rookie member hello

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bwcland
I am merely driving my van
I am merely driving my van
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2014 4:54 pm
Location: Miami, FL

rookie member hello

Post by bwcland »

Hello and happy holidays to all!! new member from Miami, Florida, enough about me more important 2003 Astro her name is Scooby, a hearty 160k miles, picked up the van with 85k miles in 2009 and has been great, for Christmas some overdue T-L-C is in order for her good behavior.

Rear seating gone, perfect for chasing down wind and waves windsurfing east coast of FL, great for van camping.

This forum is awesome, great information with some added humor makes for level of comfort in turning a wrench. I push paper for a living and far from a car expert, but can follow a recipe and the chefs are getting it done right! The 2008 post from ihatemybike and supporting comments were perfect for the first project....plugs/wires/dist/rotor. Would never have happened without those tips, guys I think a new record was set..... 8-1/2 hours. no joke. scraped knuckles oh heck yes, towards the end struggling with getting motor cover back on, too lazy to take out passenger seat, and dripping blood in small spots, looking around at knuckles....couldn't figure it out, during 3 trips to parts store, the check out counter babe kept looking at me like had 3 heads, I thought it was because riding a bicycle with a boot and broken foot, turns out there was a cut on forehead and blood smeared across face mixed with oil from struggling to get the old plug wire boots off from under the van, that was a chore! :supz: used the same tool set up as the pictures, swivel head key! drove the van up on those hard plastic 10-12" ramps for access worked from the bottom perfect for an arms reach. Checked routing of wires carefully and shut the eyes at first crank was pumped to hear it start, first thing noticed was the oil pressure gauge held steady is that odd? Next thing was van appeared to be more responsive in stop and go traffic. Next up is change master cylinder, has a leak can't find, will take a look in the forum for any previous posts, thank you again guys keep it going!!
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Astro_3.jpg
Astro_1.jpg
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okie1
I sleep in my van
Posts: 252
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2011 6:05 am
Location: central Oklahoma
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Re: rookie member hello

Post by okie1 »

Very nice van & welcome to the forum :supz:
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Smiliesafari
ASV Supporter
ASV Supporter
Posts: 2667
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 12:34 pm
Location: Orlando, FL

Re: rookie member hello

Post by Smiliesafari »

Welcome....nice van. Not the easiest to work on but well worth the effort.
1996 Safari SLX Hotair balloon transport vehicle

Astrophysics
I sleep in my van
Posts: 974
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:23 pm
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Re: rookie member hello

Post by Astrophysics »

Welcome and happy holidays.
Astro is great for water sports. I some times put kayak onroof of my 2003 AWD.
Now I have 6 Thule crossbars on the roof rail. Good for Space Case basket and solar panel, etc.

AP
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Thule cross bars on roof rails.
Thule cross bars on roof rails.

ihatemybike
I plan to be buried in my van
Posts: 2224
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:57 pm
Location: Elgin, IL

Re: rookie member hello

Post by ihatemybike »

Glad the post helped ya!
Aaron

2005 Astro (Gandalf) - AWD, 4.3L, 3.42, 130k+ miles
1997 Astro (Grumpy - $250 Rally Van) - AWD, 4.3L, 3.42, LSD, 2" lift, 31" tires, 335k+ orig engine, $30 eBay fuel pump
Prev Astros:99,97,00,94,87,86
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