this time I spoke with guarded enthusiasm, warning our admirers that we were having engine problems, managing their expectations.

When we arrived back in Bayfield we had to drive up a pretty steep hill to get out of town. We made it in first gear just fine and began to drive towards my sister's land in Maple, about an hour away. Once we were out of town and got the bus up to highway speed, we heard a loud "whap" from the luggage rack above the cab. I was storing the dog food in a bucket, a floor mat which had some gasoline spilt on it, and our tripod campfire grill set. Nothing fell off immediately after the "whap" and since I didn't want to stop the car because then we'd have to get back up to highway speed, I made the poor decision to ignore the warning from above. Then the bag with the tripod blows off the roof. Now, we stop. We pick up the pieces, secure everything again to the roof and take off again.

What is the word for giving inanimate objects feelings and personaltiy? For fun, I like to pretend that Spider-Man really enjoys his new lease on life after we rescued him from his solitary life on a Southern Minnesota farm where he sat unloved for 23 years, save for the rodents and wasp nests. I would like to believe that he appreciates not being crushed for scrap as the farmer told me we was bound to do with him. But come on, Spider-Man has no more feelings then my old lucky Chuck Taylors. That said, I can't be certain the tripod stunt wasn't due to just poorly secured straps. Because once we hit the road again, I began having a hard time holding speed in 4th gear, even on the flat straight-aways. We could accelerate in 3rd gear at high revs, but shifting into 4th and we loose speed. Keriann and I began to talk about calling my sister and having her meet us in the next town, Washburn, which was about 10 miles ahead. As we are debating the merits of this idea, Spider-Man jettisons the glass held inside of the passenger side mirror. It was the weirdest thing, the mirror just fell out of the housing. That was Spider-Man's vote. Message received.

More...

[Jivermo]

Man, is your real name Jean Valjean? I am depressed.

[BellePlaine]

Man, is your real name Jean Valjean? I am depressed.

Well the title of the thread is, "Broke Down"!

[BellePlaine]

I am wincing in pain. I am reading of the rules we live by here get broken. I don't yet know what happened, but I can guess.
I need to cast the Ten VW Commandments in stone, of What We Do when our engines are not feeling well out on the road.

YES! There is the stress of taking care of our passengers, of meeting our timelines, etc, BUT.

You cannot you may not use timing to mask a poorly running engine, it is no less damaging than cocaine or meth. Sure, it runs better at idle. . . .

Anyways, I await with knots in my stomach.
Colin

True. And I broke the commandments willingly because we are under a very important deadline. I'll use this as a segue to mention that our hospitals in Minneapolis and New York have told us to make memories this summer. I haven't said anything in the "Good Vibes for BP" thread because everyone is on a "need to know" basis, including my kids. But maybe you guys could know so you can send over those good vibes a little more. Please, please, please don't worry about us, we all travel as a family to Grand Rapids, MI tomorrow for a third opinion. But this is why our vacation was impromptu and very important.



So I know a guy in Washburn. His name is Badger (Wisconsin! Geesh, right?) and I called him to get his recommendation for a place to park the bus until I can come back and get it later and a place for lunch, preferably with a decent beer list. Badger recommended that we park the bus the local repair shop called, Affordable Auto. The owner had just left for a week-long vacation and wouldn't mind or even know that the bus was in his lot.

Badger sent me periodic updates to let us know that the bus was ok.



We had to make two trips to remove all of the stuff that we wanted to take with us and on the second trip, my brother-in-law and I went back to the bus. I showed him how the engine made that metallic "clank/thud" while hand-turning the engine in reverse. Upon further investigation, this noise is made every 180 degrees at ~40 ATDC and ABDC. My brother-in-law suggested I was having rod bearing problems but admitted that it was just a guess. I have been thinking about Colin's visit a few years ago when he showed me movement in a main bearing seat. I've known since then that my engine was damaged but I assumed that it would break down in some kind of violent way without warning.

Before we left the bus, I decide that I should check the valve lash. Even though I didn't register any hotter then usual temps from the CHT gauge, perhaps I lost a valve seat. Well, the valves were set just how I had left them; 0.006 except for #3 exhaust which I keep at 0.0065.

So that is where things stand right now. Last Thursday, my dad and I drove up with a trailer and returned with the bus in a 14 hour/600 mile road trip. I'm shopping for a used motor to get us through the rest of the summer and thinking about a rebuild over the winter. I'd like a Camper Special. It might be a fun father/son project.




That's all for now.

[Jivermo]

The same...spun thrust bearing. Got a long block on order with Adrian. You might want to talk with him. Best of luck with everything.

[sped372]

...make memories this summer.

Sound advice regardless of the circumstances.

We have traveled quite a bit and in time the breakdowns become cherished as much as the trouble-free miles. They are the stories on an otherwise easy road. I think that driving a bus is a metaphor for going through life this way. I don't think I can adequately describe how I am feeling other than to tell you that I am heartbroken for you but strangely happy at the same time that you still find the strength to be together as a family.

I don't think I have any T4 bus parts, but whatever I have in my garage may as well belong to you. If there is anything we can do to help you make some miles please let me know. Even if you just need a driveway to overnight in while passing through.

I am proud of you for doing this. Memories aren't made at home on the couch and I applaud you for your courage.

[Amskeptic]

...make memories this summer.

I am proud of you for doing this. Memories aren't made at home on the couch and I applaud you for your courage.

I second that. I would guess that Spiderman is/was doing his best to contribute.



I hope to help deliver some answers when I get there 15 days from now . . . if we are still on.
Colin