Archive for September, 2009
Posted on September 16, 2009 by jason
Who’s there?
Our engine.
Well, our high hopes for the engine were dashed after we re-assembled, put the engine in and fired it up. The initial worst-case diagnosis was pretty close after all. Time for a new engine. Again.
Let me back up a bit. After being towed back to a hotel a few nights ago, we updated the blog to let folks know our status and I sent a few emails. One e-mail was to some of the Portland members of the Type 2 AIRS list (for the record, half of them bounced). It was about ten o’clock in the evening. No more than an hour later, we had suggestions of recommended mechanics, parts places, places to stay, friends of friends to call, etc. Pretty amazing, actually. I’ll repeat what’s already been said – if you’re going to break down anywhere, Portland is the place.
One response was just so good we had to follow-up immediately. Christen said, “Give me a call, I live in Gresham and am an ASE certified auto mechanic with 15+ years experience. I can offer a place to park your bus and help swapping the engine, tools too.My better half and I have a VW Karma debt to repay, so feel free to impose! ” I give her a call and it just keeps getting better. A pro mechanic wants me to tow my bus to her house, guarantees we’ll be taken care of until it’s fixed, let’s us stay at her place, picks us up from the hotel, and buys us lunch. Know any mechanics like that?
After hanging out for an hour or so, the bus arrives on the flatbed and we almost immediate get to work. Within a few hours, the engine is out and torn down to find the problem. The #4 exhaust valve broke off (see photo) and bounced around inside the cylinder for a while and mangled all sorts of metal. Did not go through the piston. Some small bits did get sucked back out the intake and into #3, but no serious damage there. After lots more inspection, we decided to cross our fingers and get a new head and piston/cylinder, reassemble the whole thing and drive away into the sunset. The rest of the evening was spent driving to get parts (again, Christen provided the wheels) and re-assembling everything back at her shop. She even had a donor engine for various bits and pieces we deemed needed replacing. After a pretty long day of wrenching, we had dinner a few beers and turned in.
The next morning, I proceeded to put the engine in. Bode and Angela rode the MAX to the OMSI. Christen had some other business to tend to: her ’58 Cadillac Hearse had to be taken to a friend to get a new exhaust (remember, Halloween is just around the corner.) Aside from being an ace mechanic, she’s also an artist, sculptor, creator of things that spew fire and enjoys scaring the hell out of people around Halloween. The ’58 Caddy Hearse with a 472 engine is a nice touch. It looks like something a zombie would drive out of a cemetery.
Anyway, my engine goes back in, I fire it up and… knock, knock, knock. It was actually funnier than some knock, knock jokes I’ve heard – but now I know for sure it’s time for a new engine. Crunching on that broken valve probably bent the crank or bearings and now there’s really no other choice. I’ve had lots of suggestions to just go buy a new engine (with lot’s of upgrades!) over the past few days and of course, I knew it would be the most likely path to success, but I’m stubborn I suppose. Thrifty too. I had to try to fix what I had. But now, without further delay, a new engine is coming. So, I pulled it out again, pulled the top-end off and took it to someone local who is going to rebuild the long-block for me. Stock. Like new again. Again.
If you go back a few months, you’ll see that’s how this trip started. The engine that came with the bus when I bought it had been on fire and was a complete mess. I found a Craigslist special – an impossibly low-priced freshly rebuilt turn-key engine. The guy built them in his garage, did his own machine work, had 30+ years experience, etc. I spent a lot of time talking with him and he seemed like a good guy and I’m sure generally does good work. I suspect he or one of his minions may have liberally re-used parts (like, valves) that maybe were just too tired to be re-used. It was a bargain, and like I seem to never learn, you get what you pay for. Hopefully, now things will right.
Posted on September 14, 2009 by angela
Good news- I think we’ve found the problem and we don’t need a new engine. Just a cylinder head and a piston(?). Jason is on his way to Vancouver, WA to get the parts. I’ll let Jason update this post and let you know what it was, since I really haven’t a clue.
My job was merely watching Wall E and playing knights with Bode…and trying to keep him out of the tools.
Many thanks to everyone for your advice and offers. We found some incredible folks, Christen and Amanda, who lent us their workshop space, their VW knowledge and even bought us lunch.
This journey has introduced us to some amazing people. We are now in karma debt and looking forward to paying back.
Posted on September 13, 2009 by angela
We haven’t posted in a few days because we’ve been busy having fun. Until tonight.
Yes, that is Red Beard on the tow truck. We are all fine. Stressed out, but safe.
Our good friend Julie visited us in Portland this weekend. We had so much fun, but we’ll have to wait to tell you all about it. After visiting the Columbia River Gorge we headed back to Portland to take her to the airport. We were about 20 miles away, on I-84 when we all heard a terrible sound. A huge, freight-train rattle sound that made us pull over immediately.
Jason looked and saw nothing. It wasn’t even a tiny bit hot. We turned over the engine, it sounded the same. Major banging from inside the engine case. Not good. We had a friendly Vanagon Westy driver pull over to help (also a pro mechanic – a nice coincidence.) Rod bearing is the early conclusion – after only ~2000 miles. Discount rebuilt engines are apparently not the way to go.
Meanwhile, the 3 of us are in the van on a small shoulder with huge trucks whizzing by. It was a little stressful to say the least. Kudos to Julie for dealing with this, her missed flight and work. She already thought we were nuts, and now she’s got first-hand experience.
Geico Roadside Service? Yeah, apparently that got canceled when we sold our other car. Put that on the to-do list for this week. They were nice enough to connect us with a towing company though. Vinnie was able to pick us up within about half an hour, take us to a motel, and store the van until we can figure out what to do.
We don’t know precisely what went wrong with it yet, but we’re fairly certain we need a new engine. The case is not cracked but… it’s done.
When we finally got into our hotel and turned on our computer we had so many nice emails and comments we were instantly feeling better. Thanks to everyone for their support on our adventure so far.
So, any advice from those around Portland? We’re currently in Gresham scratching our heads. Know anyone who sells reliable VW engines that don’t also cost a fortune? Got space for Jason to work on the van?
Thanks, and hopefully we’ll know more soon.
Posted on September 11, 2009 by jason
Angela found out about an elk farm on the way to Portland in the Willamette Valley. Elk farm, you say? We’re there.
We made an appointment with the owner, Brenda, and set out for our tour of the farm. We learned so much about elk farming that I think we might actually be able to start raising them ourselves if the State of Oregon wasn’t already trying to shut them all down.
Brenda is an ‘outlier’ – not among the average. The type of person who lives every day passionately and deliberately succeeds at whatever she pursues. She got into elk farming after seeing a show on the Discovery Channel. This was followed by years of research, persistence, and a lot of luck. Her days now involve taking care of all her beloved animals, schooling her kids at home, and hosting community events on her beautiful farm – a snow-capped Mt. Hood dominating the horizon. We were both envious of the harmonious life she’s created for her family… not to mention all of the elk sausage you can eat.
Speaking of Mt. Hood, my beautiful and intelligent wife has managed to land a gig reviewing hotels. One near Mt. Hood, anyway.
There’s no telling where this will lead, but we’ll start by enjoying the benefits of working with the first client. The primary benefit, of course, is not sleeping in the rain. The other bennies involve regulation croquet courses and sleekly designed rooms with luxury baths.
Seriously, this change of pace is greatly appreciated. If you’ve ever been on a long trip and wanted a vacation from your vacation, you know what I’m talking about. Anyway, we’re sticking around Mt. Hood for a few days.
“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”
- Benjamin Franklin
Posted on September 10, 2009 by jason
Since we’ve been moving slow (even for us) we decided that we would try to put some miles behind us today. On another recommendation, we headed to Silver Falls. A popular state park will huge falls (note the tiny people in the photo) and great hiking. The main falls pour out over a ledge and you can hike behind them – something Bode was keen on doing. He remembered that this is where the secret entrance was when the Mystery Inc. gang unmasked the Wiki Tiki in Aloha, Scooby Doo. Anyway, he told us about the movie multiple times. Random note: Snookie was an expert in rocket science and created the demons.
We did find some tiny caves, but no bad guy hide-outs.
Bode is getting pretty good at hiking a few miles with lots of ups and downs. Somehow, regardless of the length of the trail, he does seem to sense the end and need to be on dad’s shoulders for the final stretch.
We took the back-roads up towards Portland and made note of all the Christmas tree farms. They are everywhere. I’m guessing Oregon supplies the majority of ‘holiday trees’ for the nation. We were also surprised to see that clearing fields by burning them seemed to be a pretty common practice.
One highlight of the day was a random stop at a winery for a tour and tasting. We made it to Oregon City (still no interstates!) before finding out we needed to move toward Mt. Hood.
Posted on September 9, 2009 by angela
We had every intention of heading further, but with the holiday weekend and our realization that we were completely exhausted, we headed back into Bend and got a motel with a heated pool. Bode now insists that all pools must be heated.
I acquired a coupon for beer (!) at the Silver Moon Brewery, so we added that to our attractions list. Beer, college football, and a happy kid eating his veggies. Bode practiced his magic tricks and got a full explanation of disco balls. When our Betty Page waitress transitioned the house CD from Wilco to Pavement, I knew there was a very good chance we’d be there for a while. Jason later referred to this as ‘subtle genius.’
It was a very slow day and everyone was happy about it. There was one occasion today when we simultaneously burst out with multiple verses from the theme song from “The Greatest American Hero“. After 15 years together, who knew? Neither of us claim to have ever watched the show, but it’s a catchy song!
In the morning, it was finally time to leave town. McKenzie Pass was next on the scenic drives list, so we finished our shopping in Bend and headed out. I wasn’t any sort of scout, so the rule about being prepared was not in my mind. When you travel around with all your possessions for a few weeks, you sort of assume you are prepared.
McKenzie Pass was not so scenic in the rain and fog, and we saw almost nothing from the Dee Wright Observatory. We did see lots of lava rock. We never really thought about Oregon having so many volcanoes, but they’re all over. On the way down from the pass, we managed a short hike to Proxy Falls. The rain had cleared during our hike, but we still got a “Where is your rain coat?” from some concerned Oregonians.
Next we headed to the fabulous camping at Belknap Springs. Well, fabulous when the weather is clear. Fortunately, they had two hot spring fed pools to keep us warm. Just about everyone spent the evening lounging around in the hot pools in a cloud of steam. You don’t really notice the raindrops.
Since it was a holiday, we were lucky to find one vacant spot. We were later told that the person before us had just got up and left after getting tired of the rain. Anway, we nestled in between two enormous rigs. California seemed to be filled with lots of rental RVs (mostly driven by people visiting from other countries), but just about everyone here was local and took their “camping” to a professional level. In our VW Bus we constantly get passed by RVs and campers larger than a San Francisco apartment.
Luckily, one of these pros took pity on our starting a fire in the rain (everything was immediately soaked) and came over with a blow torch. Ta-dah! Wet wood lights just fine with a torch - a trick we will not forget. We were all wet and a little cold outside, but old Red Beard kept us dry and warm overnight.
This was the end of a holiday weekend, so everyone was very happy when things finally cleared up the next day. After living in the Bay Area for a while, we’ve grown accustomed to the exact same pleasant weather every day for months on end. This was our first rain for the trip, so we’ll have to start paying closer attention.
We learned 2 things today: 1) check the weather and 2) we need to be better prepared for camping in the rain.
Lessons learned, we’ve already decided tomorrow is going to be AWESOME.
Posted on September 8, 2009 by jason
We spent some time in Bend and, as expected, decided we really like the place. There are great parks, multiple breweries, and it’s right smack dab in the middle of some amazing outdoors. We wandered the small ‘old’ downtown (hanging baskets on street-corners, etc) and the duck/swan/goose filled park. After stopping at the local candy shop for a PEZ refill, we met a guy who told us to head out to Todd Lake. Only 30 minutes later, we were in the Casacades near Mt. Bachelor and surrounded by amazing scenery.
Todd Lake is a great short (kid friendly) hike, but rewards you with all the stuff you imagine on some of the best hikes. A beautiful mountain lake, lush woods, open meadows, incredible vistas… the usual. Take a net and try to catch the huge dragonflys swooping around. We actually didn’t take too many photos because it was just better to enjoy it. The few we took just don’t do it justice.
We never really inteded to gush about Oregon, but we’re still trying to figure out why we’ve never been here and why everybody else doesn’t already live here. If you talk to the locals, it’s already too late and everyone in California has already moved in. I can’t imagine what it must have been like 10 years ago.
Later, we headed a bit south where we were fortunate enough to be invited for a stay on Planet Marrs. Great folks near Bend who hosted us for the night and spoiled us with everything we needed, including an enormous workshop full of every tool that I could ever need. Mental note: build a workshop bigger than the house and fill it full of toys. I managed to get a few bus projects completed (the steering wheel is mostly centered, yet another tune-up, and the fridge now slides out from under the sink so even Bode can get into it.) We arranged the visit a few days in advance, so we were also able to have a brake servo (booster) shipped out from our friend in Alameda (thanks again Kris!) and now have another project to add to the list.
I had wanted to fix my sagging rear end (hold the snarky comments) by adjusting the rear splines, but didn’t want to impose another day or open a can of worms and end up with a bigger problem than I started with. If anyone out there knows what I’m talking about (and can provide the space and tools) let us know and we’ll do some spline-adjusting over a few beers. On second thought, it might be a little dangerous, so the beers might have to wait until after.
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