The Mechanical Corner with Robert John Collier, #1

Our 1989 coach has travelled over 250k miles, and it shows it. Thus far we have driven one leg our of trip, and had one breakdown. A pretty good ratio, I’d say! About halfway from Hanover to Portland, we blew one of our veg lines. It finally let go from some combination of age, heat, and lines that were never intended to take the pressure that has been put through them. We made the rest of the trip on biodiesel, but we’ll get the veggie system back up and running once we make it to Boston on Monday. Some high pressure, high temperature lines are in order. Other than that, the next biggest issues are the chase car [non-functional] and the electric system. The moral of the story, however, is relatively upbeat. We got to meet an incredibly nice, knowledgeable Australian during our breakdown, and the bus on the whole is holding up alright! Nothing like a little impromptu excitement to make one appreciate just how complex a coach bus really is.

The issue with the VW chase car is the one thing that has slowed us down a bit. We’ve spent the last 8 months trying to chase down electrical gremlins in the injector computer, and finally turned it over to the professionals to deal with. Three shops later, including one professional VW dealer, and everyone had given up. So we are now on the hunt for plan B! If anyone knows of a 99-03 VW Jetta, or Golf diesel for sale within a few hundred miles of Hanover, let us know!

That’s all for now. Check back soon for more mechanical updates!

-Mechanic Rob