I went to Latitude festival in the bus last week and unfortunately got stuck in two major traffics jams, one at the Dartford tunnel and one near the venue in Suffolk. What should have been about a 4hr journey turned into nearly nine hours, and as I feared the alternator wasn't working to charge the battery (It wasn't) I kept it running the journey non stop. Anybody else run their engine for longer?
not run mine that long but i would if had to, i don't get these folks who stop to "give the engine a rest" once up to temp it won't know how long it's been running for, the length of any journey i do depends on these points. mrs wants a wee dogs want a wee van wants fuel my arse is numb
Did 11 hours last year going to Germany - stopped for three fuel fill ups - and wee's - the old Bus seemed to thrive on it!
We to went to Latitude in our bus and had the same problem, heavy traffic and alternator playing up (cured by changing regulator when at home). Leaving took 2 hours just to get onto the A12 from the site because I didn't take the AA alternative route! Lesson learned for next year.
If you have a temperature gauge fitted you soon realise that a bus is really happy crawling in traffic or idling as the temperature falls back to 100 degrees quite quickly as the fan does its work on the oil cooler. And it cools quicker if you let the tickover speed up with a bit of foot on the throttle. Worked a treat crawling round Nantes last Saturday heading south to Bergerac.
3 x 14 hour days . hammered it back from southern Croatia, van seemed to enjoy the run ! Stopped only for bog fuel and sleep.. occasionaly i combined all three..
Where can you a temp gauge from i always panic a little in traffic i got stuck in traffic myself the other week but the van seemed to cope great
^^^^ Then leave well alone . Just something else to worry about . Pointless turning it off in traffic as the core temp will actually get hotter - no fan = no cooling .
Did St Tropez to Bolton in one run (ferry stop in between) during the France 98 world cup. My mate had a late bay I did the whole drive back and it took 27 hours. We were young and nieve, didn't even check the oil or have it serviced before we went. It didn't ever miss a beat during the whole trip. The van was falling apart. Always wondered where it ended up. Come to think of it ,I'm sure that's where my love for the bay comes from. Just remember all the locals calling it a super camion. Wow that was some trip.
Mine had one fitted when I got the van its just a dip stick temp probe that replaces your normal dip stick. I'm sure all the usual vw specialists sell them.
