THE VW BUS INITIATION TEST S01E03

High five to the Kombi Crew. If you like what we do, please join the Kombi Crew on Patreon and YouTube channel members. It's the best way to keep the Kombi Life videos rolling. Welcome back to Kombi Life. So far in this series, we've been sharing the story of myself, Ben, and this lovely Serbian girl, Tamara, who somehow thought it would be a good idea to jump into our 50-year-old Kombi boomerang and drive south across Europe in search of an adventure. Only that adventure has come to an abrupt halt in a northern Spanish desert, where, as you'll soon see, we're about to be stranded for a very long time. In this episode, we're flashing back in time to the weeks before we left, so that you can understand the efforts that we go to to try, and often fail, to prevent our 50-year-old vintage vehicle from leaving us stranded in the middle of nowhere. You see this handsome, yet scruffy young man? Yep, that's me, 12 years ago in South America. At this point in time, I incorrectly thought that this old Volkswagen is just like any other van, and I discovered through adversity that is not true. I certainly learned the hard way about the challenges of overlanding a vintage vehicle. I learned what happens when you overload a Kombi, or when you neglect to carry out the necessary and frequent regular maintenance. But slowly, and somewhat stubbornly, over the course of my extensive world travels, I've had the privilege of learning from many a maestro, each who have shared tips, hacks and advice on how to keep my vintage Kombi alive. So these days, behind the scenes of the Kombi Life adventures, before we eagerly embark to film a new overland travel series, believe it or not, there is an extensive period of mandatory preventative maintenance. It's not pretty, it's not usually all that fun, but it happens. And if Tamara is going to truly embrace Kombi Life, I wanted her to understand what it really takes to keep the Kombi rolling, so that nothing could possibly go wrong once we hit the road. Or at least, that was the plan. Better get changed. Tamara hasn't even set foot in the Kombi to experience any of the good side of the van life, but it's already maintenance time. But this is self-inflicted because I did say that I would do all of this work on my own before you got here. No, it's teamwork, makes the dream work. She wouldn't let me do it. Better get my hands dirty. It's doing away, it's the only way I'm going to learn how to do the van. Think she's going to fit right in, don't you? Look at them booties, come on. I like the boots. I'm ready to rock and roll, baby. Never used one of those before. You're not in a vehicle this big. What are you doing? I'm screwing for the air filter. Yes. Did I get it right? You did get it right. As I was growing up, I was never afraid to get my hands dirty. I'm the kind of girl who, if I can fix something myself, I definitely want to try. From what I hear, there could be a lot of opportunities in combi life. Of course, like you, if I'm learning new things, I'll make some silly mistakes along the way, but that is all part of the growth process, right? Hang on a minute, let's tighten it. Oh, God. There we go, that way. There we go, there we go, yeah. Oil's going to come out, you're going to catch oil in here. Don't drop the thing. Okay. Nice. That's so satisfying. It's definitely a cold, miserable, rainy day today, but we're here prepping the combi. Anti-clockwise? Lefty loosey. Lefty loosey. That way, right? Your other left. That way? That's it. Oh, so satisfying. You're weird, but you're going to fit right in. Our combi requires a long list of maintenance jobs every 3,000 miles or 5,000 kilometers, so for me, it's fantastic that Tamara is curious-minded and keen to get involved. Ah, that blissful moment at the beginning of a relationship when you're not sure whether you're in the honeymoon period or that you're getting on so well because you've just met your potential lifelong partner. Relationships can be difficult. I want to take a quick minute to talk about a service which has had a huge impact on my life. It's called BetterHelp. Yes, this is an advert, but it may just be the most important 60 seconds of your life, so listen up. I've used BetterHelp myself in a couple scenario, and it was pivotal in helping us figure out where we were going wrong with our communication problems and the best way forward, even if it meant that the best way forward was in opposite directions. As far as life interventions go, this was one of the most valuable experiences, and I can honestly attribute a lot of the happiness I have today to BetterHelp. How does it work? You go to betterhelp.com slash combilife, answer a few questions, and you will be matched with a professional credentialed therapist, usually within 48 hours. You can use the service via your phone or your computer, phone calls, video chat, or messaging. Whatever works best for you. The bit that I find really useful is that you can easily change the therapist to find one that you really vibe with, and you can reschedule the meeting so it really fits into even the most busy schedules like mine. Look, if I can do it from the back of a Kombi whilst traveling around the world, you can be sure that the service is convenient and flexible. I know it can feel intimidating, but it is worth it. Whether it's a personal challenge or relationship issues, don't struggle through it alone. Life is too short. There is a better way. It's called BetterHelp. So to start your journey in the right direction, go to betterhelp.com slash combilife. I will link it below. Thanks to BetterHelp, and thanks to you guys. Now, we've still got some work to do, so let's get those overalls back on. We're going to fill up the oil now. So I've come up with the idea of using a... What is this thing? It's a sprayer. Five liters capacity, but our engine will take six. I'm going to pump it in with this thing. If it works, we will see. It's a bit of an experiment. Actually, this will be a nice golden color in comparison with the stuff that came out. Oh, wow. Big difference. Whoa. Seriously? Yeah. That's what it should look like. It's like honey. Yeah. Nice. Whoa. Look how dark that is. That doesn't look like honey. Not as good. Definitely time for a change. Looks like Marmite. Marmite, right? And the secret ingredient, some zinc. Is that something you figured out on the way? No. Engine builder told me to put it in there. It's a good idea. They don't put it in modern oil anymore because modern engines don't need it, but Combi needs it. This, I don't know. Did it work? Yeah. I reckon I have faith. You keep that in there. Don't ever take it out. That's your job. Don't be waving the end of that hose all over the engine. Otherwise, we won't be friends anymore. Okay. There's pressure. Okay. Let a little bit out. That's it. Is that it? Is that all you got? From there. No. Come on. Try again. Keep it held down. Oh, there's oil. Come on. Come on, baby. It's green. It's like we're doing some science here. Well, it's going slow though, isn't it? It's so cold. That's as much pressure as I can put in. Oh, dear. Please make it to the engine. It's a genius thing. It's not quite working as well as I thought it should. Oh, dear. Is that full throttle? Just in case anyone thinks it's a good idea to copy this. Well, it isn't because it doesn't work very well. That's the drain plug from the transmission. That's magnetic, so it attracts any of the metal bits that break up in the transmission. Is that bad? Are you enjoying yourself? Very much so. You know I don't work on my hands. So, as we're next changing the transmission oil, which is even thicker, thus slower to pour than the engine oil, we had to employ some tactics learned in Latin America. First, we'll heat the oil in a bath of hot water to get it running quicker. Then, we'll use gravity and this funnel thing. It looks like a shoeie. It would actually work as a shoeie. Why did we think about this? We're currently prepping the Kombi at my mum's house, and there's not usually this much happiness and excitement whilst I'm wrenching on the Kombi. Alaska is certainly more vocal than usual about the good vibes. I wonder what my mum thinks of the newest member of the Kombi crew. Thanks, mum. Some of it, your head, doesn't it? What do you mean my head? Because it's longer, isn't it? My head's the best feature. Well, I was concentrating on Tamara. Well, she's prettier, so yeah, fair. You can see who the favourite is. We've only been here five minutes. Just want to point out, I know it looks like it's the same day, we're wearing the same clothes, and it's pretty much the same weather, but this is what, day three, day four? Oh, I've lost count now. We've been doing maintenance on this Kombi all week. We've been crushing it, haven't we? We're getting strong, aren't we? We're doing it all. Strong and tired, almost there. And then we can go travelling. Just got to say, this is great. For the first time ever, I can just go inside and make a cup of tea, and I've got Tamara here, being my assistant, doing all the hard work. All the hard work. What are you doing now, Tamara? Well, I'm trying to get the brake pad exposed, but it's not really working. We suspect that we may have a worn brake pad, and because we have very precious cargo on board, we do want to make sure that it's safe. I was pointing at Alaska, actually. So, we need a minimum of 1.5 millimetres, but most manufacturers recommend that you change your brake pad to three millimetres. So, am I measuring this bit? No, that bit there. Oh, that bit there? Yeah, that's the brake pad. Oh, Ben. Is it time for changing? I feel like it's, you know, I'm going to have to jump out the vehicle when it comes to braking. Oh, that's less than three millimetres. What's that say? Wow, that's one. One millimetre? One millimetre. Right, yeah, I'm glad we checked this. Time for a change. Look what I found. Hopefully, these are brand new brake pads. That looks like a lot more than three millimetres. Oh man, that's a big difference. Yes, look at that. Crap. Big difference. Right, so we've done the brakes, we've done the engine. I think everything else possible as well, because my mind's blown. And the last thing to do is change these hose pipes for the heating. And we've got this bad boy to do it with. We definitely want to be fixing this, because where we're going might be cold. So we don't want this one. That goes from here all the way down to under there. And that's tricky to get to. So good luck, mate. Good luck. In other news, Damelo has just found my penknife in the engine down there. And judging by the look of it and the oil stains on it, I think it's been there for about 11 months. So nice to have this tool back. Making a grommet so the hose doesn't get broken again. Very fiddly. After another few days of fixing every last issue on the Kombi, it's fair to say Tamara has passed the Kombi initiation test with flying colours. Our wheels are back on the ground and we are ready for a test drive. Time for a test drive. So many things are now working which were previously not working. I don't know what she's wearing, but she's looking fine. What am I wearing? Where's that noise coming from? Interesting. We're going to the biggest hill near my house in the wet to test the new brakes. The engine's working well. It bites a little bit. I think... We actually skidded there. That's the first time I've ever done a skid in a Kombi. Brakes seem to be working quite well. That's what brakes feel like. I'm really glad we changed those brake pads. That was cutting it a bit too close, hey? It was. Right, now I'm just going to check to see whether any of the wheels are hot. I'm definitely not doing this whole journey driving on my own. I can show you some Serbian driving. Serbian driving? I don't know if I like the sound of that. Tamara, you're in the middle of the road! This is how we drive! Crazy Serbian driver! Slow down, please! All right, should we go? We need to be nervous. I'm more nervous than you. It's like a truck. Big gearbox. Third is like right over here. Nice work, straight into third. Come on. Oh yeah. You feel the wind? Yeah, pay attention because it will blow you off the road. Yeah, I know, I know. These are like really difficult conditions. Slow down because the wind is right on the coast. It's really strong winds. These are like the worst conditions to be honest with you. I'm sorry, we don't have much time. You just like to drove into the deep end forever. I feel slightly sorry for the other traffic because we're coming down the road like this. It's like we don't drive down straight. Right, a bit more. The wind is really hard. It is hard. It's a high top band, it's loose steering. It's very susceptible to the winds. With the scheduled maintenance completed and all the other issues fixed, it's fair to say we felt a reasonable amount of confidence that we were ready for the start of our adventure together. After all, we'd fixed every issue on the list and then some. What are you doing, Ben? Perfect weather for it, isn't it? No weather. Gonna stop you. Volkswagen. Turning owners into mechanics since 1950. And despite many long days of working in freezing temperatures, somehow Tamara still seemed keen on combi life. I think Ben thought that all of this dirty work would put me off combi life. Not a chance. I'm guessing you guys will already be able to see why I'm starting to fall in love with this crazy Serbian girl called Tamara. As we embarked on our journey, outside I was confident and excited about the road trip south. Inside, I was just praying that nothing would go wrong to ruin this dream. But no matter how much preparation we undertook before we left, nothing could have prepared us for what was about to happen. With just one week on the road, we had a total loss of steering that meant the combi would be stranded and resolving this issue in the remote Spanish desert would prove to be extremely challenging. In the next episode of Combi Life, join us back in Spain as we face the music and discover the severity of the predicament we have found ourselves in. I don't really want to drive anywhere. It's not safe. We'll assess the damage to the combi, attempt to come up with a plan for self-rescue, deal with the lack of supplies in the desert. This is our new ride from a guy we met 20 minutes ago. I can't believe he just gave us his keys. And experience the generosity of locals who come to our rescue. Until next time, thanks for watching and happy travels. Thanks for watching the video guys and high five to our Combi Crew supporters. If you appreciate our content and would like to unlock hundreds of bonus posts, early viewing, behind the scenes and much more, please join the Combi Crew on Patreon or become a YouTube channel member. It's the best way to keep the Combi Life videos rolling. Cheers and until next time, happy travels.