Failed smog, burst coolant hose, panic and 12 days in the desert - Burning Man 2016

All packed and on the road

Once again (11th time), I made the journey to the Black Rock Desert to attend the Burning Man festival.  And I took my 1993 VW Eurovan Weekender for the 5th time.

In preparation for my trip, I had to get my EV smogged.  Well, that turned into quite a task.  I realized that I had a small oil leak, a small coolant leak, failed smog cause of NOx, and several other issues.

Ultimately, I had to get a new catalytic converter to pass for NOx and install the "resistor fix".  In the past, I was running rich and out of tune, due to bad timing... therefore the cat was not effective.  During the replacement, the tech noticed that my manifold has a small hairline crack.  He showed me.  Luckily, it was not in an area that would cause a red flag with smog check.  He also pointed out that there was a missing support for the exhaust which could have contributed to the stress on the manifold (which I'll deal with both later).

After getting a new cat, I thought I'd pass smog without any issue.  I received advice about keeping the EV "hot" to burn fuel better and have a better chance of passing.  I ran it over to a 2nd smog check place recommended by the tech, and this time it failed on CO, and by a lot.  The CO numbers didn't even correspond to my first failed test when I failed on NOx... they were much higher.

At this point, I was starting to worry about being able to drive my house on wheels to Burning Man.  I continued my research on smog failures, and oddly enough, now a suggestion from an online EV peer about a "resistor fix" became a real solution.  The idea of making a vehicle hot to burn the fuel more doesn't apply to a Eurovan, per se.  Cause the Eurovan will go into a rich mode if the temp is detected high, which is the case when airflow is limited in a smog check bay as opposed to driving on the street.  You can read up on the "resistor fix" to learn more about the symptoms.

So I dropped my EV off at Paradise Motorsports with a list of items, smog "resistor fix" being number one and the coolant leak number two.  They kind of dropped the ball cause they were so busy at the time, and with one day before my departure they said they had completed the smog and fixed the coolant leak.  They didn't complete the other work I had requested, and I was a bit frustrated with them.  Anyway, I picked up the EV and drove it about 3 miles at which point my coolant light came on and some steam started coming from my hood.

I pulled over and the EV was pissing coolant onto the ground.  I called them, and they said to bring it over first thing in the am.

Luckily, the guys at Paradise Motorsports (formerly VW Paradise) are gearheads.  An S shaped coolant hose had burst, and they couldn't find a local replacement.  So they fabricated one.  Concerned, I drove off and tried to push the EV.  Knowing that I was departing that night, I upgraded my AAA membership to Premier, just in case.

Thule Evolution 1800 & Roadshower mounted on VW poptop

I finally moved my rack mounts to be able to put my Thule Evolution 1800 box on top (they were spread too wide before).

I've also created a VW poptop rack survey to collect information about how much weight people carry, type of racks, mounting locations, etc.  Take the survey here - https://goo.gl/forms/ua3Z4JOYI5Mg9cCB2
Responses (must submit to see up to date responses, summary as of 4/25/17 at bottom of this page) : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1w5b0L4BrxVAlZeBVkwkjfFkiHRwS_LqRTyBfaxWlfLo/viewanalytics

Some photos

VW Poptop rack survey

23 responses

Do you have a VW poptop with a rack on top?(23 responses)

Yes	18
No	5

Is you rack mounted on the side or top of your poptop?(23 responses)

Side (rail type mounts)	8
Top (track type mounts)	12
Other	3

What is the manufacturer of your rack?(20 responses)

Thule	5
Yakima	14
Other	1

What type of stuff do you put on your poptop rack?(22 responses)

Value	Count
Cargo box/basket/bag	16
Surfboards	7
Kayak/canoe	10
Bikes	3
Materials (hauling, etc.)	5
Other	5

How many pounds do you estimate your AVERAGE load is on your poptop?(20 responses)

0-10 lbs	0
10-20 lbs	0
20-30 lbs	0
30-50 lbs	6
50-75 lbs	10
75-100 lbs	1
100-125 lbs	2
125-150 lbs	1
150-175 lbs	0
175-200 lbs	0
200 or more lbs	0

How many pounds do you estimate your MAXIMUM load has been on your poptop?(19 responses)

0-10 lbs	0
10-20 lbs	0
20-30 lbs	0
30-50 lbs	1
50-75 lbs	2
75-100 lbs	5
100-125 lbs	3
125-150 lbs	5
150-175 lbs	2
175-200 lbs	1
200 or more lbs	0

Have you ever had any damage to your poptop because of your rack or load on it?(20 responses)

Yes	1
No	19

Driving location & suspension (on/off road, OEM, Bilsteins or other)(8 responses)

on road, extra heavy duty bilsteins

on road, extra heavy duty bilsteins

On and off road, original suspension

Bilsteins

OEM

mostly paved go west conversion package

Mostly on road or mild off road. Nokian XL

Highways, but also Burning Man

If yes to the damage question, please explain the situation and damage.(4 responses)

mine is a 2003 weekender not a winnie top and have had no issues with it

roof cracked without any load. Replaced with fiberglass roof. No problems since.

Important question not asked: Use - Baja travel or city streets etc. Thanks!

Also, you should ask if people pop the top with the (empty) carrier still on...

VW Eurovan door light switch repair

I noticed that my interior light wasn't coming on when I opened the front doors.  A bit annoying.  Well, today I came across the solution from "mvinny3000" on Youtube.  Problem solved.  I did the two front doors.  The sliding door I actually had disconnected since I often leave it open when camping.

Poptop lift assist struts installed

I recently purchased a Thule Evolution 1800 cargo box from Craigslist in order to store/carry more stuff when camping/road tripping.

With the added weight on top, I decided to purchase the GoWesty poptop lift assist kit to make opening the poptop easier.  http://www.gowesty.com/product-details.php?v=&id=24205

The kit arrived, and I was eager to get started.  The instructions were a bit lacking in detail.  The first issue I hit was regarding drilling a hole for the mounting brackets.  Instructions state to place the bracket just in front of the existing rear hinges, yet there is a rivet there.  I was able to find just enough surface to set it, mark, and drill.  FYI - a small starter hole with a drill bit is helpful rather than solely relying on the self tapping screw.

But, on the first drill I went through a layer of metal and then hit another one below.  Not knowing if this was meant to be, I decided to stop.  I called and emailed, and then received a callback the next day.

GoWesty checked another Weekender and admitted that there was a rivet.  He said I could drill it out, but he also said that the second layer of metal below is normal.  Thus, I decided to leave in the location I chose.  I drilled the remaining rear mount bracket holes and installed them with the provided self tapping screw.




Next, I attached the struts to the balls on the installed mounts and to the front ball mounts as well.  Then, with the poptop up, I marked where the front mounts should be installed (the struts come extended, and are nearly impossible to compress by hand which I confirmed with GoWesty, I wasn't sure about this cause I thought that maybe they'd compress and lock for smaller shipping packages... not the case).

So knowing that the struts were at full extension, I drilled and then inserted the bolts/washers from the top.  Then, I went back inside, and I was able to thread the nut/washer and hand tightened.  Next, I gently closed the poptop for the first time with the struts lightly secured.  Now that the top was down, I was able to hold the nut on the inside of the EV while reaching on top with a socket to tighten.

I tightened to a light torque on just one bolt with the 2nd front bolts hand tightened.  I still need to get some silicone to seal the outside bolt/washer as advised by GoWesty.

I opened and closed the poptop several times.  I'm quite impressed by the amount of lift assistance this provides.  I'm eager to load up the Thule next.

Almost done... just need to hit the hardware store tomorrow for the silicone and then final tighten the bolts.

More insulation for my van

Updated: 6/29/16 - Watch and listen to a short video that compares three areas of the EV with different states of insulation/sound deadening (rear hatchback with FatMat & denim, read driver's side panel with FatMat only, and middle panel area with table with nothing)


My 1993 Eurovan Weekender is a bit noisy while driving (ambient and road noise).  There have been a variety of reasons for this including bad shocks, missing window molding, misc rattles inside, etc.

So I've had a constant goal to make it more comfortable and quieter.  This past weekend I did more FatMat in the front passenger door and denim insulation in the sliding door and rear hatchback door.  The removal of the panels from the doors is relatively easy, especially if you've done it before.  In addition to the sound dampening, I expect some better insulation for maintaining a comfortable temperature while camping/sleeping and even driving.

Next up, I intend to figure out how to remove the interior panels along the driver's side near the table to the rear and other back panel as well.

Here are a couple of photos.

VW Eurovan Westy poptop cleaning

It has been a while since I cleaned the poptop of my Westy.

My project for today was to clean it.  I bought the recommended Fiberglass Oxidation Remover and 303 Aerospace protectant from GoWesty (their prices were competitive with other online vendors).

Here is a photo of one section before.  Notice all the oxidation and spots.

With a few rags, an orbital and some elbow grease, I was able to do the poptop in less than an hour.  Here is the end result.  I sprayed it with the 303 protectant as well.

 

1.5" lift of my Eurovan

My Eurovan was loaded up pretty heavy on my 2015 trip to Burning Man from San Diego.  It was evident that with the already low clearance and the upgrade 16" wheels and larger tires that it was riding quite close to the wheel well in the rear.

A lot of Eurovan owners, GoWesty, and Cole Ford from CaveVan have all mentioned or installed a lift.  I decided it was time.

First, you need the spacers for the rear (the front is simply adjusted with a special socket to adjust the front torsion bars).  The rear spacers can be purchased from CaveVan or GoWesty.  I got mine from CaveVan because Cole Ford has been very helpful in the Eurovan groups over the years.  The spacers are essentially a high grade, dense plastic ring that go in between the body and the spring.

It is obvious that the spacers go on the top of the spring.  There are a couple of ways to do the installation (leave wheel/tire on or take it off), and I used both because I didn't realize that the spacers need to go on top of the existing OEM rubber spacer.  So I did the process twice.

For installation, the first step is to remove the bolt on the underside of the shock.


Next you need to jack the Eurovan up to the point that the wheel comes off the ground.  (or if you took the wheel off, then ensure the suspension arm is at its bottom most point)


See now that the suspension arm is down that the spring can be removed with a little pulling.


Next, remove the top OEM rubber pad/spacer (notice the keyed area for the spring to sit in).  Then insert your lift spacers above (mine are white, shown in photo).  Also note that the bottom spring pad has  keyed area for the spring to sit in.  Be sure to line those areas up so the spring sits properly (top and bottom).


Start lowering jack (wheel should be back on if you removed it... or I guess you could jack the suspension arm up, but I probably wouldn't do it that way).  Ensure that the shock slips into the correct location.  Then put shock bolt/bushing/washer back on and tighten.  You're done.  After doing it twice, I could probably do it again in 15 minutes total.



I have not received my special socket (27mm and very deep) to finish adjustment of the front torsion bars.  But, ultimately, I will bring the Eurovan level and closely monitor alignment and the CV axles/joints for any vibration caused by the angle change.