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July (18) Boom or Bust Locations

FlyingVan

FlyingVan

Moderator
Staff member
Owner/Operator
Wow, 37 years. Congratulations to all of you. Wish you many more.

We just celebrated our 8th anniversary last month. It would be interesting to me to hear how you husbands managed to hold your marriages together for all those years.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
 
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Grizzly

Grizzly

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
FlyingVan said:
I tried to drive my old Sprinter the other day to take some trash to the dump. Started up just as good as always, but when I left, the brake pedal didn't feel right, so I turned around to investigate. By the time I got back home the Brake light came on the dash. Parked it, looked under the hood, nothing abnormal other than low brake fluid. Crawled underneath and brake fluid was pouring from above the fuel tank. Coudn't see the line though, but I am sure it rusted to the point it made a hole in it. Now I am debating if I should fix it so I can drive it once every month or two, or just lay her down to rest. She has been very good to me, but the harsh northern winters left a mark on her all over. 790k miles.
Click to expand...

Well, that sucks ....
When the time comes, I'll have a tough time putting my van down.

I had two somewhat minor repairs this spring that I suspect were due to deicing fluid from this winter. That stuff does wonders to roads when the weather is inclement and in the single digits .... but man it's corrosive.

A couple of months back I was heading east on I10 to Cali ... wee hours of the morning. I was about 5 min from pulling into Fort Stockton for fuel & I noticed a very faint high whirling sound. Whirling, hissing ... I wasn't sure if I was actually hearing something or not! Pulled in for fuel & only thing I could think of was checking that turbo hose that runs from the turbo to the air filter housing. The one that loosens up occasionally. It felt tight on the turbo. I took it off and tightened it up anyway. Got fuel & off I went ...
Within like 30 min I realized a had a vacuum leak ... *&^%$#@!!!!!!! Ahhhh! I lost boost at some point & limped into that Loves station in Van Horn. Before I called in the cavalry I got my flashlight & decided to go hunting. Somehow found it ... air intercooler hose had a crack in it ... a nice sized crack. Not sure if it's the intake or output, the one on the driver's side. Removed it. Decided to wash my face, clear my head a bit and see if I could fix it. The sun was coming up ...

airhose.jpg

The "junk drawer" in my Sprinter is the storage under the passenger seat. After emptying the contents out, and looking at a dizzying collage of stuff ... I realized I had something in there I had completely forgotten about. Wrap-fix tape! I couldn't remember when or why I bought it. Now looking back, I guess I bought it for that exact moment.

wrap-fix.jpg

I also had some thin cord, so I decided to wrap it. First cord, then tape ...

airhose2.jpg

airhose4.jpg

I was pleased. It looked good. Would it hold? ..... Yep! It sure did. Now rolling down I10 again question was .. how long would it hold? I needed to replace it. I needed to replace both air hoses, on each side of the engine.

Of course, it was Sunday. Where the heck was I gonna find those parts on a flippin' Sunday!? I started making calls. I found an AutoZone in El Paso that's open 24/7, it's on Lee Trevino .... and .... wait for it ....... they had both parts in stock! :D This store is impressive. It took them about 15 min to get the parts. Apparently they have off-site storage. Who knows how many buildings they have as warehouses? With the crowd in there on an early Sun morning, I got the feeling I could ask for just about any part and they would have it.

The newer version of these hoses is re-engineered. More robust hose and beefier clamps on each end. Dorman product ... total for both was like $220

dorman.jpg

Now it was time to play three card monte with the clerk ....
me: Can you guys give me the 10% discount I normally get at my local store?
clerk: yeah, sure ...
me: Can you price match the price online?
clerk: Which price online?
me: Any price ...
clerk: Nah, we can't do that. We can match our local competitor.
me: OK, who's your local competitor?
clerk: O'reilly
me: OK, let's look it up ...

Between us looking up prices on our phones, all the people in the store, me telling this guy my whole ordeal, the price override from the manager ... the final price rang up at $144. o_O I handed over my credit card ...

I happily replaced both hoses in the parking lot. The hose I repaired didn't appear that it would have lasted very long. The rubber portion of the hose was tearing away from the clamp all around the edge. Also, I suspect in my zeal I may have wrapped it a bit too tight.

wrapped.jpg


So, am I suggesting you should get yourself some Wrap-Fix for something as important as a brake line?
Maybe ...... idk .... I'm not a mechanic.
All I know is I gotta get another roll of that stuff to keep in my van.

790K is impressive ....
 
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C

coalminer

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
FlyingVan said:
I tried to drive my old Sprinter the other day to take some trash to the dump. Started up just as good as always, but when I left, the brake pedal didn't feel right, so I turned around to investigate. By the time I got back home the Brake light came on the dash. Parked it, looked under the hood, nothing abnormal other than low brake fluid. Crawled underneath and brake fluid was pouring from above the fuel tank. Coudn't see the line though, but I am sure it rusted to the point it made a hole in it. Now I am debating if I should fix it so I can drive it once every month or two, or just lay her down to rest. She has been very good to me, but the harsh northern winters left a mark on her all over. 790k miles.
Click to expand...

Glad you made it back home before it really let loose. That leak happened to me once when I was driving, thankfully I was empty but both lines blew out, the only thing that stopped me was the emergency brake. A few months before that the rear end went out and I replaced it with a used one from a junkyard in Florida so the parking brake cables actually worked, boy was i glad it worked. I ended up replacing the rusted lines but there was so much rust everywhere else I sold it to Wayne in Toledo, I wonder how many parts from the old beast are on other vans.....

If it wasn’t for the rust I would still have that sprinter, would have turned it into a camper van.


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Grizzly

Grizzly

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
coalminer said:
FlyingVan said:
I tried to drive my old Sprinter the other day to take some trash to the dump. Started up just as good as always, but when I left, the brake pedal didn't feel right, so I turned around to investigate. By the time I got back home the Brake light came on the dash. Parked it, looked under the hood, nothing abnormal other than low brake fluid. Crawled underneath and brake fluid was pouring from above the fuel tank. Coudn't see the line though, but I am sure it rusted to the point it made a hole in it. Now I am debating if I should fix it so I can drive it once every month or two, or just lay her down to rest. She has been very good to me, but the harsh northern winters left a mark on her all over. 790k miles.
Click to expand...

Glad you made it back home before it really let loose. That leak happened to me once when I was driving, thankfully I was empty but both lines blew out, the only thing that stopped me was the emergency brake. A few months before that the rear end went out and I replaced it with a used one from a junkyard in Florida so the parking brake cables actually worked, boy was i glad it worked. I ended up replacing the rusted lines but there was so much rust everywhere else I sold it to Wayne in Toledo, I wonder how many parts from the old beast are on other vans.....

If it wasn’t for the rust I would still have that sprinter, would have turned it into a camper van.


Sent from my iPhone using EO Forums
Click to expand...

Camper .... yep!
Or if you have the room .. put it up on blocks and make it a man cave ...
 
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