terra_firma
Member
Could be good as a pre-filter for coherent posts in the ncv3/t1n talk/rv talk.
In all honestly i am totally guilty of running to sprinter-source and making a new post as soon as something happens to my van and i freak out. and i mean REALLY basic questions like a proper starting battery replacement, problem with center stop light, and non critical LHM issues. I know a ton of the info is tucked into many old and great posts...maybe i'm not utilizing the "stoopid things i shoulda known" post since it seems so overwhelming. While posting on here i also see a lot of new posts with a similar issues. There really is enough info on here to compile a complete book that's properly indexed.
I always wanted to believe that anyone can be good at anything if they are stubborn enough with it. There are a lot of skills i do well, or at least can wield with little to no consequence. I have the patience to grind welds down on steel till they don't look welded for 10 hours straight. I could spend a month organizing a huge mess and have a blast. But when it comes to cars i feel like i spend %99 percent of the time running back and forth trying different tools, re-reading info, worrying about breaking something, and then breaking it. The most difficult part for me is the low frequency in which i have to mess with my van. Just enough time to forget everything!
I fully know most of this a personal problem but it doesnt detract how much i love my sprinter. I've had the two coolest cross country trips in it, and they have honestly been the best two experiences of my entire life, no exaggeration. I like my van so much it makes me want to start working at a diesel shop or apprenticing with someone who works on sprinters; but its not out of love of mechanics (although the more i learn the more empowered i feel), but just so i can keep the damned thing without letting it defeat me (the idea of helping other people with the same sprinter anxiety sounds great to me too)
But that kinda gets in the way of things i'm actually passionate for...THE TRAVELING! and taking photos of everything. From 2012-2016 my 2006 van has been reasonable to maintain, and most headaches were from potential problems. Until this idling/turbo problem started for me i was lovin life but even then the maintenance was double that of any other vehicle i've owned. What i've paid in the past 2 years on what i would call "a responsible level of preventative and needed maintenance" could have been money to triple the length of the trips i take. At this point i'm going to have to work for a year just to pay off what i spent on the build, the trip, and enough for the next trip. It was worth it, But i gotta wonder at what point i'm screwin' myself. Most of the stuff in life i try to be smart about, this van does NOT make me feel smart! Even paying for well researched maintenance is hardly affordable.
I'm sure a lot of people RVing out there fulltime are retired people who worked and deserve the amazing experience. And a lot of people on these forums are real adults with real training and experience with vehicles who can solve people's problems if they actually have enough specific info to pose a real question
I know the half of those "#vanlifers" out there who aren't just doing it cause they're rich are weirdo people like me constantly having existential crisis's about wanting run away from society in their big tall van. That a good sprinter mechanic does not make! I can hear the impatience in a lot of posts, mine included. Always ready to condemn something too complicated for the owner to grasp. I personally just feel that's human nature
so my 2 ideas are:
-some way of mirroring this message board and finding a way to index it with computer magic to a website, or just manually sort posts into a searchable webpage...kinda exactly like Wikipedia for sprinter-source. Honestly i could probably file like posts away, reword them or turn them into a flow char on a word document over a year and that would stress me out less than figuring out how to run a diy "smoke test" on my turbo.
-section for people with van problems where people who cant control not ranting and raving about their van (purely from their own ignorance), until they get a basic idea of what the REAL question is that they need to be asking
I don't expect ya'll to take my suggestions, but i wanna at least hear from someone who feels the same way
In all honestly i am totally guilty of running to sprinter-source and making a new post as soon as something happens to my van and i freak out. and i mean REALLY basic questions like a proper starting battery replacement, problem with center stop light, and non critical LHM issues. I know a ton of the info is tucked into many old and great posts...maybe i'm not utilizing the "stoopid things i shoulda known" post since it seems so overwhelming. While posting on here i also see a lot of new posts with a similar issues. There really is enough info on here to compile a complete book that's properly indexed.
I always wanted to believe that anyone can be good at anything if they are stubborn enough with it. There are a lot of skills i do well, or at least can wield with little to no consequence. I have the patience to grind welds down on steel till they don't look welded for 10 hours straight. I could spend a month organizing a huge mess and have a blast. But when it comes to cars i feel like i spend %99 percent of the time running back and forth trying different tools, re-reading info, worrying about breaking something, and then breaking it. The most difficult part for me is the low frequency in which i have to mess with my van. Just enough time to forget everything!
I fully know most of this a personal problem but it doesnt detract how much i love my sprinter. I've had the two coolest cross country trips in it, and they have honestly been the best two experiences of my entire life, no exaggeration. I like my van so much it makes me want to start working at a diesel shop or apprenticing with someone who works on sprinters; but its not out of love of mechanics (although the more i learn the more empowered i feel), but just so i can keep the damned thing without letting it defeat me (the idea of helping other people with the same sprinter anxiety sounds great to me too)
But that kinda gets in the way of things i'm actually passionate for...THE TRAVELING! and taking photos of everything. From 2012-2016 my 2006 van has been reasonable to maintain, and most headaches were from potential problems. Until this idling/turbo problem started for me i was lovin life but even then the maintenance was double that of any other vehicle i've owned. What i've paid in the past 2 years on what i would call "a responsible level of preventative and needed maintenance" could have been money to triple the length of the trips i take. At this point i'm going to have to work for a year just to pay off what i spent on the build, the trip, and enough for the next trip. It was worth it, But i gotta wonder at what point i'm screwin' myself. Most of the stuff in life i try to be smart about, this van does NOT make me feel smart! Even paying for well researched maintenance is hardly affordable.
I'm sure a lot of people RVing out there fulltime are retired people who worked and deserve the amazing experience. And a lot of people on these forums are real adults with real training and experience with vehicles who can solve people's problems if they actually have enough specific info to pose a real question
I know the half of those "#vanlifers" out there who aren't just doing it cause they're rich are weirdo people like me constantly having existential crisis's about wanting run away from society in their big tall van. That a good sprinter mechanic does not make! I can hear the impatience in a lot of posts, mine included. Always ready to condemn something too complicated for the owner to grasp. I personally just feel that's human nature
so my 2 ideas are:
-some way of mirroring this message board and finding a way to index it with computer magic to a website, or just manually sort posts into a searchable webpage...kinda exactly like Wikipedia for sprinter-source. Honestly i could probably file like posts away, reword them or turn them into a flow char on a word document over a year and that would stress me out less than figuring out how to run a diy "smoke test" on my turbo.
-section for people with van problems where people who cant control not ranting and raving about their van (purely from their own ignorance), until they get a basic idea of what the REAL question is that they need to be asking
I don't expect ya'll to take my suggestions, but i wanna at least hear from someone who feels the same way