Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 08:59:09 -0500
Reply-To: Bill Knight <bill.knight@USA.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Bill Knight <bill.knight@USA.NET>
Subject: Re: Water Level Indicator Red Blinking Light
In-Reply-To: <B6DBC17E.BD9B%dragonlist@ipmts.ucsc.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Blinking Light:
Try removing the connector on top of the expansion tank and thoroughly
cleaning the contacts, then use some vaseline as a di-electric grease
to reconnect. I've often found this connector to be the source of the
blinky problem.
Steering wheel noise:
Spray some WD-40 on the horn contact. Look under the steering wheel
where it rotates, and you will see a little round button pressing
against the circular contact. This can get dirty and give you the
scratchy sound when the steering wheel is turned.
Regarding the archive search:
I too have been very frustrated with the archive search. I was
wondering if there might be a better search engine that could be
mounted on the server to index the archives for faster retrieval.
Anyone else have any comments about this?
Bill Knight
Raleigh, NC
84 Wolfsburg Westy
91 Vanagon Carat
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of Bill Kasper
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2001 5:01 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Water Level Indicator Red Blinking Light (and other initial
observations, LONG)
on 3/19/01 9:08 AM, Dave Baker at DBAKER5@KC.RR.COM wrote:
> Yeah. I'm in the midst of a blinkathon myself. The PO told me he
had
> replaced the sensor but still had a problem with it coming on.
After I took
> delivery, the problem cleared up. Drove it about 2000 miles with no
winky
> blinky (except at start-up). After sitting all winter, however, it
has now
> started to do its thing. Temp stays mid range, however, so I'm not
worried
> about overheating. I'll dig into it sooner or later and see what's
up.
dave, and list...
i have been driving sparingly friday and today to get our new '87
syncro
westfalia smogged, registered, and insured (we got PLATES TODAY!).
when i
was going to get it smogged friday, i couldn't get the blinking light
to
stop, but as you said it pegged directly over it so i wasn't worried.
this morning i drove to the dmv, and had an odd thing happen (though
it
sounds usual for a vanagon!). i was driving, it ran rough, and then
in
third gear it was fine. the light blinked for about two miles, and
the
temperature was middling for about the last half mile. i stopped for
a red
light, it was sitting at idle, and died. when i restarted, with no
problems, i noticed the red light blink for about five seconds, then
stop.
temperature stayed pegged over it, and the van ran fine.
after the dmv, i drove to AAA for insurance, and noticed the light go
off
after about five seconds, good temp. then driving home it did the
same
thing, until i restarted after going to volks cafe, at which point it
started blinking again. went off after about ten minutes, just before
i got
home.
i know i need a new expansion tank, and perhaps a new level sender.
i'll
see what happens after replacing those things.
other observations: besides that rough patch of running, definite
alignment
problems and horrid tires (but all the same size!), the only funny
thing i
noticed was the speedo worked fine...until suddenly, after AAA, it
didn't.
i didn't bang anything, and it stayed stuck on 0, but the mileage
still
turned. i went over a bump, and it slammed up to 40mph, and kept
speed
until i stopped for a red light. then it took about ten seconds and
popped
up when i hit 20mph. i didn't have time to discuss it at volks cafe
(and i
am dropping the van off for a full checkup wednesday), but when i was
coming
home from there i noticed it happen again. so i slapped the top of
the
instrument cluster, there being no big bumps in the road to jounce
over, and
it flipped up again. no problems the rest of the way home.
any ideas about that?
i also have one hell of a rusted out (original, i think) exhaust
system. i
can't budge the bolts holding the tailpipe flange, and that's all that
is
left of my tailpipe. it got smogged, but barely. i can feel two or
three
holes in the muffler, and can only assume the divots that are rusted
out of
the top of the front crossing header aren't perforations.
the inside is pretty gamey. as the archives are so slow, can anyone
give
recommendations about (a) carpet cleaning products for the front
carpet set,
(b) upholstry cleaning products for the front seats and the rear
bench, (c)
advice on getting the zip off mattress covers clean, and (d) products
that
will clean the cabinets and stainless and whatnot without ruining
them?
finally, who has cleaned that "burlap" type fabric on the headliner
and the
other covered panels throughout the van? it has shrunk a bit and i
can see
glue at the edges. easily replaceable?
the steering wheel sounds like it needs lube (makes a new brakepad
grinding
noise when i turn it), and the cowling above/below is separating. i
haven't
been able to get the seats to rotate, but i haven't spent a lot of
time
trying. and the engine lid rubber is decaying...any good way to get a
replacement for this, so i don't have the little bits of rubber
floating
around my engine compartment/bed?
the power windows don't open on the passenger side, and the clip
holding the
switch into the door panel is gone (they drilled a hole to hold it in,
but
it's falling out now. also, anyone with power locks: does the
driver's
door lock opening from the outside open the rest of the locks? in
essence,
is the driver's lock the "master" of all the others?
that's about it, for now. thanks.
bill
'87 syncro westfalia
http://www.scruznet.com/~cikasper/pics/westy
