I'm Not Dead!

Today I started the Vanagon successfully. I realized that I had left the stereo face plate on which means the stereo was slowly draining my battery over the past month looking for the wireless remote. I wasn't able to jump the van using the second battery and instead I had to jump it using my Tacoma. I then drove the van for about half an hour at low speeds to recharge the battery and get a feel for its condition.

I did not experience the power loss that I had previously but I wasn't exactly pushing the van either. The fuel pump was louder than ever though. Since my last post I've been reading in my factory manual about the fuel pump and I was able to verify that the fuel pump is in fact what is making all of the noise. Even if it isn't completely busted I'm happy to replace it if it means even a little reduction in noise. The pump looks really old so hopefully the new one (set to arrive tomorrow by the way) will fix the noise and potentially fix all of my problems. I'm hoping to get some time this weekend to actually do the replacement. While I'm mucking around down there I'll clean out my fuel filter as well.

In other news I just ordered a few fixer-upper parts for the van that I'm really looking forward to. I ordered rubber mats for the whole floor. Hopefully these mats will make it easier to clean up the dog hair/mud and debris that gets tracked all over the van. I'm hoping these mats end up covering enough of the floor that I don't care about the condition of the carpet any more as well. I also ordered a replacement shifter boot and emergency brake handle just to round out the new hotness. My old ones were really cracked and sun damaged. Plus the new ones will add some more black to the interior so I can take the overwhelming levels of brown down a notch up front.

Once that stuff comes and I get it placed in the van I should finally be able to make a decision on the seat covers from SewFine. There is talk of a car camping trip next month so I'm eager to get everything ready in time for the trip. I'm really looking forward to getting back out in the van and camping it up.