So, It took many weeks, but I (think I) finally tracked down the source of many of my anxious miles of driving. A bad spark plug wire. Everything was fine when I bought the bus… so much so, I decided to take it for a little stroll to the Colorado River (see previous post). Well, on the way home it began to sputter at the top-end. For weeks it did the same thing, while I changed out many engine items. I tracked down a number of vacuum leaks and replaced hoses… I have a new Bosch coil, I replaced the entire distributor and cap and points. each item replaced seemed to make a SLIGHT difference, but it was not the difference I was hoping for. Well, last week I was taping up the heater duct (with aluminum tape) and noticed that one of the spark plug wires had this nice clean spot that was about an inch deep – right above the rubber shroud that covers the Bakelite end. This clean spot meant to me that the actual wire had been pulled out. So I took it all the way out and inspected … a nice turquoise blue/green crust had encased the end of the wire. A beautiful electrical corrosion. So, I clipped off the last 1/2 inch and twisted the wire back in place and returned the rubber shroud. I fired up the engine and for the first time in a month it ran GREAT! SO, I drove it to a meeting in LA that afternoon. NICE!!!
Everything was fine until last night when I was coming home along PCH (again) and I noticed a couple of misses at the top-end. I made it all the way to Camarillo, but she stalled out at a red light a few blocks from home. I paused… took a deep breath… and started it back up… 3 seconds running, then nothing. The light was still green, so I tried again, but gently gave it gas and rolled through the light and on my way home.
This morning I thought nothing of the previous night… and was going to take a trip to Riverside to witness the high school graduation of one of my bestfriend’s son. I got all washed up and packed the bus. I started it and after 3 seconds, it stalled. Again… again… (pause, breathe, wait…) again. Same thing again. I go back to look at the wire that I had “adjusted” a few weeks back and it was all turquoise again. So I told Gary I would not be making the trip. Then I clipped the end off again and everything seemed (for the moment) to be better again. But this time I decided to go to Ventura and get a new set of BOSCH spark plug wires and plugs. So… all that to say this… I am happy to say, it runs like a champ, and I don’t have to worry about bad spark wires getting crusty and beautifully turquoise again any time soon.