Trip to New Hampshire

[djkeev]

Well off I went!
Didn’t know I was going until noon.
Went home, hastily packed and off I went!
I beat a path to East Stroudsburg Pa where I picked up 209 along the Delaware River and through the National Park to Milford Pa.
Got some gas (18.2 mpg!!) and continued on 209 into Port Jervis NY.
I stayed on 209 following the D&H canal and ended up in Kingston NY

There I got rt 199 and crossed the Hudson River.
By now it was dark.
I stayed on 199 until it ended at rt 44.

Followed 44 into Connecticut until I grabbed Rt 8 into Massachusetts.
Eventually I found a sign to a State Park where I’m grabbing some shut eye.
First night in the Van!

The Van is running well….. knock on wood…….

Tomorrow I’ll map out my route staying off the highways. I figure I’ve got 3-4 hours yet to go.
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[E1]

Congrats Dave, long time coming, have fun!
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[Abscate]

Colebrook lake pull off on Route 8 right at the CT MA border….beautiful

_________________
.ssS!

[mtnhome]

It's always good to get out on the road. Glad all your work on the van is paying off.
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'84 Westy, '93 Subaru ej22 and Subarugears 5speed
Build thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=763098&highlight=

[dhaavers]

Wonderful, windshield time!

Solo trip?

- Dave
_________________
86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[djkeev]

Yes, this was a solo trip.
My Wife hasn't been up to traveling and I knew this going to be a fairly fast trip.

Our Buddy Duncan (of cutting the roof off his van and making a canvas roof fame) hasn't been feeling well.

He asked me Monday about noon if I could come and see him.
We've been meaning to get together for years but instead have been emailing, talking on the phone and in the forums.
He's kind of an older brother from another Mother type person. A lot in common and we've worked through a lot of problems and stupid ideas together.
It is a good thing we don't live near each other or the trouble we would create!

Anyway, I was on the road by 4PM Monday.
A hasty packing job and hasty travel kit preparation.

Off I went!

Some photos.....

Approaching the Matamoras Pa to Port Jervis NY bridge over the Delaware River

Rusty old thing

Dark had long fallen before I left NY into Connecticut......

I drove through Connecticut and into Massachusetts before I stopped for the night at Tolland State Park. Just off of Rt 8

(Abscate, I must have driven by that lake in the Dark)

The campground gates were shut and locked so I spent the night in the boat launch parking area. (I later found out that they don't open until mid May)
It got COLD!
By morning it was just 25° and I hadn't planned for Winter camping.
The blankets I had grabbed were meager at best. My feet were freezing.

Come morning I realized I had put an old fleece blanket in the Van for the dog, if only I had remembered........

Anyway, on the road by 5AM and headed North on 8 I got gas along the way and beat a path NE to grab US 5 into Vermont.
Along that route I found a nice pull over spot along a creek.
I had some service items to check out. Oil levels and look for leaks.
Before leaving I had rigged up a oil captive bottle to get the leak from my weep hole ( another story) it was full!
So I drained it and refilled the differential

From that point I checked it for being full every 100 miles or so but it never filled again...... 🤷‍♂️

I did try out my fancy new Stove though.... THANKS DAVE!
And the pots my Brother had given me...... GSI Pinnacle Camper set ...

https://gsioutdoors.com/products/pinnacle-camper

Sausage and scrambled eggs.

This was my first meal of several, I didn't buy any prepared foods at all.

My coffee maker, a MyJo worked quite well and was easy to use.
It uses pods but punctures a sizable hole in the foil top. It isn't perfectly neat for some grounds do get out of the pod.
But it is simple to use, put in the hot water, put on the rubber lid and pump it slowly about four times or so. A good fast cup of coffee....

And then on US 5 that sign from the gods!
WELCOME TO VERMONT

Little did I know how long I was going to be in Vermont or I wouldn't have been so excited......
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[E1]

How fun, and really good for you.

So much work for so little travel, that stops NOW. Enjoy!
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[djkeev]

Vermont!

What can I say?
I LOVERMONT.......

I've wanted to live in Vermont since I was but a small chid.
Later, My girlfriend and I planned about a life together in Vermont.
Once married we even moved to OREGON...... wait! What?

Ah well..... life happens.....
we've never lived in Vermont, probably never will live in Vermont.
We've dumped a lot of vacation cash in Vermont over the years.........

Anyway...... i was up above Brattleboro when I thought "this Van is running good, let's make some time and hop on I-91!)

I merged onto the highway...... yeah..... merged..... there isn't any traffic to speak of...... and off I went!
I was being modest ...... 60 mph +/-
Then it happened..... a small buck....... a miss...... another one and another one.... an exit came up and I took it!
At the end of the ramp it stalled.
I got it started and pulled off the road..... puzzled.

Water?
Nah! I got gas, what? About 80 miles ago? Water problems rear its ugly head quite soon after fueling with bad gas.

Bad plug?
Bad wires?
I had new plugs, I put one in....... it ran slightly better so off I went, north on US 5.
After awhile it got worse and worse...... I stopped again and examined the wires. I failed to bring electric tape but I had a roll of rescue tape and insulated any suspect areas rubbing steel or aluminum. ......
no joy....... ran like crap.

I started pulling wires out of the cap..... only #2 presented no change in running.

Did I burn a valve?

I puzzled for awhile, started it up and it ran better .... off I went!
After awhile I decided to try to go again....... the longer it ran the worse it got.

I found a good spot to stop and thought I'd check for a bent pushrod or an exploding lifter.......
I popped the valve covers...... everything was straight and tight! Good news but oh crap!
I kept going back to a burnt valve but why does it run better after cooling off?

But.... it ran better once again..... off I went!

I crossed the River into New Hampshire and there was a road side rest so once again I stopped.
I looked again and figured that I'd let it cool off and go again.

Organized the Van, made a cup of coffee......

Up pulls a pickup with FASTENAL emblazoned across the side.
Inside sat a jovial woman asking "are you broken down?" ..... I did have the rear led up and engine cover off.
She went on to say that she has an 82 with a Turbo diesel in it and stops for VW's in distress as she travels for work.
She asked if I needed a mechanic, which I said no......but later took her recommendations down on paper.....
we talked a bit and shared some info and off she went.
Good people those Vanagon owners!

Again when cooled it ran well enough......
I only had 30 more miles to Duncan's house!
I can make it!
It did OK for 10 of them..... it started running really bad and I pulled off into an old cemetery on a hill.

I opened things up..... looked things over and decided to call Steve... Dabaron.

We chatted, compared his burnt valve experiences and they pretty much matched mine.
He was encouraging that I can do this so off I went once more.

This time I made it to Duncans!
I visited for a few hours, we sat in the sun on his deck and watched his grandchildren play, we swapped stories, we talked about what we could have done had we met 30 years ago, we showed each other our Vans and dreamed of tasks not yet started or completed!

This may be the ONLY photo of me on thesamba...... I am the blue shirt..... Duncan? He isn't well and got out of bed for my visit!

Duncan's Van

My Van

All too soon he tired and I made my goodbyes.......

As I walked to my Van I thought.... how am I going to get home?
It is almost 500 miles!
He isn't well enough for me to impose, to stay and diagnose this thing a bit, though his Wife insisted I spend the night...... but they had some family there..... I didn't want to create any problems or put them out.

I mulled over my options..... how will I get home if it goes totally dead?

I have a friend in Burlington....... can I make it across Vermont running so poorly?

As I climbed in and turned the key I decided that damn the torpedoes! I'm heading home...... every mile I travel is one less mile that I need to travel back to rescue the Van later.

I traveled past Dartmouth College in heavy city traffic with many traffic lights and delays.
The Van idled well enough, I was pleased.

I crossed the River into White River Junction, I was told that Bill a great VW mechanic is there.......
I found US 5 and headed South.

Strange..... it was running better...... much better ......
Burnt valves don't heal themselves!

Could it have been water?
But why did water problems present itself so long after a fill up, and why on the interstate at higher speeds before it acted up?

The farther I drove, the better it ran!

I stopped for gas...... I didn't want to shut it off so I used my spare gas cap key.
Filled it up and off I went!
It was 80 miles later that it occurred to me...... I left my gas cap on top of the pump! Crap!
Well, I'm not driving 160 miles there and back for a $40 gas cap!

I drove across the mountains to Bennington VT
Where to sleep?
It was dark .....
I'm exhausted......
Then I saw it......
A big blue H with an arrow.
A hospital parking lot!
How much safer and quieter can you get?
A tad over lit but I parked amongst but not near other cars and zonked out.
I actually slept to almost 7:30! I never sleep that late!

I really need to put the D Pillar cover back on, this is what greeted my groggy eyes as they opened ..... A/C electrics......

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[E1]

Sorry to hear Duncan’s not well.

So you think water in gas? We had that in February, ran fine then suddenly not, wanted to stall and sometimes did, smelled super rich, very-hot outlet temp on the catalytic, very hot exhaust from tailpipe… 800F catalytic outlet instead of the usual 500-600, and 300+ hotter than inlet instead of normal 100-150.

Good Luck!
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[djkeev]

[djkeev]

I think I'm going to change the fuel filter, maybe while I was at Duncans the water all settled to the bottom of the fuel filter?

I really don't know why it ran better, but a visit with Duncan and his wife fixed my Van!

A new mecca! Let's all go visit the Syme family and their magical Van healing powers!


Edit.....
The more I think about it, I probably just burned up the last of the water on the last push to Duncans?
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[E1]

We ended up running two doses of red Heet and one of Lucas injector cleaner to solve ours over a hundred miles.

Another hundred later, same thing, same two products, about 500 miles since with not a single misfire.

It’d be fun to keep going after all this wait and work to get this far. I know it’s creepy, but consider we haven’t had a refuge to return to over all these years and the risk in your case is more than worth the reward of some time away.

You might put the additives in and run it enough to get all the way to the injectors, then let it go to work overnight. If still wary, travel in a circle to not extend the distance home and see what happens.

Buy a nice steak or sundae as reward.
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[djkeev]

To continue.......
after a good nights rest in the hospital parking lot I studied the map (yeah, those paper things)

Interesting news report about paper maps...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_R_bqfhPSw

and decided to pick up rt 7 out of town and run south through Massachusetts and Connecticut. Eventually cutting into New York and over the Hudson into Kingston.

But........ in my abundance of over sleep or stupidity I input info into the GPS ..... I ended up on NY 7 which went into schenectady NY...... oh crap!
I'm not sure how much better GPS is than paper and reading highway signs..... if at all?

So much for my quiet country drive stopping to make breakfast at some scenic vista.......
I was now in the heart of rush hour commuter Hell!!

I found a Home Depot, picked up a few items such as a home made fuel cap because it had started to rain....... (garbage bag and zip ties)

I determined at Home Depot that my best course of action meant a hasty retreat from Hell!
That meant the NY Thruway South.

The Van has been running good...... quite good.
I distain freeway travel......
I do have my EZPass stuck on the windshield...... (mainly for bridges into NJ)
Can I risk a limited access highway?
Sure! Why not?

And off I went!
NY Thruway to Kingston, about 50 miles........ all went well, very well, not so much as a burp!
I was that annoying old man putzing along in the right lane doing the speed limit or less than!
Fortunately the Thruway wasn't at all busy.
Talk about baptism by fire!

Once in Kingston I was in familiar territory, not home but often traveled over the past 7 decades.

I got gas in Ellensville, even shutting off the engine!

My fuel mileage?
Past three fill ups, even running crappy......

19.25mpg
18.97 mpg
19.67 mpg

I'm almost touching 20!

Darn good for a 2.1 automatic!
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[djkeev]

At Port Jervis I decided to take Rt 97 to the Roebling Bridge and revisit my old stomping grounds in the Poconos.

On the way out of Port Jervis is a hamlet called Hawks Nest, there used to be a restaurant perched on the gorges edge, great views! Mediocre food..... but sadly that burned down awhile ago.

Here I am on a pull out on the way to Hawks nest. This is the Delaware River down in the gorge.
The road is literally carved into a clear shear cliff face.
BMW filmed a commercial here years ago about how well their cars handled and braked.......

That is always a fun ride! Narrow and twisty.

Anyway, I continued on into Barryville NY
I built a house on the river here decades ago..... it is for sale today! I guess they don't like it ?

https://www.homes.com/property/3608-state-route-97-barryville-ny/exs81m3vc770z/

I went up to the Roebling bridge.
This is a suspension bridge built by Roebling ( think brooklyn bridge) but it was built to carry the D&H canal acoss the Delaware, not cars.
Today it is a funky old car bridge where you ride down where the water was with the tow path up above.
It has been modified and rebuilt over the years, but what a funky old bridge!
My daughters best friend lived in an old house just to the left of the bridge, below the church steeple. Only an hour from our home..... you couldn't find a friend closer to home?!?

Once across we have one of the homes of Zane Grey, the famous american author.......

After that it was a leisurely driven along the Lackawaxen River and into Hawley, past my kids schools on Lake Wallenpaupack, South along the lake into Newfoundland, up the hill on Huckleberry Rd and past my old house, then I beat a path home towards Reading.

All told, a smidgen over 950 miles in 48 1/2 hours...... but I got 18-19 mpg! That made it a tad less painful!

A great post rebuild road test!
I'd get in tomorrow and go again..... once I pack a better long distance mechanical travel kit!
Having a compression tester on board would have alleviated so many fears.
My spare injectors, a comfort .......
electrical tape, duct tape, more zip ties....... etc.
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[Sodo]

And your van fixed itself.
Big wishes that Duncan can do the same.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[skills@eurocarsplus]

nice trip sir

Sorry to learn Duncan isn't doing well. I wish him a speedy recovery
_________________

[dobryan]

Dave, Awesome trip! It's always nice when they are running better when you get back than when you left.

Duncan, healing energy sent your way.
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

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[djkeev]

As pretty as New England is...... I can't complain about being home in the Oley Valley

I live up atop that hill in front .....

My road

And be it ever so humble....... home

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[E1]

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‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[jimf909]

Thanks for the wonderful morning read, trip report, product review and photos.

Here's hoping Duncan is posting back-of-envelope sketches that solve problems soon.
_________________
- Jim