Praia do Amor
That idyllic ferry raft crossing didn’t end so well. For the last week or so, we haven’t been able to start the car after it’s warmed up.
So, we’ve spent a lot of time at gas stations. First, pushing the bus away from the pumps, then waiting exactly 22 minutes for her to start again.
Obviously, we had to tip a little extra when we needed a push off the raft to get back on land. We waited the 20 minutes before driving just a bit farther to Love Beach.
While the main town of Pipa is chic and touristy, there are plenty of camping options just outside of town. Upon arrival we were met by about 20 Argentine hippies wanting to check out our bus. It was actually a little overwhelming, and I feel bad that we were still a bit befuddled about being stuck on the ferry to be loquacious–in Spanish.
Nevertheless, they were all super cool, especially Hernan, who was responsible for the mechanics of the German VW that he and 3 others (many times more, plus a few dogs) had been traveling in for 15 months. The other folks belonged to the super-cool old Mercedes bus, on which they projected movies most nights.
The nights were finally windy, cool and insect free. Unfortunately, the days were windless and hot as hell – 4 showers a day hot – walking to the bathroom induces a full sweat hot. So hot, that we could barely accomplish anything in a day.
For Bode, watching a Japanese movie dubbed into Portuguese, projected onto the side of an old school bus, with a bunch of Argentinean hippies, on top of a cliff overlooking the sea… yeah, that’s normal.
Just a reminder of Texas in August. Stay cool.
Our Vanagon did the exact same thing! I asked our mechanic about the symptom of a starter that works when the engine is cold and then is balky when it is hot, and he theorized that there was a decrease in magnetism induced by the generated heat, resulting in a solenoid that fails to engage the pinion gear over the required range of motion. I don’t know enough about physics (I finished Physics 2B with a fine grade, which makes me a dangerous amateur!), but I do have two contacts at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena! Hope this helps; at least you are still on Earth! Maybe this “theory” will lead to a solution? Best of luck!
This is gonna be my favourite post.
What a view!
What a feeling!
My armchair two cents worth guess is a vapor lock as your warm engine start issue.
Some ideas:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=521300
Just looking at your route. The “thinking about where we want to go” from before the journey is starting to dangerously look like the one of the “actual” route. Way to go gang!
Thinking of you…
Ghislain
Hi guys, as a fail-safe, I usually wire a jumper so I can start the bus from the engine compartment. You can buy these that have a push button, or you can just wire a jumper wire from the spare spade on the starter and touch it directly to the + battery. Key forward in run position up front. Just make sure you are in neutral (BTDT)!!
If it starts fine with the jumper, you have something going on with your ignition switch.