Summer Update #12, Time to Beat the Heat

It has been a while since my last update. We took an impromptu shake down trip to Colorado, Arkansas, and Missouri over the last two weeks.  Managed to escape the heat for a while. It was quite successful overall, but I am regretting returning to the heat here. 118F with heat index today…

Prior to the trip we mounted 2 spice racks that Jen built. We used the same polyurethane as the table and countertops. They turned out good.



We packed just about everything for the trip. Still had lots of space left, I need to work more on organization aids for the under bed storage.



Great Plains, They can be boring after 10 hours.



One morning I noticed a few drips of oil under the van. Further investigation showed the skid plates and right front wheel well coated. I eventually traced the leak down to the lower trans cooler fitting.





I must have loosened it accidentally when I was moving the lines around in order to replace the harmonic balancer. It was only ¼ turn loose! But that was enough to cause 1/2 quart of loss over less than one thousand miles. I also had a loose hose clamp on a coolant line which caused a few drips, easily remedied with a screwdriver.

Another discovery on this trip, is that the radiator fan clutch was inoperative. It does not lock up at any temperature, and it has much less resistance when hot. With some conservative driving the electric fan was sufficient thankfully. I replaced the original unit once we got back home. I managed to only cut a couple of knuckles.



Here are some photos from the trip.





 

Some days I miss my vanagon. If there was a 21st century version available in the USA, I would considering buying one. But for now, I am happy with my sprinter.

We are getting really close to warping up major van projects.  The big ones left are:

• Inside shower curtain
• Finish window coverings
• Replace Solar Panels
• Re-coat and install Aux Fuel Tank

Soon!