Date:         Sat, 15 Sep 2001 16:25:04 -0700
Reply-To:     Sal & Karen Tricomo <bugnbrat@MINDSPRING.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Sal & Karen Tricomo <bugnbrat@MINDSPRING.COM>
Subject:      A newbie has a question...
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;

Hi all...I am the sentimental owner of a recently "deceased" '85 Westfalia (Westy, I gather from previous msgs) that I had named "Buster Brown"...Buster bcuz he was always in trouble (mechanically falling apart but I wasn't able to afford continuous maintenence) & Brown for obvious reasons (gawd, I hated that color!).

Anyway, my problem is that I'm too sentimental to give him away to charity but I really don't have any use for him now.  For different reasons, my husband & I are just not able to use the van for camping purposes anymore & his usefulness for commuting ended with a blown reservoir next to the back-end water-filling tank. As you can see, I know little to nothing about car terms...

What am I going to do?  I read w/interest the msg about how many miles one can expect to get out of one of these & I must admit Buster is over the 200,000 mark easily...(after I nearly fainted when I saw that 142 msgs  were waiting for me...anyway to decrease some of that? I just came into this to ask my little questions...).

Some of the problems I've had over the years related to the O2 sensor but the strangest concerned what would happen to Buster's personality when I would use the defroster (or heater) for the 1st time each winter.  First it was the O2 lite going on, but after being frustrated w/know-nothing "generic" mechanics I took Buster to a VW specialist & he knew what was going on in an instant, fixed it & I thought the problem was solved.  Another time, the speedometer would bounce around like the dial on a vegetable scale (that was after using the cigarette lighter to power something off the battery). In short, it was always doing wierd, quirky things.

Most recently, the heat sensor started to go on the minute I started the car (but it again, it was right after I'd used the defroster for the 1st time on a particularly cold & rainy/foggy morning) so I ignored the problem.  This light matched the temp gauge (in the "too too hot" range) only at the initial startup of the car, and the problem would stop once the car had been running awhile...So I again ignored it.  I never heard anything wierd in the engine, nor felt the car struggling to operate in any way, right up until the time I saw steam pouring out of the back end & heard that little reservoir blow apart.  Thank God I didn't have the back end opened or the engine cover off when it blew!

I really can't afford the complete overhaul it would take to get Buster operational again, and I really won't be using him for camping any more (my husband's a weenie for modern comforts & really doesn't enjoy the outdoorsy life, and I'm too convenience-oriented to go thru that much work in a quirky vehicle...I didn't use to be).  Im now using my hubby's car to commute with (he's got a nice new one) so I won't need Buster for that either.  Problem is, I get all choked up thinking he's just going to rot away somewhere he's towed to if I sit still and do nothing...

Can any of you help me by suggesting inexpensive repair options, or maybe someone would want to buy him off me for parts or restoration?  My original idea was to donate him to a worthy cause of my choosing so it wouldn't be a complete waste or junking issue, but I still can't help but feel that there may be some hope for him yet.  

Any thoughts? 

 

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