Ever had a bad thing happen at a good time? You know; when something that you normally would hate to see happen happens in a situation that saves your butt big time!  

Well, it happend to me . . . No, it happend to Homer the Superbus last night.  I was on my way to a Bug-A-Paluza planning meeting at Herb's house last night (and running real late as usual).  Just north of the I-75/I-24 split I started smelling what I thought was hot wires.    I didn't get too excited because that's a smell that Homer's wiring harness puts out on a regular basis. It's in a mess.  I don't see any smoke coming out of the dash so I keep going.  Then, not long before I got off the Ooltewah exit I start thinking that the engine doesn't sound just right under a load . . . kinda like the exhaust tone has changed, but not exactly.  Well I'm almost to my exit, so I ain't gonna stop on the side of the interstate in the freezing cold  to check it out.  I got caught by the first traffic light after I got off the exit and the oil light comes on, even though the frayed throddle cable has hung up slightly keeping the engine at a fairly fast idle.  Hummm . . . this could be bad.  

I pulled into the RaceTrak and shut it off.  The generator light comes on.  Turn the switch back on and it goes out . . . the oil light is working correctly . . .  Then I look in the side mirror and see smoke coming out the air intake vents.  I'm thinking I've just fried the engine . . . Then I notice a slight "whirrrrrrr" coming from the back of the bus . . . What's making that sound?  A FIRE?  Hummmm.  This might be REAL BAD!  With all the wind taken from my sails, I hopped out and ran around back and opened the engine lid expecting the worst.

There is no fire but I've got three potentially major problems staring at me.  You don't want to see any of these individually, but the third one probably saved me an engine.

First, there is OIL EVERYWHERE.  Pulled the dipstick and it's a quart low.  Dang it, must have blowed a seal or gasket somewhere on the top side of the engine.  No, wait, maybe it's because the the oil filler cap is off and laying on the rear engine tin.  The oil would explain the smoke . . . hopefully.

Second, there is no generator belt.  If you didn't already know, that's a BAD thing on a type 1 engine.  If your generator isn't turning, neither is your fan and the engine, being AIR COOLED, will melt down in pretty short order.  The oil cap must have fell into the belt and popped it or something.

OK, I lost oil and I lost cooling while I was running as hard as it would go on the interstate (I'm running late, remember) . . . this engine should be toast.  You would think that anyway.

But wait . . . Why didn't my generator light come on when the belt broke?  And if it's hot, how come the dipstick was cool?  And what was making my generator light come on when the switch was off?  OK, I see, the belt must have broken just as I was stopping because the generator is still spinning like crazy.

I gave Herb a call and he sent help my way.  I stood in the store and warmed up a little (Homer has NO heat when it's in the low 20's), then bought a quart of oil and went back out to pour it in.  Now the THIRD problem that turns out to be a life saver hits me in the face.  I've got a fried voltatage regulator or something . . . my generator has turned into a motor and is STILL spinning like crazy.  That's what kept it cool when the belt broke!  So I just need a new regulator . . . and a new belt . . . and a new oil cap (I've got one of those fancy aftermarket fillers with the plastic screw-on cap . . . This is the second one I've had to come off like this.  I'm going back to the stock filler as soon as possible).

Richard pulls up and verifies for me that I'm not crazy . . . the generator is still spinning like a motor.  I've got a spare belt with me (took a few minutes to find it in my highly organized bus, but it was there.  LOL) but, to put it on I've got to stop the generator.  So I unplug the big B+ wire from the regulator and sure enough, it starts slowing down.  Just out of curiosity and because I though I heard something in the regulator click when I unplugged it, I plugged it back up.  The generator sits there like it's supposed to.  No sign it wants to be a motor now.  After we get the belt on, oil in and the stripped oil cap kind'a hung back on the threads, I fire it up . . . Sounds fine, oil light is off at a slow idle, AND, the lights get slightly brighter when I rev the engine.  When I first stopped I was hoping I could patch it up enough to limp it Herbs house, but it turns out that now it's good as new!

Don't ask me how or why the regulator did what it did . . . all I know is it save me an engine and a long walk in the freezing cold.    

 :cool:



Edited By Zen on 1073951340