Long time since I was over this way and man it is great to be back in action! Here are a few pics of the van out west. Over the past few weeks I was out in western Colorado and Moab for a week and a half for the maiden voyage and had a blast! The trails were awesome the river cool and slow and the climbs were stunning. Lots of time away from others and that was the best part! But that is for another write up. The rig worked well and I was able to dial in how to pack the interior as well as figure out what direction I want to go in next. I think I will start the 4wd conversion in the next month of so barring any unexpected issues. I have a pile of parts from Ujoint and am stoked to get rolling on it ASAP.
And for the near future....
I have been prepping for a trip to Glacier next week and as far as I can tell that is exactly why things have been going a bit sideways with the van mechanically. A few weeks ago I noticed the alternator light coming on intermittently and after running through the electrical system from the batteries, to the grounds, to the harness I discovered that the regulator was on the fritz so I was resolved to replace the alt and sure enough on last Sunday evening on my way back from the farm
(I was planning on replacing the alt the next morning) my damn check engine light came on! Pulled code P1335 -EGR valve and that set the course for researching how to fix it or delete it. Well cash is tight so I figured I'd save a bit and just clean it with carb cleaner and hope it works.
So I set to removing the accessories and hoses, brackets, and all the other nonsense that resides on top of the engine to get to the alternator and EGR when I noticed that the oil filler hose was disconnected from the valve cover and the elbow was not only cracked but missing the o-ring AND whom ever worked on it last broke the tabs off of the valve cover where this elbow would fit!
Awesome.
So yep, I ordered a new elbow, and with some creative filing and bending I was able to craft a new tab to hold the elbow. Next I noticed the serpentine belt was just about toast, so yep, had to track down a new one and replace it while I was at it. The final pain in the ass I noticed was that their was oil in the air filter! Not a ton, but enough to be an issue in the future...now to figure out if it is the seals in the turbo or something else all together!
All in all this has been a great way to learn more about the van and to be honest none of the repairs were that bad. I had the EGR, serpentine, batteries dropped, cleaned and checked, and Alternator replaced an about 10 labor hours, with the serpentine being the biggest PITA.
SO enough rambling and now we're all caught up. Wish us luck as we crawl north and I hope to post pics when we return.
Cheers and Beers