Archive for March, 2010
Posted on March 21, 2010 by jason
We’ve been lingering in PV for what feels like forever and we are really ready to get moving. Finally, we’re almost ready to go.
We had been camping under a mango tree and the fruit would fall off whenever the wind picked up throughout the day. They would hit the pop-top and make it reverberate like drum. We hadn’t been getting the best night’s sleep. Fortuntely, we were booted from our camping spot to make way for another French Canadian caravan.
When we landed in our next camping spot… it was full with another French Canadian caravan. These folks travel and they travel en masse. Nevertheless, there were a few spots still available and we pulled in between some giant RV’s. A day later, they all fired up their engines and drove off. We were essentially alone except for a few stragglers. Even better was that we were walking distance to Volks Vallarta.
I made a few more trips to see Alberto and he kept us going with parts. The new coil was holding up and kept us running, but there was something else obliviously wrong. I had pulled the plugs many times and noticed that the #1 cylinder was burning far too rich, but but the rest were fine. This made no sense to me, since #1 and #2 share the same carb and intake, so the mixture should be the same. The spark was there and everything else seemed okay. I adjusted the valves way too many times, checked for vacuum leaks the best I could, and tweaked the carbs again and again but I couldn’t figure it out.
Finally, I decided to take off the carb and manifold and just poke around and clean it up and hope for some sort of indication of what was going on. It’s still a little baffling, but I think I figured it out.
At the base of the intake manifold are the two ports. Mine are not centered. I don’t know if this is normal or if it’s a manufacturing defect. The metal seal used to connect it to the cylinder head is centered with the bolt holes. This causes the raised sealing surface to not be centered on the manifold intake ports. Of course, I’ve been driving like this the entire trip (well, since Portland) and haven’t had a problem. I must have been lucky. Other than the miles and miles of vibrating, I’m not sure what would cause it to be problematic now, but it seems to have been my leak.
I ‘fixed’ it by getting a new seal and cutting around the bolt holes with tin snips so I could center the sealing surface around the ports (rather than the bolt holes.) I’ve carried tin snips the entire trip and use them all the time – very handy.
Since I had things in pieces and was already filthy, I decided to pull off the rest of my vacuum lines and go through those as well. Seemed okay.
I put it all back together and fired it up with more signs of improvement. I had to go back and re-tune the carbs and I’m almost happy with it. The thing about tuning the carbs is that they have to be synchronized. I bought the tool way back in Canada, but it doesn’t fit the top of the carbs because of the way the filters get attached. I’ve been to hardware and plumbing stores trying to find something to use as an adapter to make it work but haven’t found anything. What works? The top half of a Pringles can. Yes, I bought the chips just to use the can.
One more thing to note. I’ve been driving the entire trip with the wrong jack and never noticed it. Every time I needed a jack, some friendly person had a floor jack or better on hand and I just used theirs. I’ve never pulled mine out from under the seat since we left. I never tried to use it before we left because I had my own floor jack. Anyway, I pulled it out to use it and it doesn’t fit. The jack insert is round and my jack points are square. Round peg into a square hole. Story of my life.
I made a few more trips to see Alberto and he kept us moving with the repairs.
Posted on March 19, 2010 by jason
We’re still in PV and held up a bit trying to take care of all of our outstanding issues. The bus is running, but still not great. I’m working on it and making more trips to Alberto’s. Also, we had shipped a package (a fairly expensive one) to ourselves at the condo several weeks ago and it never arrived. It’s simply disappeared and no one claims to know anything about it. It just hasn’t been our week (or two.) We’re still camped here and will stay until we take care of all the miscellaneous whatnot.
We’re in an RV park that’s pretty close to the center of Puerto Vallarta. But, It turns out it’s actually in the middle of Quebec. No kidding. We are the only non-French speaking people in the entire place. Instead of saying “Hola!” to everyone we meet, we now say “Bonjour!” It’s Weirdsville.
It’s not that all of Canada isn’t represented – it is. But they’re all originally from Quebec. There’s someone here with Alaskan plates, but he’s French Canadian too.
It’s actually kind of interesting – being immersed in Montreal in Mexico. It seems like we’re on an entirely different trip. But, Bode is frustrated. He’s found some kids here and tried to initiate some sort of play with them and they refuse to speak to him – literally. He’s been playing with the local Mexican kids every day with no regards to language and they have all been great. The French-Canadian kids have an attitude. He’s speaking in some taboo tongue and they literally turn around and ignore him. He even tried some Spanish to no avail. C’est la vie?
The good news is that our decision whether or not to stay at this particular campground has been made for us. We’re being evicted to make way for a giant Canadian caravan. From Quebec. A big soiree and we’re not invited. Au revoir!
Also, I was listening to The Mountain Goats today and thought I would share what is possibly the worst song lyric ever: “Our love is like the border between Greece and Albania.” This makes Neil Diamond’s “…song she sang to me, song she brang to me” sound like poetry. I think the Spice Girls had some of the worst lyrics ever (not that I would know,) but the border between Greece and Albania?
One more fun fact: You can get a roll of toilet paper and a popsicle for 10 pesos.
Posted on March 18, 2010 by jason
Like before, Julie’s visit concluded with us on the side of the road. And, like before, she wrapped it up with a guest blog post…
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Four tickets to paradise? I packed my bags that night!
Top 10 highlights from my trip to paradise … village:
10. Yoplait con manzanas.
9. Big Mac, Mc Flurry Cranky and a barrel of tequila.
8. No bug bites!
7. Paradise pants.
6. Mis alto lattes con leche entera, sin spuma.
5. Translating E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for Bode from Spanish to English while he hid behind is blanket because apparently just the music is enough to scare the paradise pants off that kid.
4. Bode commenting on his relaxing candle lit bubble bath: “There’s nothing better than this!”.
3. Swimming with Bode in the pool and the ocean, watching Bode play with his Leapster, watching Bode make a beeline for every kid he saw, watching Bode display his swimming skills for everyone in the pool who made eye contact with him (and for those who didn’t even notice him), listening to Bode spell, hearing Bode pronounce vi-o-lon-ce-llo over and over again, getting a really great hug good-bye from Bode!
2. The week’s motto: You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, except drink tequila.
1. Taxi ride to the airport – did I mention the van broke down on the way to the airport again? A curse? Deja vu? Really bad luck? Or just another day in paradise …. village.
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We’ve been thinking about starting a roaming tour guide operation. We’ll pick you up at the airport and set you up somewhere really cool and entertain you all week. At the end, we’ll break down on the side of the road and send you away in a taxi – the complete BodesWell experience for a low low price! Contact us for details 
Posted on March 17, 2010 by jason
Our week in paradise flew by and it’s back to reality. We packed up and planned on taking Julie to the airport after lunch. The problem was that the bus started acting funny a few minutes after we left the condo. Sputtering and gasping and generally sounding like a sick puppy. The farther we drove, the worse it got.
Just one day prior I decided to tune it up and get all new ignition components – coil, wires, distributor cap and rotor, plugs. It hadn’t been running 100% the past few days and I suspected the coil might be going south. It ran noticeably better after I replaced it. I was sort of proud of myself driving back to the condo that afternoon and it was running GREAT. Well, that lasted just the one day.
By the time we rolled in somewhere for lunch, I had to tell Julie that it was the end of the road. This thing was not moving until I went through everything. Since this was exactly how we parted ways with Julie the last time, she didn’t seem too surprised. Her friends are driving a crappy old VW bus.
After lunch, we waved goodbye as she sped away in a taxi and I set about going through the bus in the parking lot.
I started with the valves and went through the entire tune-up routine. After way too long, I figured out what I should have tested in the first place – the brand new one-day old coil was toast. After taking it out, for some reason I shook it and holy crap! It was full of liquid! It sounded like a water bottle! What the?! Thank goodness I saved my old one. I put it back in and we were off – still not 100% – but off to find a place to camp for the night.
I had found a VW-only shop and bought what they were selling, thinking I was just getting what was available. I found out two things. One is that they’ve never heard of a 009 distributor. The other is that they use some sort of wacko liquid-filled coil that is complete junk. Like an idiot, I went back and bought another one. It lasted 20 minutes.
Thinking I was somehow doing something wrong, I realized that the rotor I had installed was different than the rotor I had before – no ~5k resistor in this one. Was this killing the coil? I put my original rotor back in and returned to the shop for yet another coil – this time exchanging for a freebie. Guess how long it lasted? Ten minutes. How is this possible?
First, I decided I was done with this shop. I was sure they were selling me junk and I knew I should be able to do better. VW parts in Mexico? This should be easy! I was told I could find fuel pumps in the grocery stores (not true.)
I started asking around and everyone just pointed me to the nearest auto parts tienda on their corner. Every place had a coil for a VW – the same liquid-filled junk, but sometimes with a different name on it. I asked about the quality and a few shops admitted that it wasn’t a very good coil. Somehow people run these things? I insisted on a Bosch blue coil and no one could help. No one even knew where to find Bosch parts in Puerto Vallarta. Although the old air-cooled VW’s aren’t as ubiquitous as they once were down here, I’m completely confused. How are the Mexican vochos running with these parts?
Like any dork, I turn to the internet. We decided to stay put for a few days until we get everything sorted out. I search for some local VW clubs and find the Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara VW club web sites and forums and start sending emails. The next day I get an email from Francisco and he tells me I need to go find Alberto at Volks Vallarta. Just like in the US, you need a good air-cooled only shop to get good quality parts. Alberto had a blue coil and some other miscellanous parts on our list. Even better, he’s a really nice guy. He also confirmed that the 009 distributor doesn’t exist anywhere in Mexico and that the liquid-filled coil is “basura.” He insisted we stick around for a big VW show in Guiyibitos the following week, so we’re going to see if we can stay in the area. The bus isn’t currently moving, so it’s not a tough choice.
If you’re looking for quality VW parts in Puerto Vallarta, Alberto is a savior. A little information goes a long way. Find him at Volks Vallarta – Francisco Villa #389 (phone number 222-5417.)
I got all the new parts on, fixed my door handle, and even replaced my front brake pads. The front left brake was squealing and it turned out the old pad had lots of little holes in it (uneven and porous.) The right one was fine. More sub-par parts? I replaced both and everything is fine again… except I’m still not quite happy with the way the bus is running. The next task – tune it up again and look for a possible vacuum leak.
Posted on March 16, 2010 by angela
Our next day-trip was to Quimizto. Julie’s brother’s best friend’s girlfriend’s brother lived there. The problem was that we didn’t actually know his name or contact info. We decided to just go and ask around – how hard could it be?
We made it about 1 km out of the condo and – this has never happened before – something actually fell off the bus. The right rear shock. The third shock absorber to fail (hello… is there a shock sponsorship out there?) I’ve seen the bumper stickers that said ‘honk if something falls off’ on plenty of buses and always thought it was funny. I never thought it would be necessary.
If anyone recalls, we had some some major vehicle problems the last time Julie tagged along, so we figured something had to happen this time to keep our streak alive. Not too bad.
You can’t actually drive to Quimizto – you have to take a boat, so we went looking for the boat launch in Mismaloya. The thing is, there isn’t one. You can hire a boat off the beach for the day, but we just wanted a ride a few towns down the coast.
Incidentally, our guidebook said Mismaloya was a ‘don’t miss’ place to visit. We suggest otherwise.
We drove another 10 minutes south and we found Boca de Tomaltan, where we could catch a water taxi. I was on my second Pepto of the day and our family loves to put people with weak stomachs on a boat. I’d like to blame it on food, but I think it had more to do with the tequila the night before.
The boat ride was faster and bumpier than I would have liked and once we got there, there were 2 things to do: eat or ride a horse to a waterfall. Any other day the second option would sound great, but I wasn’t up to it. The others didn’t seem to interested either so we hit the restaurant on the beach.
There’s a guy holding an iguana for you to take a photo with when you get off the boat, but he apparently also works at the restaurant. He placed the iguana up on the rafters of the palapa just over Jason’s head. It was an interesting meal and we all expected something eventuful to happen with an iguana hovering over our heads, but nada. Later, the guy came and got the iguana and threw him in the ocean for a swim. They are good swimmers, but look pretty out of place in the water. “Like a swimming iguana” sounds like a great similie, but I’m not sure where I would use it.
On our way out, we saw one salty looking American guy that seemed like he might live here. It’s a small town and he din’t quite fit in with the rest of the locals. Jason went up to ask him if he was Tatiana’s brother. He was not, but he did know Julie’s brother and best friend to Tatiana’s boyfriend. Enter Andy.
Apparently, there’s an actual underground network of stoner surfer beach bums – and they all know each other. Saying we knew Steve-O was enough to let us into the network. Andy is practically a clone of Steve-O.
Andy used to work with special-needs kids until, he says, the previous Bush administration made such sweeping cuts to special education programs that he found himself out of a job with no prospects. He couldn’t find any work, so he sold everything – bought an old ambulance – and drove to Mexico. He traveled around for a few years and went as far south as Panama. He has been beach bumming and living all over Mexico ever since.
I assumed all along that the ambulance was re-painted and converted into some sort of camper with no emergency lights or anything. Thinking about it now, I’m not so sure this was case.
Anyway, Andy was a nice enough guy and offered to put us up as long as we needed (normally we’d take it, but we had luxury digs this week) and share his connections and travel advice with us. We hung out with him until our water taxi arrived and headed back to PV.
That night, Bode wanted to take advantage of our giant tub and insisted on a candle-lit bath. “It’s like a spa,” he says. “There’s nothing better than this!” I’m pretty sure Andy’s place didn’t have a spa tub.
Posted on March 15, 2010 by angela
We’ve heard great things about Sayulita and wanted to go with Julie. So, we put her in the car and drove north for the afternoon. The road heads up into the mountains and was pretty slow going. You are pretty much guaranteed to get stuck behind a long line of trucks and buses at some point. As usual, we weren’t in a hurry.
Sayulita is a cool little town with a laid-back California vibe. As Julie said, “Everyone here looks like my brother.” In other words, there are lots of Duuuuuudes. Surfers, beach bums and Rasta drum circle guys mixed with the wealthy vacationers and gringos who have been buying up the place. Many of the shops on the main drag were run by gringos for gringos – jewelry stores, art shops, etc. There were perfect English speakers everywhere, and the storefronts were a lot nicer than what we’d experienced in other towns this size. Despite the gringo-ization, there were still plenty of mom and pop shops and the town still had a pretty cool atmosphere.
The beach was pretty nice too – lots of people and lots of beach front restaurants. There were surf breaks for beginners and intermediate surfers and Jason and I checked them out a bit. We’re on vacation this week, so no surfing today We also checked out the campsites in case we return.
Coincidentally, this place has the highest number of VW buses per-capita that we’ve seen so far in Mexico. That includes Baja. We also saw our new all-time favorite bumper sticker.
We settled in at a small protected area with some tide pools filled with kids and hung out for a while. After we soaked up enough atmosphere, food and cervezas, we headed back to Puerto Vallarta with a brief stop at one of the many roadside rotisserie chicken stands on the way home. Tough day.
Posted on March 12, 2010 by jason
I got a notice from Google the other day that our Google Ads had been deactivated due to some sort of malicious activity. We’ve managed to make a few bucks from the ads, so I was a little concerned (and they hadn’t payed us yet.) It wasn’t a huge amount, but we were actually counting on this extra cash to cover some of our trip expenses.
They won’t tell us what we’re being blamed for – it’s supposedly all proprietary. As far as I know, we’re not doing anything malicious – unless logging on from a different location every day just blows their mind. So, I did the only thing I could possibly do. I filled out an online form to appeal their automated “decision.”
The next day, I got an automated response:
After thoroughly reviewing your account data and taking your feedback into consideration, we’ve re-confirmed that your account poses a significant risk to our advertisers. For this reason, we’re unable to reinstate your account. Thank you for your understanding.
They thoroughly reviewed our account? We’re a risk to Google? Their advertisers? They keep all the money we supposedly earned for putting their silly ads in front of our readers? We have no ability to do anything about it? Thanks for understanding?
You suck, Google.
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