van and spring rambling
Apr. 26th, 2008 06:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eorToday despite all initial indications to the contrary, I did get some things done.
When I went out to work on the van this morning things didn't start well. Little things kept going wrong, hinting that I wouldn't get any of the things done I wanted to do. I made the mistake of starting on projects that involved working under/behind the dash. Dropped screws and tools can be very difficult to recover in that area. My luck turned and I was able to get some things finished.
Diagnosed the lack of light in my RPM gauge. Unfortunately it wasn't a loose wire, it was a blown bulb. It's not a common bulb, so I'll have to order the new one online probably. But at least I know that's the problem.
Replaced the heater/defroster fan switch. All winter long I've had two options, off and on. The latter option only worked some of the time. Now that the new switch is in I've got off,low,medium, and high.
Replaced the front head slider cable. I've had the new cable bouncing around in the van for years now, but all previous attempts to install it have proved futile. Today I got lucky and found the secret trick that allowed replacing it with a bearable amount of contortion and abrasion of the hands and arms. The trick is to remove the heater/defrost faceplate, remove the two screws right behind it that hold the sliders in place, push the sliders over and down to get at the bolt that holds the cable, then go in with one hand from the ash tray hole to hold the beast and the other hand screws/unscrews it front the front. Now I can switch from heat to no heat with ease.
While working on those I discovered that there is a light behind the heater controls, designed to illuminate them. I didn't know this because the bulb has been burned out since before I bought the van. Added to the list of things to order.
All winter long I have been reluctant to use the rear heater (the one that really puts out heat when the van is running) because every time I turned it on I got the telltale sickly sweet smell. Today I dug under the rear seat, fought with recalcitrant screws and finally got the rear heater box free. After some careful fiddling I concluded that the valve is leaking and the heater core is leaking. It won't take much to replace them now that I have all the screws loosened up, so I put the whole thing back together again and added to the list of things to order. While I was doing that I cleaned a lot of the dirt and crap out of the heater box area and the area under the seat to the right of the heater box.
When testing the propane system this winter to make sure things still worked after the heater was installed, one of the knobs came off in my hand. I haven't been able to find a source of new knobs but I'm hoping the superglue job I did this afternoon will work. It's sitting in the sun curing. I'll take it down and see how it works tomorrow.
Now that I'm back inside I've ordered the light bulb and socket to illuminate the heater controls, two of the slider nobs (one has been broken for years, the other broke today when I tried to pull it out), the rear heater valve and the rear heater core. Now I just have to find the VDO bulb to order, need to go down and grab that out of the van so I know what to order.
Still left to do: I have to find some piping for the propane heater exhaust and intake, have to clean the interior, have to clean the exterior, plug the hole I made in the floor by the propane heater, remove the hangers I put under the van in my aborted attempt to run propane line last fall, install the grey water tank (complicated), clean the wheels, rig up a way to keep water out of the stove vent during downpours, make an improvement on the cheesy plastic dish rack, and probably some more things I've forgotten now.
My to-do list on the van is still massive, but now I feel like it's getting shorter instead of longer.
I've got to get going on housework and programming.
When I went out to work on the van this morning things didn't start well. Little things kept going wrong, hinting that I wouldn't get any of the things done I wanted to do. I made the mistake of starting on projects that involved working under/behind the dash. Dropped screws and tools can be very difficult to recover in that area. My luck turned and I was able to get some things finished.
Diagnosed the lack of light in my RPM gauge. Unfortunately it wasn't a loose wire, it was a blown bulb. It's not a common bulb, so I'll have to order the new one online probably. But at least I know that's the problem.
Replaced the heater/defroster fan switch. All winter long I've had two options, off and on. The latter option only worked some of the time. Now that the new switch is in I've got off,low,medium, and high.
Replaced the front head slider cable. I've had the new cable bouncing around in the van for years now, but all previous attempts to install it have proved futile. Today I got lucky and found the secret trick that allowed replacing it with a bearable amount of contortion and abrasion of the hands and arms. The trick is to remove the heater/defrost faceplate, remove the two screws right behind it that hold the sliders in place, push the sliders over and down to get at the bolt that holds the cable, then go in with one hand from the ash tray hole to hold the beast and the other hand screws/unscrews it front the front. Now I can switch from heat to no heat with ease.
While working on those I discovered that there is a light behind the heater controls, designed to illuminate them. I didn't know this because the bulb has been burned out since before I bought the van. Added to the list of things to order.
All winter long I have been reluctant to use the rear heater (the one that really puts out heat when the van is running) because every time I turned it on I got the telltale sickly sweet smell. Today I dug under the rear seat, fought with recalcitrant screws and finally got the rear heater box free. After some careful fiddling I concluded that the valve is leaking and the heater core is leaking. It won't take much to replace them now that I have all the screws loosened up, so I put the whole thing back together again and added to the list of things to order. While I was doing that I cleaned a lot of the dirt and crap out of the heater box area and the area under the seat to the right of the heater box.
When testing the propane system this winter to make sure things still worked after the heater was installed, one of the knobs came off in my hand. I haven't been able to find a source of new knobs but I'm hoping the superglue job I did this afternoon will work. It's sitting in the sun curing. I'll take it down and see how it works tomorrow.
Now that I'm back inside I've ordered the light bulb and socket to illuminate the heater controls, two of the slider nobs (one has been broken for years, the other broke today when I tried to pull it out), the rear heater valve and the rear heater core. Now I just have to find the VDO bulb to order, need to go down and grab that out of the van so I know what to order.
Still left to do: I have to find some piping for the propane heater exhaust and intake, have to clean the interior, have to clean the exterior, plug the hole I made in the floor by the propane heater, remove the hangers I put under the van in my aborted attempt to run propane line last fall, install the grey water tank (complicated), clean the wheels, rig up a way to keep water out of the stove vent during downpours, make an improvement on the cheesy plastic dish rack, and probably some more things I've forgotten now.
My to-do list on the van is still massive, but now I feel like it's getting shorter instead of longer.
I've got to get going on housework and programming.
