Tuesday, June 27, 2006
know your ride. or why owning a van increases your mechanical knowledge
If you’d said to me a year or even a few months ago that I’d be able to look at a vintage Volkswagen engine, find the carburettor and remove and clean the jets, I’d have said ‘no way!’. I’ve owned two early 70s Beetles since 1998 (the latest one sold to pay for my camper purchase) and bought the John Muir book, How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive – A Manual of Step by Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot, shortly after my first Beetle. In the intervening time I’d say I’ve only once ever sat down with the book open beside me as I looked at my engine.
That’s all changed in the last year. Since I got my camper I’ve increasingly found myself peering into the engine with Muir at my side. Does that suggest my camper is less reliable than either of my Beetles? Not at all. It’s just my Beetles were daily drivers used around Dublin city. In contrast the camper is used less frequently but typically for much longer journeys. As a result the stakes are much higher and a breakdown is going to foul up your trip rather than just being an inconvenience.
People always said the VW engine is simple to find your way around and I’m finding out that they were right. Admittedly sometimes that’s not through choice but because I’m having a crisis at the side of the road. But if I can manage to handle any emergencies it can’t be that hard. Right?
