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There are a number of people I want to thank for their help over the
past week. Matt, Brian O'Kelly and THE BUG MAN. Here's the story:
On Friday Kim and I were getting geared up for a week long camping trip
in Big Bear Mountain (near LA). We had the site reserved and the map planned
out. At the last minute we decided to take our 67 Bus. It seemed to run ok
and it wouldn't be the longest trip we have made in an old VW (in 95 we drove
to AZ in our 69 Bug). So, we prepped some stuff on Saturday and got ready
to blast off on Sunday. Sunday rolled around and we did final touch ups and
waited until about 3 or 3:30pm to take off. We hit the road and headed south
on 101. Everything seemed fine until we got close to Paso Robles. That's
when the trouble brought us to a screeching halt. We pulled off 101 and into
Paso. We worked our way into the big gas station there at the 101 and 46
intersection. As I pulled to the pump, the car died. I got out and the thing
was cooking in the back. There was heat pouring out of the vents, and the
engine deck lid was so hot, I couldn't even open it. As I looked around,
it was so busy, the other motorists were getting impatient since I was not
pumping gas, and my car was blocking a pump. We moved it into a parking stall,
with the help of others, and started problem solving. I was sure the engine
had seized. It was hot out. When we pulled into the station, a 3-4 inch diameter
pool if black fluid came out of the bottom of the bus. I was sure we had
lost all our oil on the road and the engine was toast.
I began to make calls. My only recent experience with Pas was the Show
and Shine that a bunch of us went down to. So I knew there was a strong Volkswagen
community down there. I called Matt to find out who ran the local club, that's
where I got Brian O'Kelly's name. I looked him up in the phone book and made
that call. Not only did Brian give me a little relief and piece of mind,
but he tossed me options and suggestions. Everything from offering a trailer
to move my bus, to parking it at his place if worst came to worst. He suggested
a local mechanic in town named THE BUGMAN. Brian asked me to call him back
in 10 minutes while he made some phone calls. Kim and I decided to find a
hotel to stay at, since we were going to be here a while. We called Brian
back and he had done some research and found that THE BUGMAN would be open
on Monday. It was decided that we would drop it off with THE BUGMAN and figure
out how to finish our trip.
Monday rolled around. I went t out to my car and Brian had already dropped
a club card on my window. I called up THE BUGMAN and he had already been
prepped by Brian. WOW. Talk about being taken care of. Brian was like the
VW Guardian of Paso. So we dropped it off, and went on to get a car
arrangement so we could continue our vacation. By 5pm I called him back and
the engine was still to hot (from the 3 mile drive we had made to get there
at 11am!!!!) So we camped over in Morro Bay.
The next day THE BUGMAN informed me on a couple of other details that
need to be done, or it would continue to have issues. We gave him the OK
and he had it ready by 1pm. Again, I was so impressed by the helpfulness
and the support of Brian and THE BUGMAN. We picked up the bus and drove it
to Cambria. It ran great!!!
To make a long story shorter, I can't thank Brian and THE BUGMAN enough
for their help. We got home from our trip on Friday and everything is running
great, sounds great and we look forward to many more adventure in the bus.
The original problem? The engine over heated. Kim and I pulled the rookiest
move in the book. We were driving our Aircooled VW Bus through 100+ weather.
When you live in Monterey at 65-70 degree weather, it's easy to forget that
it gets hot EVERYWHERE else!!!!! THE BUGMAN gave me a nice lecture about
when to drive and when not to drive my beloved VW....as well a suggesting
to upgrade to a dog house oil filter and possible a full flow system....Sounds
like a nice project to take on!
Thank you Brian, BUGMAN, and Matt. The culture and relationships built
around VW's is amazing. Thank you again.
Mike and Kim
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