all 16 comments

[–]Zapped 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

I am not a "vanlifer", but do enjoy the outdoors when I can get away from work. u/Musky always likes the camping. Welcome to the site. Don't get too disappointed in that there is a tiny userbase here compared to Reddit. The more traffic we get, the more the community (and subs) will grow.

[–]AmWomanDontCallMeBro[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yes let's GROW this place, and I hope as it grows, it can be preserved the way it is, not be overrun with overzealous moderators and bots etc

[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Welcome. We’re almost all banned Redditors. Hope you find a home here. It’s a really small community you will end up recognizing most people by user name within a few months.

Not a van lifer but happy to hear about your journey.

[–]AmWomanDontCallMeBro[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

As nice as a familiar community sounds, I honestly thrived on the anonymity over there, rarely seeing the same username twice, and whenever I did start to recognize a few usernames I knew they had a reddit addiction problem just like me haha. But yeah I really need this kind of discussion forum, it just works so well with me, thank you guys for being here!

[–]Musky 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (11 children)

Welcome! Are you overheating? I'd consider the problem might with your coolant thermostat too.

u/Jet199 has mentioned the van life thing, not sure if she ever did it or not.

I get banned all the time from Reddit. We can probably tell you have to evade the ban if you're interested.

[–]Zapped 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

Thermostat is easiest and cheapest to change, but could be the water pump, fan clutch, or even a leaky radiator or hose.

[–]Musky 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

The fan clutch, really? I think mine is out and the only issue is the AC doesn't work unless I'm moving.

I'd think the hose or radiator leaking would be easy to tell by checking the coolant levels or looking at the ground.

Water pump would be a bitch, they're often hard to get at.

Flushing the coolant doesn't seem like it's likely to work to me, what do you think?

[–]Zapped 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I've had two fan clutches go out. Both times, the AC wouldn't cool unless I was moving and one time the vehicle would overheat when running fast or pulling weight.

Sometimes you won't see a leak unless under load (higher pressures). Most shops have a pressure test kit for coolant systems. Some do it for no extra fee and some will charge over $100 on top of what you have it in for.

[–]AmWomanDontCallMeBro[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Refreshing to hear you know all the inner workings of a vehicle and how to diagnose stuff. Thankfully I topped off the antifreeze / coolant which wasn't very low to begin with, and started up the van and the error light never came back on and I drove a few hundred more smooth miles no problems. As soon as I get settled I will take it to a mechanic for a complete diagnostic everything because I just drove 6,000 miles across the whole country and back all in the month of april. Whew

[–]Zapped 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Ok. Just a "low coolant" light and not actually overheating, then. Good deal. If it happens again, I would get it checked for leaks.

[–]AmWomanDontCallMeBro[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Hi! Thank you for being here. So I don't know what my vehicle's deal was, but as soon as the sun was warm enough, I went out there and put the antifreeze / coolant in and started the vehicle and the error light didn't come on again, so voila! I guess? I drove a few hundred more easy uneventful scenic beautiful miles and I'm resting in Nevada somewhere right now, 4 hours to my destination!

Thank you for offering a back door back into Reddit, it's good to know there's a way in I guess, but for now I feel kinda cleansed because I was really a Reddit junkie and it was getting out of control, and reddit itself is getting out of control with overzealous moderators and China owning everything and lack of free speech, and all the repost bots taking over, so perhaps this will be an opportunity to learn how to use my leisure time more productively from now on :-) Or not ; because look at me, as soon as I got a free moment I came straight to saidit

[–]Musky 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

No problem, I'm here all the time. Saidit is small but it's got a dedicated user base. You get to know everyone here, it's not like Reddit and the sea of random users. Be sure to read by s/all or new. Things work a little differently because of the size. This entire site is the size of a small reddit sub, so the subs themselves don't really stand alone.

It's possible you just had a sensor malfunction, I get those when it's cold and they clear up when it warms up, but I'd keep an eye on the temperature gauge just in case.

I drove a few hundred more easy uneventful scenic beautiful miles and I'm resting in Nevada somewhere right now, 4 hours to my destination!

That sounds amazing. What's the cooking situation like?

Safe travels, hope you enjoy it here on Saidit.

[–]AmWomanDontCallMeBro[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Thanks for giving me the lay of the land. It's helpful.

Yeah it was unusually cold this morning so you may be right, that's probably why my sensors glitched. I learned the hard way February 2021 that my vehicle does not do well in the cold so I headed to California the last couple years but accidentally found myself in Wyoming this morning XD

Cooking? Even when I lived in a house and apartments I never cooked. Cooking doesn't appeal to me but I know most full-fledged vanlifers have a full kitchen with stove and oven and refrigerator.

I chose to have my van built with just a sink with running water and solar panels and electricity & a bed, I don't really need a kitchen. I subsist on this type of stuff: r/Soylent & r/mealreplacements and whatever snacks I'm in the mood for.

Okay well good to meet you musky! Thank you for a warm welcome

[–]AmWomanDontCallMeBro[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

Okay I've been cleansed from Reddit for as long as I can, now I have urges to go back, I need them, please do tell, how to evade the reddit ban? Or establish a new Reddit account without them knowing IP-wise/etc that I am a formerly banned member?

[–]Musky 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

It's pretty easy, you just need to make a new account that's not associated with identifying information from your banned account. Use a different browser, preferably one that's focused on privacy like DuckDuckGo or Brave's browser to avoid something called fingerprinting, and don't use the same IP address. Rebooting your phone/ router or using a different wifi network usually works. Obviously don't use the same email either.

Now when you start posting, if this didn't work, you'll be shadowbanned. It will look like you can use reddit, but nobody will see what you write. You can plug your name into Reveddit.com to check after you've commented or posted. If you're shadowbanned you'll see this message: [user_name] may be shadowbanned or may not exist. Verify the url and reload this page to double check. You can also check account status at /u/[user_name] or /r/ShadowBan.

[–]AmWomanDontCallMeBro[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Thank you for the succinct explanation. Okay yes I've been through all those things before, I just wasn't sure if they had really REALLY banned me this time for good like they would recognize my phone and IP& everything but if I follow every detail that you outlined it should work. And I'm familiar with what Shadowbanning etc looks like too. You put it all into words very well. Thank you again.