Date:         Mon, 13 Aug 2001 08:33:48 -0700
Reply-To:     Peter Johnson <johnson@SAW.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Peter Johnson <johnson@SAW.NET>
Subject:      missing oil dipstick
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;

Good morning listers,

While checking the coolant level in my 85 Westy GL prior to this past weekends camping trip, I noticed that my oil dipstick was missing.  I had added about a quart to "Nesta" about a month ago and remember putting the dipstick back into the tube so I am sure I didn't misplace it.  So that leaves 2 options:  either the dipstick shot out while running the engine (rather unlikely since there is slight sucking pressure on the tube) or someone stole it (ridiculous I know).  

So my questions to the list are:  has anyone had a similar experience?  what are the potential effects of driving her without the dipstick besides not knowing how much oil she has? I put 300 miles on her without one, and she ran pretty well but did notice that her idle was a bit inconsistent (sounded like she was going to quit on me once in a while).

Many thanks in advance. 

Peter J
85 Westy GL "Nesta"


PS - Thanks a bunch to everyone who responded to my recent post regarding my side door problem.  I haven't had a chance to fix it yet but the culprit appears to be a loose spring.  I'll send out personal thanks once I get some time to tackle that little problem.

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