Greetings All - I enjoy the list very much. I've owned my '84 Westy (78,000 mi., orig. motor) for 2 months and have enjoyed it, lived in it for a 7-week job stint in Calistoga, but not without a few problems. Here's one thing I'd like to attend to soon: rear hatch struts. Does anyone know how to do this job? I have few tools and little mechanical expertise, but willing to learn. Thanks. Les Cellist & Owner of '84 Westy For the other stuff: 1) Coolant drip from right cylinder head --- at the rear cylinder bolt. Service people at dealer gave me the news of death telling me to replace head. My mechanic said "no f**king way!!" (he's a good mechanic, really!). He sealed up the bolt and this reduced the drip, but it still appears much slower. Was the dealer correct? By the way I went to dealer in Napa to replace the green stuff from PO after perusing vanagon site warning about using phosphate coolant. I've got blue now. 2) Pilot bearing or throw-out bearing seems to be out. Can't disengage clutch. Made it home from Fort Bragg to Arcata in 2nd gear (a 150 mile trip). Had to force shift a few times and start in gear a few times...did I possibly ruin something in the process? I think this (bearing job) would be too big for me, any advice? 3) Since I am not currently driving it (checked out of my storage unit and transferred the goods to the westy..sadly, but they do make fine storage lockers) I do start the motor every week, but hearing a tapping noise now...is this ok? I have heard this is the hydraulic lifters which over time with motor running get fluid and noise goes away. 4) I noticed the parking brake stuck, so I spent a good deal of time forcing the van to move ( once in a while I can disengage the clutch)...is the brake sticking a common problem? 5) oh yeah, I naively put QMI (like slick 50) in and drove it for 500 or so miles until I read about ptfe(slick-50, qmi,etc) on the vanagon site and did another change to get that stuff out of there...sounds like a real scam those people run.. Hope I did no real damage with that junk. By the way my mechanic recommends using 20w-50 engine oil...I live on the foggy redwood coast. Temp here is 40-70 fahrenheit year-round. I know the engines run hot, so does this sound right? Thanks, Les
________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.